October 27, 2001

Monday was our 7 year anniversary. Damian got me these beautiful roses and a card. Ida gave us movie tickets and watched the girls so we could go out. We saw the movie and had dinner at Palm Court. The food was ok but nothing special.

I know how boring are we! I guess that's what happens when you get old. It was nice to have time together without kids though, thanks Ida!

Ward Halloween Party

Tuesday was our ward Halloween party hosted by the youth, it was a combined activity with one of the other wards that meet in our building. Areya was a Cowgirl and Aniela was a Genie, both costumes were made by my grandma. Isn't she so talented!

They had stations where the kids got to go fishing, decorate cookies, face painting, eat a doughnut off a string and a cake walk. They also had a small haunted house and trick or treating from room to room.

I was even able to talk Damian and Ida into going. They just stood in one spot the whole time but at least they went.

Here is a video of Areya trying to eat the doughnut off the string. I must not have been thinking because I turned the camera sideways, so you will all have to tilt your heads to the left to watch the video. Sorry!!

We moved....... again

The lease on our apartment was up on October 25th and because we still have not found a house we had to decide to sign up for 6 more months or move. It was a pretty easy decision to make, based on the fact that our apartment was not big enough for all of us. (For those of you that don't know my sister in-law has moved in with us and was sleeping in the living room.) We were able to get into a townhouse in the same complex which made the move pretty easy.



On the day of the move we packed up boxes and took them the short car drive across the parking lot to our new place. The sister missionaries come over and helped me unpack while Damian and Ida continued to move everything. Sister Peterson from my ward took the girls for most of the day which was a huge help and later that night the Elders and a few guys from my ward come over to help move the big stuff. We were also blessed enough to have someone bring us dinner so I did not have to worry about cooking, which turns out even better then I had hoped because the gas was turned off. We had no clue until late so we froze the first night, and by froze I really mean froze, Aniela woke up with blue lips she was so cold. The next day we had a little drama with the gas company but we were able to get it on by 8 that night.



For the most part everything is unpacked and put away but we still have boxes in the garage and a few in my room. I just can't find the motivation to finish unpacking them. ( It might have something to do with the fact that once we find a house I will just have to repack them.)



Our new address is:
1728 E Hintz Rd.
Arlington Heights, IL 60004

The Pumpkin Patch

This is our scary Halloween moon, it was just a few weeks early.

For those of you that don't know I got my very first calling at church. I have been called to be the Primary Sectary. I was called before we left to Poland but was not set apart until after we got home. It has been so long since I have been in Primary that I feel a little out of place, but and sure that after awhile I will get a hang of things.

Where I was going with all that is, some of the ladies I serve with in the Primary invited us to go to the pumpkin patch with them. I thought it would be fun (even though we already went with Areya's preschool) so we meet them there.

We walked around and saw all the animals. They had cows, new born baby pigs, goats, sheep, a donkey, a llama, ducks and chickens. Then the kids got to go on a few rides. Areya and Aniela went on the train and then Areya went on the big slide of fun. Next they wanted to go on the pony ride but when it can time for Aniela to get on she told me no. The kids had a great time and like always they didn't want to leave.

This is what happens when you try to talk to your brother on Skype and he does not answer.

You start messing with the camera. It was a lot of fun though.

A Saturday at the park

On Saturday I got a message from Tj saying that it was snowing! I talked to my mom and she said the same thing, I couldn't beleive it! Here's the proof >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

My friend Shantelle and her family made a snowman and sent me a picture to show us how much snow they got. It's so Crazy!!!!!

This is what it looked like here >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Sunny, warm (77 degrees) and a great day to be out side.

So that's what we did, we went to the park. The girls spent a good hour or more playing in the sand then we found a tree that had tons and tons of lady bugs on it.

They spent the rest of the time swinging and going down the slide. It was a great day!

Areya's field trip

Areya had her first field trip and it was to the pumpkin patch. We went on a hay ride, got lost in the hay maze, fed the animals, went in the tee pee, and of course picked out a pumpkin.

Areya's first day of Preschool

School started while we were in Poland so Areya missed the first month of school. She misses the birthday deadline by 22 day so she gets to have another year of preschool. Which works out great because she did not get to attend the full year last due to our move.

When she came everyone so so excited because there is only one other girl in that class. I guess I taught her to think boys are "Ca ca" a bit to well because she won't play with any of them she only wants to play with the little girl.
Because we were in Poland on her birthday they let her celebrate it on her first day. She was so excited and loves going to school.

Poland 9

The last thing Damian, Areya and I did before we left Swinoujsice to go back to Szczecin was take a small trip into Germany. We drove to the village of Ahlbeck and walked the promenade and the pier.

They have some very old buildings which were built way before WWII. Damian was telling me that you won't find building that old in Swinoujsice because before the Germans left (Poland won Swinoujsice back from Germany) they burned the whole village.

There was this great boat docked right on the beach.

Our our way back home we stopped at the border and took pictures Damian on the Polish side of the boarder and me on the German side. They are about 10 feet from each other. Here is a small fact about Germany that I did not know: Germany is called Deutschland.

It was a long day and Areya could not last any longer, on the way home she fell asleep. We thought the way she was sleeping was funny so we took a picture.
The next day we packed up and drove the 2 hours back to Szczecin to Adrian's house where we spent the night and got up extremely early the next morning to drive 2 hours to the Berlin airport. We waited in line just to find out that we were to early to check in, so after waiting another half hour we finally got to wait in line again to check in. After we finally got checked in we said our goodbyes and headed to our gate. We got pretty lucky because the plane was only half full and they let us move to seats where we could all have a seat. (Aniela was a lap rider) The plane trip felt so much longer this time, lucky for me both the girls took a 1 or 2 hour nap. (not at the same time)

At the Paris airport we were unloaded outside and had to board a bus which took us to the terminal. Then we had to get off that bus and load another one which took us to our terminal. After we got to our terminal it was up and down several sets of stairs and a walk half way across the airport to security where we found out that Aniela was not allowed through. The agent in Berlin did not print her a boarding pass and even though she was a lap rider they said she needed one, so Areya and I took all the carry on bags and went through security while Damian took Aniela and their passports to look for someone to print Aniela's boarding pass. Luck for us someone helped him out and he did not end up having to go all the way to the ticket counter. They finally made it through security and found us just in time to get on the plane. We were so close to missing our flight. We finally made it back to Chicago where we had to go through customs (we were not given the necessary forms in Paris so we had to fill them out there while waiting in line) and get our bag. I'm so glad that Ida was waiting for us just outside.

I think we're all happy to be back. (Yes even Damian) Now the hard part will be adjusting to the 7 hour time difference.

Poland 8 - Happy Birthday Areya

While we were there Areya had her 5th birthday. In the morning we went to the grand opening festivities of the train that connects Poland and Germany. We rode to the end of the line and back, then on our way home we went on a birthday horse and carriage ride. Areya has been asking the whole trip to go horse back riding, but we were not able to take her, so this was the next best thing.

The girls on the train.

That evening we had her birthday party. Here is her cake and her opening her presents. She got a doctor kit, a Tinker Bell back pack and a princess with a pony. She was so excited to open her presents that she wouldn't even eat her cake. Oh well, more cake for me.

Happy Birthday Monster We Love You!

Poland 7

Damian's dad had to leave for work (he works in Brazil) just after Aniela got out of the hospital so he was not there for the rest of our trip.

Our next adventure was to some land that his parents own in the village of Wiselka . It is about a 2 minute walk to the lake from the property.


Then we went to the village of Miedzyzdroje (the village where Ta ta was born) to visit Damian's aunt and uncle. (his fathers brother) We stopped at the pier and park to let the kids play before our visit.

The park was a lot of fun and again the beach was awesome. While at the pier I needed to use the restroom so I followed the signs and found out that I needed to pay to use them. Can you believe that? Pay to use the restroom! It was 2 zloty which is about $1 US, after I got back Areya announced that she needed to go too, but we made her hold it until we got to his uncles house.

Poland 6

On the first day full day in Swinoujsice we went to the beach and like always we weren't prepared for the kids to play in the water so they played in their clothes. (Damian never tells me where we're going so I don't know what to take) We had so much fun, I love the beach! We were able to walk pretty far out before it started to get deep.

After a few days of rain it finally dried up enough for us to go the Ma ma & Ta ta's garden. They live in a flat which does not include a yard so they have a little land a few miles away where they grow tomatoes, berries, flowers and grapes. They also have a sand box which kept the girls busy. I loved the fresh raspberries and beautiful flowers.

The next few weeks were not as much fun. Aniela got really sick and had to be admitted to the hospital. For the whole story (just in case you missed that one) see Update on Aniela in my older posts. Here are a few pictures of the hospital room and her doing the breathing treatment.

They ended up letting her out 2 days later even though she was not completely better. We had to have a nurse come twice a day and give her a shot of antibiotics in the bum and continue the breathing treatments at home. She got a total of 8 more shots after coming home, but after they were finished she was feeling great.