Dad & Tj's visit

My dad and brothers packed all our stuff still in Utah into the truck and then he and Tj drove the 1,400 miles to Arlington Heights. They left on Saturday and drove non stop arriving early Sunday morning.














They took a nap while we were at church. When I got home I made some really yummy Enchiladas.








On Monday we rented a storage unit and unloaded the truck. The girls took turns driving the truck. (well pretending to)
















I forget how much stuff we have until we have to pack or unpack it all.




































It was Aniela's nap time and she fought it as long as she could but in the end she just could not last.









We had a BBQ and then went to the park to play. Areya got a bat and ball and wanted to practice. Then we let the girls swing. Damian and I enjoyed the swings too.













































My dad and Tj flew back to Utah on Tuesday after a great visit. It was so great to see them. I can't wait until we get to go to Utah in June for our visit.

Sun burned babies

We finally got a great weather day, so we went to the park to play. There is a really nice park just across the street that has baseball diamonds, tennis courts, basketball courts and a play ground with swings, toys, and a sand box.

We spent hours playing. The girls really loved the sand and we met some friends. I guess the weather was too nice because the girls ended up getting sun burned.

Areya's burn was really bad and hurt for days. I felt really bad for forgetting the sunscreen.

Dumb Boys!

On Friday there was a shooting just across the street from the car lot where my Damian works. He said that they heard a few pops and went running out to see what was going on.

First, how stupid do you have to be to run towards a gun shot?
Second, who says that they were done shooting?
Third, stray bullets kill people too.

Damian said that they saw a body get pulled into a car and then it drove off.

Ok, crazy! He of course thought it was so cool. I am totally freaking out by this point of his story.

Come to find out that there was two groups of people shooting at each other the one that got hit (the body getting pulled into the car) was shot in the shoulder and liver. His buddy took him to the hospital.

Other then that working is going well for him. He averages one car a week. Not to bad I guess, it is just really hard because he is never home. Between working at the car lot and the airport he is gone 7 days a week. We are really missing him.

She's walking!

Aniela is finally walking on her own. She can only take a few steps at a time but she gets right back up and keeps going. I think she will be completely walking by the end of the week. Which is perfect timing because my dad and Tj should be here on Sunday.

She has also started calling the dog by name.

Mother's Day

Damian got me these beautiful flowers and a nice card for Mother's Day. I also got a very sticker covered paper with a drawing of a flower on it, from Areya. She made it all by herself.

Aniela standing

Aniela is finally trying to stand on her own and she thinks it is a lot of fun to try. She kind of has a suffers stance but it's really cute. Here is a short video of her trying.




Now that she can stand she thinks she needs to climb on every thing. I can't keep her off the stool in the kitchen and the other day I found her on top of a box in her room. She also take advantage of the bathroom door being left open to climb into the bath tub.

There's no stopping her now!

Were in Illinois

Here is a picture of Chicago from out side the Soldiers Field. I needed a break from unpacking and needed to get out of the house so we went to the Shedd Aquarium.








Here is a picture of Damian and Areya standing next to a fish that can grow over 10 feet long. There was one there that was about 6 feet long. It was huge!



















They had an Anaconda and dolphins. There was so much to see that we did not have time to see it all.































Here are a few pictures of our apartment. We have 2 bedrooms, 1 bath and a small washer and dryer in a closet. There is a small porch on the back with a view of a little pond with a few ducks. I enjoy having such a small area to clean but hate the stairs and having to bring every thing up them. There is also no kids that are Areya's age so she gets stir crazy not being able to play and get her energy out.
























We found a few parks to play at when the weather has been nice. The girls loved the time outside and I enjoyed the warm weather.






















The weather here has been back and forth, nice and sunny to cloudy and raining. Soon the other day when it was stormy outside we st up the bouncer in the house and I let the girls jump for awhile.

Our goodbye picnic

I'm pretty sure by now most of you know that we left for Chicago. We left on Saturday April 19th. Damian was unable to come back and get us so my brother Matt took a few days off and drove the 1,400 miles to Arlington Heights, Illinois with us. What a great brother I have!

We have a little going away picnic the night we left. My whole family (except Damian) was able to be there. It was great! I'm was so happy to be able to spend a little time with them before we left.



Here are some pictures of me and my bros.



















Grandma, me, Areya and Aniela.
3 generations (we are luck to still have 4 generations living, Grandma Great is in Tennessee)






My family!









Ida with the girl.








Here are the kids playing after dinner.
Yes, the big kids too.


















Areya & Britton on the swing.









Aniela climbing up the slide.









Look at us, this is so fun!










Here's everyone enjoying the yummy food.



















And now it's time for the goodbyes. I really hated this part.






































In the car, all buckled in and ready for the long trip .



















It took us just over 20 hours to get there, only stopping for gas and potty breaks. Well, we did stop Sunday morning for a quick breakfast. We left at night so the girls would sleep through most of the drive and switched off drivers. The girls did wonderful. Aniela was sick and threw up once but slept most of the way. Areya got an activity bag from grandma which kept her really busy. Matt was a trooper and drove most of the trip so I could get some sleep and take care of the kids.

Thanks Matt for being so willing to come with us. I'm glad we got so much time to talk. I love you!