Independence Day Musings

I've loved reading all the posts about people's Independence Day adventures as of late. Though the day is now long past, I thought I would add my own. I love Independence Day. It has become my favorite holiday and I anxiously await its coming every year. I really can't think of any aspect of the 4th that doesn't appeal to me. The parades, the crowds, the fireworks, the patriotic songs, the family, the festivals, the food--I just really can't get enough of it.

It has also become an important time marker for Spencer and I. We met the last week of June and started seriously dating just in time for all the Provo Independence Day festivities. As cheesy as it seems, we fell in love amidst the craziness of fireworks and parades and because of that, this time of year will always be special to us. Though we married in December, I think we both consider the 4th of July period our true "anniversary."

Every year we were in Provo for the fourth, we were the official "parade spot keepers" for Spencer's family. Yes, we were part of the crazy crowd who would spend the night on the street to secure prime parade viewing enjoyment. I have so many good memories from that. When Spencer's family told us that they continued the tradition this year as well, and even scavenged the same spot, I felt a silly little glow of pride in my heart that Spencer and I had left our own little 4th of July legacy. :) It was hard for me to see pictures posted on blogs and facebook by friends and family of all the Provo activities without feeling a wave of nostalgia and homesickness. The Freedom Festival, the hot air balloons, the parade, the activities at Maceys, the Stadium of Fire and even the crazy crew of motorcyclers who cruise University Ave all night before the parade will always hold a place in my heart. But I digress...

I also love Independence Day because I am a covert American history buff. My dream when I first entered college was to become an American history professor. That dream got lost in my post-mission desire to save the world through social work, but still lives on in my heart. I am amazed by the founding of my country and marvel at the incredible odds the colonists overcame. Talk about the greatest underdog victory of all time--a ragtag band of primarily inexperienced military novices took on the strongest army in the world and triumphed. On paper, it just shouldn't have worked out. They fought amongst themselves, desertion rates were high and morale was usually quite low; but somehow, by the skin of their teeth, they did it. It is a direct testament of God's ability to utilize the weak and imperfect to bring about his great purposes.

And now onto the pictures! We spent the 4th of July holidays with Spencer's family--first in Nauvoo, and then in Wisconsin. It was really great to see so many of them. It was especially fun for me to watch Grace interact with her cousins. She LOVES them. While Grace is generally afraid of adults at first, she has almost none of the same reservations with children. After we got home, whenever she saw little kids, she would start flapping her arms and making excited noises--no doubt thinking they were her cousins about to come play with her. I loved it.

Well, the pictures are pretty out of order, but...here they are.

Grace at Pike Lake near Hartford, WI, on the 4th. She discovered the joys of pushing her stroller and walking with it. She did that for a good half hour or so.

April, Max, Spencer, Landon, Grace and Olivia at the Hartford parade. Not as great as the Provo Parade, but a parade nonetheless. :)

More Pike Lake.

We went to Milwaukee the night of the third for their big fireworks show. The fireworks shot out over Lake Michigan. The show was an hour long! Even for a fireworks buff, I was getting kind of restless at the end. Grace showed little to no interest in the fireworks. She found a squishy orange ball much more entertaining and spent the duration of the show chewing on it. A lot of the nieces and nephews fell asleep. Grace, however, was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to very end, even though her regular bedtime is 7:30. She's always happy to stay up as late as possible. The next day, however, she's a cranky, whiny mess.

Grace and Calais.

Grace and Landon.

Cute Olivia.

I promise that Grace really did love her cousins, despite what this picture seems to indicate.

Grace, Sammy, and Landon: all born within a few months of each other!

It was surprisingly cold that night, hence the hoodies.

Milwaukee!

Jacob, Whitney, Landon and us on our walk to see Lake Michigan.

More Lake Michigan.

The fam waiting for the fireworks to start.

Esther and little sleeping Sammy.

Just before we went to Milwaukee, we stopped by a cute old town called Cedarburg to make a chocolate run. We kept Grace protectively in her stroller. This was also my first attempt at doing something with the little tuft of hair that Grace has on top. Little Gracie Lou Who. :)

On the 2nd, we went to a cathedral close to April's home in Hartford. We trekked up the 178 stairs to the top, with two babies in tow.

In the spires of the cathedral. Apparently, Grace found the climb quite tiring.

April and three of her kids: Adam, Benjamin and Calais.

View from the top.

The weekend before the fourth, we met up with Jacob and Whitney and April and her kids in Nauvoo. This is Grace and Landon in the...family living center, I think?

The Browning Gunsmith spiel.

Apparently, I wasn't doing a good job of keeping up with Grace's hunger. She had to turn to other sources for food.

Spencer, Sydney, and Brigham Young's well.

A genuine Nauvoo horse.

Chubby face Grace.

The whole crew.

Calais, Sydney, and the part of the muddy old Mississippi where the Pioneers crossed.

Casualties of our recent move to Cedar Rapids:

• a glass bowl
• a much beloved mini-mixer
• Anna's sanity

Grace the Fish

Grace had her first adventure in a swimming pool today. I was somewhat skeptical about her enjoying the experience very much. The water was freezing cold (Spencer and I had to ease ourselves in very slowly) and Grace isn't the...bravest of babies. :) I figured she'd scream and protest at first and then gradually decide that water was okay. This is how she seems to react with all things new. However, something about being here in Illinois has turned her into a little daredevil. When we put her in, she started a bit, but then was perfectly content to float around--in water that even Spencer and I were hesitant to be in! It was really quite adorable. She was so happy! By the end, she was leaning back against the floaty relaxing and soaking in the sun. Apparently, there will be a lot of swimming in our future. :)

The complex that we live in has a pool, so that's where we were.

It was Grace's little friend Beau's first experience in a swimming pool as well, but he didn't like it as much. Grace kept trying to assure him that it was okay, but he didn't trust her.

Pre-swimming pump up.

Nauvoo Trip

Nauvoo is such a perfect place to spend Memorial Day. For me, Nauvoo is all about remembering. Remembering to be grateful for all of the wonderful advances technology has brought us (hooray for no longer traveling across the country by covered wagon!), remembering the beauty of the earth and a simple lifestyle, and most of all, remembering the sacrifices of the early members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. What a hard thing it must have been to leave such a beautiful city and existence for a future of relative uncertainty.

As Spencer and I prepared to move and sell our home, I felt a strange connection with the early saints. Obviously, I was not leaving my home under even remotely similar circumstances. No one forced us to leave. It was a choice we made of our own accord. And their journey across those same plains and mountains that we crossed stretched on for months and months and included terrible heartache and suffering. Ours took a whopping 24 hours, most of which were spent watching a plethora of redbox movies we rented before leaving. Now, listening to Grace scream and protest for the last two hours of the trip felt like terrible suffering at the time, but obviously can't even compare to what so many of the saints went through.

But all the same, I wondered if some of the emotions I was feeling were similar to theirs. Spencer and I spent a mere 9 months in our home. A home that we (along with the help of so many friends and family members) worked so hard to get and had planned on inhabiting for quite some time. It was beautiful to us. Our first real home together and the first place that we could paint, decorate, and mold to fit who we were. We spent many a Saturday mowing, watering, weeding, pruning and raking. And this doesn't include all the time we spent sanding and refinishing the wood floors, fixing various aspects of the houses physique, and painting the walls. In the end, I had a finished kitchen floor for only about 3 days before we had to leave. And then there's the whole issue of leaving the only state Spencer and I had ever known as home with all of its mountainous splendor. And don't even get me started about having to leave all of our family.

But I digress. The point of all this is to say that I can understand now what it must have been like for them (in some small degree) to leave behind such a wonderful place after such a short time and so unexpectedly. It's not easy. What faith they had. We, at least, knew that there was a place to live and a livelihood of some persuasion waiting for us. We also knew that really, no matter how far we wandered, home would always be just a plane ride (or a very long, but wholly doable car ride) away. What assurances did they have? All they knew was that Joseph Smith, as a young boy, had seen God and his Son, Jesus Christ. And nothing else mattered. That was enough. I stand all amazed.

The house we stayed in for the weekend

The Carthage grass war with Grace's new buddy, Beau

Grace at Carthage

The Linx Wives

The Linx guys

Becoming Midwesterners

So, here we are, living in Illinois and adjusting to life in the midwest.  It's been strange how easy it's been to switch gears into my new reality.  Sometimes I feel as if Spencer and I never lived in Provo, but have always been residents of Illinois.  Everything about our life before seems so distant.  And, obviously, it is (literally), but we've only been out here for a few weeks!  I guess, honestly, when you're home full-time with a baby, it doesn't much matter where you live.  Life goes on pretty much the same as it did before.  And I don't mean this negatively, I just mean that's how I feel.  I can feed, change, bathe, cuddle, and put Grace to sleep no matter where I am.  The routine remains constant whether I be in Utah or Illinois.  I guess, in that way, having a baby with me has made it easier for me to adjust.  My purpose and basic life outline haven't changed much.  I just do it amidst humidity.  :)

I think Spencer's life has changed much more than mine.  A salesman's life and hours are not exactly what you'd call ideal.  But, it really hasn't been as bad as I would have thought.  I guess I can only speak for myself, though.  Spencer may think differently.  :) From my point of view, I get to see Spencer more than before--it's just at different times.  Spencer is home with me for pretty much the entire morning and lunch.  He sees Grace more than he ever did before, minus the fact that he works on Saturdays.  With his previous job and school schedule, on a good day, he only saw Grace for about 2 hours.  More often than not, it was more like an hour and a half to one hour.  She just goes to bed so darn early!  Now, his Grace time has doubled if not tripled.  I love that.  

Plus, since moving to Illinois, we have become a two tennis racket family.  We may never make it to being a two car family, but at least we are covered as far as tennis rackets are concerned. :) Meaning, Spencer and I have already spent many a morning out playing tennis together.  When Spencer is feeling especially amiable, he is willing to go jogging with me as well.  This would never have been an option with his old job.     

So, with the difficult, there comes a lot of good.  Spencer doesn't get home until late every night (minus Saturdays), but there are things to make up for that.  And he's been doing really well selling, so hopefully our crazy plan will work out after all.  

I think that, besides family and friends, the thing I miss the most is my home.  It hasn't been easy to go back to renting, but Spencer and I do feel that this sacrifice will be worth it.  I loved our house so much and Spencer and I put so much of ourselves into it.  We joke that we took about as many pictures of our house and yard before we left as we have of Grace since she was born.  This isn't exactly true, but you get the idea.  We loved that house. :) It hurts to think about it and realize that we're not there to take care of it.  I think often about the grass, the flowers and the cherry tree.  I never thought I could get quite so worked up about a bunch of plants and bricks.  But it was ours.  And it meant so much to us.  But there will be others.  :)  And we're so happy about it's new family.  We give them to our house highly recommended. 

But there is so much to love about Illinois.  We live within 5 minutes of the Mississippi and there is a lovely little jogging trail that curves along it.  And there are bunnies, squirrels, and ground hogs everywhere.  They just hang out in plain sight!  Love that.  Not to mention it's nice and green here and the people are really friendly.  Plus, we get to have missionaries over for dinner!  Hooray!  Not so much an option in Provo.  And...we once again live within walking distance of a library.  :)  I couldn't be happier.  Oh, and one more thing: when you live in an apartment building, you can do more than one load of laundry at a time.  That can make it all worth it.  :)   

So, goodbye Utah.  Hello midwest.  And now...the above information in picture form. :)

Some of the many wonderful people we will always remember:

Snapshots of the house and  yard we will greatly miss:

And last but not least, a shot from our drive out to the midwest:

Grace was more than willing to do her share of the driving.  :)

The Kite Runners

For my first official Mother's Day, Spencer surprised me with a lovely pair of genuine, hand-crafted WalMart kites. :0)  I was so excited!  Kite flying is something that has always held such wonderful appeal for me.  It  seems such a romantic pastime.  I believe that if there are still people in this world who spend windy afternoons flying kites, then all is well.  

Spencer has mentioned to me many a time (and quite nostalgically) his kite flying experiences as a child.  He describes himself lying on a blanket with his brother and dad, relaxing and watching their kite fly higher and higher into the blue.  So, I, of course, had already decided to get Spencer a nice kite for his birthday. And he, of course, beat me to it.  Spencer is the murderer of birthday surprises.  :0)  But, at least this way he got to pick the kites out and I didn't accidentally buy the cheap kind that doesn't work--which I am always apt to do.  

At any rate, we took our kites on their maiden voyage that very day and had a lovely time.  Grace, turns out, is an amazing kite-ist.          

First, Spencer taught her the ins and outs of being a chill kite flyer.  She listened and studied attentively.

Then came the legendary hand-off.

Grace got it down to a science.

And soon, she discovered that kites were not only good for flying, but for eating, as well.

She found the whole thing so easy, she decided to lay down for a bit and rest (notice the kite continues to fly with ease, as is evidenced by the string still held taut).

Spencer was pretty good, too (as seen with the more advanced, but slightly less restful, two-handed kite!).

And now, a shot of the happily soaring turtle kite.

All in all, the afternoon was a big success.  As was Mother's Day.

P.S.  This blog steals its title from the book, "The Kite Runner," which I highly recommend.  It got me interested in all things kite and Afghanistan.  For those who have read it, Spencer and I took turns being each other's "kite runner."  I loved it.

An overabundance of blogging ideas...

I finally seem to have developed a taste for blogging.  And it all came because, for once, I couldn't blog when I actually wanted to.   It's funny how I tend to not miss things until they're gone.  Ever since Spencer and I moved to Moline, IL., I have spent many a moment fantasizing about all of the amazing blog posts I would create about our adventures once we finally got the internet for REAL in our apartment (sneakily stealing it from other unsuspecting people's unsecured wireless routers does NOT count, though it does seem a cheaper alternative...).  At any rate, I am so excited!  So, here it goes.