Part One of our Midwest Trip: Chi-town and ND

As soon as BYU scheduled a football game with Notre Dame Than knew he would be there.  We ended up deciding to take the whole fam back there because then we could go to the game and then drive up to Michigan to show the kids where they were born and visit our friends out there.  This is the one time that Than's travel has come in handy.  Thank you frequent flier tickets!  

We left Thursday morning.  EARLY!  Our flight was out of SFO at 6:30 in the AM.  That means all of us up and out the door by 4:15am.  We did it and the kids were amazing like always.  

Here they are in the airport.  Seriously I have incredible kids.  They flew great.  Gentry was a pill of course but she's two so what can you expect.  Overall they were awesome on both flights.

We landed in Chicago (one of my very favorite towns!) and got started right away.  We headed straight to some deep dish pizza and it was soooo yummy! 

But actually, our kids could have just stayed in the car the whole time because they were sooooo excited to have a DVD player in the van!  Basically we could have stayed in Walnut Creek and rented a car with a DVD player and drove around for four days and they would have been just as happy. :)  

The weather was pretty terrible.  We were hoping to be able to let the kids ride the ferris wheel at Navy Pier but it was closed.  So we just walked around for a while and were almost blown away by the wind!  They don't call it the windy city for nothing!

Camry was getting a kick out of the umbrella breaking.  Hey we've been in California for two years.  We don't get weather like this very often! 

We did some dinner with the Wade's who were coming to the game with us.  By the end of night the kids were spent and being rather rowdy in the restaurant but we survived. 

Day two was spent at the hotel while Than worked and on the campus of Notre Dame.  Hooray for indoor pools!  It was super fun. 

The rest of the day was spent at Notre Dame.  WE LOVE THAT CAMPUS!  It's just so classic and amazing and beautiful.  Especially in the fall.  It rained on us all day but we survived.  

Claira almost didn't survive but that was to be expected. :)    

We got to walk the tunnel and touch the sign.  I'm pretty sure the real one is on the inside of the door but it's cool.  We can still play like a champion today with this one. 

Look at these colors!!!  ARe you kidding me!?!  I love it. 

 

Than knows the admissions lady from work so we walked over to her office for a visit.  The trumpets come into her building and play the fight song and the Alma Mater song before each home game.  Than was standing to an older gentleman that started to tear up!  That's how important Notre Dame is to people.  

After we walked back....I mean ran with all our might back to the car during a hail storm, we drove to our hotel and got ready for the BYU fireside that the team puts on every away game.  We got there on time but the place was packed!  Luckily, Than has a way to work his magic and we got seats right in the front.  All you have to do is ask!  The players who spoke did a great job and Pacen got to meet some of them afterward.  

GAME DAY!

We geared up with some galoshes prior to the game but ended up not needing them because the weather cooperated.  But I did see this sweet car at walmart when I was there.  Gotta love the midwest although I could surely see this car in Oroville.  That is if anyone in Oroville could dedicate this much time to something. 

After breakfast we saw that the BYU busses hadn't left yet so of course we all hung around the hotel waiting for them to load.  Pacen got to see so many players and got a picture with one of his favorites....Cody Hoffman!

And I got to see one of my favorites....Max Hall!!!  It was a fun unexpected stop.

We walked around campus and threw the ball for a bit.  This could be my new favorite picture. 

She was loving all the attention. She really does like sports though.  She could be the sportiest one yet. 

This is how to balance all the real important things in life. 

 Our crew in the stadium.  There weren't too many kids there but ours sure had a good time. 

My sweet big brother.  He takes care of his girls.

For some LaVell Edwards had seats up in our section.  He didn't stay for very long.  I'm assuming he figured out that he was like the master of BYU and that he could go anywhere he wanted. :)  

How's that view?!?!?!?!  It was killer.  Too bad BYU couldn't hold it together long enough to win but they at least played a good game. 

 You gotta be checking your twitter feed during the game to know what's going on!

We had a couple of sleepy heads on us for the first half but then everyone woke up happy.

The fam.  Of course Claira wouldn't look.  I don't like this phase. :)

 Our whole crew.  The Wade's are awesome.  Jesse played with Pacen and the girls the whole time and they loved it.  We've know them since Than worked for Eric at Living Scriptures and now Eric is working at Zinch and it's awesome to be connected with them again.  

And that was only half of our trip!!! 

Happy 32!

So now my birthday was like two weeks ago and finally I'm getting to it.  That's what happens when you take your family to Indiana and Michigan for almost a week!  

Am I really 32 years old???  I really can't believe that.  Like really.  32?!?!  Wow.  I am 26 weeks pregnant with my fifth child so I always say that I should be 32.  And it's quite a lot to have accomplished I might add.  This little girl in my belly has been a mover lately.  I love it.  I can see her move when I look down at my stomach and it is just so sweet and special.  On the not so sweet and special side is my doctor that I'm not a huge fan of anyway who told me that I've gained too much weight.  You know what I said???  Bite me.  Okay, I didn't say that, but I thought it and I wanted to say it.  Whatever.  I am getting a little bigger than normal but that is what happens when you go on vacation and you eat chocolate and treats all day.  

Anyway, back to my birthday.  My birthday was on a Sunday.  It was also Dennis and Everett's missionary homecoming.  Than surprised me with a pedicure Saturday morning with Emily.  Emily has been in town for a few weeks.  The funny part is that Emily HATES pedicures!  Like really cannot have someone dig at her toenails.  But she was a good sport and just got her feet worked on but not her toes.  That was a fun way to start off my b-day.  

Then we did soccer and lunch with Em and Marc and then headed off to Oroville.  We had to listen to BYU lose on the radio.  Boo.  But then we stopped in Sacramento so that Than could "go to the bathroom" and lo and behold Kyle and Becca are there to surprise me!  Than got Becca and I tickets to see Carrie Underwood who was playing in Sacramento!  It was perfect!  Becca and I shopped for a few hours.  I found a few cute things for my house and a pair of jeans and some flats and then were were off to see Carrie who was awesome just like I knew she'd be. And it was super fun to hang with Becca.  We don't get a lot of time to hang just the two of us and I loved it.  We need to do it more often.  

Sunday we went to church.  Dennis and Everett did a fantastic job on their homecoming talks.  They both served honorable missions and are much better for it.  After sacrament meeting, we snuck out and took the kids and GGma and GGpa to the fish hatchery!  I LOVE the fish hatchery.  I have memories going there with my dad as a kid and it's just one of those magical places in my life. 

It's amazing seeing all those big salmon!!!  And sad to know that they'll all lay their eggs and die but I guess it's just a part of life, right???

See, Oroville is pretty.  

Fish were jumping EVERYWHERE!   It is a pretty cool sight.  

Than and Carolyn had a disagreement on whether the river was the Feather River or American River.  Than said Feather, Carolyn said American.  So I took a silent shot of this sign.  :)

After, the three birthday girls had some cake and ice cream after our traditional Hancock taco dinner.  It looks like we are all a part of AA but really it was the only candles in the house. 

And if it can get better, it does.  For my birthday I got an iPhone!!!  I've never had one before and I'm loving it!  It actually works and doesn't shut down all the time and I can use it in my house which is a novel concept.   And I'm listening to Taylor Swift's new album RED and I love that too!  So happy birthday to me.  It was a great birthday weekend and was happy to share it with so much family.