Ryan's first bath with his sisters ... Aug 28, 2008
This probably isn't fair to him...but he'll get over it.
Ashley's "bedroom" ... Aug 22, 2008
Ashley decided to make a "bedroom" out of our bathroom. I hope the floor was clean.
"American Girl" Pajamas ... August 19, 2008
Dawn bought birthday presents for the girls at the American Girl store in Chicago, pajamas that matched the pajamas of their dolls. Although Ashley SWIMS in hers, they both LOVE them! Thanks Dawn!
Katie's 2nd tooth ... August 16, 2008
Katie lost her 2nd tooth while we were in New York. She absolutely needs to stop growing up.
New York, USA ... Aug 13 - 17, 2008
Before our flight out of Chicago, Kevin Button, a very good friend of mine from my mission (and we worked together at GE as well) met us at the airport where we were able to catch up for a bit. It was great to see him again and we were glad he made the time to come out.
The flight to New York was fine, although once we arrived to JFK, as always, some things got messed up. This time it was luggage. None of it came, including the car seats. Fortunately we had Ryan's with us. We were able to get a minivan afterall, though, so that was supposed to make things easier (until the lady hit us).
We drove to Heather's dad's house in Rock Tavern, NY, about an hour and fifteen minutes north of the city and settled in. We found some shirts that we used for the girls for their pajamas since we had no luggage and it would not arrive until the next day (somehow they didn't last for Ashley during the night).
We spent the next few days EATING, relaxing, and shopping. We came to the US with two checked bags and planned on going back with eight,so we had to buy a lot of things to stock up on. When we started filling the bags we realized, despite having filled shopping carts, we still had room to spare. Oh well.
Having the minivan was pointless, as the first day we were there Don's cleaning lady ran into the van that was sitting in the driveway so the door wouldn't close. I went and found a replacement but only an SUV was available. I thought it was better than nothing until we went to use it (I piccked it up by myself) and found that the back seat only had TWO seatbelts, so we were not even able to drive with it. Fortunately between Mark and Kim and Don, we had enough space to get everyone around (and the girls got some good quality time with their Aunt and Uncle).
Heather's sister Kym and her husband Mark flew out for 2 days to join us in New York, which was great. It was great to see them again, even if it was just a quick visit. We all saw Batman (finally for me and Don, the 3rd time for Mark), which was fantastic. Heather and Kym took the girls to Wall-E. I caught the end of it (Batman ended a little earlier than Wall-E) ...LAME...and Heather confirmed the same.
We went to church on Sunday before driving to the airport for the flight home. Quite frankly, I can't stand New York. The traffic is terrible (and it's not like you have a nice environment to look at while moving at 2 miles/hour) and the airports are the worst I have ever had to deal with. That being said, the trip back to the airport was not TERRIBLE and we were able to check in and actually fly out relatively on time and with relative ease. Mark and Kym drove down with us (since we had a lot of stuff and since we didn't have enough seatbelts), which worked out OK, as they had to take a flight that evening, albeit from Newark. We were grateful they were willing to drive out of their way to help us.
Overall, it was a great trip. We got to see all of my family and most of Heather's, so it worked out pretty well. I know we say this every year, but unless we move back to the US, this is the last trip we will make back. We are serious this time!
The flight to New York was fine, although once we arrived to JFK, as always, some things got messed up. This time it was luggage. None of it came, including the car seats. Fortunately we had Ryan's with us. We were able to get a minivan afterall, though, so that was supposed to make things easier (until the lady hit us).
We drove to Heather's dad's house in Rock Tavern, NY, about an hour and fifteen minutes north of the city and settled in. We found some shirts that we used for the girls for their pajamas since we had no luggage and it would not arrive until the next day (somehow they didn't last for Ashley during the night).
We spent the next few days EATING, relaxing, and shopping. We came to the US with two checked bags and planned on going back with eight,so we had to buy a lot of things to stock up on. When we started filling the bags we realized, despite having filled shopping carts, we still had room to spare. Oh well.
Having the minivan was pointless, as the first day we were there Don's cleaning lady ran into the van that was sitting in the driveway so the door wouldn't close. I went and found a replacement but only an SUV was available. I thought it was better than nothing until we went to use it (I piccked it up by myself) and found that the back seat only had TWO seatbelts, so we were not even able to drive with it. Fortunately between Mark and Kim and Don, we had enough space to get everyone around (and the girls got some good quality time with their Aunt and Uncle).
Heather's sister Kym and her husband Mark flew out for 2 days to join us in New York, which was great. It was great to see them again, even if it was just a quick visit. We all saw Batman (finally for me and Don, the 3rd time for Mark), which was fantastic. Heather and Kym took the girls to Wall-E. I caught the end of it (Batman ended a little earlier than Wall-E) ...LAME...and Heather confirmed the same.
We went to church on Sunday before driving to the airport for the flight home. Quite frankly, I can't stand New York. The traffic is terrible (and it's not like you have a nice environment to look at while moving at 2 miles/hour) and the airports are the worst I have ever had to deal with. That being said, the trip back to the airport was not TERRIBLE and we were able to check in and actually fly out relatively on time and with relative ease. Mark and Kym drove down with us (since we had a lot of stuff and since we didn't have enough seatbelts), which worked out OK, as they had to take a flight that evening, albeit from Newark. We were grateful they were willing to drive out of their way to help us.
Overall, it was a great trip. We got to see all of my family and most of Heather's, so it worked out pretty well. I know we say this every year, but unless we move back to the US, this is the last trip we will make back. We are serious this time!
St. Louis, Missouri, USA ... Aug. 10 - 12, 2008
We all attended church in my parents' ward in Champaign before all driving to St. Louis, where we would spend the next few days. Monday morning we went to the zoo. It is a pretty good zoo, I was surprised. We saw a few animals and attended the Sea Lion show, which was standard, train the Sea Lion to jump through hoops, balance a ball on its nose, etc. But the girls enjoyed it.
After the zoo we met Dawn and her kids for lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and did some more shopping. We then spent the rest of the afternoon swimming at the hotel.
For dinner we found out there was a Jimmy Johns around, so we decided we would have that and Dairy Queen for dinner. We made it to Jimmy Johns fine, then found the closest Dairy Queen in the GPS. We drove and drove, arriving in a pretty tough part of town. We kept having to turn around because following the GPS we would run into a blocked off road (gates, potted plants, etc.). Heather remembered hearing on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition that they do that to minimize the drive by's. Up until she told me that I was just annoyed that we were having difficulty finding Dairy Queen, but then I got pretty nervous. But we were SO close I figured might as well keep going. We finally arrived at the "Dairy Queen". The sign was basically still there, but the words "Dairy Queen" had been replaced by "Miami Grill"! We booked it out of there and gave up the search.
Tuesday morning we drove to our condo in St. Louis and dropped the girls off with a babysitter so we could all go to the temple. We met Dawn at the temple and left Ryan with her. It was nice to be in the temple together, my parents, plus all of my sisters and their spouses and my grandpa.
After the temple we said goodbye to everyone and made our way to Chicago. We had an early enough flight on Wednesday that we didn't want to have to rush too much in the morning. We found a hotel near the airport, but I didn't realize that US hotels could be as dumpy as the one I randomly chose. It was a Days Inn, I figured it couldn't be worse than some of the random places we would stop in Europe. Unfortunately, it was. But fortunately, we just had to sleep there and it ended up being fine.
After the zoo we met Dawn and her kids for lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and did some more shopping. We then spent the rest of the afternoon swimming at the hotel.
For dinner we found out there was a Jimmy Johns around, so we decided we would have that and Dairy Queen for dinner. We made it to Jimmy Johns fine, then found the closest Dairy Queen in the GPS. We drove and drove, arriving in a pretty tough part of town. We kept having to turn around because following the GPS we would run into a blocked off road (gates, potted plants, etc.). Heather remembered hearing on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition that they do that to minimize the drive by's. Up until she told me that I was just annoyed that we were having difficulty finding Dairy Queen, but then I got pretty nervous. But we were SO close I figured might as well keep going. We finally arrived at the "Dairy Queen". The sign was basically still there, but the words "Dairy Queen" had been replaced by "Miami Grill"! We booked it out of there and gave up the search.
Tuesday morning we drove to our condo in St. Louis and dropped the girls off with a babysitter so we could all go to the temple. We met Dawn at the temple and left Ryan with her. It was nice to be in the temple together, my parents, plus all of my sisters and their spouses and my grandpa.
After the temple we said goodbye to everyone and made our way to Chicago. We had an early enough flight on Wednesday that we didn't want to have to rush too much in the morning. We found a hotel near the airport, but I didn't realize that US hotels could be as dumpy as the one I randomly chose. It was a Days Inn, I figured it couldn't be worse than some of the random places we would stop in Europe. Unfortunately, it was. But fortunately, we just had to sleep there and it ended up being fine.
Champaign, Illinois, USA ... Aug 8 - 10, 2008
My parents had been in St. Louis at the temple and were on their way back, to arrive around 9:00 in Champaign. All of my sisters and their families and my grandpa all met at my parents' house to wait for them to arrive. We huddled in their bedroom, 24 of us (William and Julia were keeping watch, since my parents knew that they would be there), waiting for them to come in. 
When they came home Julia told my parents that their two kids were watching a movie in their bedroom, so they should go in and say "hello". When they opened the door they were obviously tremendously surprised to see all of us together (or they are very good actors) as we wished them a Happy 40th wedding anniversary. We had come from all over...Wisconsin, Utah, Maryland, Minneapolis, and Budapest. 
When they came home Julia told my parents that their two kids were watching a movie in their bedroom, so they should go in and say "hello". When they opened the door they were obviously tremendously surprised to see all of us together (or they are very good actors) as we wished them a Happy 40th wedding anniversary. We had come from all over...Wisconsin, Utah, Maryland, Minneapolis, and Budapest. We visited together that evening before calling it a night. The girls were awake by 3AM again, thank goodness once again for ipods! We waited around for everyone else to wake up before leaving all the grandkids with my parents for their traditional grandkids breakfast, while the parents all went out for breakfast. Breakfast in the US, by the way, is 100 times better than European breakfasts. Waffles, pancakes, omelettes, COLD milk, etc. Bread with jam is good, but only so much of it. Cereal is pretty crappy in Europe (seems everything is chocolate something) and the milk sits out and is always warm. Anyway...
We ate, did some shopping, ate Monicals Pizza for lunch (we have a list of restaurants we have to hit every time we are back in the US ... Jimmy Johns, Monicals, Chinese wherever, Cracker Barrel, etc.), then got ready for the surprise anniversary party. We invited my parents' closest friends plus my Aunt Joanne came from Utah and my Uncle Jubel from Kentucky (my dad's brother and sister). It was great to see them surprised yet again as they walked into the ballroom of the hotel we catered the event at. Kendra had prepared a slide show, plus my grandpa said some kind words. Ashley asked if she could go to sleep as soon as it started. We just laid her down on the floor in the corner and she was asleep as soon as she laid down. Katie lasted just a few minutes longer before going to sleep in our arms. So they basically missed the whole thing, but understandably so.
The whole event turned out very nice and my parents were overwhelmed and grateful.
PS: The above picture is Ryan with his cousin Matthew who is six weeks older than Ryan...although Ryan looks six MONTHS older than HIM!
Chicago, Illinois, USA ... Aug 7 - 8, 2008
So just a few days after arriving back from Croatia, etc. we all got up early to board a flight back to the United States to attend my parents surprise 40th wedding anniversary. They had no idea that all of their six kids, their families, my grandpa, two of my dad's siblings, and a number of their friends would be gathering together to celebrate this special occasion with them.
It started out a little messy. I guess I set the alarm for 4:15 PM, instead of 4:15 AM. Our taxi was scheduled to pick us up at 5:15 AM to take us to the airport. We woke up to the DOORBELL, not the alarm. We leapt out of bed, brushed out teeth, put on some deoderant (at least I was smart enough to do that...Heather, not so much, unfortunately!), I put on a hat, and we quickly woke up the kids and got them dressed. Fortunately we had really prepared well the night before as far as packing, so we were able to grab the luggage with little concern that we were missing something. I did, however, run back inside to turn off the computer and noticed one of my shoes had fallen out of a bag! By 5:30 we were in the taxi headed to the airport. Not bad, 15 minutes to get all ready. The downside, we would be traveling for 24 hours, meaning 36 hours without a shower, but oh well. I was more worried about traveling with the kids for so long.
This worry turned out to be irrational, as all three kids traveled almost FLAWLESSLY. The first flight to Paris was easy, even sitting on the runway for an extra hour, as the girls colored and watched their ipods. And Ryan was perfect, not a peep out of him the entire time. The layover in Paris...easy, no issues. Then we got on the flight to Chicago. We were pleased that we all had individual screens for videos, etc. With those movies on demand and the ipods and the coloring and reading and even a little bit of a nap, all three kids did great. Ryan, for both flights, awake or a sleep, was a perfect baby. So the only embarrasment we had to endure was that we stunk. I'm ok with that.
We arrived into Chicago, picked up our luggage, picked up our rental car and drove to our hotel in Chicago where we met up with Heather's sister, Dawn and her two boys. We were able to spend a day with them before we headed down to Champaign to surprise my parents. We showered and then all went to Papadeuxs, our FAVORITE place for crawfish bisque, the best we've ever tasted. Katie and Ashley fell asleep at the table. After that, we had been awake for 24 hours, so it was time for the rest of us to get some sleep.
Despite staying awake until 11PM central time, we still all woke up at 3AM. I don't get it. We stay awake for 24 hours and then can only manage four hours of sleep. We hung out in the hotel room until breakfast.
Dawn kept the girls while I went and got my driver's license. My license expired a year and half ago, and although I tried to get it last year when we were home, I didn't have my Social Security Card. This time I was prepared with all the paperwork and although I had to take another road test (this is pretty easy test, but still a little nerve-racking, worried I'd do something stupid!), I left with a valid driver's license. I would have done it in Hungary, but it would have cost me $1000 and I actually was told I had to take a driver's education class. No way was I going to spend the time and money for that!
We were able to get in and out of the DMV in an hour, so we made good time. We went into the city with Dawn and her kids, first to 7/11, then to Nordstroms for a little shopping, then to Jimmy Johns for lunch, and then to the American Girl store off Michigan Avenue. The girls had a good time, while Stephen, Hayden (our nephews), and I waited for them to get done. You can see in the photo that Stephen and Hayden were pretty bored. Can't blame them.
We then tried to go down to Navy Pier, but while trying to park and get there, we determined we didn't have enough time or energy to proceed, so we gave up. We said goodbye to Dawn, Stephen, and Hayden until Sunday, when we will meet up with them again in St. Louis. We picked up my sister Kara and her husband, Luke on our way out of Chicago and we all drove to Champaign, arriving around 7:00.
Ashley and Ryan ... Aug 4, 2008
Tonight I went into Ashley's room to check on her...she wasn't in her bed. This is where I found her! Tonight in her prayer she thanked Heavenly Father for Ryan, "her best friend". This was a fantastic moment for me.
Ashley's Moods ... July 2008
We thought Ryan would be the hardest to travel with during our trip through Croatia/Montenegro/Bosnia. He was the easiest. Ashley's moods, while annoying most of the time, did amuse us enough to document them. She has the cutest smile, and admittedly, the cutest angry face as well!
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