Art and Crepes

Ann Arbor is incredible for dozens of reasons. One of which is the location. We live just 30 minutes from Detroit and just a few hours from Chicago and Cincinnati. Prime location, right? We have hundreds of "to-do's" to complete in these great cities and we managed to check one off our list on Saturday.

We drove out to Detroit with our really good friend, Bekah McClure, to visit the Detroit Institute of Arts. There were some amazing exhibits going on! My favorite part of the museum was the modern art era exhibit. We got to see original Picasso paintings (one of my favorite artists) as well as Renoir, Monet and van Gogh. Seriously amazing! Afterwards we hit up this delicious crepe restaurant that was recommended to us. We had the best savory and sweet crepes I've ever had! It was totally worth the trip just for the crepes. haha!

The Detroit Institute of Arts is gigantic! We could have spent several days inside.

Standing next to some original Picasso art. 

The most AMAZING crepes I've ever had!

Me and Bekah!

Oliver- 3 Months Old!

Our little man is 3 months old! I can't believe how much he's already changed in just a few months since his birth. He is constantly smiling, laughing, making funny noises, etc. and he can grab things pretty well now. He loves to grab his toys and shake them around. Oh, I could just go on all day about him. He's my pride and joy! :)

Happy all the time (well... almost all the time).

His head is too big for most of his hats.

Several chins and lots of rolls!

Juneau loves laying next to Oliver and he's figuring out how to pet her. 

This is his favorite chair. He loves sitting up so he can see all around the room.

Happy Birthday, David!

Today is my brother David's 27th Birthday. Sheesh! I can't believe another year has flown by. It's almost been 2 years since he passed away and although I didn't think it possible, time has made it easier. But, I still have so many "I miss David" moments. For instance, it's impossible to not think about David when I see anything super-hero (especially spiderman), hear a movie soundtrack, see a plane flying in the sky, watch The Simpsons, eat pie, talk about Mexico, eat mexican food, etc. haha!

So, basically I think about him a lot. And, the wonderful thing is I can think about him and talk about him without feeling sad anymore. I never thought that would happen, but somehow it did. And I'll admit, I didn't want that to happen. I wanted to be sad forever. But, now that it's happened I'm really glad it did.

In this past general conference Elder Shayne M. Bowen gave the greatest talk called "Because I live, Ye Shall Live Also". I felt like he was talking straight to me. He described everything I felt those first few months after David passed away. I wish I could quote the whole thing right here on my blog.... haha. Don't worry I won't. But, here are a few highlights that hit me so deep.

"I have learned that the bitter, almost unbearable pain can become sweet as you turn to your Father in Heaven and plead for His comfort that comes through His plan; His Son, Jesus Christ; and His Comforter, who is the Holy Ghost".

"My life started to change, and I was able to look forward with hope, rather than look backward with despair. I testify that this life is not the end. The spirit world is real. The teachings of the prophets regarding life after death are true. This life is but a transitory step forward on our journey back to our Heavenly Father".

Anyway, every year since my freshman year of college I made David a pie on his birthday since I couldn't afford to buy him a gift. He LOVED pie. So, last year I started this tradition of making him a pie on his birthday even though he isn't here to eat it. This year I made one of his favorites: French Silk. Yum! And, Austin and I sure enjoyed eating it. :)

We also released 27 balloons into the sky as a family (spread out across the country of course) just like we did last year. It was a really cool moment... talking on the phone to all my family members as we all released them together.

Releasing the balloons with my family on the phone... we had 27 balloons total.

French silk pie... yum!

General Conference Weekend!

Conference weekend is one of my favorite weekends that occurs not once... but twice a year! For those of you who don't know what general conference is, it's a world-wide gathering of all the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (the mormon church). The prophet and president of our church, President Thomas S. Monson and his counselors and apostles speak and give us direction and guidance. It is broadcast all over the world on the internet, tv, radio, etc. for those who can't gather at the conference center in Salt Lake City, Utah. For more information visit the official church website. www.lds.org

Every time this weekend rolls around we try to start some of our own traditions to make it special and fun! On Saturday we had a "pillow and blanket party" and made homemade donuts for the morning session and homemade pizza for lunch. It was awesome. On Sunday we went to a friend's house for Belgian waffles and watched the morning session with them. Then we went home and cooked up a delicious steak dinner and watched the afternoon session at home. It was such a fun weekend. Between all the cooking and watching conference we squeezed in a few walks to get some fresh fall air and to keep Juneau sane. :)

Oliver's first general conference

We pretty much snuggled all day long. It was so nice.

I tried a new donut recipe: baked donuts. HUGE mistake. They are supposed to be healthier, which in most cases is awesome. But, in this case... healthy donuts = not very tasty and not worth the effort.

Check out Oliver's sweet bald spot.... haha!

All bundled up for our afternoon walk.

Cider and Doughnuts

Michigan is famous for it's cider mills all over the state. In the fall after the apple harvest the mills hold festivals and we were told you absolutely MUST go! So, on Saturday we headed out to a famous cider mill called the Three Cedars Cider Mill and were definitely not disappointed! It was so fun and festive and the drive alone was worth it because we got to see all the beautiful farms and changing colored leaves filling up the trees. It was gorgeous to say the least!

The cider mill had hay rides, a corn maze, pumpkin picking, a petting farm, and best of all.... homemade cider and doughnuts!!!!! The side of the cider container had a picture of an old farmer and a caption that said, "Hilly Billy Joe says this cider is so good that your tongue will slap your brains out!"... and that's exactly what happened. My tongue slapped my brains out! That's how good it was.

Oliver didn't appreciate the sun in his eyes

Cider and Doughnuts...so good that my tongue slapped my brains out. :)

Settling In

We finally made it to Ann Arbor and went straight to our apartment to unload. Our apartment is HUGE! We feel so spoiled. I think we could fit both of our last apartments into this one. Haha. Seriously though. We are really happy with it so far. We have lots of large windows and a view of the lake just outside our door. The lake has nature trails around it so we can take Juneau and Oliver on walks everyday. So far everyone has seemed really nice. Our ward is great!… and the list goes on. J We seriously don’t have any complaints. God has, once again, blessed us more than we deserve.

Here are a few “Before” pictures.  When we’re completely moved in and after we buy furniture I’ll post the “After” pictures.

Living room

Dining room

Eating ramen in camping mugs on folding chairs in Ollie's room since we don't have dining room furniture yet. :) haha

Juneau's a good baby sitter

Master bedroom

Oliver LOVES baths. He sometimes even falls asleep while I'm washing him. 

Oliver helping Mama unpack

Everyone was pretty exhausted after that long drive followed with so much unpacking. J

 

The Big Move

Here are the states we drove through….

Utah

Wyoming

Nebraska

Iowa

Illinois

Indiana

Michigan

When you add Montana and Idaho to the list it adds up to 9 STATES that Oliver has already been to in just the first month of his little life. I guess we’re just preparing him to like travelling like his Mom and Dad.  J

The 26 hour drive went surprisingly well considering we were towing a Uhaul and travelling with a one month old baby and a dog. Oliver did SO WELL. I couldn’t have been happier. I pumped milk while we drove and bottle fed him in his car seat. When we stopped for gas I changed his diaper, burped him, put him back in his car seat and kept driving. It was amazing how well he did. He hardly made a peep the whole time! J

Loading up the Uhaul

Getting ready for the 26 hour journey. 

Oliver did SO amazingly well on the trip! He is such a good baby.

Pulling over for a diaper change. 

We did, however, have a few adventures along the way…

This was a quick stop we made in Wyoming to let Juneau out to run. I’m pretty sure these horses thought we were delivering their hay or something. They even let Juneau lick their hooves and they didn’t try to kick her or anything. Austin finally had to chase them away so we could keep driving.

We were having a problem with the wire connection between our car and the Uhaul so the brake lights and turn signals weren’t working on the Uhaul. We stopped a few times looking for someone who had the parts we needed to