"Tell Me a Miracle"

As my dad got home from work yesterday, he sat down on the couch to tell my mom about his day when she said to him: "Tell me about a miracle you witnessed today."  A little caught off guard, he said he couldn't think of one right away.  They continued to recap their day to each other while my mom began looking for a friend's blog online.  She couldn't remember the exact web address so she was typing random things in Google with the hope that she would come across it.  Not more than one minute later, she found a blog she had never seen before but the title of the blog intrigued her so she clicked on the link.  The link took her to a post from back in June of 2013 so she began to read.  About midway through this fairly long post, the writer quoted George Q. Cannon and my mom immediately thought: "This is my miracle.  I need to read this to Liz."  The quote said: 

"The Saints should always remember that God sees not as man sees; that he does not willingly afflict his children, and that if he requires them to endure present privation and trial, it is that they may escape greater tribulations which would otherwise inevitably overtake them.  If He deprives them of any present blessing, it is that he may bestow upon them greater and more glorious ones by and by."

Logan and I and our families are doing quite well right now but it's always comforting to hear words like those of George Q. Cannon's.  My mom made a mental note to call me later and tell me about the quote and then continued reading.  Thinking she had already received her miracle by stumbling upon this quote she thought was perfect for me, she wasn't quite prepared for what she read next: 

 "Today was our first day back at the hospital...since four days ago.  We sure do love this place (I wish you could hear the sarcastic tone in my voice).  As we settled into our new room (actually it is our old room 4413- they save it for us!) and got back into our regular hospital routine, I found myself scanning the names on each door.  Looking for friends and wondering about how they came to be here.  So many families, so many children, so many stories.  Then I begin to think about Logan and Liz.  Their name is no longer on the board, they got moved to the second floor.  Little Eli needed some extra attention.  I then hoped that I will see them soon; maybe in the cafeteria, in the laundry room, or down the hall.  My good friends.  Our day drags on with chemo, vomiting, pain meds, rocking in our chair and then more chemo, more vomiting, more pain meds and rocking in our chair some more.  Oh my little girl, hang in there we can do this.  We can do hard things.  Finally she fells asleep, exhausted from it all.  Sweet soft cheeks, sparse, yet long eyelashes, and perfect lips.  Oh how I adore her.

I think of Liz and Logan again.  I hadn't seen them yet.  I was getting ansy.  I had to know how my friends were.  So I pulled up their blog...and wasn't prepared for the news I read.  Sweet baby Eli had received his angel wings last Saturday while we were at the hospital.  My heart broke and I sobbed.  How could I have not known?  We were right there and I wasn't there to help ease their burden. My mind raced back to our month together, right after my baby was diagnosed with cancer.  Liz and I became instant friends.  It wasn't hard to talk to Liz.  She always had a smile on her face.  And even though her baby was in critical condition and struggling to live, she would always ask how we were doing.  She and Logan never complained and never asked why.  Such amazing people. Why them?  Why did their son have to die?  Out of anyone, they deserved to have their child live.  It isn't fair that my child is asleep next to me, stable and well, while they had to walk out of the hospital with empty arms.  My heart aches.  How can this be?  All I know is hug your babies close.  Time is precious.  Going to snuggle with my sleeping angel...and to think and pray.  To Liz, Logan, and amazing Eli you have changed my life forever.  Thank you for all you have taught me.  Sending peace and love your way!"

Sweet Danielle.  I haven't spoken to her since we left the hospital and I somehow never knew she kept a blog.  Danielle is right, we became fast friends.  She was an angel to me during our months in the hospital.  We connected quickly and I loved talking to her.  She exuded great strength that I tried to mimic during our difficult days.  Her sweet princess is in remission now and that brings such happiness to my heart.  I love hearing about these warrior children that are able to make it through.  Eli could have if it was part of God's plan.  It wasn't, obviously, but I'm so glad it was part of God's plan for Evalette to stay here with her family.  **If you're interested in reading that whole post, click HERE.  She talks about our Eli a little bit more at the end.  Follow her daughter's story as well.  They're an amazing family!**

I love that my mom asked for a miracle and was prepared to receive it.  I needed to hear those words and feel so grateful that Heavenly Father was so mindful of that.

Fall Activities

One of my favorite things about Fall is that it brings our family together for various occasions so we get to see everyone often!  During the first weekend of Fall, Logan and I made the drive to Oakley, where his sister's family owns a cabin, for Sunday dinner.  They bought this cabin a few months ago and have been working really hard on it ever since.  Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the inside but take my word for it--it looks great!

The changing leaves were beautiful!

For some reason this looks like a painting because the trees are all blurred but I loved the colors!

Love this boy of mine!

Don't mind my filthy hand, just take a look at that golden marshmallow!  I don't think I've ever had such success while making a s'more.  

After dinner we were all enjoying the campfire when we noticed the sun hitting our view just right!  Matt and April have an amazing view from their cabin!

Thanks for hosting, Matt and April!

The General Women's Meeting is always a great time because I get to spend such quality time with my mom, sister-in-laws, and niece.  We loved the meeting and then went to CPK after--a favorite of ours.  People always ask me what it's like having five brothers and no sisters and I have two responses at the ready.  1. I never had sisters so I don't know any different and 2. My sister-in-laws are as good as sisters to me so I actually lucked out with five brothers and three amazing sisters! I forgot to take a picture of us but we sure had a great time together!

**Random Happenings**

Work has been super busy for me which is always good because it goes by faster.  After many years in our old space, we finally got a fresh start and moved to a new location that's actually closer to where I live so that's nice.  Change is always a good thing!  Logan is enjoying school and work and we're both excited for conference weekend and the holidays!  I set up a few Fall things around our little basement but I don't have any pictures now so I'll share some in my next post.  Halloween is only a few weeks away and I can't wait because that means we're officially into the holiday season and I love it!

So Long, Summer

It seems like such a cliche, overused statement but I really can't believe Summer is over!  I was so excited for our trip to Europe but knew that Summer would be coming to an end as soon as we got home so it's weird to think we're here.  We soaked up our last couple weekends as much as possible and had tons of fun along the way!  Logan hadn't been to the fair in years and I had never been so we made our inaugural trip to the fair together and had a blast!  Our good friends, the Andersens, met us there and we had such a good time together!  There were so many choices for dinner and we all ended up loving what we had.  It had been ages since I'd had fry bread so I went with that and Logan had a monster turkey leg.  Neither of us felt too great the next morning so I blamed the turkey leg, which Logan tried to refute. 

Logan, Tyler, and Halli also rode the big slide!  Don't mind the blurry photo--my phone clearly doesn't take action shots.

Thanks for such a fun night, Annie, Tyler, Halli, and Hayden!  Until next year!

The following night, a Saturday, we hung out in Park City with some of our great friends, the Neffs and Bjorklunds.  They are the best people to be around!  Anytime we hang out with these four there is constant laughing and some of the best storytelling and discussions.  Before heading to PC we ate dinner at Pei Wei, which is always delicious.  Logan and I were pretty fond of our fortunes as well!

 

Logan was pretty darn excited when he opened his, which is on the bottom!  Haha.

For some dumb reason I don't have another picture for the entire night but it consisted of yummy Cold Stone ice cream, card games, and laughing!  Good times for sure!

Our last big event of the summer was spent in Midway with our high school friends at one of their family's cabins.  I must have had a great time because I didn't take a single picture.  Logan and I left a night before everyone else so we could make it back to our ward on Sunday morning so we tried to get a group shot then but it never happened.  I've posted plenty of pictures of this group in the past so just imagine us in your mind's eye! We always have such a good time with these friends!  Conversation comes easy when many of you have been friends since Kindergarten and the others joined the group in Jr. High or High School.  It can sometimes be hard to make new memories rather than just reminisce on our old ones from 10-15+ years ago.

We drove up to Midway on Friday evening and ate dinner at a yummy Mexican restaurant right in town. Everyone seemed to really love what they got and the salsa bar kept us occupied for quite some time.  We came back from dinner and played a big game of Scum for awhile before finally going to bed.  A lot of the group had signed up for the Dirty Dash on Saturday so they took off earlier in the morning for their race and the spectators (me and Logan included) made our way to Soldier Hollow a little later to see them at the finish line. It looked like they had a great time!  Following the Dirty Dash we went back to the cabin for lunch and then hung out in the yard chatting, playing basketball, and throwing the football.  The weather was perfect so we loved just relaxing and enjoying the great company!  Later in the evening we finally made our way back inside to start dinner and then found ourselves outside again playing one of my favorite games--Church Ball.  We played Church Ball (similar to Dodge Ball) nearly every day in the Summer when we were younger on the Andersen's tramp so it was a lot of fun playing again for the first time in years.  *Side Note: I woke up SO sore from jumping on and off the tramp so much.  Pretty pathetic, I know!* After a yummy BBQ for dinner we all gathered around the campfire for s'mores and stories.  I could do that nearly every night and never get sick of it!  By this time it was getting late so Logan and I bid farewell to the group and drove back to Salt Lake. Although the weekend was short and went way too fast, we loved it!  Thanks for such a great time, everyone!

While it's always sad to say goodbye to the warm weather, I absolutely love Fall!  If I had to choose, I would definitely say it's my favorite season.  The cooler weather, pretty colors, and of course holidays are so much fun and put such a happy spirit in the air.  I got our fall decorations out of storage and can't wait to put them up.  I'm trying to hold out for a couple more weeks but it's testing my patience for sure!

So long, Summer!

Meet Pharrell!

No, not Pharrell Williams, whose song 'Happy' became the most played song I remember in a long time.  We're talking about someone(thing) much more exciting!  Say hello to the newest addition to our family: 

Why Pharrell?  It's super lame, I know.  Some of our good friends were recently telling us that they name their cars after the first artist they hear on the radio after they buy the car.  We test drove this car and a Brad Paisley song came on but Logan didn't like Brad or Paisley and said he should get to wait until we actually bought the car.  I'm pretty sure he wishes he wouldn't have waited!  As soon as he heard "Happy" on the radio he was like: "Are you kidding me?!"  Haha...gotta love it!

We were hoping we wouldn't be in the market for a new car for another year or so but Logan's trusty 2001 Kia Optima started spitting flames out the tailpipe and the cost of repairs was going to be more than the car was worth so we decided to give in and replace it.  Our good friends over at Murdock Hyundai took great care of us and we ended up getting a sweet deal on this 2011 Chevy Cruze.  Our biggest concern was the amount of miles on whichever car we got because we knew we'd want to drive it as long as possible and this one only had 42,000.  The interior and exterior look brand new, the windows are tinted, and Logan's favorite part: It's a stick.  The stick will be great because Logan will love it and it will get better gas mileage but I have no clue how to drive it so I guess we need to take care of that!  I don't have much of a desire to learn but it seems real dumb to own a car that I can't even drive.  Logan tried teaching me in high school but I killed it a million times before giving up.  Hopefully I have better luck this time around!

Logan has never owned a car this nice that he drove and is always telling me to take the nicer things when there's an option so I couldn't be happier he's so in love!  Enjoy your new man crush, babe!

Final European Thoughts

8 Countries + 13 Cities + 17 Days = 1 Amazing Vacation!
 
It's hard to believe the trip we planned and anticipated for so long has come and gone!  I remember when Logan came home from his mission we talked about traveling back to where he served and seeing other parts of Europe and I swore it would never happen.  Happen it did and boy did we have an incredible time!  I'm so glad I updated my blog every night because I'm sure I would have forgotten a ton of details by now and I don't think I would have the motivation to go back and blog about 17 days' worth of traveling.  As a way to tie the whole thing up, I've made a list of some things I loved and didn't love now that I can look back on the past 2+ weeks.

Things I will NOT miss:
-Paying to use public restrooms!  Seriously??  I couldn't believe how common that was!
-Tolls.  Wretched tolls.  I swear we paid just as much money in tolls as we did in gas.
-European breakfasts.  If I had to eat meat and cheese for breakfast one more time I was going to die! 
-Cigarette smoke!  My goodness.  I felt like we were walking through clouds of smoke at every corner.
-Seeing so many people in the nude at public beaches.

Things I WILL miss:
-Waking up in a new city/country nearly every day.
-Spending 24/7 with Logan and not having to worry about school or work.
-Trying the food I heard Logan talk about for years.  I have to say it definitely lived up to its hype!
-Gorgeous views of mountains, beaches, and cities every single day.
-Interacting with church members from other countries.  I love that no matter where you go, the church stays the same (even if it's in a language I can't understand).
-Gaining a greater and greater appreciation for nature and just the world in general by spending a short time outside of my little box.
-Hearing Logan reminisce about his mission as we walked through the same streets he walked through nearly 5 years ago.

Favorite City or Country:
There's no way I could choose a favorite.  By far the most beautiful countries were Austria and Switzerland but London had the most to do and see.  Barcelona and France were amazing because, let's be honest, who doesn't love the beach?  I would love to go back to each city one day and see even more!

Biggest Accomplishment:
Staying healthy!  We were in a group of six and the other four were all pretty sick at one point or another.  Pink Eye, sinus infections, and stomach issues all ran through the group and least once and Logan and I somehow avoided it the entire time.  Thank goodness!  I felt so bad when one of our friends got sick and couldn't fully enjoy everything we were doing.
 
A lot of people were surprised when they heard how many cities we were visiting in just over two weeks but I'm so glad we did it that way rather than only visiting a few places for a longer amount of time.  Going through Europe so fast allowed us to get a little taste of more places so that one day we can go back to our favorites.  If we have the opportunity to do that again, I would definitely want to see a number of other countries we didn't make it to in about that amount of time.

If you're on a budget like we were, staying in hostels is definitely the way to go.  Sleeping in a bunk bed every night and staying in the same room as 15+ other people isn't necessarily ideal but we saved a ton of money by doing that most of the time rather than trying to stay somewhere nicer. 

So many thanks to Tom, Chelsie, Russ, and Ellen for making this trip so enjoyable!  We had such a good time with them and loved sharing our experiences with such fun people.  Can't wait until next time!

Day 17: Traveling Home! (Sunday, August 24th)

On the road yesterday and in the air today! Our morning began around 4:45 which came way too fast because of how late we got to bed last night. I guess the one advantage of being exhausted is it's much easier to sleep on the planes. Here's what our day looked like:

Flight #1: Barcelona to London | 2 Hours

Logan and I were both able to sleep for most of this flight. 

Flight #2: London to Iceland | 3 Hours

After a three hour layover, we boarded our next flight from London to Iceland, which was three hours. Logan slept most of this flight again and I slept off and on for probably half of it. 

Flight #3: Iceland to Denver | 8 Hours

We then had a layover in Iceland for just over two hours before our looong flight from Iceland to Denver. I was worried about not being able to sleep on this flight because I had already slept quite a bit on the others. Thank goodness for movies! I ended up watching two movies, attempted to sleep here and there, and messed around on the monitor in front of me. It was definitely a long flight but not the end of the world. 

Flight #4: Denver to Salt Lake | 1.5 Hours

Finally, a short flight! We had a two and a half hour layover before finally boarding our flight to Utah. I was so excited! I didn't care whether I slept or stared out the window the whole time, I just wanted to be home. I was glad our last flight was the shortest one because I was so ready to be done with traveling and finally be in my own bed. Logan and I both slept the entire flight and my cute parents picked us up and took us home. Thanks, mom and dad! 

I can't believe our trip is over! We truly had the time of our lives and I couldn't have wished for anything better. At the same time, I'm thrilled to be home and can't wait to have a regular routine again!

Tomorrow: Back to work. Back to school. Back to Life.

Day 16: Driving, Driving, Driving (Saturday, August 23rd)

Our journey home has begun! We all made it out the door and on the road just after 9 o'clock and our GPS told us our drive to Barcelona would be a few minutes less than 9.5 hours, putting us to our hotel around 6:30 this evening. My hope was to pull in around 8 o'clock after all of our stops. We will have an early morning and long day tomorrow with all of our flights so I was hoping to get to bed at a decent time. Our drive was quite uneventful which is probably a good thing. This is pretty much as good as it got! 

Unfortunately about mid-way through our drive we hit some bad traffic that put us back an hour and a half and not too long after that we got stuck in a huge toll line for another hour and 15 minutes before finally moving again. Not too much later we hit some more traffic which put us even further behind. We were unhappy to say the least!

We ended up pulling in around 11:30. So much for our 8 o'clock arrival! Our hostel for the night is really close to the airport, which is great, but it seems to be in a pretty sketchy area. Good thing we'll only be here for a few hours! Here are our sleeping quarters. They're actually really nice!

We have to be up in just a few hours to make it to the airport so I better call it a night! Buenas Noches!

Weather Today:

We had great driving weather today and didn't get hit with anything wet until it lightly rained towards the end so that's definitely a plus!

Tomorrow: Flying, flying, and more flying!