Chicago Trip

Loni and I left for Chicago last Thursday August 29th.  We flew on Southwest and left at 4:20 p.m. and arrived just before 11:00 Chicago time.  The flight was great.  It was non-stop and took about 2:35 minutes.
Russ picked us up at the Mid-Way Airport.  The girls were in bed when we got there.  It was so fun seeing the girls after nine months.  Abi and Sarah remembered us but Becca I'm not sure did.  Samantha of course didn't.  They all were so sweet and came up and gave us hugs.  Samantha is just so sweet.  Right away she let me hold her and hug and kiss her.  She's nine months old.  She's got these big gorgeous blue eyes, kissable cheeks and a great big smile.  She has two teeth on top and three on the bottom.  She's cuddly and mild and just happy.  I loved to change her and feed her baby food.  She loves to crawl around.  She loves to crawl up the stairs.  It's just a new thing so we have to watch her real careful.  She is such a joy.

Rebecca is two and she loves her binky.  She calls it her me-gig or something like that.  She has big beautiful eyes and a great big smile.  She loves to sing and dance and talk.  But I can't understand most of what she says.  She's very expressive in her face and actions.  She likes to put her hands on the waist and bend her head to the side.  One evening she laid by me to cuddle and fell asleep.  Oh how I loved it.

Sarah is so busy.  She's got so much energy.  She's grown taller since I saw her last.  She has a big beautiful smile also.  It's so cute listening to her talk.  I can understand her most of the time.  She loves to pretend she's a kitty.  She loves her sisters and loves to play with them.  She is going to pre-school and loves it.  It's so cute seeing how excited she is for school.  Especially when she has her backpack on and she's waiting for her bus.  Jenny goes in and buckles her into her seat.  She waves good-bye to us. She came by me on evening and cuddled next to me a fell asleep.  It was heaven. She is really growing up.

Abigail is six years old and just started 1st grade.  She is so tall and beautiful.  She usually is smiling and happy.  She loves her sister's too and really loves to play with them.  She loves school so much.  She gets up real early and gets ready and wants to be the first one at the bus stop.  She's very friendly.  When we went to church on Sunday she was introducing me to her ward family.  She really helps out with her sisters.

It was so good visiting with Jenny and Russ.  They treated us so well.  They took us by train to downtown Chicago on Saturday.  It rained most of the morning but by the afternoon it cleared up.  The train was so much fun.  Chicago is so beautiful.  It's so green and there are so many trees.  We traveled to Union Station and walked to the river and got a water taxi.  It was still raining so we rode in doors.  I loved it.  We went to Navy Pier.  By then it had stopped raining.  We ate at McDonald's and look around some stores.  Then we went outside and rode some ride.  I took Becca and Sarah on the carousal ride.  They loved it.  It was hard to get them off.  Russ took Abi on the swings.  It was so fun watching them ride it.  She screamed that she wanted off.  Then she screamed it was fun.  Then she screamed I want to go again.  We all rode the huge Ferris wheel.  That was great.  We could see for miles.  We could see the city and the lake and had a better idea of what was around us.  We didn't have the me-gig for Becca and she couldn't fall asleep.  Samantha wouldn't stay asleep either.  The kids had had it.  I just really enjoyed that day.

It was so fun going to go church with them.  They belong to the Elgen 1st Ward.  It's about 15 to 20 minutes away.  There is just a sweet spirit there.  You can tell that the ward has a love for each other.  It was Fast and Testimony meeting and it was a great meeting.  I met many people who just love the Broadhead family.  The girls love Primary.  They are really needed there.  Jenny just got called to be a councilor in the Relief Society.  I know she will be great.  Russ is the Ward Mission Leader.  Russ took us to his office on Monday.  He checked my ears and gave me a hearing test.  He also checked Loni's ears.  He has a very nice office and he is really good at what he does.  He's a great Daddy and his girls just love him.  Jenny is amazing.  She is a great mother.  She has a lot on her plate and she does a great job.  I love her so much!

It was so hard saying goodbye.  I was crying and it made Becca cry.  She was really in tune with me.  I will never forget her big beautiful watery eyes.  Samantha could also tell something was wrong.  She saw me crying and her big beautiful eyes looked so concerned.  Abi and Sarah had just woke up and weren't sure what was going on.  I hugged and hugged Jenny and didn't want to left her go.  I'm not sure when I will she them in person again.  I was weepy most of the plane ride home.  Loni was so sweet to me the entire time.  She was so concerned and wanted me to be happy and feel good.  She make sure I had a wheelchair when we were in the airports.  We just had such a fantastic time.  I'm so grateful that I was able to go!