Sweet Corn Festival, Arthur, Anniversary, and more.

Well, after three readings of "La Petite Souris & la belle fraise rouge" / The Little Mouse and the Red Ripe Strawberry, two bottles of milk, and a few songs, Henry is finally in bed. The poor guy has a runny nose and is so tired, but just hates to miss any of the fun! [The "fun" meaning exciting events like me unloading the dishwasher while dad is at a school event :)] We have enjoyed spending the past couple of days together before Gavin starts up full-speed-ahead school on Monday. Let me recap some of the events:

Thursday Gavin and the other incoming MBA students trekked up to Chicago for the day and evening. They listened to speakers and participated in a mock career fair. Several companies and recruiters set up booths and gave the students advice on their resumes, their approaches, and more. Gavin said it was very helpful. They loved that he included his mission and his eagle scout project on his resume. They gave some constructive criticism at the end and told him he needed to be more passionate when talking about himself. The seminar was actually held in the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) but they were too busy to take the elevator up to the top.  However, at about 9 that night, they finished up and took a boat ride past the Navy Pier and down the shoreline. They made it back at about 1 AM, and I wasn't planning on waiting up, but I started writing my church talk for tomorrow and I finished up just as Gavin walked through the door.

While Gavin was gone, I invited the wives of the other two Mormon MBA students over for dinner. Kate Lovett and her cute little Anna came, and Jen Walz and her newborn Kinzlee also made it over. They are so nice, and I hope we'll be getting together often, seeing as our husbands are going to be swamped this semester. I made a spinach and chicken salad with peppers, toasted almonds, noodles, cilantro, and a yummy nutty sesame dressing, as well as rolls. (Both recipes are from Janell and work out great every time). Anna and Henry played; aka: Anna tried to play, while Henry ripped every toy she picked up out of her hands. The poor girl hid from him several times behind her chair, but he was relentless. By the end, he had sort-of figured out how to co-exist and was having fun. We are definitely working on the whole "sharing" technique. I hope nursery will help that.

Yesterday, August 22, marked 5 years since Gavin and I were married! What a milestone. Although our sweet little 3rd-wheel was with us all day, we still had a nice time. We took a drive down to Arthur, Illinois, an Amish village not too far from here. It was fun to see the horses and buggies driving around and to wander through their craft shops, furniture stores, and bakeries. We plan to go again soon. They had a charity auction going on, so we stopped so Henry could pet the animals and run around. Then, we headed back to Champaign for dinner. We had a free meal at Noodles and Co. so we used the coupon and then headed to Jarlings Custard Co., a local favorite, for dessert. While downtown, we ran into two of Gavin's fellow MBA classmates, Jacob and David, and had a good time chatting with them before they headed off to the "Mug Club" (some sort of drinking club). Well, Henry still wasn't tired, so we went to the mall playground for an hour while he ran himself ragged. After chasing him around, he finally tuckered out and we crashed for the night. Unfortunately he was up at 3 AM crying for an hour, but then went back to sleep until 8 AM. The only thing I can think of is that his runny nose was bothering him.

We woke up tired, but ventured out to the Urbana Farmers' Market, and we were glad we did! They had a beautiful display of produce, home baked goods, arts and crafts, booths, and unique specialties like "goats' milk gelato". We didn't buy anything, but several things were tempting. Then we got our weekend errands done for the day, and headed back so Gavin could work on his church talk. Later this evening, we headed out to the Urbana Sweet Corn Festival. It was packed with people! We've seen the signs for awhile now, and it was quite an event. Naturally we had to taste the corn, (1$ per ear. It's a good thing we got 3, Henry scarfed his.) It tasted much sweeter than the corn I used to by at Allred's Fruit Stand in Utah. They had a machine on the grass that took the husks off and dropped the ears into water. Then, the workers cooked them and wrapped them in a buttered piece of plastic wrap and handed them, dripping and hot, straight into our hands. It was delicious! We walked through the booths but they were mostly food, so we didn't stay too much longer. We headed back to our apartment and grilled some steaks we had bought at Sam's Club this morning and ate them by the pool. I have been trying to be better at budgeting exactly how much we spend on groceries and food, and it's actually been kind of fun to see how much we save by eating at home. I knew it was significant, but I didn't know the extent. Tonight's meal for example: each steak was about $2.00, and with the marinade we made, the potato, the condiments etc...Gavin and my plates came to about $2.75 each! No restaurant can beat that. :) However, there are so many fun restaurants near campus that are always full of people lined up out the door, and I hope we'll get to try some of them these next couple of years.

Well, it's late, and I'd better end this for now since I've already typed way more detail than I had intended. But, for any family or friends reading this, we'll keep updating regularly and hope this finds you happy and healthy! Until next time... H,G,&H

A cheesy grin :D

New haircut

 Buggies

 Arthur, IL

Henry's room finally in order.

 I got the bumbo out for cousin Brighton when she comes this weekend, but Henry thought it was so funny to sit in it.

Our New Chapter in Champaign

I hesitate to start up this blog again because of the huge lapse since I’ve recorded anything, and over the past 3 years, some of the most momentous events of my life have taken place! Graduating with my Masters Degree in French, taking Gavin to France, England and Italy, giving birth to Henry, Henry’s first 18 months, just to name a few. I have taken pictures, but I still plan to retroactively post about these moments. In the meantime, however, I will continue in the present and start afresh with our new adventure here in Champaign, Illinois. That way, our family, friends, and loved ones can see Henry grow and still feel close to us even though we feel so far away. 

Although we never pictured ourselves living in the Midwest, we are happy to be here and are looking forward to these next two years. Earlier this spring, when our dental school plans weren’t coming to fruition, we decided we had better shift to plan B. Gavin loved his business minor at BYU and did very well in its classes, so he thought an MBA would be a great choice for him. So, for the following weeks, he studied like crazy for the GMAT and long story short, did exceptionally well! We had originally hoped that just one school would take us, but following his GMAT submission, the interviews came quickly and soon we had several to choose from! We narrowed it down to four: University of Utah (close to home, comfortable, and a 75% scholarship, but not as highly ranked); Hult (great location in Boston, exciting program, and highly acclaimed worldwide for international business but not as highly ranked in all areas as a whole); Tulane (ranked highly, great reputation, awesome job placement, but a little tougher of a location and culture); and finally, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (highly ranked and still climbing-#35 in the nation-, great reputation, incredible job placement-almost 90%-, family-friendly location, $18,000 scholarship, and when we toured the campus we loved it).

Before finally deciding on U of I, we came out for a quick visit. We were amazed at the beautiful and enormous campus. It goes on for blocks and blocks and the architecture is exceptional: classic red brick and stone buildings, statues lining the libraries (yes, plural), corners, and neat wooden halls, green grass in abundance, a smoke-free environment, and a great “feel” that adds to its charm.

Gavin and Dallin left in our nearly-full 26-foot Penske moving truck last Wednesday morning and Jim and Janell drove our car out shortly after. They made it to Lincoln, Nebraska, spent the night, and drove the rest of the way just in time to pick Henry and me up from the Champaign airport at 6 PM Thursday evening. Wow, what a long drive! We are so grateful to them for helping us out here. We spent a couple of our last nights at Burgons and enjoyed getting to play with them and Uncle Garrett and Dallin. Nanny took us to the best new restaurant called Black Sheep Café in Provo, and we all loved it! She and Henry chased a grasshopper around the outside of the restaurant for quite awhile beforehand and he was laughing so hard. Before our flight, Henry and I said an awfully sad goodbye to Granny and Grandpa. We had a fun time with them the days prior to leaving; we went to Snowbird to visit GG and Aunt Kathie, had mom’s yummy minestrone soup, got to visit the home ward and hear dad teach, had a Koller family barbecue, watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and sleep in Hilly’s comfy bed. We also got to spend some precious last time with Stephanie, as well as our dear friends Bryan and Cali. Steph (or “step” as Henry says) and he played with a jumping dog stuffed animal, went exploring for treats in her purse, took pictures, spun around in a rocking chair, and had fun visiting. We adore her. Bryan and Cali treated us to a yummy pizza dinner at a new place called Lucy’s where you can get doubly thick crust, and ice cream at Baskin Robins, and then a fun chat back at their house. Every time we get together, it seems like we pick right back up where we left off. We just love them.

Back to the flight, Henry did better than I had anticipated. He had been congested in the morning that whole week, but with the help of some Benadryl his ears didn’t seem to hurt him at all and he slept about 1½ hours. The rest of the time he played with me and didn’t seem to bother anyone too much. Once we got to Chicago, we got some Garrett’s popcorn and an overpriced but really yummy brie/green apple/turkey sandwich. Then, we hopped on our plane to Champaign which only took thirty minutes. Nanny and Papa picked us up and took us to our new apartment. When we arrived, a whole crew of ward members were already there and unloading the moving truck. Four missionaries also came to help out. With so many hands, it took under an hour!

One fun coincidence that we discovered was that Peter Wright, a friend of ours from Orem, is working on his PhD here. He came to help unload and is having us over to dinner tonight. Besides him, we didn’t know a soul. However, the ward was immediately welcoming. A nice woman named Candy came with her husband and chatted with us, and one of the men relayed from his wife an invitation to dinner the following day.

We spent the next day and a half unpacking the sea of boxes! Dallin built us some more white wire shelving in the pantry/laundry room so we could store our nicer dishes and other items we use less frequently. Jim set up Henry’s room and organized everything so well. Janell shopped for groceries, wrangled Henry, cleaned a bunch, and did about a hundred other things simultaneously. Gavin and I ran around in circles trying to help and figure out where to put things. We can't thank the trio of worker-bee Burgons enough for their help.

      

Now, about two weeks later, we’re down to the last few boxes and hanging pictures. Hopefully soon it will start to feel like home. It’s easy to think of all the hard aspects of a big change like this, but I’m giving a talk on diligence on Sunday and so every time I start thinking that way, I try to come up with a positive thought to replace it with. For example, the humidity is uncomfortable since we grew up in the west, but I’m grateful that we have A/C in both our car and our apartment, and we have a nice fan in the living room. Plus, the complex has a swimming pool if it gets too bad! Because of the humidity, everywhere tends to smell musty, even if it’s clean. So, I’m trying to counteract that by burning candles and cooking yummy food. It’s lonely without family and friends around, but I’m getting involved in all the fun things available. So far, that includes ward aerobics on Mondays and Fridays, a weekly ward potluck, book group, relief society, and inviting the missionaries and another girl over for dinner.

Other things I really like are: 1. The open space Henry now has to run and play, and all the dogs around that he is just tickled with. 2. How kind people are here. We’ve had nothing but welcoming experiences so far in the Midwest. Especially from the ward. I think we’re really going to like it. 3. The parks! There are over 60 parks in Champaign/Urbana and many have great playgrounds, statues, ponds, splash pads, etc… 4. The campus. I just love driving and walking near it. Today we drove by the arboretum where they have a Japanese house and garden and something they call an “idea garden”. I’m anxious to go back and walk around; it was full of all colors and types of flowers and paths. The list goes on, but I’d better move on.

Yesterday, Henry finally had some success with nursery! We were overjoyed. We were nervous (okay, maybe just me), and really wanted him to make friends and learn to share and sing like the other kids and last week he hated it. We had to stay the whole time and he kept looking back to make sure we were there. Plus, he was stealing treats from the other kids at snack time, he wouldn’t stay sitting on his chair, and he wouldn’t follow anything going on. But yesterday was a huge improvement! He cried going in, but a sweet leader Sister Carlson just scooped him up and took him to play with the toy kitchen and he was distracted enough that we left. We checked on him twice after that and both times he was fine! When I peeked in, they were singing “Here we are together” and saying all the kids’ names and as they were pointing around to each other, Henry was engaged and poking the girl next to him to the beat of the song. She didn’t seem to mind :). He was sitting in his chair and doing what all the other kids were doing. They have the best time; they switch activities every ten minutes and plan it out so well. A fun lady comes in to do music time and brings scarves, puppets, feather, and all sorts of props to use. Sister Carlson and the other leaders make healthy snacks like banana bread muffins, cucumber slices, mandarin orange pieces, etc…There are about a dozen kids and they all love it; I am so excited that Henry gets to be there too.

Well, I could go on and on, but I’ve stopped and started this post several times over the past few days, so I guess I’d better just get it posted. I’ll try and keep updates on here often and post pictures here and to Instagram/Facebook as often as possible. Until next time…

 

Grandpa and Henry playing before we left. They have so much fun together! 

 

The team of workers! 

 

He seems to really like his new home! 

Nanny feeding Henry a KFC drumstick that he loved! Buried in a sea of boxes..

 

Looking better...

 

Gavin will be on the upper floors for his classes and lectures. 

 

He likes the business building too! 

 

Crystal Lake Park. It's enormous!

Henry loves the pool chairs! Maybe even more than he pool itself.

First bigger scrapes. He tripped on the sidewalk, but he didn't cry for too long.

A little banged up..

But still happy! 

A few pictures from orientation week. 

The Past Five Intense Months...

Seeing as I didn’t find time to blog once during winter semester, it’s high time that I catch up on the momentous happenings of the past four months. To begin, this past semester was the hardest of any I’ve ever been through. My course load was pure insanity, I had study groups multiple times each week for the MA Exam, I was called to be the first counselor in the Relief Society Presidency, my sister got married the week after finals, and then of course there are those other frivolous things like sleeping and laundry that seem to barge their way into the precious 24 hours of the day. So, since this is my only hope for keeping a record of my life, I’ll give a brief overview of my feelings on a few of these topics. Thus, if your eyes glaze over while reading through this, feel free to stop.
First: The MA Exam. I PASSED with NO reservations! For those who aren’t aware of the gravity of this statement, let me explain. At BYU, this is how the French Master’s Program works: The first year, students take full course loads while reading one or more French novels each week and discussing them each Monday with the department chair, Dr. Cropper. Between September and April, we covered 40 books ranging from the earliest oral texts of the middle ages (La Chanson de Roland 1040), through the classics like Madame Bovary (Flaubert) and Le Rouge et le Noir (Stendall) 19th century, all the way up to modern existentialist writers like Sartre (Les Mains Sales) and Camus (L’étranger). Some were dark and tragic (Emile Zola’s Germinal) whereas others were inspiring and rewarding (L'élégance du hérisson). Some dealt with subjects I’d rather never think about, such as incest (Chateaubriand’s René). Others dealt with problems that were common to most who experience the human condition (Montaigne’s Essais, Montesquieu’s Les Lettres Persanes, and Maupassant’s Boule de Suif). Needless to say, finishing this list in combination with other lectures, research papers, homework, teaching, family matters, etc…was a true feat. Then, this spring I began to prepare for the MA Exam. What this is, is an enormous affair that involves three parts. First, you have all day to take a written essay exam and the questions can come from any of the 40 books that we read, and there is no study guide. You have to know these works inside and out. When you hand in your essay responses, you are given a poem and then have two days in which you must create an in-depth analysis and detailed interpretation of it. Finally, you sit with a panel of three doctoral professors and present your interpretation to them, answer any questions they have about it, and then, you are required to orally answer any question they ask of you. These questions can come from the books or from your answers to the essay questions. I’ll explain how the exam went in my case.
For months before the exam, another MA student and I studied extensively together and tried to pull out the most important themes, quotes, dates, and events from the works. We created a google doc for each book and combined our class notes to ensure we hadn’t forgotten anything important. Additionally, we each studied on our own (I made so many flashcards it almost killed me to throw them away afterward). I spent many late nights in the library and every free second reviewing. I pretty much banned myself from TV, Facebook, and extra activities, even on most weekends. Then, the dreaded week came. I arrived Monday morning April 18th, and found that there was a pool of seven questions and I had to answer three and one essay had to be in French. I spent over four hours on those three questions and then went back over them again and again to check my facts. The questions I answered were:
1. Demonstrate the connection between war and religion in two different texts. Show how the texts differ in their representations of this connection and suggest reasons for these differences.
2. Discutez la/les voix narratives dans les textes de Gabrielle Roy et Muriel Barbery. (Discuss the narrative voice(s) in Gabrielle Roy and Muriel Barbery’s texts)
3. Pourquoi Tartuffe occupe-t-elle une place à part dans l’œuvre de Molière ? Quelle est son originalité ? (Why does Tartuffe occupy a « place apart » in Moliere’s works? What gives it its originality?)
Then, I was given a poem from the 1500’s by Maurice Scève and had to prepare an analysis to present for Thursday’s oral portion. Those next few days were horrifying. I studied my brains out and when Thursday morning came, I was shaking like a leaf. I arrived early hoping to find out who my panel was, but alas, they had not yet arrived. I stood anxiously in the conference room trying to decide where to sit when Dr. Hurlbut came in and said, “You’re not wringing your hands are you?” I smiled and said, “Of course not,” as I continued to fidget them. I was relieved to see him on my committee seeing as he is so kind. Then, Dr. Lebras walked in and I still felt fairly comfortable, seeing as I’ve had classes from him and his French is pure and almost always comprehensible. Finally, my heart sunk as I saw Dr. Lee walk through the door. It’s not that I don’t like him as a person-I do. He’s brilliant, to say the least. He got his doctorate from Yale, the best French program in the country. I feel so insignificant when I talk to him and even when it’s in English he uses words I’ve never heard.
So, entirely terrified, I sat on one side of the table and these three daunting intellectuals sat on the other side. I began with my analysis of the poem which talked about how a mythological character gets shot by Cupid’s arrow and falls hopelessly into love. In my interpretation, I explained how due to the language that was used, one could also read this poem as an allegory of Adam’s fall in the Garden of Eden. The protagonist is described very much like Adam was initially: innocent, his eye no expert of sorrow, etc… Then, afterward, he is described as having succumbed and there are several contrasts used in the last lines such as “life and death” and “liberty and enslavement.” After about fifteen minutes, the panel said that they really enjoyed my interpretation and we discussed specific words, phrases and other ideas hidden in the text.
Then, for the next hour and a half, they grilled me. They asked specific questions about my essays, specific questions about most of the books, characters, time periods, literary movements, etc… Some that I can remember are, “Define realism and romanticism and give us a few examples from different texts that show these two ideas.” Or, “Discuss two political ideals from two different centuries.” Or, “How does the role of the woman differ from 1200 to the present? Give us specific examples of women who exemplify these differences.” Or even more specific questions such as, “How did Descartes’ philosophy differ from that of Pascal’s?” Or, “Why could Germinal be considered a naturalist text? Or, “What are Proust’s main themes?” Or, “What social institutions is Montesquieu trying to criticize in Les Lettres Persanes?” I wish I remembered more, but it’s been a few weeks now and I’ve forgotten.
Dr. Lee asked twice as many questions as the other two did combined. I truly believed I had some divine help from heaven being propelled my way because there were a couple moments where I didn’t even know how to begin to answer what they had asked but somehow I managed to pull together some ideas that impressed them. Then, after what seemed like an eternity, they asked me to wait in the hall. They then discussed and deliberated. I tried to listen through the door but the air conditioning came on and it was too loud for me to hear anything. Despite that everyone had said, “I’m sure you’ll do great!” I, myself, was not so certain. I know a fellow student personally who didn’t pass last year and it’s not uncommon for them to give “Pass with reservation” scores, which entails working all summer to retake certain portions. So, after a few minutes they invited me back in and informed me that I passed! With No Reservations! I involuntarily let out a little squeal / scream and they laughed and said, “Are you surprised?” I said, “Yes..I mean..No..I mean..I’ve studied SO hard for this! But it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done! I’m so thrilled!” The department office in the next room heard my excitement and congratulated me on the way out. I was on CLOUD NINE! Truly, it was one of the proudest moments of my life, if not THE proudest. I tried to control my excitement until I got out of the building, but I spent the rest of the day running around like I was just released from prison. Gavin was so excited for me (I had quite frankly been acting like a nightmarish monster for weeks prior to the dreaded day). He surprised me with a new cookbook from The Roof, a restaurant where we have had some special dates and in the building where we had our wedding dinner. It was so sweet! Then, he took me up to The Paris Bistro in Sugarhouse – my all-time favorite place – for a delicious banana and nutella crepe. Success was never so sweet.
Since that glorious day, it’s been somewhat of an exciting whirlwind. I found out I got all A’s in my classes, so I still have a 4.0! The following week, my little sister Hillary was married to Joel Shepherd in the Draper temple and they had a beautiful reception down at The Manor in The Riverwoods. The entire day was beautiful and I’ll post some pictures when they come since words don’t do the décor justice. The temple sealing was sweet and it was so neat to have so many family members and friends there to support. Once we exited the temple, it was cold and windy so we took some pictures and hurried off to the wedding luncheon. It took place at the South Mountain Golf Club in Draper. We all enjoyed hearing stories told on both sides of the family and Gavin and I were able to sing a song called You are the New Day with Joel’s siblings and their spouses. Then, there was time for toasts so I shared a poem I had quickly written the night before:

Hillary’s Wedding Toast
April 29, 2011

Good morning friends and family; a toast I’d like to share;
To the newly married couple who make a lovely pair

Last year, amid the aromas of Brick Oven’s delights,
A waiter and a waitress fell in love at first sight.

Sparks flew quickly and soon they both knew,
That the love they shared was undoubtedly true.

Now on this gusty spring morning of April two-thousand-eleven,
This happy couple’s faces show their hearts are in seventh Heaven

For those who don’t know Hilly well, let me share some words of praise
The dynamic she brought to our family, both energized and enlivened our days.

Luckily for Joel, Hillary is as loyal as a person can be.
She’ll stick by your side and feel what you feel with true sincerity.

She forgives in an instant and hates to hurt a soul,
She’ll be sensitive to the needs of her new sweet husband Joel.

Hillary has a way with children and loves them like no other,
It is evident that one day she will be a playful and caring mother.

Since Joel has entered the scene, I’ve seen some quality traits, it’s true;
He is always patient and supportive and stands by Hilly through and through.

He’s sweet and knows how to be calming when her worries begin to rise,
And there’s no doubt that he adores her, for the proof is in his eyes.

A new adventure awaits you as the future Mr. and Mrs.
Make sure you give each other endless love and time and kisses.

Today as my dear sister was sealed in a holy temple setting,
She glowed from head to toe as a sweet spirit filled the wedding.

Your earthly and heavenly families who have known you both from birth
Are here to wish you luck as you begin this new life on earth.

On this joyous occasion filled with bliss for Hillary and Joel
We are thrilled to see that these two halves will make a beautiful whole.

That evening, their reception was as lovely as any I’ve seen. So many people came to support and it was wonderful to be able to see so many loving and friendly faces. The pictures were beautiful: mom blew up a dozen of Hilly’s bridals at Costco and mom, Betsy Sykes, I glued them back onto foam boards (mom had glued them on with repositional glue dots the day before) and Phil and my dad hung them from cream ribbon all around the rooms. Everyone enjoyed looking at them; they were stunning. Hilly’s videographer also made a darling clip from some of her bridals-I tried to post it here but it doesn’t seem to be working. Hilly had the idea of a “skit” she wanted to do to one of her and Joel’s favorite songs about a month before the wedding and if you watch the clip, you’ll see it turned out adorably well. (If you’re friends with her on Facebook, check it out there).
Fast-forwarding another week, my family flew out to Saint Louis, Missouri to attend Hillary and Joel’s open house in his hometown of O’fallon, Illinois. The Shepherd family hosted us and treated us like royalty! Heidi, Joel’s mom, cooked many delicious meals for us, Larry took work off to give us a native’s tour of Saint Louis, and we enjoyed every moment in their home. On Friday, Larry had found us tickets to a Cardinals game near the front row. We almost witnessed a perfect game until some bad luck in the 8th inning. It was a blast to be at Busch Stadium and I have to say, those Cardinal fans are die-hard. The next day, we attended a session in the Saint Louis temple. It was beautiful and so fun to see Hilly go through a second time. Then, that evening, their Open House took place at a charming nature center not far from Joel’s home. It was a modern log cabin set in a pretty field. The ladies from the ward put on a nice spread of foods and we thoroughly enjoyed meeting many of the Shepherd’s friends, neighbors, and ward members.
Sunday we enjoyed Mothers’ Day at Joel’s home ward and Heidi prepared a nice meal of roast chicken and dressing. The meal was followed by an amusing game of bocce ball, which I discovered is not something I have talent for. However, I found it to be quite fun! That evening, Larry showed us a video on how the Saint Louis arch was made and it really is an engineering miracle. It was fascinating to see how the builders worked from so high, without any safety harnesses, in intense heat and cold, and without the modern technology we have now. The next morning we took a tour of the arch and were able to ride the elevator to the top. The view is spectacular! If I remember right, it’s 630 feet at the top. Dad managed to make it just fine despite his distaste for heights. Then, we toured Forest Park which is similar to Central Park, but bigger. We visited the science museum there, the exterior of the art museum because it was closed, and finally, we spent the rest of the day at the zoo. The nice thing is the city makes all of these things free to the public. The zoo was the best I’ve seen! That evening, Joel took us to his favorite restaurant of all time: LotaWata Creek. The portions are enormous, but the food is quite good. I ordered the most delicious meat: It was called three cheese Greek steak and it was small beef tenderloins breaded in an Italian mixture then cooked. Then, they melted feta cheese, Romano cheese and a third cheese called Provol cheese and topped it with a white marsala wine sauce. It was so delicious I’m still dreaming about it. The funny part came at the end when the waitress accidentally spilled sauce all over me. I couldn’t stop laughing – she was horrified. Poor thing. Larry also took us to the famous Route 66 stop Ted Drewes where we sampled some of the most delicious custard on earth!
The next day, we drove out to Nauvoo and on our way we stopped at Carthage Jail, where Joseph Smith was killed. I was touched by the remnants of that horrific day. There are still visible bullet holes in the door, the furniture is placed as it was then, and the way the missionary recounts the incident gives clearer meaning to the actual event. I’m so glad I’ll now have this picture in my mind each time I hear that story. We spent two days in Nauvoo with my parents and Hilly and Joel came up for one of those. The best part was that all six of us were able to go through the Nauvoo temple together. It was incredibly beautiful both inside and out. Even the lockers are made with dark wood. In the lobby, they have some neat artifacts like Joseph Smith’s sword from the Nauvoo Legion, old temple aprons, and old keys to the temple. It was a neat experience to be there together.
We toured most of the historic sites and recreated sites on the Nauvoo grounds. The missionaries do a great job at helping visitors understand what life would have been like in Old Nauvoo. In the evening, all the older missionaries got together and put on a musical production that depicted a few of the settlers’ stories. They were quite comical as a few forgot their lines and most trembled while they sang, but they were sweet and it was obvious that they’d worked very hard to prepare. Nauvoo also has a neat family history center in which you can input one of your ancestor’s names, and then the computer brings up a map of where their property was if they lived in Nauvoo. We also enjoyed playing games together with our new 6th addition. It’s nice to have even teams now.
Well, before our vacation ended, Gavin and I had the chance to meet up with his family in Kirksville, Missouri where his sister Katie and her husband Drew graduated from medical school at A.T. Still. They showed us around the town, where they met, where he proposed, their favorite restaurants, etc…and we enjoyed seeing them take this exciting step. They will now go on to their respective residencies: Katie has a three year residency in pediatrics and Drew has a seven year residency in internal medicine. They have bought a home in Iowa and are anxious to begin this new adventure in a few weeks.
If I don't post at least this much now, I'll never catch up. So, there's much left unsaid, but here are some of the major events that took place this year. I'll try to be better about posting this summer. Signing off, -Haleigh

December 2010 Quick Update

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, if I wait until I have time to completely catch up on recording life events on the blog, it will never happen. Thus, I will once again leave a random post--better than nothing I suppose. Gavie did an excellent job decorating our tree; it includes a mix of ornaments from my childhood. (The rest are on my mom’s tree and I doubt she will ever relinquish them to me :)) I absolutely love the glow of Christmas lights at night; it makes the room feel so homey. Furthermore, the tree was one of two beautiful things left to me by my grandma Heaps. The other is shown in the second picture: a lovely Willow-Tree nativity. What a treasure; I can’t believe I get to have it.

Grandma Heaps passed away November 6, 2010. Her obituary can be found here. We spent several days with her in the hospital as she left this life and it was incredible how she was optimistic and sweet right until the end. She didn’t even complain once as all her organs were shutting down. We all sobbed and sobbed but she was so brave! She was even joking with the nurses in the very last hours.

For example, as they turned her over she joked that one nurse had it easier than the other because one side of her body was lighter than the other. The nurses looked confused, but we all giggled knowing that she only had one leg. My throat tightens up even thinking about those last days with her, so I won’t go into too much more detail, but I sure miss her. She was always the very first one to call on my birthday mornings so it seemed strange not to hear from her this year.We also had our very first Heaps family Christmas party without her; those parties made her so happy. She talked about them all year long. However, her aunt passed away this week and before passing she said, “Ila’s coming to get me!”

When her daughter asked her what she was seeing, she said that grandma was running around! What a comfort to know that she’s pain-free and running around up there.Grandma’s funeral was beautiful; the church was packed with many people who adored her. One nurse drove three hours to see her in the hospital before she passed. The talks given by my dad, uncle, and Aunt Kathy were touching and the grandkids sang two nice songs. She would have loved it; I hope she was listening.

Another sad occurrence took place not long after: we lost Gavin’s grandma Nancy “Nannie” Burgon. Her obituary can be found here. She is the woman I took care of this summer as she recovered from a fall. She has been struggling for awhile with various health problems and had one very-near-death experience in the hospital six weeks prior to her death. It was so sad for us all, especially for Papa (Grant). She too had visitors who came to bring her up to heaven. Her funeral was lovely and filled with nice memories. She too will be greatly missed. Sunday dinners simply won’t be the same without her funny and spunky comments.

Well, what a relief it is to finally have this semester over. My mom is doing much better and is working very hard in her physical therapy to regain the use of her knee. She has had a rough few months. I'll try and update more soon on both this blog and my baking blog. If you haven't checked it out yet, the address is: bakingwiththeburgons.blogspot.com. Merry Christmas!

Post Wedding Bliss

I’m finally getting time to update petit à petit and though this may seem like a smorgasbord of pictures with very little explanation, I suppose it’s better than nothing. Sorry for the formatting-I can't get the pictures to stay where I want them to in the text, but oh well. The beginning photos were taken on our honeymoon in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. We spent a few days there since I had meetings in Provo shortly after. We enjoyed the beautiful mountain surroundings and one evening got fancy with our grub & grilled skewers, pineapple, and corn outside. We had a great time. A few random other things we’ve done on weekend outings include: a trip down to Las Vegas to see BYU play UNLV-the kissing picture was taken outside the Brio-a fabulous restaurant that Stephanie and Norm treated us to while we were there. They introduced us to Calamari, which is chewy squid, yet pretty yummy. Last fall we also took a jaunt out to Gardeners’ Village during the Annual Witch Festival. Next, I included a picture from Lydia’s wedding-technically it was two weeks before mine but I had to get it in here. She was a beautiful bride and her reception was perfect for her. The ballroom dance team came and performed and her father sang the well known piece from Puccini’s “Turandot” which, in my opinion, has to be one of the most romantic songs ever created. If you’re reading this and haven’t heard it, listen to this rendition by Pavarotti: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cr5vpHtJIlg . Now if that doesn’t move you, I don’t know what will. Anyway, back on track, Lydia and Andrew ran through an aisle of sparklers and lived happily ever after, or so it appears :). I had to include a picture of the moment when I finally succeeded at making Madame Julienne’s Mousse au chocolat. Believe me, it wasn’t for lack of trying that my first two attempts went awry. I started over twice so my birthday guests could get a taste, and uncle Kenny was nice enough to say it was good. However, it was a disaster. But, I studied up the tricks (the temperature of the bowl, the temperature of the eggs, the perfect separation of whites and yolks, the percentage of cocoa in the chocolate, etc.) and on my third attempt, succeeded. It was rich and divine and I had my family all take a scoop after I took this photo to send to Mme. Julienne. Before I get too much further, I realized I hadn’t uploaded my last few pictures from Lille because of the rush of the wedding. So, this one I included was taken during my last week, the day that Dr. Lebras came to evaluate me and meet my colleagues. I already described this in more detail in my “home sweet home” blog post, but this picture was taken after my farewell luncheon. I will never forget the restaurant – we walked in and I only saw two small tables; then, the waiter led us down several stairs into a neat cave with dim lights on the rock walls and tapestries hung from iron rods. Besides the unique atmosphere, most of us ordered the special which was a fabulous cut of ham with teeny tiny button mushrooms in a béchamel type sauce. Delicious doesn’t even begin to describe how good it was. Well, we came back for my evaluation with the Dean’s secretary, Cédric (far right) which went tremendously well, and before we went in, a few of us snapped this shot. To the left of me is Stephanie Lecocq, above me is Dr. Lebras, and to my right are: Rosalie Gambino, Bénédicte Lentier, Angélique Derôme, and Cédric Lepoutre. I think back on my time spent in Lille as well as my semester in Paris without fail, every single day. Those six months are so dear to me. Oh dear, now I’m getting long winded. Continuing, I gave Gavin a pair of snowshoes for his birthday which he enjoyed and immediately tried out. We were in Yellowstone over Christmas break so we tromped right out the front door out into the woods and had a blast treading on the powder and jumping around. Now, I don’t mean to skim over the next semester entirely, it was very eventful with my second French class and finishing up my coursework, but I don’t have a whole lot of photos to document it. So, I’ll skip up to graduation which was such an exciting time! I finished my Bachelors of French Studies with an English Minor. Then, all of my family and even some of Gavin’s joined me for a fabulous luncheon my mom put together down at Joe Vera’s, one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. Everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves and I was overjoyed to have all my loved ones happily surrounding me. The day before, my mom and I had made and painted cute little graduation treat boxes to put on the tables. Finally, a few weeks ago my family went hiking to donut falls and laughed as we played games on the trail. Oh and I almost forgot! I finally found a job in an unexpected way. Gavin’s grandmother had a fall a month ago and had to have her shoulder replaced, so, this summer I am taking care of her husband Grant. I cook, clean, and keep him company and he is a sweet little old man. I just adore taking care of him; he’s always so grateful for anything I do and is also very easy to please. If I ever find the pictures I took with my classes both semesters I’ll put them on, but for now, here’s a pretty good update on what has been going on in my life post wedding. I hope to be more consistent with my posts in the future. Signing off for tonight, -Haleigh.