Yay! Notre Dame football was amazing! The first game of the season The Village has a fundraiser tailgate. All the Grad students and their kids that live at the Village come and run a stand on campus selling food. The proceeds cover all of the activities and things that are planned by the village for the whole year. One of my favorite things that they did throughout the year was that once a month they set up babysitters for the kids (undergrad students) Then coordinated with different restaurants to make a special menu for the adults to go out to dinner for $12 a person. It was usually a 3 course meal including a drink. It was pretty great not to have to worry about finding a babysitter and stuff. Anyway..back to football! If you haven't been to a Notre Dame Football game you haven't been to a football game at all. I seriously recommend going some day. They are pretty incredible! The festivities start the morning before and there are tents all over campus and the parking lot. The entire campus is Tailgating!
Our walking advertisements!
We have to get sunscreen on.
An hour before each game the Bagpipe Band will start at the Golden Dome and march all over campus leading the fans to the football stadium!
It was awsome. Every game the MBA Association had an nice Tailgate in the Mendoza business building were all the MBA students and families could go get free food!
In August Porter had a Fall Break for a week. We hung around for a couple days and played in South Bend and then decided to take a family trip. We went to Chicago for a night and then made the 5 hour drive from their to Nauvoo. Chicago was really fun. We loved walking around the big City and seeing all the shops and buildings.
Oaklee had lots of fun at the Bean! She loved that she could see herself in it and just ran all over the place. It was crazy trying to keep track of her.
Smoot wasn't quite sure what to think.
The First Midwest bank Amplatheatre at Tinley Park
Oaklee just about jumped in the water.
Since we where in Chicago we had to get some of their famous Deep dish pizza. We went to a place called Gino's East. It was really good, we loved the Garlic bread sticks. Smooty really enjoyed it too!
After we ate we made our way to the dock to get on the Ferry to go over to The Navy Pier, for fireworks!
The view was gorgeous!
Oaklee got to ride on the kiddie Train. The wouldn't let us take a picture of her with the train stopped, this will have to do!
On the Navy Pier we met up with some friends from school, The Coates. Noah and Oaklee had a great time watching the fireworks!
After we left the Pier we decided to save money and walk back to our hotel. It wasn't too far away so we thought it'd be no big deal. As we were walking back to the hotel, the sidewalks were really crowded. I became frustrated and thought, "We are just walking parallel to our hotel street. Why don't we cross right now and walk up the next street and we'll be able to pass all of these people and make it back to our hotel faster. Then we won't have to walk so slow with this crowd!" Sounds logical right? Well Chicago streets are not built like Utah or Indiana streets. We started walking across the bridge and finally came up to the street of where we thought our hotel should be...To our astonishment, we didn't recognize anything. It looked ast though we were in a huge underground parking garage with nothing but streets as far as we could see. We quickly realized that we had no idea where we were. While we were walking, trying to figure out where we were, we passed all kinds of people curled up in corners. Porter noticed some stairs and he mentioned that we might need to go up a level. That did not make any sense to me so we kept walking. Finally he stopped me and said "This is how it was in Argentina! We are underneath the city, and we have to go up a level to be where we want to be." So we picked up the double stroller and climbed 2 flights of stairs. There were huge spider webs with the biggest spiders I have ever seen all over the railings. When we got to the top we finally knew where we were and had to walk a few more blocks. When we finally reached the hotel it was 1:30 am and we where all exhausted. It was definitely an adventure and one that I would not like to do again. Next time we'll just pay the $8 to take the ferry or follow the crowd!
The next morning we got up and packed up the car and ate breakfast at this great little place called Yolk! They had the most delicious red velvet french toast. although, I think I would prefer it as a dessert than and actual breakfast. Then we got in the car and drove to Nauvoo. We had a gift card for a Marriott hotel so we had to stay a little outside of Nauvoo in Keokuk. When we got there we went to a little Mexican restaurant for dinner and Oaklee really wanted to sit up to the bar! haha
Carthage Jail
The next morning we got up early and headed over to Carthage! The spirit was so strong and it was such a great experience for our little family. In one of the rooms the Sister missionary giving the tour was telling us about what happened in that room and Oaklee rose her hand and said "and Jesus Loves us!" It was so precious and cute. It reminded me of the pure simple truths of the gospel!
The same door with the bullet holes in it that killed Hyrum and shot Oliver Cowdry
This was pretty cool, Porter was able to take a picture of us through the bullet hole in the door!
The top window was the one that Joseph fell out of after being shot from both sides.
This is the front of the house where the mob ran inside.
I Love this video, There is no doubt that Joseph Smith is a true Prophet!
Nauvoo, Pioneer Pastimes!
Oaklee loved playing at the pioneer pastimes.
Isn't she such a cute little pioneer girl?
She learned how to wash clothes...
Cook on the stove..
and take care of the baby!
School time
The man that Porter was named after.
I can't imagine what was going through their minds as they left their beautiful city in the middle of winter. Along this trail they had journal entries of many of these people telling of their feelings of leaving and what lay ahead. It was very touching to read their words and to look back and imagine how it felt to watch the beautiful temple disappear in the distance.
The next day we decided to go to the temple. We were planning on one of us going while the other watched the kids and then switching but luckily we ran into one of Porter's old friends from junior high school and so we where able to go in together and watch each others kids. Oaklee had fun playing with new friends.
Smooty loved playing in the soft grass!
This was Joseph and Emma's house. The FLDS church owns a few of these properties so it was neat to take a tour with them. They had lots of stories that had been past down and some pieces of furniture that belonged to Joseph and Emma!
The trip was so fun and we wished we had more time to spend in Nauvoo. The spirit is so strong there and it's amazing to think about these people who pledged their love and (literal) lives to the Lord. I hope that I can follow their example and always remember Him and to strive to do His will!
