Picture Overload-Nauvoo

MOTHER and FATHER

Me and Andrea... and downtown Chicago


Dean showing and explaining his work and what he does... This is the barge they work on


NAVY PIER and the GIRLS


Experiencing the Chicago Dog- not me- yuck!!


My mom finally got to try her Chicago hot dog!!


The Parentals

Funny story- so Dean forgot to bring in the bumpers on the side of the boat and got going fast and DRENCHED my mom!! It was a total accident but it was HILARIOUS we all had a good
laugh


MY FAVORITE PEOPLE!! :) I stand out like a sore thumb! but I didnt want to drown! hahah


Lake Michigan- SISTERS :)


The boat ride! This was so much fun!! Thanks to the Leavitts for letting us take their boat!!! We had an absolute blast!

My mom is absolutely going to KILL ME.. but I had to post it!! The picture is priceless. I snapped it just at the right time!! My dad's face is priceless! Hey there is nothing wrong with this picture! My parents are in love!!! :) HAHAHA I LOVE YOU MOM!

I had to post this to make her feel better? I have one of Jason and Andrea too but it's on Jason's camera DANGIT!! I could've had all 3 of them.... All guys are the same!! HAHAHA :)

DAIRY QUEEN!! YUMMY!!!


ILLINOIS

Nauvoo- WE MADE IT!

All of us in front of the Nauvoo Temple

CARTHAGE

The Jail

Don't know why I'm standing so awkward... the top window is where Joseph Smith was killed and fell from...

Dean and Joseph Smith have the same birthday! :)

Carthage Jail- dont know if you can see those tiny slits in the brick. those were the windows to the jail that Joseph was in.. it was so dark in there they had no light. :(

Touching the Mississippi River


NAUVOO TEMPLE!! BEAUTIFUL it's looking over the valley... :)


Dont know why I'm standing there so awkward looking again? haha my parents were supposed to go to Scotland this weekend.. but decided to come to Chicago at the last second.. glad they did.. but we had a little bit of Scottland in Nauvoo


The stilts!! I must say I WAS THE BEST AT THEM. but they are a lot harder than they look. It took a lot of tries to get us all up at once!

Doing a Scottish Dance to the bag pipes...


I LOVE IT!! look at the cute little boy looking up at Dean


THE RACE!!! HAHAHAH SO FUNNY!


Riding in a hand cart


Nauvoo Pageant


I dont even know where to begin....... This was THE BEST WEEKEND EVER!! My Mom and Dad, and Jason and Andrea came out this weekend... (Jason didnt get there till late Friday night so that is why he isnt in the top of the pictures).. but I was SOOO happy to have them here!! We drove to Nauvoo which was about a 4 hour drive. It was incredible.. We saw the Pageant, The beautiful Nauvoo Temple, and Carthage Jail. It was unbelievable.. I had to keep reminding myself Joseph Smith was in this room... My testimony has been strengthened that's for sure!

My family is so much fun and we always have a blast when we are together! We made soooo many memories and had some good laughs! I am kind of burnt out from writing because I wrote all about this in my journal already.. but pictures speak louder than words.... so that's why there is an overload of them! I have the BEST FAMILY EVER!!!! Thanks for the wonderful weekend!

4th of July weekend....

this weekend we......
went to the Chicago Temple early Saturday morning! It was so different from the St.George temple. It's so much smaller.... and we had a total of 12 people in our session! but we had a wonderful time...after that...

we went downtown to the Shedd Aquarium! that was awesome! Dean and I are like little kids! we ohhhh and awww at everything! we cant wait to bring our own kids to places like that...
then we went to the "beach/lake" it was nice to lay out on the sand.. the water wasnt as cold as I thought it would be... I only got in to my knees though! :)

then... we went and ate at Uno's! It's a WAY popular pizza place here! the wait for your pizza is always AT LEAST an hour! I wasnt the biggest fan.. maybe just because it's the kind we got.. but Dean loved it!

oh... and we went to Toy Story 3 in 3D it was AWESOME. it was mine and Dean's first 3D movie! we really enjoyed it. That's a must buy for us!

we watched some fireworks! we taught our sunbeam class... we ate some yummy food and enjoyed being together! Dean worked on Monday so I just relaxed by myself all day.. I treated myself to a mani/pedi :) and then I watched a parade that was by our house! It was pretty entertaining but so blasted hot and humid! so then I found a nice shaded tree and read my book!
it was another great weekend..

The Weekend..

Me, Paxton and Brianna


Daniel, Paxton and Dean

My amazingly HOT husband

Ravinia Festival

Another weekend in Chicago has gone by... This last weekend was a lot of fun... better than last weekend when I was home sick in bed! Dean and I were invited to a Ravinia Festival.. we had no idea what we were doing when we went but we were told it was a "must do" while being in Chicago. It's kind of like a concert except nobody really cares to watch the people perform.. It's more like get your blankets and chairs and some yummy food and chill...for most everyone else it was like get your glass of wine and beer and you're good.. haha people had their candles lit and and even had table cloths on their tables.. it's kind of like a hippy thing.. but, they sit there and listen to the music and play cards or whatever... The people that were playing were the Moody Blues.. dont even know who they were.. that's way before my time. but it was a fun experience!
then on saturday we went to the Glenview city pool. it was SO nice to relax and catch some sun rays! (except now we are burnt!!) but, that wont stop us from going again next weekend! haha we love hanging out with our friends... Brianna, Daniel and of course PAXTON! :) We love them!
Then Dean and I finished off our weekend with a date to the movies.. we saw Grown Ups. It was funny! Then.... we went and ate food at this Italian restaurant down by the Lake. It was a great weekend! :)

St.GEORGE- I love you...

back yard fun


All the kids attacking Uncle Brandon on the tramp


hanging out in the backyard... Papa, Sidney, Bailee, Tiffany, Andy and on the tramp Becks & Will


SO much fun at Grandma and Grandpa's!
Beckham, Brydee and William in the back and in the Cadillac Jay Jay and Corben.
They have races!!



My little family... we miss Roxy so much!!
hahahah I love how Dean is forcing her to look at the camera!


Dean and Allie


Dean went over to my dad's to help him lay cement, my dad has another project of course! :) I love his backyard!! (also in the picture, my grandpa Visser, my dad, Dean, my cousin Cameron Visser and his friend, Marc my brothers friend)


Corben, William, Heather, Bailee, Sidney, Dean, Brydee


Bailee Jane with strawberries all over her


SIDNEY GIRL


Heather, William, Grandma


Papa, Grandma, Brittany, Bailee Jane


Dean, Kylee, Tara and Allie, Tiffany and Sidney


Beckham, Jay Jay, William, Corben, Dean's brother Chandler, and Brydee


Aunt Mallory, Allie, Dean


Uncle Dean and baby Allie


Bugaboo and Lucas


Dean, Bugaboo, and Lucas
(that's what all my nieces and nephews call me, they dont even know who Mallory is! haha)


Baby Lucas

Auntie Bugaboo and Corben!
I LOVE HIM!

WHAT A WEEK!!! Dean and I had SO much fun visiting home last week! We didn't realize how much we love St.George until we left! Mainly because we miss our family! Normally when you take a vacation you GO SOMEWHERE... but our vacation was home! And we loved every second of it! We just hung out with family the whole time! We went swimming at the pool just about everyday considering it was over 100 degrees everyday! And we were finally able to meet our NEW niece and nephew. Allison Jane Hilsmann is Dean's first niece on his families side. She was born May 3rd and is just absolutely adorable. And then we met our new nephew Lucas Alan Stott my sister Heathers baby. He was born April 29th and is a little stud! We love them both so much! Lucky for us it worked out perfectly that we were able to be here for his baby blessing! It was so nice! :) Then, we did something special that we don't normally get to do very often is... we all went out to dinner... and when I say WE I mean the ADULTS.. no kids! :) even though I LOVE being around my nieces and nephews it was nice to have adult bonding time! We went to Chillis and just had a blast! We are always so loud when we all get together and are just always laughing! I love my parents and all my siblings! Thanks for an AMAZING WEEK!!!