Warning: Long post to be expected....So home was GREAT! Here's the recap of highlights...
The "Storm"-I am calling it a storm because I simply don't know what else to call it, but the day before I flew home (Friday, May 8) a big storm hit Southern Illinois. At first they classified it as a tornado, but then as I got home and learned more, they were calling it an in land hurricane and a cycloburst something. I still don't know if they've officially classified it as anything yet, but it was a pretty bad storm. Luckily, there weren't too many injuries and I was still able to fly into St. Louis with no trouble. I spent the first few days of my trip with my dad and his family with no power. There were trees and power lines down everywhere-in some cases, the trees were down on top of the power lines-and so there were about a dozen towns with no power. At first it sounded like bad news, but it really wasn't that bad. The first night my dad just grilled outside, which was ingenius because we couldn't cook inside, the weather was perfect for grilling, and what better way to salvage all the food that would soon be rotten! It was great. And with no tv or computer we just sat around talking all night until it got so dark that we couldn't see each other and then we went inside to candles. It was nice. That lasted a few days, we grilled or ordered out for meals and spent most of the day talking or driving around and I got to use a chainsaw when we were cleaning up some of our fallen trees. Okay, so I only used the chainsaw for about 3 seconds, but it was fun! :) The fun started winding down when I realized just how many things you can't do without power. I was okay with the no microwave and no television but then I was ready for a hot shower and to use my flat iron and the fun ended pretty quickly. :) Good thing we had relatives close by! We spent Mother's Day with my aunt and stole a lot of her power (Thanks Laurie!)
My Dad and I after grillingThe Fam-Speaking of Mother's Day, one of the biggest highlights of the whole trip, of course, was seeing family. It was sooooo nice to see everyone and how they've all grown. Seriously, I almost didn't even recognize my youngest brother Austin who is 14 and must have hit puberty and a growth spurt while I've been away! And there's nothing like being with sisters! ♥ On Tuesday night my sister Ali had a softball game so we went to watch her play and then we all went out to eat as a family. And it was the whole family! That never happens. My oldest brother Michael drove down and we all had dinner together. It was fun and such a great (although a bit belated) Mother's Day present for my mom. On Saturday we had one of my cousin's weddings to go to and it was nice there too to see so many family members I hadn't seen in a long time. There were some of my cousins children I had never even seen! They were all so cute! And the aunts. Oh the crazy aunts! They're Italian and I love them, that's all I can say :) I spent one day with my mom and one of my aunts just going to eat and getting pedicures. Fun stuff! And I was way excited to be home when my sister Michelle got her ACT scores back, she got a 33 that little genius! I'm so proud of her!
Me and the Smarty Pants Michelle
Ali and I after her ballgame
The Girls-They got me flowers! Aw!
Me with Baby Tristan-she's 1 and I just met her!
At the Wedding... "We Are Family..."
Pujols at first base...YUM!
The Cardinals Game!-That was a big highlight of my trip! I love the Cardinals, but unfortunately never get to see them play. Even though I didn't have tickets and I knew it would be a long shot, I had even checked their schedule to see if they were playing at home the week I would be there. Sure enough they were, but the only game I saw as even a possibility to make was a Sunday game and that just wouldn't work out. Well, then my dad asked me about my plans on Friday and said that he had tickets to the game. AHH!! Yay! So we went with my dad's boss and his wife and it was great! We got there early, even got a free t-shirt and went to eat in downtown St. Louis and then got to our amazing seats. It all started off great, I was busy snapping pics of Albert Pujols (see below), we almost caught a foul ball and Colby Rasmus hit a home run, but then.....then the rain came. It started pouring! Luckily, we stayed dry and waited it out in hopes that they would continue the game, but when it finally stopped they said that the game had been cancelled. Bummer! It was still such a fun time and I was happy just to get to go for those two innings :)
Pujols at first base...YUM!
Rain, Rain Rain...Go Away!
Sad!I think that's most of the highlights for me. It was a fun trip. I want to send apologies to everyone that I didn't get to see though. It's sad but there are soo many people in Southern Illinois that I love and would love to catch up with but there was only so much time and it was already split between all the sides of family. So hopefully to all those people, we will get to catch up soon! Also, I feel like I learned a lot on this trip. First off, I don't miss humidity at all! ;) It's sticky and it makes my hair expand by tenfold. But I also realized how much I love my life in Utah. I started to miss it after just a few days at home, and I realized I'm so grateful for the life I have. I realized so many blessings, I am so lucky to have such an amazing and supportive family and friends and two "homes"! Another thing I learned is that I'm not a vacation type of person. I was looking forward to not having to work for a whole week, but after a couple days I was bored! I played solataire, caught up on my facebooking and watched an entire season of Grey's Anatomy in two days and then I was ready to get to work :) So I think vacations are nice but maybe a shorter one next time ;)
