We had a terrific time in Madison with Emily & Bronson for a week. Emily helped me with this post, but uploading the post she wrote for her blog. Much of this is in her voice, but I'll add a little here and there. Emily set up a photo shoot with her friend Natalia, because she said that we needed an updated, good photo for our funeral program someday. Haha! Hope that isn't soon, but we're glad that she pushed us in the direction, because it's nice to have these photos.
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| MY MOM IS GORGEOUS - nearly 68 years old!!!!! |
My parents left Wednesday morning, Sept 4, (4:30am to be exact!) back to Portland. I loved having them here so much! This was the first time we've ever been in a position to host my parents since our tiny Provo apartments didn't quite cut it.
To back up to the beginning of their arrival, I should note that Wednesday morning the day they arrived (very late that night), I woke up feeling awful - worst cold I've had. I stayed home, got an antibiotic, which I ended up taking but didn't do anything. Not a good timing to get sick.
Bronson was a trooper and has put in 12 hour days, arriving at work at 6:30pm and coming home at 6:30 every day that week because of a big conference at Epic (big wigs from hospitals come to learn about updates to the software, etc), and on top of that, he has to help out (traffic control, passing out backpacks, and working in the store), and still needed to get his work done before taking Friday off. So despite the long days, he stayed up until 11pm to go pick up my parents.
Thursday morning, I worked for a few hours while my parents slept, then my vacation began! While I wasn't feeling 100% better, I found I was feeling about 10% better each day. That morning I went and got my hair cut.
I came home to nap and needed to nap every day for a couple hours (pregnancy + getting sick = wipes you out!) My mom and I made chicken noodle soup and hung out until Bronson came home. My parents read by the pool while I made some rolls and we watched the BYU football opener against Utah, no question there, we lost.
Friday, Bronson took off work, and we went downtown to see the capital building. It was so nice to see downtown when there weren't crowds! We had perfect weather. We then went to the Memorial Union (UW Campus) and got pizza and Babcock ice-cream from their much fancier and modern "Wilkinson" center.
We came home, took naps, and then had our pictures taken by my friend, Natalia! After scanning in 5,000 (no exaggeration) photos last year, I realized how few professional photos my parents had of themselves and together. So I knew this was a must. (See photos above!)
Saturday, we explored Epic and gave them the complete 10,000 step tour! Except my mom rode in the transport chair ;) I still manage to get lost around Epic so luckily, Bronson gave us the royal tour.
Mom and Dad treated us to Mexican food at our favorite restaurant that afternoon and then we watched BYU women's volleyball play Marquette (from Milwaukee).
Sunday, we went to church and went to an open house with our realtor, but we decided not to pursue the house. We had dinner, went for a walk, played Splendor, and watched 60 mins clips. This is a MUST SEE!
Monday, Labor Day! We drove to Devil's Lake (an hour away), which was a popular destination for families! We found a spot to set up for a picnic and games in a more secluded area so it was quieter. What was funny was for how little members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints there are in Wisconsin, our spot happened to be next to two other families in our stake! We set up chairs and a table and played Cover Your Assets and read for a bit.
We came home to have a quick bite of dinner before going back to Epic for a bonfire activity with our ward. Families made s'mores and roasted hot dogs and we socialized. Later that night, we watched Won't You Be My Neighbor, the Mr. Roger's documentary that came out last year (fun fact, it is the highest-grossing documentary to date!) It was fun because my mom recently finished reading the book and could provide additional insight during the documentary. It's only available on HBO, so we signed up for a 7 day free trial, because the next night we also watched the documentary, The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley.
Tuesday, we relaxed a bit in the morning, by eating a crepe with fruit breakfast and then spent a couple hours on Goodreads. My mom and Julia are really big book readers and I always feel inspired to read after being with them/talking with them! Mom knows audiobook and library book apps better than I do - so she helped me out, now I'm feeling inspired to read. Let's see how long it lasts! haha.
I used to be an avid reader growing up. I didn't read classic literature but loved Nancy Drew in 3rd grade, The Amazing Days of Abby Hayes in 4th and 5th, and Tuck Everlasting, Ella Enchanted in 5th to name a few.
That afternoon we visited the Olbrich Botanical Gardens - where we saw sooooooo many species of plants! It was stunning to think Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother created ALL of this, every plant, every human, everything! They made this world so beautiful for us!
There is a large population of Thai students that attend UW Madison, so this was donated by the Thai government as a thank you. It's the only Thai sanctuary (or whatever it's called) outside of Thailand. It's gold plated and there were no nails used to create this structure.
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We had SO much fun and miss them tons! We are so glad they made the trip to come see us, especially during this perfect time in Wisconsin - not too hot and not too cool! Can't wait for mom to see Wisconsin in the dead of winter Feb/Mar 2020! ;)
More Epic pictures...
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