Yes... there are more!

Elijah 'haning ten' over Chicago...

We have the Potter's, we have the Ford Angelia, now, where the heck did I put that Weasley?

Ya, I know...I crapped my pants and you would too...

My heaven...Michigan Ave.

I'm pretty sure that just by looking at this thing you will gain weight...shoot, I just gained a pound...

Good Gravy More Pictures from Chicago...

Jim's acrobatic skills being shown to the city...1300 feet ABOVE THE STREET!
Mom and the boys at Navy Pier
Pirate style...at the Field Museum
The skyline...which I must say Chicago as the coolest skyline!
The family standing on the shore of Lake Michigan

Yup, there is more...

From California to Colorado to Chicago...We Have A Thing For C's

Eating Deep Dish Pizza at Edwardo's or something like...all I remember is that I could hear myself getting fatter while eating that pizza ... the pizza was like 5 inches thick

Standing in front of King Tut...ya, I think we were good enough for the king!
Standing at Carthage Jail, which was a very amazing experience to see where the Prophet was martyred.
Yes, more descendants of Brigham Young...
The kids hanging in some sort of cellar...in Nauvoo

Case in point...we went back to College to Creighton. We live in the Cracks of the City, known as the ghetto...and we have Crazy boys that love Chocolate and have had a major case of the Chiggers, do you believe me now?! And, AND, our summer plans have all centered around places that start with "C" California, Colorado and now Chicago. (I would list Utah as we did spend 2 months there however it doesn't start with C but again, however, we had crazy fun there so I can at least use that).

Chicago was a lot of fun however we started with Nauvoo and gained a greater appreciation of what the Pioneers achieved and an even greater appreciation of what they left behind. We then headed to the big city and had lots of fun seeing all the amazing buildings that line the skyline of Chicago. We looked and looked and looked at even more museum's that one would care to count...okay 3! Jim's favorite was the Oriental Institute, mine was The Field Museum because it was in a building that was built for the 1920-ish World Fair, I read about it and was so excited to actually see the building. The boys favorite was when we were leaving all 3 to go swimming! We also walked out into a clear box 1300 feet above Chicago, then I had to go change my underwear. Road on a water taxi, chilled at Navy Pier and the best of all, walked Michigan Ave..aka my heaven...okay, okay more like all the shops that I love that I will never be able to buy...anything...ever! Actually I was geeking out most about Burberry but I didn't go in...I didn't want to start hyperventilate!

We then headed to Amana, Iowa which is this great little village in rural Iowa that if you ever have an opportunity, go!

All in all it has been an amazing, crazy fun, memorable summer...one I hate to end but I figure putting 3,000 miles on the red-grocery-go-getter-a-go-go is enough...well, at least until Christmas.

Crazy Face

I just have to say, Spencer is the funniest kid. He can drive me absolutley crazy, but he is funny much like his Uncle Dave, well, not quite but maybe...one day? Anyway he loves taking pictures and making crazy faces, example A!

More Family Pictures

A Haircut and Family Pictures...Potter Style

Well, we did it...finally, after much negotiation...after much pleading...after much begging, we did it! We finally got Noah to cut his hair! It was at least, AT LEAST, 4 inches long...did you hear me, 4 INCHES LONG!! Elijah kept calling him 'the hippy'. The whole story behind the long hair is this: Noah wanted to die his hair red, I said "uhhhhh" he said "fine...I'm growing it out" I said "uhhhh" he did it...end of story. I know, I really stick to my guns, please copy this amazing parenting tip with your children if you feel the need. Actually I blame Tyson for his long hair growth...did you hear that Tyson, I blame you. Again a great parenting tip, blame other's for your own kids crazy decisions...just kidding Tyson, we love ya and you did inspire Noah to cut his own hair, it just took a month to follow suit.

Enjoy his now shaved head. And oh ya, we took some family pictures, you know Potter Style, do not be surprised if you see them on our Christmas Card. Something to the effect of "have a Merry Christmas, may you have...a good pile of Christmas gifts...such us ours..." Still working out the kinks....

A Summer Update...Happenings and Weight!

Okay Okay simmer down, I don't have any pictures to share but at least I have the comfort of my sarcastic words to explain our happenings this summer. By the title you can already tell that we have been doing lots, lots, lots...again with no pictures but we have also been gaining lots, lots, and lots of weight...okay I have gained lots and lots of weight. I can't believe I have gained 10 pounds since coming to Utah! See this is why I don't want to live in Utah, I GAIN WEIGHT! Anywho despite my rapid weight gain (obviously it is plaguing my mind) we have done some really fun things as a family...I will share and I just want you to know, no animals were harmed in the planning and carrying out of our activities, kids on the other hand...well...

1) We had the opportunity to go to the best, and I mean THE BEST, private pool EVA! It had a water slide, a diving board, and a cliff you could jump off of. Hello, it was freaking awesome. We were there for 4 hours and still had to drag the kids out of the pool. But what made the day even better, we had Sushi for dinner with just grown ups...with grown up talk...with grown up food...really does it get any better than this?

2) We took the kids on a walk along Bountiful Boulevard to look at the houses we will never live in and to take pictures of the Temple that we hope the kids will get married in. It was really fun until Spencer was trying to take 'a dip' in the Temple pool. We left on our own devices before the security asked us to leave. We had a lot of fun and that night there was an amazing sun set. The next day we took the kids to Temple square and again had a great time taking pictures and looking at all the amazing things about temple square but felt we better leave because of the same reason...really...twice! GRRRR doesn't this kid every learn?

3) We had a blast at a pre-July 4th party with the Garaycochea family. Let's just put it this way...Christian and Steph have 3 boys, Mark and Alexandria have 3 boys and Mark and Julie have 3 boys, we have 3 boys...all about the same ages (give or take a few years) Hello Star Wars and hello every other secret thing that boys do. After being there for 5 hours we figured we better go.

4) We had a great time on the 4th of July at our friends the Tokitas (umm... so I am seeing a pattern that we have some really crazy last named friends, I guess we just have international flare!) Anyway we had a great BBQ at their home in SugarHouse and got to meet their most interesting neighbors...talk about international flare! We then got to see, from a backyard, the SugarHouse Park fireworks, which was the last time that the city said they will do fireworks from that park for a while, well at least until our economy isn't in the tank.

5) We have been swimming, lagooning, and hiking...eating, movie-ing (I couldn't say moving as everybody will think we are actually MOVING) and chilling.

6) I totally forgot about a couple of things that have happened that Jim kindly pointed out: We had a fun and an amazing BBQ with Henrie's and Jaeger's (see even more international flare) And had great eats while watching the torrential downpour that seemed to plague Utah for the first three weeks we were here. But Henrie's have a fire pit in the back of their yard so we roasted marshmallows and watched our kids started to fly high from sugar and chocolate...oh how we love smores at 10:00 at night!

7) The kids and I met our friends the Churches (English...that has international flare, I mean Jason is from Georgia...the state, not the country...however one would argue...okay back to point) at the castle park in Kayesville and the kids had a great time playing while Nancy and I had a great time chatting for 2 hours. But we took lots of pictures and I made sure I took a lot of Noah and Lauren; for their wedding video!

All in all, we have had a great time here in Utah and when we get back to Omaha, which will be in the next couple of days, I will post pictures from our many colored adventures.