Michele Visits Miami

The first week of April was a great one. Lots of things were happening, one of them being Michele visiting. The Fort Lauderdale Temple open house had begun and she made the trip to see it. Michele was here for a week. Even though I couldn't take time off, we were able to do tons in the mornings and evenings. It kind of felt like a stay-cation for us and reminded us of all the things we love about Florida. 

We took Michele to like a bazillion restaurants - no joke. I'm pretty sure I gained weight while she was here. Blaine was on an "install"  in Miami that week so he got all his meals paid for whenever he could join us (which was awesome). We took her to Rico Pan (traditional Colombian), 100 Montaditos (Spanish) in Midtown an area that has grown since she's left, Sergio's (Cuban), Vicky Bakery (Cuban pastries), Piola (Brazilian pizza), a nameless Cuban sandwich shop in Little Havana, Azucar (modern Cuban ice cream), Pollo Tropical (Caribbean fast food), Los Verdes (modern Colombian), Misha's Cupcakes (Oprah's favorite cupcakes) and the list goes on. It was a fun week for all of our taste buds! 

One night, we went to Serendipity3 in Lincoln Road. Serendipity is Michele's favorite movie so it seemed fitting. Rue came along and had a treat herself. We love how dog-friendly Miami is. 

Frozen hot chocolate 

poochini

We saw this while walking around - pup was getting a burger for his birthday!

We also went to Hollywood Beach and rode bikes on the broadwalk. It was tons of fun. I've been wanting to go ride bikes there since we've moved. I used to do this all the time growing up with my family.

On Saturday, we went to the beach. This was the first Saturday in over 8 weeks that I did anything not related to the temple cultural celebration. We had practice that morning really early so that it wouldn't interfere with General Conference so we had the rest of the day to go to the beach. We listened to General Conference from a little speaker. After the beach, we took Michele to Wynwood quickly so she could see how it's changed from a ghetto to a cultural city center. It was a great day. 

We need to get to the beach more often!  

Cuban sandwich drowning in papitas

Of course we have a beach tent so that Blaine won't burn and
Rue won't have a heatstroke!

Rue got in the water for the first time ever and swam! She was kinda freaking out, but got used to it and came in several times. We were so happy. 

Exhausted is an understatement

In front of a Wynwood "wall"

On Sunday before General Conference, we woke up bright and early to walk for Autism Speaks with my co-workers. I saw several of my patients and their parents. It was really moving to see so many people come out and support Autism awareness. The rest of the day, we watched General Conference and visited Tia's so that Michele could see the whole family.

On Monday morning, we went to the temple. I had already been inside once with my family the first day it was open. But it was nice to go again when it wasn't as packed with people. This tour guide also told us different information about the temple. The Angel Moroni weighs approximately 3 times more than other Angel Moronis to make sure it withstands hurricane winds! I thought that was pretty cool. It was also really neat to go the Fort Lauderdale temple, our temple, with Michele - someone who I never thought would embrace the gospel. I'll write more about the temple later. It is absolutely gorgeous. 

Mami came too!

It was a picture perfect day!

On the last day that Michele was here, we went to the Everglades. Michele had never been to the Everglades before, and as a fellow Floridian, I had to change that. I loved going to the Everglades when I was younger but hadn't been in over a decade. We went on an airboat tour (they provided earplugs - the speech assistant in me appreciated that) and saw several alligators, turtles, frogs, snakes, birds - you name it. I also loved seeing the mangroves and plant life that's unique to the Everglades. It's such a beautiful place! At the end of our tour, we saw an alligator show that was much more educational than dangerous which we appreciated and enjoyed. 

It was fun having Michele around. We had late-night talks filled with lots of laughter and also meaningful conversations. We caught up with what's going on in our lives and future plans. She filled me in with what's happening in Utah and made me miss it. Michele braided my hair almost everyday. She joined me and Rue in our daily walks. We listened to Power 96 on the radio and talked about how different Miami is compared to the rest of the U.S. Blaine drove Michele through every significant inch of Miami (something that I am so grateful he can do). We went shopping at Aventura and Dolphin Mall.  It didn't matter if we were watching a basketball game and stuffing our face for the night or if we were on an adventure, we had a great time every time and that's what true friends do. Michele and I have had our ups and downs, but I know that she is forever friend and I can attribute that to the gospel that brought us together. It was fun being her personal tour guide and hostess and I hope she can return again soon! 

New Mexico

In March, I went to New Mexico for a week to take care of Miles, Tyson and Trey while Stacey & Chris were in Africa trying to get Nyla and Omari home. Unfortunately, the kids still aren't home. But I had a great time visiting the world's cutest nephews and hanging out with Eileen. Chris' parents were with us for the first 3 days to help us orient ourselves with the Air Force base and kids' schedules. Base-living was strange but nice at the same time. It felt weird how nice and regulated everything was but I felt very safe and loved the routine of it all. I also enjoyed listening to the national anthem at 4:30 PM everyday and stopping to salute to the flag. It made me really reflect on the blessing it is to live in this country and how grateful I am for those who protect my freedoms. 

It's all a blur now (should've blogged about it sooner) but it was so nice to see the boys. They've grown up so much! They're still as sweet, well-behaved, silly and smart as ever. Miles was really helpful in telling us what to do and how to do it or where to find things. He would remind us about things all the time, like "snack time is in an hour and 5 minutes." Snack time is a serious event. Tyson was also very helpful and would let us know when he's had enough sugar. What type of kid does that? I loved it. Trey was actually pretty verbal and would say things over and over again. He was my snuggle buddy for the trip since the older boys ran away from my signs of affection laughing hysterically. Of course, my week was full of cars, trucks, trains, airplanes, superheroes, bad guys and all things "boy."

Tired faces make for good snuggling.

He ran around the house scaring me with these. 

We did lots of the same things everyday - wake up, eat breakfast, take Miles to school, snack time, nap time, lunch time, crafts, play at the park, pick up Miles from school, snack time again, do homework, dinner, baths, read books and scriptures, etc etc. But I loved every minute of it. I loved seeing the boys play together and listening to them talk to each other (one day I was sick and the kids saw me vomit. The rest of the day they pretended to be vomiting whenever they played on their own - it was pretty funny). I was constantly impressed with how smart they are. I guess since I work with low-functioning children I was amazed at how much these able-bodied and normally developing, healthy kiddos are. Miles is reading like a champ and still loves to learn new things (he would constantly ask the meaning of words or how things worked or why things were a certain way).

Miles reading his scripture stories.
So impressed and humbled by the diligence this little man has. 

We went to the BX and Commissary a ton and we ALWAYS got this cart.

I don't remember the order of what we did very well, but here are some pictures of some fun things we did while we were there.

Before Chris' parents left, we had an early birthday celebration for Trey. We had a hamburger chocolate cake and small presents for him.

On St. Patrick's Day during craft time, Tyson made a rainbow coming out of a pot of gold with fingerpaint. He's pretty artistic and creative. The most calm I ever saw Tyson was while he was doing some sort of craft. He focuses on what he's doing so much!

Saw this at Tyson's school and thought it was so funny.

Hard at work

We visited the Old Apple Barn. We had delicious fudge and yummy apple cider ice. Unfortunately for me, I was very sick that day and all that yumminess came up the second we got home. I was on the couch sleeping for the rest of the day - only getting up to rush to the bathroom. It was horrible! But thank goodness that it only lasted for a day and that none of the boys got whatever bug I had.

We went to the park right across the street a couple of times. We also played in the park at Miles' school while we waited for him to get out of class. Trey was really brave and would go down a huge slide. I was impressed.

Walking with me to get the mail.

One day while Trey was napping and Miles was at school, Tyson and I made cookies. We made chocolate M&M cookies and they were so good! Tyson was really helpful in the kitchen. He followed directions perfectly and helped me measure the ingredients we needed. I explained to him what a sous chef was and that he was my little sous chef. He thought "sous" was a funny word.

I learned about Disney Junior tv shows. My favorites were Doc McStuffins and Paw Patrol. So cute and so fun. Yes - I enjoyed them. And now I'm in the know at work with my patients.

I got to have late-night talks with my mother-in-law, Eileen whom I love very much. It was good to have another adult helping out and to talk to. At night, we would sit down and watch Duck Dynasty or just chat for a little bit. We were able to catch up a lot!

I experienced part of the mom life. I drove a mini van (and surprisingly liked it). I also found that it was incredibly easy for me to be dirty all the time. One day, I discovered spaghetti sauce on my watch (rock solid) after wearing it like that for 2 days straight. I also experienced waking up early despite having woken up in the middle of the night several times due to Tyson's coughing and losing sleep worrying about him. This trip just confirmed to me how truly amazing moms are, because I was tired! And that's that we had awesome sisters from the Relief Society in Stacey's ward helping out with dinner. How do these women do it all?

The last full day that I was there, we went to White Sands National Monument. It was gorgeous. We brought sledding discs but were unsuccessful in sledding down the hills. According to Miles, we didn't go to the "big good ones." But it was still very fun. We ran up and down the hills and played in the sand. When we were done, we had the chocolate M&M cookies as a snack.

Miles tried selling us "free salt." He was quite the business man, arguing that this was the best kind. 

It was very windy as you can tell by Tyson's face.

I love these boys. So happy to be their aunt! 

I wish I could've stayed longer. Going back home broke my heart. I missed them so much the first couple of days of being home. But I am so glad that I was able to be with them for a little bit. These kids are growing up so fast and it kills me not being around more often. It also broke my heart that Nyla & Omari weren't on their way home when I left. But I know that they will be home sooner than later. I can't wait till the Culver clan moves to the East Coast and is joined with 2 more little ones to love.

Reading to them on my last night there.