Miguel and I were greatly blessed this Christmas season as we traveled to Illinois to visit my family. We enjoyed a slightly longer trip than normal (16 days). I especially enjoyed watching Miguel interact with and get to know my grandparents, siblings, and other family members.
Our trip started in Tucson. While we waited for our flight at 4:40 in the evening, we decided to visit the air and space museum there as a kind of Christmas gift to ourselves.
This is the presidential plane that John F. Kennedy used.
This is an old simulator cab used for training.
As we looked at the airplanes, I kept thinking of my Grandpa Ricketts who served in the air force and would have had so much to tell us about the planes if he had been there. We sent him pictures! Other highlights included a blackbird and the NASA building where we read about the different missions into space.
After arriving in Peoria late Tuesday night (Dec 21), we spent Wednesday morning relaxing and in the afternoon drove up to Bishop Hill with my brother Philip to where my brother Justin has been working about one day a week at a pottery shop. He has mostly done cutting clay by hand for rectangular pieces, but that day he had just started trying the wheel, so he gave us a little demo. We were surprised to learn how difficult it is to center the clay on the wheel.
Wednesday night, after eating out with the rest of my brothers and my sister-in-law, Anni, we arrived at my sister, Emily's house. We spent the night and babysat Carson the next morning. We greatly enjoyed all of our Carson-time, of course, and are delighted that he recognizes us "Auntie Laura" and "Uncle Miggy."
Unfortunately, I had started getting a cough on Tuesday which turned into a sinus infection, so the couple days we spent at Emily's I was feeling pretty sick. Friday morning, however, we did manage to go through all of Carson's clothes and pack up a box of hand-me-downs for his little cousin! So exciting.
On Saturday, I missed Christmas morning church due to my sinus infection, but was starting to feel better. In the afternoon, we had our family Christmas.
Sunday, we went to church in Forrest, enjoyed meeting and chatting with many dear friends, and celebrated Christmas with my dad's parents in the evening.
My brother, Matt and his wife, Anni, bought a fixer upper in the fall and Monday (Dec 27) we spent helping them put foam board up against the roof and installing insulation.
Four of my cousins from Ohio (1/2 of the Ramsier family, my mom's sister's children who I hadn't seen in a few years) were also there to help. We enjoyed working hard together and really made some progress. My cousin, Judah, a peoria area local was also there sharing his expertise.
Tuesday morning it snowed. I had told Miguel, "If it snows, I want to build a snowman with you." Well, the snow was perfect for packing and we did just that. This would have been Miguel's first time experiencing anything more than a dusting of snow.
Carson also joined the fun for a bit since my mom ("Grammy") was babysitting him that day.
Tuesday afternoon, we headed to Washington to visit my sister, Megan. We had lunch with her and toured Washington square. Then we drove on to Fairbury and had supper with my mom's parents.
Wednesday morning, I took Miguel to Dave's (or rather he took me. He did quite a bit of the driving and started to figure out the Peoria area and the route to Forrest). We enjoyed Dave's donuts, bought some groceries for making my dad's parents dinner that night, and were excited to run into Austin Kupferschmid! On Thursday, after visiting my mentor Bonnie for brunch, we stopped by WC market and got to chat with Kathy Kupferschmid as well!
Thursday afternoon, we celebrated Christmas with my mom's parents along with the other half of the Ramsier family. We especially enjoyed a game of Jeopardy, designed with questions about our grandparents and prizes. Thursday night, we headed back to Peoria.
On Friday I helped my mom out around the house and Miguel gave the cars a good cleaning (on the inside).
On Saturday (Jan 1), we were out in the snow again. It was much colder, but we did give Carson a little sled ride. We also experienced driving in the snow that afternoon as we drove into Peoria with my little brothers to watch Spiderman 3 and buy some groceries. It even felt like an experience to me since I haven't really been in the snow for the last 3-4 years.
We bought groceries to make a Mexican meal for some of my siblings Sunday night. It was interesting trying to choose the right ingredients which is usually so easy, but becomes complicated when the cuts of meat aren't the same and you're trying to find the most authentic tortillas. We figured something out though and enjoyed cooking together in my mom's kitchen.
The menu was steak tacos, potato wedges, and some salsas. (We may have filled the kitchen with smoke). As my siblings arrived, they kept saying, "It smells like a Mexican restaurant in here," so I guess it was a success.
Monday evening, we had made somewhat last minute plans to visit Marshall and Jan Heinold. This was a great blessing! Marshall brought Miguel, his brother, and two of his cousins to CVE in 2011 when his family was experiencing threats from the "cartels." It was so wonderful to reconnect with them.
Tuesday and Wednesday were spent at my mom's. I got to do some geometric art with Timothy and spend some quality time with my mom.
On Wednesday morning, Miguel and I got a much overdue teeth cleaning and check. And Wednesday evening, we greatly enjoyed participating in the monthly family night at Peoria, including supper and a Bible study on the Fruits of the Spirit.
Thursday morning (Jan 6) found us flying out of Peoria airport bright and early. The snow and the sunrise were breathtakingly beautiful. I was entertained the entire 30 minutes to Chicago trying to identify land marks. It helped that we kind of followed the Illinois river.
Here is a view of Chicago and Lake Michigan.
It was our most uneventful day of flying since COVID (in a wonderful way) and we arrived early to Tucson. It was lovely to get home and settle back in.
Thanks for praying for our trip!
BABY UPDATE
At 23 weeks, Baby has been growing and kicking a lot! Since Christmas, he kicks for multiple stretches of time each day and the kicks just keep getting stronger. On Tuesday, Jan 11, we had a structural/anatomical ultrasound done in Nogales, MX. We really enjoyed the doctor's thorough explanations and getting to see our baby's face for the first time!
We appreciate your continued prayers for all the transitions related to becoming parents and are praising God for a healthy baby and pregnancy so far!
Please pray that Miguel's green card arrives. We sent it through the mail from Peoria to Nogales and it is MIA. This has been really stressful, but we trust God has a plan.
