Kunz Krazies

Well, everyone is back to school except for me. So here are the traditional first day pictures. Morgan is a big second-grader. Her school requires uniforms, which she hates, but I think she looks cute! Kory had his first day of teaching at Madison High School seminary. Super excited for him. We didn't have the kids on their first day back to school, so here are their fourth day back to school pics. A fifth, seventh, and tenth grader. Caleb didn't look too thrilled in the last picture, so here is a smiling one. I have two weeks until I'm officially back at school. Here are the kids and some of their shenanigans. As far as I can tell, they are mimicking the High School Musical Bad Lip Reading.

Because we hadn't had enough traveling, we piled in the car on Friday and headed to Utah once again. Kory's niece was getting married and it prompted a sort of makeshift family reunion. Nicole rented this awesome vacation rental which was a nice house in Sandy with a pool, hot tub, tons of bedrooms and bathrooms. When we got there on Friday we walked over to Todd's grave because it was just down the street. Then the kids swam until after midnight and the adults talked. The next morning, the adults went to the Timpanogos Temple to see the wedding. Then we headed back and let the kids swim and play for a few more hours before taking off. Small break from swimming to have some In n Out Before we left, all of the family met at Todd's grave to remember him. Still a lot of tears.

The little kids were glad to have us back. This week was dentist week. On Tuesday morning, Phoebe got her braces off. That afternoon we had check-ups and each of the kids had to return at some point during the week for sealant or cavities. I actually had to pretend to be a grown-up about it and tell them not to worry and hold their hand when I am a HUGE baby when it comes to having to go to the dentist. It's one of my biggest fears. We took the kids to the park lots of nights this week. Trying to squeeze in those last few summer activities before school starts on Wednesday. Chloe preparing for her dentist visit. Phoebe also took her skills and written test and is finally a true blue driver (except for nights). No braces and proud carrier of a driver's license. 

On Sunday morning, we attended church in Nauvoo. Then we quickly checked out of our condo and headed for Chicago. We got stuck in traffic for an hour due to road construction + a bad accident. We stopped for dinner at Giordano's and had some authentic Chicago-style pizza. Loved it. Recommended by Kelley's brother. After we made it to the hotel, Kory and I went and dropped off the rental car and took a shuttle back to the hotel. We had to get up around 4:00 to make our flight out of Chicago, but everything went okay. We got into SLC really early and headed home after some Swig and some In n Out.

On Saturday, we got up early and did baptisms at the temple. Austin found some family names, and we also did some family names for some people in our ward. It was so great to be inside and have a functioning temple in Nauvoo. It's beautiful and decorated reflective of the Nauvoo era. We headed back to the condo and changed and then headed down to visit the restored part of Nauvoo. We started with a horse-drawn cart ride through the town, where they tell you lots of interesting details about Nauvoo. We visited some of the restored homes and the gravesite for Joseph Smith. Then we followed the Trail of Hope down to the Mississippi where the saints crossed on their way West. At the bank of the river is a statue of Joseph and Brigham, with Joseph directing Brigham what he needed to do. I had forgotten how much Joseph had already seen about the settlement of the West, and Brigham Young carried it out. We went...

This was a long driving day, as we headed from Ohio to Illinois. We made it there in the early evening and stopped at Carthage Jail for a tour. It's a powerful place. I just have to laugh because both times I have been there, there has been a really distracting child on the tour which pretty much ruins the experience. I guess I just have to say, "Lord, thank you for this test!" This was our motto for part of the trip, because we were at a gas station, and this woman walked up to us asking for directions. I could tell she had already asked several people, and no one was being very helpful. We just said, "Sorry, we're from Idaho." She just threw her hands up in the air and said, "Lord, thank you for this test!" We checked into our condo, which was nice and it was nice to stay in the same place for a couple of nights. The kids vegged and watched some Olympics. Kory and I went into town looking for a grocery store and c...