A Battalion

Merriam-Webster defines the word battalion as a large organized group of people that act together.

During Mrs. Bluth's mission in San Diego, she told the story of the Mormon Battalion while she was a part of a battalion. A battalion of over 20 sisters.

At the historic site, they were not separated by companionships, but rather they were united and all worked and acted together.

The relationships from those 18 months are eternal and the battalion sisters are family.

Mrs. Bluth would have no problem preaching to you about her mission, but instead will only highlight one aspect today.

The battalion sisters learned to sacrifice and in just one short summer they showed that they still could sacrifice and came to see us in Chicago.

Sister Sherman (Lindsay) and her new husband were driving across country (sound familiar?) to Connecticut where Blake got an incredible job. They endured all the traffic and came into the city to see us. We only had one night to walk around and show them a few things, but they did stay the night so many more laughs were shared before we went to bed. One small side note is that we live in a loft apartment so it was more of like one big slumbie party!

Sister Monarrez (Vanessa) is from a suburb outside of Chicago and her husband is from the same area, but they managed to take a detour from all of their family and friends and head into the city for some Pinkberry and a few hours with us! This was exciting because Vanessa LOVES Pinkberry and being her companion meant a few discussions on the goodness of that frozen yogurt.

To end the summer we got a visit from Sister Livingston (Jessie) and her mom and little sister. They drove from Virginia to Utah and once again scheduled a long stop in Chicago. We walked around and saw things, but the best part was just talking. Little Emily is probably one of the coolest almost 12 year old girls that we know and she even went swimming in Lake Michigan. We are very excited for Jessie to become Mrs. Brown in a few weeks and can't wait for the Mr. and Mrs. to come visit us!

One could say that we have been spoiled this summer with visitors and it is true. But the Battalion sisters worked together, sacrificed together, grew together and our relationships were developed while striving to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ and now nothing can tear us apart.

We would love some more visitors!

Today

"What day is it?"
"It's today," squeaked Piglet.
"My favorite day," said Pooh.

Today, Mr. Bluth is back at school. Today, we no longer have our evening to spend together. Today, we have a few more worries. But, today is a good day.

Summer was so good to us and we enjoyed every day and all of our adventures. We had quite the finale for our end of summer and can't wait for summer to come again.

Our last week before Mr. Bluth went back to school, we went to our first Cubs game and experienced Wrigley Field before they make it slightly more modern for next season. You really have to pay closer attention to the game with no instant replay screens, and one could say that you learn to appreciate the game a little more. We witnessed a rare occurrence and that was that the Cubs won the game! Go Cubbies!

The Thursday of that same week was Christmas for Mrs. Bluth. 13 professional dance companies from all over came to Chicago for one week and put on five different shows. Most of them had a price, but we got tickets to a free concert. Yes, we did arrive an hour early and, yes, we did dance all the way home. It was a beautiful show with a great variety of dance and Mr. Bluth was blessed for not having his usual meeting so he could stand in a long line and watch about two hours of dance.

Now we can't forget to mention that although school had already started that we still managed to play hard over Labor Day weekend. Has anyone ever gone boating on a river? Well we are now sold on the idea. We were invited to go boating in the Illinois River which we found about an hour out of the city. We went on Saturday and it was the first time we had really left the city and it is easy to be surrounded by skyscrapers and forget that Illinois is really REALLY flat. It was beautiful out on the river as both banks were completely surrounded by trees that you had no idea what was beyond the greenery, and it had a very industrial look to it with an occasional machine poking out of the trees or the big barges floating down the river carrying anything you can imagine to the Mississippi River. To top it all off, the water was the temperature of bathwater. Yep, the perfect temperature which made it very hard to get out of and a lot easier to crash into. We both were incredibly sore after wake boarding and tubing all afternoon, but we would choose to be sore any day to get to go out on the river again.

Sunday we had a 'young married with not as much responsibility' moment. We had been contemplating the idea of going to Nauvoo for the weekend and finally decided that we would not go for many different reasons. Well in the middle of our Sacrament meeting, Mrs. Bluth turned and said "Should we go to Nauvoo today?" and Mr. Bluth replied "yeah". We didn't say anything else after that just once the nursery kids were calmed down, Mr. Bluth ran home and threw a change of clothes and few other essentials in a bag and right after church we just went straight to the freeway to head to Nauvoo. We are pretty experienced with road trips considering that we have already driven to Chicago twice together, but we never get sick of them. Driving, talking, singing, and leaving all distractions at home was just what we needed. It was so interesting to really get out of the city and see what small town America looks like and the difference between the city and any town outside of Chicago is pretty much the difference between black and white (politically speaking, between red and blue).

Anyone who has ever been to Nauvoo probably remembers the small shocker of arriving and realizing that there is not much in the town. But then you drive up to the temple and realize that the small town has everything.

Monday we attended an early session at the temple and went to Old Nauvoo. While we didn't get to see as much as Mrs. Bluth wanted to see, we loved every stop and every lesson of the Law of Consecration and of the faith of the Saints. They truly gave everything to build the kingdom of God on the earth.

To end our impromptu vacation we went to Carthage Jail. This little detour home was well worth it and an experience we will never forget. It is amazing that the jail was preserved and the sweet reverence that was felt in the visitor's center and in the jail.

While there are still more things we want to see in Nauvoo and a carriage ride to go on, it was the perfect way to end the summer.

Summer will be missed, but we are excited for today.

Today is our favorite day.