You Gotta Regatta

We met Michael's parents and his little sister Rachel down in Louisville last weekend to go to the temple with them. It's so fun to meet family down there, and we magically hit no traffic on a Friday afternoon and made it to Louisville in record time. Those bridges can be brutal.

We all made a late night drive back up to Indianapolis together after that so we could go to the IUPUI Regatta the next morning. Michael was in this canoe race last year and it was a blast, so I was excited to watch him again. The school puts on the race and teams sign up in male, female, or co-ed categories. The dental school always sponsors a few teams, and for some reason one of those teams seems to win it every year. Those dental students just have competition in their veins.

Michael rowed down the canal with his friend Derek, and then their friends Brian and Garrett rowed back the other way. They all go to dental school with him, and their team was named the FluoRiders. Good stuff.

They almost made it to the finals, but not quite - next year for sure! We had fun cheering them on and walking around the booths and listening to the live music there that day. I even ran along the canal to keep up with them during their race, which was a sight to see. This bump sure takes away whatever grace I once had. The canal is such a fun spot in Indy's downtown, I love being there. The race was pretty entertaining - a surprising number of teams flipped their canoes over, had collisions, or found themselves going backwards. We were loving it.

We love it so much when family comes to visit! Rachel is getting married this week and we are SO excited for her, and for even more family time :) Fall is just shaping up to be a party this year.

Cedar to Indy

My sweet parents visited Indianapolis last week, and it was so fun to show them around! I loved taking a few days off work just to show them our city and spend time with them. They are just a good time.

We spent our first day up at the Indiana Museum of Art, and the grounds around called the 100-Acre Woods. My dad just couldn't get over how green everything is here and how much stuff there is just growing. All on its own. We are from the desert, you know. Sprinkler systems are a must out there. Don't you love that bench by the lake on the museum grounds? They have so many of those fun and illogical seating arrangements. I love it.

We checked out the rock garden and some other outdoor art sculptures, before spending a few hours inside the museum as well. They loved my favorite display, modern design furniture. That museum is so great, and I loved walking my parents through my favorite parts.

When Michael got home from school we all headed out to Anderson Orchard. I've been itching for some raspberries and I knew it was getting pretty dangerously late in the season... but I had homemade jam hopes and a strong desire to get a homemade candle at the orchard that would make my house smell like fall. We picked 5 pounds of raspberries in no time, even with Michael's eat three, pick one system.

My dad got a little distracted and just got way too into it, honestly. He was far off down the row before we knew it, and we tried to tell him 3 times that we were done and heading back. Finally we just went back to the orchard store and assumed he'd follow. He showed up about 10 minutes later and said, "Where were you guys? I thought you were still right by me - I just asked a group of strangers if we could be done yet, because I thought they were you." I love my dad's ability to just relax and stop focusing on what's going on around him... we have countless stories from that sweet trait :)

This 7-month bump had a good time with the parents too, even though it slightly slowed us down. There are a few moments here and there that I just wish someone would hold me upside down because then I think I'd feel better. Joys of someone sitting on top of your bladder... But really, I am feeling pretty darn good these days. Those 18 weeks of nausea and then two weeks of sciatic nerve pinching has just left me grateful for what I'm feeling these days - no complaints! Although I forget sometimes that I look like this now. I walk by store windows and do complete double takes. It's crazy what my body is doing pretty much all on its own, you know?

We had to fit in some Indiana wildlife - which means visiting the zoo, and making my mom tolerate my cat. The Indianapolis Zoo is such a good time. I love the dolphin shows and new orangutan exhibit, and they had a penguin who was pretty much high on life that day. He didn't stop jumping around or torpedoing through the water for about 10 whole minutes, and we just cracked up. My mom did not warm up much to my cat... obviously. A love of animals skipped her generation, and she just doesn't understand that part of me and my grandma. I tried to get her to hold that little Kitty the whole time she was here, and all I got were eye rolls. I love you, mom :) And I love my cat.

We went downtown on Saturday to watch Michael do a practice run for his canoe race on the canal, and then rented this bike contraption after. We were cracking up the whole time on this thing. Isn't it hilarious? There are two steering wheels in the front, but only the one on the left actually functions. But I couldn't ride up there and NOT steer my side, it just felt too weird. So my dad and Michael just kept laughing at how I thought I was contributing to where we were going. Also, our bell didn't work, so I felt bad every time we kind of crept up behind someone... it's kind of a terrifying sight to have this suddenly up next to you along the canal. No casualties though.

We drove up north one day to see the progress on the Indianapolis LDS temple. It's about 40 minutes north of our house, and should be opening next Spring. It looks really similar to the Louisville, Kentucky temple, which is our closest right now.

We did a day trip down to Columbus, Indiana while they were here because I really love that city. Here is the post I wrote about the architecture tour we took down there. I tried to recreate it for my parents via online audio recordings and random bits and pieces from my memory, but I'm not sure they got the full experience... We stopped at Zaharako's as well, the old ice cream parlor and museum. That city seems like such a good community. I think I'm just partial to cities with populations between 30,000-50,000 because growing up in Cedar City, Utah was just perfect.

And then suddenly, it was already time for them to go. How do fun plans come and go so fast? Their time here flew by. I felt lucky to have a week with them before we have some major life changes over here. I felt extra spoiled to have them here for my birthday. Between having them here and Michael surprising me with the complete set of hardcover Harry Potter books, I was just the happiest birthday girl ever. Oh, and Michael made me the world's best cake thanks to Becca's recipe, and her coaching. I love the people in my life so much!

And I especially love my parents. They are such sweet, good people. So glad I have them forever!

Michael's Roots

We drove deep into West Virginia over Labor Day weekend and met Michael's parents and his sister Katie in a little place called Marlinton. We added five to their population of 1,054. Six if you count Katie's dog Evie who came along, which we should, because he is so great.

This little town is where Michael's dad would come visit his grandparents when he grew up. He and Michael's mom would also drive down here during their spring breaks while they were living in upstate New York going to medical school.

We stayed in a pre-Civil War cabin, and we felt so far away from the world. My phone didn't work for three days and I loved it. Though I did admittedly borrow Michael's working phone for a quick phone call to my sister, because, sisters. The details in the cabin were so much fun - the headboard of our bed was an old fireplace mantle.

We all brought our bikes and spent time on the Greenbrier River Trail, which runs for 78 miles through West Virginia. We did not ride all of those miles though... but we did 24 of them on Saturday and felt pretty good about that. Michael and I didn't get there until late Friday night (dental school commitments... lame), so we missed Friday's ride. But Saturday along the Greenbrier River was beautiful.

Michael and his parents did a little swimming right here after we ate lunch by the river. Katie and I supervised and ate delicious treats from Michael's mom. Isn't it gorgeous? We love our Indianapolis life, but I am always amazed at how much I just literally soak in views like this when I can get them. I need mountains. And when I can't get them, I'll take hills. But when I can't get either, I'm ok with Indiana's thunderstorms. 

On Sunday we went to a Presbyterian church in Helvetia, West Virginia. This is where the Daetwylers first settled from Switzerland, and it is still a very Swiss and very tiny town. It was so fun to meet people there who knew the Daetwyler name, and walk through cemeteries to find the gravestones of some of Michael's family. I wasn't the best at taking pictures that weekend since I only take them with my phone, and I didn't think to carry it around when it had no service. Whoops! 

We loved meeting family down there for the weekend and seeing such a beautiful place. It feels good to find your roots.