Friday, November 14, 2008

Our Trip to St. Paul

John was asked to speak at a seminar in Minneapolis and since some of my very favorite people in all the world live there, I decided to tag along with him. A million thanks to my mom who let us have a quiet and relaxing trip by keeping all 3 of my kiddos at home with her!
So my very very dear friend Charis and her husband Steve were the main focus of the trip for me. Steve and John were roommates both before and after their missions. We were all engaged at the same time and Charis and I have gotten close over the years. Steve and Charis are both in their residency programs at different hospitals in the twin cities. This makes for killer schedules, little sleep, and lots of stress. They are still two of the warmest and funniest people we know. Charis is incredibly ambitious. She is amazingly smart and compassionate, which is the makings of a great doctor. Somehow she manages to be great mom too! One of the highlights of the trip was going to visit her at the hospital and getting a chance to check out her work and see her in action (well, all I really saw was her answering questions to the nurses, but she used really big words!)
Saturday, John was at his conference and Charis was working, so Steve and I got a chance to bond. He has got the very best sense of humor and is an awesome dad to their 18 month old, Tate. He did have to run to work for a couple hours, so I walked around the Mall of America. It was less exciting than I had hoped (probably because I am still shopped out from California). By the time I was done there, John was done too and we all got dinner together at a yummy Thai place. Monday was mine and Charis's day to be together. She took me to Grand Ave, a swanky little part of the town, for lunch and a little shopping. We also drove around to look at the really old massive homes (which I love). Tuesday the four of us spent the day together and laughed most of the time! It was so so wonderful to see a new part of the country and especially to spend time with the Thatchers. Thanks for a great trip! We love you mucho!!

John and I at the Mall of America
Charis and Me
Sorry, I forgot to flip the picture
Just being weird
At the Macy's Christmas display, which was so cute!
The theme was "A Day in the Life of an Elf." This elf is me...in the kitchen "helping" make cookies
John and me at the Christmas display
Charis and me with our last of many cups of hot chocolate we had over the weekend! It was cold there.

4 comments:

Ronald & Laura Jones Elia said...

Sounds like a fun time...I bet there were a ton of laughs. We all had an awesome fun time at Sean's wedding last year, all we did was laugh the whole time. If you and John are ever out our way in Portland let us know. I hope you don't mind but I linked your blog on our page:-)

Harmony said...

Fun! Fun! Fun! I love vacations :)

Andrea J said...

It's like a little Avenue's ward reunion here. I've heard Minneapolis is nice, it looks pretty. It was nice to see Steve and Charis, glad they're doing so well. Their son is huge.

Leslie said...

How cool and fun!!!!! I don't know when the last time was that Andy and I got away without our kids??? other then just one night away to Salt Lake every few years. Oh wait actually we never have left the kids and gone out of state with out them, we've been too afraid to ask my parents to watch all 4 of them for longer then 1 night, anything more and they would crap!!! That is awesome that you have family that can help out like that!!!! glad you had a great time!! =)