in the morning

the stroller story

Last week my sisters stroller was stolen off of her porch. The one that I had bought for her while I lived in Denver and flew it home with me on the airplane so that we could save a couple hundred dollars on a brand new one (me and the stroller go way back:). It had been a very good stroller and she loved it and planned on using it with all three of her babies come this October. Well, it was gone. And I was ticked! Who would steal from a pregnant lady with 2 kids..?! THE NERVE! I was so mad that I almost printed out reward posters to put all over the complex. Jenilyn told me that she was just going to face reality and get over it, and move on. It was gone.

Anyone that knows me well knows that I love KSL.com. I check the news nightly so that I feel like I know what is going on back home and I feel "connected". It has actually become a little bit of a problem. I started laying awake at night thinking about the poor families that have lost people and things they loved and I would start thinking about these things happening to me. There was one night I even had nightmares all night about a particular story I read, and I woke up in the middle of crazy dream in a total body sweat and practially in tears.

So Josh banned me. But not before I read this story.

I got thinking about how lucky they were to get what they had lost back! How cool is that? Whenever things of mine have been stolen (my purse in 2006) or lost I never see them again. So I checked Craigslist every couple days looking for Jenilyn's stroller and of course the crook was to smart to put it on there for sale. At least I thought so until I saw this posted:

So I called the ad. And Angela picked up and told me she had had the stroller for 3 years and that other than the wear on the right side of the handlebar, it was in GREAT condition. I told her perfect, that I wanted it, and that I would call her right back to set up a time to meet.

In the mean time I called the Aurora police, in Denver first on accident. Then here in IL to file a report. The cop was here at my house within 20 min and Jenilyn walked in 2 minuets later. We printed off pictures that I had of the stroller when we were in Chicago with the specific markings and set up to meed the crook at the mall (another reason I knew it was ours, she didnt want me to come to her house).

On the way over to the mall Jenilyn and I prayed hard that this guy (Angela's boyfriend) would hand over the stroller and that we would both be safe. I called 911 (the officer told me to when I got to the spot I was going to meet this guy at) and told them I was waiting in the Stake and Shake parking lot. The cop said he could see me and was watching from 200 ft away, and here came the white truck I was waiting for. I saw the stroller in the back when he pulled up and I WAS GETTING SO NERVOUS!

I waved him down pretending to be all sweet and friendly and he rolled his window down and said "are you the one that wants the stroller?" I cheerfully said yes and hopped out of my car and followed him to the back of his truck to check out the goods! Right then the cop pulled up and said to the man " I bet you are wondering why I am here" and proceeded to tell the boyfriend that this stroller he was trying to sell me was MINE!! And then they took him away for questioning and me the same.

(I told Jenilyn to take pictures from my phone while I took him out :) ha! oh and I had just come home from running so I was in my running clothes. Even more convincing that it was MY jogging stroller. They called Angela and asked her all kinds of questions and asked him all of the same ones. And both had completely different stories of how they got the stroller and how long they have owned it. Ha! I was beaming!

They hand cuffed him..


I was going to get it back! I was so glad that I was going to make Jenilyn's life a little easier. She had been stressed about finding in a new stroller and had been doing hours and hours of research to find one that met all of her needs, without it costing her another $500.

We drove home feeling like detectives.

We got it back.



I wish that I was a better at writing. The reason I tend not to write very much on my blog is because I am self conscious of it. Now you see why

I have been working on Neal's baby book and I had forgotten how little he was as a six pounder!

This morning Grace and I were cuddling him and I looked at him and asked him if he could give Grace kisses. he did, and she clapped for him. It was the cutest!

running through the sprinklers

My sisters and I spent most of our summer days outside running through the sprinklers.

It usually started with my Dad outside fixing a sprinkler head that one of us girls had accidentally hit with the lawn mower. You see, when you grow up in a family of five girls, guess who gets to mow the lawn? We started mowing when we turned eleven and then for the next two years (untill the next little sister turned eleven) we mowed the lawn once a week for our $10 allowance. Anyway, my Dad would fix the sprinkler heads and as soon as we noticed him outside we would all run straight for our swimming suits. We just had the best time doing cartweels, tricks and dances we had just made up through the lawn and water. Mel was pretty creative, sometimes she would get her skip-it and show us all up by doing it as she ran through.

I miss my summers at 5228

portraits of Mom

- by Grace Collette

our new pet bugs

Josh brought this home the other day. He had it in an old broken cooler with a wet t shirt draped over it to keep it from jumping out. He brought it in the house and tossed it on the floor and of course Grace was thrilled! She holds it and pets it 12 times a day and Bugs doesnt seem to mind. The other day I got home from running and there was Bugs wrapped up in her arms watching Caiou too.

here are a few words from this girl in the last week

"Mom, someday when I am a bird, im going to fly like a seagull"

Grace was telling me she saw a friend hit another friend. She told me that she didnt like this person because "she is a Lamanite"

"Mom, you be Steve k?"
What?! who is Steve?
"Mom, you are Steve and I am clue, K!" "lets find a clue"

I asked Grace to make me laugh and she immediately scrunched her nose up, sniffed and said "STINKY FEET!" - works for Neal every time

hanging out

Meeting Martha at the Bean

My cousin Martha and her daughter Arija live here in Chicago and rode the bus down to the bean so we could chat and catch up over lunch. We chatted about my Dad being in the Navy, her wedding in 94, some of our other Mixa cousins, aunt Carol, her plans to go back to school, and her beautiful baby girl (who is 3 weeks older than Neal). It was so fun to hear her Minnesota accent and be with her again.

swinging at the park

our garden

first harvest of the summer

Downtown Chicago with my sisters

zara


a beautiful hotel bench


garretts popcorn



the Crown fountain



wow bao

click on images to inlarge

the 4th

Our 4th was filled with barbecued tri tip, corn on the cob, cake and cookies, good friends, sisters and brothers, new bikes for boys, a cute pregnant tummy (Jenilyn), lots of sweaty and sticky baby faces to smooch, and an awesome fireworks show put on by our husbands. It was so fun to have Josh home all day to celebrate with and enjoy, we really love our Sundays.