The Last Six Weeks

Written by Nikki:

Ben and I have now been here in Ohio for almost 8 weeks.  We still wait patiently for transplant.  I have to continually remind myself that it will happen when the time is right.  I admit to having an inner struggle with myself between enjoying my time here with my son, and wishing the transplant would happen soon, so that I can return home to Utah and get back to the rest of my family there.  With this inner struggle comes the realization that either way my family will not be all together again for quite some time. Even when I do get to return home, Ben has to stay here for at least a year.  It's a hard reality to deal with sometimes.  

School started in Utah last week and I had a sad moment.  I love my job, and usually when the summer comes to an end I am sad to see it go.  This year, not being there to go back to school and see all the students and co workers I've grown to know so well gave me a serious feeling of missing out.  Crazy I know! Who is sad to miss out on going back to school?!

Ben and I have had some fun experiences.  I am getting to know people in the ward here and making friends.  Ben is getting involved in the Singles Branch. A few weeks ago some sisters from the ward invited me to lunch and that was really fun! I really enjoyed getting out and getting to know some of the sisters here better.  Ben and I also received an invitation to have dinner at the home of the Bishop.  Bishop Moss and his wife are very friendly and kind.  The sister missionaries joined us and that was a fun night.  While we were at the bishops house I saw a picture of their family on the wall and we discovered that Bailee knows their Son and daughter in law.  It really is a small world. 

One of the highlights of our weeks here is our friendship with the full time missionaries.  We have started feeding the Elders and the Sisters on a regular basis.  It is such a blessing for us to spend time with them.  We enjoy the spirit they bring and the friendships we are developing.  It's a nice change of pace to have conversations with someone other than each other two nights a week. I forget to get a picture every time we are with them. I will remember this week! :-)  We have made friends with two different sets of Sisters and one set of Elders. It's so different here because this ward has 3 sets of full time missionaries they provide meals for.  This gives the members of the ward plenty of opportunity to serve the missionaries.  The missionaries are also in church every Sunday so you really develop friendships and get to know them. Hopefully we can find ways to assist them in their work here. 

We are trying to stay busy.  It can be a challenge sometimes.  The amount of adventures we get out on depends on Benjamin's day to day health.  Some days he feels up to a short trip somewhere and some days he doesn't have the energy for it.  So we enjoy Netflix a lot on those days. 

Here is a list of the little things that we get excited about:

   *  Dinner with the missionaries

   *  Outings to the grocery store

   *  Packages from home

   *  Mail from home

   *  Merlin on Netflix

   *  Sherlock on Netflilx

   *  Movies on Vudu

   *  Mini adventures out

   *  Puzzles

   *  Naps

   *  The Xfinity app
   *  Marco Polo with family and friends
   *  FaceTime

Here are some of the things we have been up to:

We took a little outing the the Quarry for the Kirtland Temple.  It was a beautiful spot with many trails to explore.

 You can see the marks from the hand drills or chisels in the rock.

I absolutely loved this meandering path through the trees.  Everything is so green here. 

One of Ben's go to treats when he's feeling good is Munchos.  These are delicious and hard to find in Utah but seem to be almost everywhere here in Ohio. 

Being here in Ohio I am really missing the harvest of my garden at home.  I love fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, summer squash, peppers and cantaloupe. Fresh garden vegetables are one of my favorite things about summer.  Luckily we have found a few Farmers Markets around the area.  It's not quite as good as going out to your own garden but it's nice to have access to fresh fruit and vegetables.  One of my favorite buys from the Farmers market has been the fresh peaches!  They are delicious!  The cantaloupe here isn't as sweet as at home, no matter where I buy it, it's just not as sweet.  This has dumbfounded me.  Benjamin of course googled it and told me he read that Cantaloupe grown in a dryer climate is typically more sweet.  Who knew? 

 Here is the view from our apartment.  View number one is from the parking lot looking away from my building.  The building I live in looks just like the building on the right.  The stormy sky... this seems to be how the sky looks a lot of the time.  

 The next two are the view from our balcony. 

Ben and I finally made a visit the Historic Site in Kirtland.  It was nothing short of Amazing!!  

Here we are at the Newell K. Whitney store.  The school of the prophets is on the second floor of this building.  It was amazing to learn that Joseph Smith received revelations for over 40 sections of the Doctrine and Covenants in this building and in the Newell K. Whitney home. (pictured below the store) The original desks he studied at are still here. 

The Saw Mill.

 The Ashery 

Ben and I have driven to Lake Erie a few times.  There are many parks along the banks of the lake that are nearby (withing 15-20 minutes) So we have been visiting some of these parks. 

The Bishops wife loaned me a puzzle and it was actually something I quite enjoyed.  My brother Jimmy White and his family sent me a puzzle too, it looks harder!  But I am going to tackle it.  This puzzle was 1000 pieces.  I tried to get Ben to help me but alas I did this one on my own. 

Thank you for all the prayers and support offered to Ben and I, and to our family in Utah.  It's funny how life happens sometimes.  A year ago I would never have thought I would find myself in this place doing what I'm doing.  I remind myself, I know Heavenly Father has a plan and we are where we need to be.  So for now we continue to carry on, and find joy in our journey here in Ohio.