Familiar Territory

Things have since fallen into place, but back in early fall we felt it would be a good idea for Delia to have a solid Plan B for her college-choice journey.  We thought the small school Dave graduated from in Chicago had many qualities that would make it a good fit for Delia (family nearby! an awesome, but accessible theater program! a cost that was about half of other schools she was considering!).  Dave and Delia planned a long Chicago weekend centered around visiting this college, with tons of family time as the amazing perk.

They toured.  The son of one of our high school classmates was the tour guide!  The tour did not really impress Delia.  This school is much smaller.  Also, after looking at schools in CA, which are always full of students hanging outside, hammocking, skateboarding, sitting by firepits, having coffee at picnic tables, etc., she felt this campus was pretty dead.  You can see no other people in the pictures because no other students seemed to be around!  Now, maybe because it was cold or because they go home for the weekend, but her socializing was limited to the gal she stayed with and that gal's friends.

But, that part was awesome for Delia!  She connected and stayed with Anika, an old family friend of ours-- actually the daughter of old college friends of Dave's!  Anika was a gracious host, taking her to play practice, choir class, and out for ice cream, introducing her to the daughters of Dave's college friends (so fun, right?!) and other psychology majors.  The school Delia will end up at has a world-class Christian psychology program, ranked one of the best year after year.  It was funny for Delia to hear the kids at this school say their professors make them watch online lectures from her Plan A school!

Watching Anika's play practice was a highlight.  She won't do drama at her school, because that's reserved for cinema and theater majors.  This school was preparing for an impressive performance and Delia's interest was definitely peaked!  

She left her overnight visit feeling affirmed that, if possible, her Plan A was where she really wanted to be, but if for some reason that couldn't work out, she could be happy here.  It's worth noting that Delia has since applied to this school and been totally ghosted!  They told her they were "putting her application on pause" back in November and then never got back.  There seemed to be enough signs that this was maybe not the place the Lord has for her. 

Even if the college visit didn't blow her away, the time with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunties, Uncle Kyle, and cousins was spectacular!  They ate delicious meals together and played games.  They watched her Shrek performance.

They visited nostalgic places like Grau Mill and Oakbrook Mall.

She loved staying in Auntie Karen's beautiful new (to us) guest suite and giving her furry cousins lots of love.

And she came home raving about this one special meal in the local Mexican restaurant with Karen and Kyle that was one of her best ever.

They even had time for an outing to the Shedd Aquarium!  The beluga whales and dolphins were Delia's favorites.  Our Monterey Bay Aquarium doesn't have those. ;)

From the start, Delia has had her heart set on the school Ella goes to.  It's hard to imagine anything else when you see it through your sister's experience.  And Ella has been having the experience of a lifetime.  The goal was always to make that dream happen for her. But, not knowing if she'd get into the famous psychology program (she did, no problem), not knowing what her scholarship offer would look like (she was surprised and offered a top-tier academic scholarship!), and not knowing how we were going to pay for it (we've since found a solution we feel peace with) were unknowns a few months ago.  Delia was glad to have made this visit.  First, just for the great quality time with dear family, but second, because it affirmed where she thought she was being called.  Anika absolutely loves her school, as do many other kids of friends who go there.  That's the cool thing about picking a college!  There is the right place for everyone and, though figuring that out comes with some stress, the feeling of really seeing yourself in a certain place and dreaming about what life will look like there is SO exciting!  We're thankful both our girls have found that-- and that they even found it at a place where they can be together!

Birthdays, Halloween, and Formal

It's been a busy and fun fall!  

We celebrated my birthday at what's becoming a new favorite restaurant!  It's fancy, delicious, and newer to town.  We keep receiving gift cards here, so we're enjoying exploring the menu. 

Delia celebrated the birthday of dear friend Natalie with a girls' trip to the movie The Forge, a walk around the nearby Bass Pro Shop, and a no-adults dinner at a restaurant which Delia has since labeled one of her all time favorite meals!  I'm thankful for her solid, sweet, and silly friend group.

Even our church had a birthday this fall!  We celebrated the 75 years of ministry and blessings God has given this church with a month of special sermons and memories and a wonderful whole-church dinner and program outside on a lovely fall evening.

For Halloween, Delia and Tessa dressed up as Night and Day and went trick-or-treating one last time.  

Never too old for a good old fashioned candy-sort and trade!

Ella had two Halloween parties, one for her dorm and one for her Swing Dance Club, and went as a scarecrow.  Her friends crack me up. Not pictured: long-haired Javen as Thor! ;) 

Ella also enjoyed Fall Formal-- a special dress-up and dance date night with Gideon.

Family Weekend+

We hug Ella goodbye in August knowing it will be a full 2 months until we get to hug her again.  A lot happens in those 2 months, but they do fly right by with the all the calendar-filling activities associated with the start of new classes, new routines, new plays, and (for Ella) new friends!  We were so excited to spend time not just with her and her people, but also...with some of our extended family members!!  It worked out perfectly that Kyle's work brought him to LA days before our plans to be there.  He met up with us and shared all the fun of Family Weekend and his first look at Ella's college.  

 

Delia has actually applied and already been accepted to this school too.  First order of business: the official tour and meeting with an Admissions Counselor that gives her a $500 scholarship.  Ella's best friend Ori works for Admissions giving tours and was able to request she be the guide for ours!  Since Ella has spent lots of time helping Ori memorize her script and practice her tour speeches, she came along to cheer Ori on!  This was a fun way for Uncle Kyle to get a comprehensive view of the school too.

After the tour we met up with Gideon to share the night's activities: dinner and a show!  Dinner was at our favorite Cuban eatery, Portos. Gideon and Kyle were both introduced to their specialties-- spicy potato balls, empanadas, meat pies and cheese rolls.

The show was a murder mystery farce by the school's theater program.  It was amazing!  We got another opportunity to support Ori here too as she starred in it!  One drawback to Delia possibility attending this school is that Drama is for theater majors only.  But, that does ensure some MAJOR talent was in the show!  We were entertained and impressed.  Our morning started very early so we could make it to LA by lunchtime.  We adults were pooped by the time the play ended and anxious to head back to the hotel as Delia had another fun dorm sleepover with Ella and her sweet roommate.

On Saturday the grand plan was to meet Anna and Derek at The Huntington Library, Museum and Gardens.  This has long been on my LA List and it exceeded expectation!  What a lovely day we had strolling around enjoying the incredible sights while catching up with some of our dearest ones.

In the Huntington Library my favorite items on display were the Gutenberg Bible and the original Birds of America paintings from Audubon.  Incredible history here, so impeccably persevered.  We also saw original works from Newton, Thoreau, Shakespeare, and Chaucer to name just a few!

The Art Museum had lots of interesting things too.  My eye was drawn to the beautiful nest sculptures and bird paintings on the glass.

And then there were the gardens.  We could have spent an entire day exploring each of them!  The Rose Garden was my favorite with rows and rows of vibrant and thickly scented rose buses as far as the eye could see.  Many were genetically engineered right here at The Huntington, so you can't see these particular breed of roses anywhere else!

The Japanese Garden with its koi ponds, many manicured bonsai trees, and raked Zen sand patches was serene and special.

The Chinese garden, peacefully nestled around a lake with multiple bridges, was calling us to stop and enjoy a Boba tea in the little tea shop pagoda.  We also walked through an Australia Garden which was mostly hot and dry, a Desert Garden where everything wanted to poke you, and a Jungle Garden full of lush greenery, shade and waterfalls.  I love that in our many trips to LA we are still finding new gems to discover.  It was the perfect place to spend a day with family.  

A hearty dinner of every kind of pasta at a local place we've come to love was followed by a time to just visit and chill in Ella's dorm room, where we got to know her roommate (who she LOVES) a little better.  At about the time I'm normally putting my pajamas on at home, we decided to venture out again and check out Don Churros-- this busy churro stand right by Disneyland made famous by the Food Network.  We waited a whole hour for our freshly fried, piping hot churros with ice cream and dipping sauces and it was worth every minute!

Especially since our wait was timed perfectly with Disneyland's 9:30pm fireworks show!  Ella actually hears this every single night on campus, but we had front row seats to seeing the 3 different places Disney shoots off the fireworks, using a forced perspective that allows their guests to enjoy all the angles.  Did you know the fireworks actually go off miles away from Disneyland?! 

On Sunday morning we said goodbye to Kyle and headed off to Ella and Gideon's church.  After church we had a nice lunch at Gideon's family's home.  For a month we've been hearing about the puppies their dog Pepper gave birth to-- what a treat to meet these sweet pups before they go off to their forever homes.  The time to get to know Gideon's family is always something we enjoy too.  This time his brothers, aunt, uncle and cousin joined us.  

Delia was in heaven giving each of the drowsy puppies a chance to snuggle in her arms.

We left Ella with the taste of home we had brought along for her and her friends.  And with the "See you in a few weeks!" hug goodbye that always makes coming to the end of a wonderful weekend a little easier.  If the months of September and October flew right by, we know November will go that much quicker!