Fourth of July in CHICAGO!!!

After the church history trip with the cousins our family continued on to Chicago for a couple of days to see the sites. Jared was excited because he served his mission in Chicago and we thought it would be fun to spend the Fourth of July there. We were nervous on the long drive from Nauvoo to Chicago because the rental car had to be turned in before the place closed and we were cutting it VERY close! We made it though!! 

We dropped off the rental car, pulled out our luggage, and walked to our hotel. We were right in the city on an extremely high floor! We walked to a restaurant for dinner. 

We thought that there would be a lot going on in Chicago for the Fourth of July, but there really wasn't much, except for fireworks the night before. We wondered why they had fireworks the on July 3rd instead of July 4th. The fireworks were going to be set off at the pier and so we walked over -- along with thousands of other people. It was SO crowded!! Jenna had her cell phone in her back pocket and I thought for sure someone would swipe it. I kept taking it from her and putting in my sling bag since it is worn in front of me and probably a much safer option. We walked over and found a place to sit on the grass. We didn't have blankets or anything to sit on and our view wasn't very good since there was a tree partially obstructing our view. 

We had headed out in the morning and saw what looked like a parade going on, but it turned out to be an anti-Israel, pro-palistinian protest!! There were cops everywhere! We went into a store only to see a cop apprehending someone in the store. The whole atmosphere made me on feel on edge. I could never see myself living here, haha. 

We walked over to the bean and took some pictures. It was pretty cool! It was also really crowded in spite of the light drizzling rain. It was also very hot and humid!! 

After the bean we went to a nearby mini golf course! 

We walked around the city and went to Chinatown and got something to eat. 

We went to lunch at a Chinese Restaurant! 

Jared really wanted us to experience Chicago deep dish pizza and so we tried out one of their pizza places (that had gluten free options). It was really good! 

July 5: Rick learned that there was a Deaf Expo going on just a few blocks from our hotel and so of course he couldn't resist going and throwing a little work in to the trip so that we could make part of our expenses tax deductible. The kids opted to stay back at the hotel and sleep in. I first I was really resistant to going to the Deaf Expo on our vacation, but it turned out fine. We even ran into some friends of ours there! (Billy Kendrick) 

We went back for the kids and checked out of our hotel and checked in our luggage in the hotel's secure facility and then did some more sight seeing before heading back home to Utah! 

I put this post together on July 4, 2025 a year after it occured, so if there are any inaccuracies to the information, that is why! It is as correct as I remember it though! 

Chicago Trip (By Janelle)

Visiting Chicago was seriously so fun and such an awesome experience! Me (Janelle), Jared, Jenna, and Dad all went. We started out by heading to the Vegas airport bright and early at 3:00 am on Thursday, October 14th. That was also my birthday, and if waking up at three isn’t the best present ever, I don’t know what is! We flew to Chicago and got there around noon, and then took a train called the Blue Line to downtown Chicago. There was quite the scenery and the buildings were all HUGE! There were so many buildings and the architecture was super well done. We walked down to the hotel and dropped some stuff off and then walked to a restaurant called Portillos. It was really good, we had Italian beef sandwiches that you dip in gravy, and they have cake blended into a shake! It was bomb.

After that we walked to lots of different places like the church they have there, the bean (which was super cool but my dad announced that it was my birthday and at least 100 people started singing to me), and a bunch of other parks. It was super cool. We also walked down by Navy Pier and the view of Lake Michigan was gorgeous. Chicago honestly did a really good job of being a big city but still having clean parks and involving nature. Then we went to Chinatown which was fun! We didn’t stay for very long but bought some souvenirs there which was cool. Then we took the red line back and crashed at the hotel! It was a great day! We did lots of walking (about 9 miles and poor Jenna was complaining for at least 8 of them) and got some super pretty views. 

The next day (Friday, October 15) we got up and ran to the store to get breakfast, and then we were able to go to the Chicago temple! It was really pretty and really good to be there, and this was Jenna’s first time which was exciting. After we went to the temple we went to a restaurant called Giordano's to get some of Chicago’s famous deep dish pizza. It was really good. We had originally been planning to visit six flags on Saturday but decided that we would end up going on Friday night instead. So we chilled at the hotel for a bit and then went to six flags! It was fright fest and super crowded so we didn’t get to ride very many rides, but it was still fun! My favorite that we went on was called Goliath. There weren’t too many scary people around so it wasn’t really a big deal. I don’t like scary people so this was definitely preferable :). Then we went back to the hotel! It was a way fun day!

On Saturday (October 16) Dad had decided he wanted to go to a deaf convention while we were here, so we dropped him off and parked at the church and then walked to the Chicago zoo. We didn’t get to stay super long but it was cool and free which makes it way more cool! We saw zebras, flamingos, monkeys, even snow leopards! And a red panda that was really cute :). When Dad called us saying he was done we headed back to the car to pick him up (Which was quite a ways away so poor dad had to wait for like an hour). Anyway, we picked him up and then we were able to go to the North Side of Chicago and the very edge of the city. It was really cool! It was super diverse and there were so many different languages that were being spoken. Then we went to the Cub Stadium and then we went and got ice cream at a place called Oberweis that was really good and then we got to see Jared’s mission president, President and Sister Shumway. They were really cool people and their goodness just radiated from them. It was super cool to meet them! After that we went back to the hotel! It was a fun day!

On Sunday we spent the day in the south side of Chicago and started out by going to Febbie Shola’s house, who is an awesome Nigerian lady. We couldn’t stay for long because she had to work but she gave us TONS of Nigerian food and a gross soda called Malta. We took it back to the church to eat, it was baked chicken with jollof rice and plantains. It was pretty good! We got to meet Darlene and go to church (and in our free time we went to Obama’s house) and it was really cool! Jared and Darlene were able to share their testimonies in church to fill up time and they were both so powerful. Everyone applauded after Darlene which in itself shows some differences between church here and in St. George haha.

 After church we went to Darlene’s house in the Lowe building and were able to talk to her and hear her conversion story. It was really special, she’s super sweet. She has five children: Sharon, Michael, Goodluck, Goodness, and Goodnews. Gotta love those names! All of the kids were super cute! They also gave us a bunch of Nigerian meat pies, which were actually really good! It was fun to meet with them. Last we visited Abiola and his family, and they were super awesome too! We told them we didn’t need more food, but alas, they still came out with a huge tray of food that we had to eat. They were awesome though and gave dad some traditional Nigerian clothes! It was really cool to meet these people and get a feel for their culture. It was probably one of my favorite parts of the trip.

Darlene Gaston (one of our favorite people!)