When we went to Hoffman Street!

Somewhere over near Gresham, Wisconsin, (which is somewhere over near Wasau, Wisconsin) is a little church building on Hoffman Street! There were Hoffman restaurants, Hoffman real estate agencies, Hoffman PEOPLE, so many Hoffmans, WOOHOO, which was pretty exciting until the Kodak moments ran out. Now, what brings us over to this little city in this out of the way state..??  (no offense, i really loved Wisconsin actually).... None other than...

BYU Dancers' Company Tour

The your was done in this little guy of a drive... Le Bus! Driven by none other than the great Fred Moseby, our new great friend. We were blessed to meet so many great people like Fred!

SO, the Hoffman St. stop was about the middle of tour, Let me start from the beginning.

The first day was spent driving and the second night in a Super 8 in Ogallala, Nebraska. Funny that I thought, such a random place why would I ever be here again. Little did I know that exactly 3 weeks later, Ivan and I stayed the night in Ogallala, in the exact same hotel- it was en route to Georgia. So, the second day- driving, and this driving brought us to Des Moines, Iowa., Where the next day we went shopping for trinkets, ate goodies and then the first show at Upland High School in Des Moines. We stayed in a beautiful house, just us, in an awesome basement all to ourselves! Some point within these first days, we stopped at the Winter Quaters Temple and Visitors Center! I am so glad that there is a temple there and that there were great sister missionaries to teach us new things about the pioneer's journey!

Ivan and I got to try out pulling a handcart :)

Our bus drove us onward to three days in Minneapolis, Minnesota!

Our Favorite Things About Minneapolis:

1. Mall of Freakin America!!!

There was a Nickelodean Themepark in the middle of a mall! And a ginormus movie theatre, which we watched Wolverine in.. which was AMAZING!! We both loved it :)

There is also an aquarium and ever store you could ever think of.. in this mall. The Hoffmans are going back. There were tons of other gorgeous and interesting sights we saw in Minneapolis, and I know ever local will think of me as absurd to only mention the MOA, but we were kind of complainers and only really cared about the mall... oops. But seriously, it was lovely!!

We arrived in Wasau on a Sunday afternoon, ready for a fireside! Ivan picked out all the songs we sang and helped conduct and prepare us for the fireside. Our fireside was about 1 hr. 15 min. long. Holly Petty conducted it and four company members gave talks. We sang two group numbers, one boys, one ladies and there were two duets.. one just me and Ivan :)

Our host family in Wasau was the Lefferts. We got to know them the most of all our host families and we got to stay with them for three nights. The performance in Wasau was at the Grand Theatre and it was absolutely lovely! The stake was phenomonal hosts and so many people came to the show! While in Wasau performing LecDems, we ate lunch at the schools cafeterias.. Ivan or I have never eaten at an indoor cafeteria like that.. with trays and cafeteria ladies to serve you pasta, or literal salad bars. It was a big culture shock. But everyone thought we were all weird coming from outdoor schools, especially mine where they only served Pizza Hut, Pick Up Stix, or Subway :) Anyway, what great experiences!

So, after kodaking in front of Hoffman St. We spent the night in Appleton, WI. for a show the next day.. meaning.. we get to sleep in!!! But I also got sick. Good thing we stayed at a nicer hotel this night.. I slept from 5:00 pm until 10:00 am. woo hoo! 

After another beautiful host home and family in Appleton, we went to South Bend, Indiana for another show. Our host family actually lived in Michigan, because South Bend is very northern Indiana, it's right on the border. Weird that South bend is North, huh!

The next day was Saturday, the free day we have all been waiting for...

CHICAGO!!!

Yes, we saw Mary Poppins, original Broadway cast, yes we had deep dish pizza, walked through Millennium Park, saw all the world famous artwork in the Art Institute of Chicago, and so much more, we did it in one day and we loved it! We also did some hardcore shopping.. especially at the biggest forever 21 we've ever seen, we came out wearing what we bought, it was like a movie.. Conclusion: We are Such City People!!!

Grand Rapids, Michigan

This is what the beach looks like on the Northern coast!! Awesome huh? As a company we came to this lighthouse and learned all about how sailors use it and its comparisons to he gospel. Our host dad was a coast guard in Grand Rapids for twenty some years and taught us all there is to know about Grand Rapids, Michigan. Again, another lovely theater, host family and home and so much to do and learn!!

After Grand Rapids, it was off to Detroit, where we went to yet another museum, the last of about 8 or so on this tour. Our friend Kate Bailey came to see the show with her mum! She's in MDT at BYU with us and will be in Young Ambassadors with us next year, she's lovely!

also in Detroit, we went to a stake center and our hosts, the heads of the BYU Alum in that chapter made us the most delicious barbeque in the rain, mind you! Oh so so good! After staying in a MANSION, literally we stayed in the most beautiful king size bed and bath, right next to a game room, spare kitchen, gym and indoor theatre!! Anyways, we were off to the Nauvoo Villas where we stayed for two nights. The next day was such an amazing spiritual experience and we loved being amongst the old restored village of our pioneers!