It’s crazy to think that we have now been in Utah for 5 weeks! We are totally loving it here! We love being so close to so many people we have missed so much! We love having our own house and yard and garage! I love that when I went to the temple on Saturday only to find it closed for summer maintenance, that I could just drive another 8 minutes to the other temple in the same city that is also open for all ordinances all day long, no appointment needed!
And yet, when Josh started singing Carolina in My Mind the other night, I definitely remember why we weren’t so sure about leaving our old life for our new one. Sigh… James Taylor said that his growing up in, and subsequent love for North Carolina had more to do with the landscape and climate than with the people. Though I will admit that there are few things more spectacular than North Carolina in the spring–when the leaves have just come out, and are so bright after long months of nothing but brown bark–I feel like my love for North Carolina is immensely tied to the people there. And so many people that were so dear to me aren’t even originally from North Carolina, but they were there for MY North Carolina experience, and so when I hear the song, I think of them. And I miss them.
ANYWAY, here are some pictures of my kids!
I just thought this was a cool picture. Carter was really fascinated by the camera, and so he touched it!
I think I told her to make a princess face or something…
As the summer first began, I felt like there were way too many things I needed to do that I didn’t really think too much about all the fun that summer can be. But now that things are settling down a little bit, I am realizing that I’m the mom, and therefore I get to make summer anything I want it to be! I am a little timid by nature when it comes to just getting out and having adventures, so I”m starting small. Yesterday, the kids and I had a “picnic” of lemonade and cookies out in the back yard. They loved it and so did I!
Carter really liked the lemonade! He tried the entire time to get more, even though he still had more in his cup!
Those eyes!
Also! Josh’s birthday was last week!!!! I totally should have given him his own post… Oh well.
So, once there was a fantastically adorable boy named Josh.
This picture was definitely my computer background when Josh and I were dating. Some people thought I was weird… Josh is the cute one. (said it.)
He grew up into a fantastically handsome man named Josh!
This is Josh opening his presents on his birthday, June 19. Josh is the hot one!
Some fabulous things about Josh are:
- He can fix basically everything that needs fixing–being home-owners makes that more important than ever!
- He works hard all day at work, and then comes home and plays hard with the kids! (I really don’t know how he has all the energy for it.)
- He set a record at his new job in the first 2 weeks!
- He is hilarious!
- He is loving, caring, forgiving, and in all other ways, good.
For his birthday this year, Josh (of course) made his own cakes. He couldn’t really find that perfect design for a super big, showy-offy cake, so he decided to go for simple, but outrageously delicious instead of really fancy.
I made the banana pudding on the end. It doesn’t count as a cake, but it did count as a dessert.
The cake on the far left is (believe it or not) lemon blueberry. That night, it was my favorite! Perfectly moist, and a lovely blend of tangy and sweet! The middle middle is a salted caramel cake. That night it was good, but yesterday it was divine! The whole bottom layer of cake was saturated with the salted caramel sauce! I wish I could give you all a taste through the internet. Alas.
I am so glad that Josh has been on this earth for 27 years, and even more glad that he has been in my life for 5 years!