Back to Provo

Thankfully our road trip home from Arizona happened without incident.  Audrey did so unexpectedly well on the drive (she barely could handle the four hour drive to Eagar for the 4th of July a few months ago so this was a surprise to us).  Her only complaint was that her butt hurt.  Her exact words.  She wore her Elsa dress pretty much the whole way and she played with toys and art supplies that I had packed for her in her little Tinkerbell backpack.  We listened to Taylor Swift, CD compliments of Luke, and danced and talked and snacked the whole way.  Hannah had some rough moments so I ended up sitting in the back with them most of the time (by the way carseats are not small) but all in all it was a great trip.
We visited Andrew's grandparents a few hours out of Mesa and also stopped at the St. George Temple on the drive and got some sweet pictures.  Those were our only two stops besides our motel and stopping for car adjustments.  We were all anxious to get to our little home so we tried hard to just keep moving forward.

So now we are home here in Utah!  When we walked into our apartment we looked around and marveled at how small it is…and how much we love it at the same time!  We’ve been able to slowly settle back in to our life here with a whole week to get things done before Andrew’s school started yesterday.  Audrey and Hannah both had doctor’s appointments, WIC appointments, Audrey had a dentist appointment, we stocked up on groceries, reorganized our whole place, took several bags to DI, ran so many errands and had Audrey’s birthday party with family and friends.  It’s been a busy busy week and now we are ready to begin the semester.  Today we are going to get right back to our library habit!  Audrey is old enough now that we don’t need to just get board books anymore.  I have some books I want to check out for myself as well and I can’t wait to start reading to Hannah more.

I’m loving taking care of our home and our girls.  I’m even loving housework.  Sometimes it’s the worst but other times, like now, I enjoy doing the dishes and making the beds and looking upon my home as my accomplishment.  We went to a marriage fireside Sunday night with Matt Townsend as the speaker and he talked about the word paradox and how it applies in almost everything worthwhile about life.  I found his words to be so true and inspiring.  My kids are my paradox right now- I love them more than I can express, but at the same time they are my biggest trial.  And I guess that’s what makes it all worth it in the end- knowing you’ve fought your hardest for the thing that means the most to you.  

Anyways, we miss our family in Arizona, but we are happy to be back here in Utah.  Another paradox.  We are planning on having a great week whether we want to or not!  We can do it!  We’re going to start the semester off right. 

i love this face she makes.  i've been trying to capture it for so long.

there is this sign at WIC that always gets me when i see it.  i saw it for the first time in 2012 when i went in to cancel my first appointment because i had just miscarried. i remember looking at that sign and feel such emptiness and feeling mocked by it.  i see it every time i go.  at this recent appointment i looked at that sign and saw this sitting under it:

not just one baby but two.  my family.  i'm so humbled by my blessings.  that sign will always represent that to me.  our trials shall be but a small moment....

dora sticker at the doctor (we needed to take a picture to show hadley of course)

she wanted the picture of daddy out of my wallet for comfort at the doctor

me and my bottle baby.  still bonding as much as ever.

Here's to a great semester!