Summer 2011

This summer was great. Jared worked a million hours so it was sad not seeing him as much as during the school year, but we still did lots of fun things. One thing I love about living in Utah is the canyon. I would go there every day in the summer if I could.We hiked Stewart Falls probably 3 or 4 times and drove through the Alpine Loop at least twice.

 

Lucy and I got to spend a LOT of time at the park this summer which was awesome. She became the queen of the jungle gym and got really good at crawling across bridges and up stairs and what not. And by the end of the summer she was attempting to WALK all over the playground. Where did my little baby go!

Look at those cute little teeth! She still only has 2, but this week we noticed 4 teeth coming in up top and a molar on the bottom. Poor girl!

Of course we can't forget Lucy's love for the swings. That girl owns them. And she LOVES to sing while she is swinging. It is just too cute.

At the end of the summer my sister Katie and I had graduation. Wahoo! The masters program is finished! It was a somewhat painful process getting it all done but it got done. No more school for me! My parents were able to visit and we were able to do a service project at Jared's work where we packaged food to be sent to countries who need it. It was really fun and we got to wear funny hair nets. Doesn't get much better than that :)

A few weeks after graduation Jared and Lucy and I got to go home to Pennsylvania to see family. We got to spend lots of time with my mom because she had broken her foot and was home with us all day which was awesome. My sister Katie was home visiting too which was also really cool.

While we were there we went up to Rochester, NY to see my grandpa and aunt and uncle. I LOVE going there. We got to go to Palmyra while we were there too which was awesome. I love going there. It is one of my most favorite places on the earth. Really. It is so peaceful and beautiful and I can always feel God's love for me there. It definitely has a special place in my heart. I also LOVE visiting my family in Rochester.They are amazing.

Jared and Lucy in the Sacred Grove followed by me and Lucy there as well. It's a beautiful place.

Grandpa's dog Buddy had a tough time getting Lucy to go away, and Lucy sure loved to crawl around the house chasing him. This picture cracks me up. It looks like we had 2 puppies in the house. Too cute.

I love this next picture. One, I love my grandpa and I'm glad we got a picture with him, and two, Lucy would not look up, she would only look at Buddy. What a goofy girl.

And here's Lucy with Grandpa of course...

While we were in Pittsburgh my dad and I took Jared on a quick trip downtown to ride the Incline and to see some of Station Square.  I love that city. It is so beautiful and so fun to explore. It never gets old showing people around town. Jared wants to go to law school one day and I am slowing working on convincing him that when the time comes, he should seriously consider Pitt. That would be AMAZING..... Anyways, here are some fun pictures from the city: Jared and Lucy on the incline and then my dad feeding Lucy his ice cream at the shop on Mt Washington. She gets so spoiled, that lucky girl :)

All in all, our summer was awesome. Jared really liked his internship with Senator Hatch's Provo office and most likely will get to go to Washington DC for his internship next summer (WAHOO!!!). He liked his other job well enough and once my thesis was done I'd say we really got to enjoy the summer as a family.

I LOVE having a family. I still don't feel like a mom (does that feeling ever come?) but I love Lucy and I love Jared and we have lots of fun together. Every day I look at Jared and think about how grateful I am for him and all he does, and then I look at Lucy and think of how stinkin cute she is and wonder how in the world she got so big!

I'm learning how to be a mom . . . I spend a lot of time at home and have realized that I can be REALLY lazy and accomplish nothing with a full day . . . and that makes me feel really crappy to be honest. However, now that I've come to that realization I've found lots of good things I can do with my time and this week I'm trying to implement them :) We'll see how it goes! Today was at least half way better than last week... :)

Life is crazy, it feels like every time we've got it figured out something goes "wrong" (or just not as we expected). But after I finish all my worrying, I realize how blessed we are. Every time I feel like our life has taken an unexpected turn it never fails that some blessing comes our way that is the perfect solution to my worries. They say happiness is a choice, not a destiny, and I totally agree. Life is good, we can't complain :)

I have no doubt in my mind that God exists and that He answers prayers. There is no way He doesn't. There are too many instances in my life where miracles show up at the perfect time. And they most often are things I would have never expected or thought of myself. God lives and loves us. And I am so grateful for a knowledge of that.