Home?

Well, Kade and I aren't quite sure where home is.  It used to be Italy, then we went "home" to Utah.  Philly was our "home" in the Spring, but then we moved to Washington D.C.  We kept going "home" to Utah in-between all of these other cities...and now we are back in Philly.  Our apartment here feels like "home" and knowing we will be here for the whole school year makes it seem more permanent than anything we have had since being married. No more living out of suitcases, and the furniture here is stuff that we purchased on our own. But, our family is in Utah and that is what we are most familiar with.  We will be going "home" for Christmas, and possibly Thanksgiving. We will just consider ourselves lucky, and say we have a couple places to call "home."

Between Hawaii and Sun Valley, we did manage to have two weeks in Utah before we moved back to Philly.  We tried to fill it with as much family time as possible, and anything else we could squeeze in after.  Sometimes it was nice to only have plans with Payton...to wrestle, watch a movie, and make cookies. It was fun to go to my Dad's house and enjoy some lentil tacos while catching up with Elizabeth.  Kade and my Dad talked about church books, of course.  My Mom and Ron met us for our favorite treat...frozen yogurt.  There are not many frozen yogurt places here in Philly--it is definitely a Utah fad and we take advantage of it when we are "home." We went to the gym every morning with Ann, and came home and talked over breakfast. We were able to have a home cooked Cafe Rio meal by Mari and time well spent with friends. Now when we crave it, I can attempt to make it myself...although I will not make an apron look half as cute as she did! We went to meet the Smith Clan up at the Bountiful bubble one night to hang out with the nieces and nephews...my favorite! We got to officially congratulate baby Clark that is on its way in Calaigh's belly, and catch up with Grandma and Grandpa Wads over a horrible dinner at Christopher's. Everyone ordered fish with Risotto and it tasted totally fermented.  I thought Ann was going to throw up--yuck! Kade and I made a good decision and were the only ones to order a steak. Kade got to go to lunch with Cole, and again with Rhet and Jordan. We got to see little Owen and the Towners, and also met Morgan's girlfriend whom we have heard about for months.  She was a sweetheart.  Now that we are back in Philly, we are feeling guilty that we did not see  certain people while we were in Utah. Time goes by so fast--it's crazy!  Our biggest problem is that people usually want to meet for lunch, dinner, or dessert.  We have a hard time passing up the offer because we are only in town for such a short period of time, but yet we don't have a lot of money to spend on every meal of the day.  We are going to have to get creative and find ways to see people without spending money every time we meet up with someone new! One day we will be back in Utah and we won't have this problem...but then we will miss the ward and friends we have made out here on the East coast.  I am not even going to think about it...stresses me out!  Here are some pics from time well spent at "home...."

Hiking Donut Falls with Paytie

Birthday lunch with the girls

Golfing with Preston

Bragging Time: My hubby has a hidden talent that most people don't know about.  He is a fabulous oil painter!!! For my Mom and Ron's Birthday gift, he painted them a picture from our honeymoon when we were in Como.  He started painting it while we were in DC, and finished when we were in Utah.  It turned out amazing.

We hung out at my Mom's with Ster and Calaigh and went on a scooter ride.

We had a lot of fun seeing a lot of different people...but the most important night was on August 27th.  We got to celebrate our One Year Anniversary! Wahoo! Where has the time gone? My husband is still as romantic as when I met him.  I am a very lucky girl.

We had promised each other that we would not do presents this year.  We celebrated a few months ago when we took a trip to NYC and did some shopping.  Little did I know, Kade had the whole day planned.  It started out with shopping at The Gateway, and then we headed up to Park City to go to the outlets. He is such a good shopper, always next to me picking out clothes he thinks I need to try on.  I would much rather shop for him in the guy section though! 

Then we went to the St. Regis hotel where we spent our first night as a married couple and had dinner out on the patio. It was gorgeous weather and we had a very pretty view.  We had a few visitors buzzing around during dinner but I killed them with my fork. 

When we got home, he gave me the Anniversary Willow Tree statue that I have been wanting and a journal to go with it. I felt very guilty for not surprising him with something, but we decided that next year I get to do all the planning and surprising.  I do not deserve this guy, that is for sure! 

This is the last picture we took of us in Utah before we took off on our plane.  On to our next adventure...and the start of Kade's last year as a student!