A question for my Dixon family

Since the beginning of the school year I have been receiving emails from Franklin West Elementary school in Mesa. The emails are for the parents of an Olivia Dixon. I am sorry that I do not know all of the names of my little cousins, but do I have an Olivia Dixon cousin of the elementary school age? Do I have ANY cousins that go to Franklin West Elementary? Just curious. Thanks!

Some picutres

Our Christmas tree has been up and decorated for a while, but here are some pictures. We added a star this year and I really like it.

Here are some pictures of Teddy. He's a funny puppy!

Puppy skin is funny. He's too big for that already.

Emily came to visit and we took a trip up to Temple Square to see the lights. Teddy came along with us and rode in my purse to try to keep him warm. It was COLD out that night! On the way home we all thought we were going to die the way everyone was slipping and sliding all over I-15.

Christmas is coming and we are VERY excited!! We get to spend 5 whole days at home. I hope that y'all have a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Christmas through the eyes of me!

I really don't do the tags very often but this one looked like fun and it was.

1. Do you like hot chocolate or egg nog?

I like hot chocolate better than egg nog. There’s just so much you can do with it like drink it plain, put mint chocolate chip ice cream in it, add whipped cream, stir it with a candy cane. The possibilities are endless. That’s not even taking in to account all the different kinds you can buy.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just put them under the tree?

Santa usually just puts presents under the tree or in a Santa specific present spot like in front of the fire place. Sometimes he didn’t want us to peak so he’d wrap them, but usually they were just set out.

3. Colored or white lights on the tree/house?

I love white lights all over. It makes me think of olden times when all they had were candles. I’d love to actually put candles on the tree but I’m terrified of house fires.

4. Traditional Christmas or contemporary/Mod Christmas?

I go for the traditional stuff with a few exceptions. Unless you consider the Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, etc. modern. Then I’m all about the modern stuff!

5. When do you put up your decorations?

Growing up we put them up on the first Monday of December, so it was a nice FHE for the beginning of the year. Married me doesn’t have a tradition for that yet. The only 2 times we have put up a tree has just been whenever we could get it up and even then it doesn’t get decorated until we have time for that too.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish?

I’d say pretzel jello salad. It has a buttery pretzel crumb crust with raspberry jello mixed with frozen raspberries in the middle topped with pineapple-y whipped cream. Yumm!! I look forward to this every year!

7. What is your favorite holiday memory from your childhood?

I can’t think of one in particular at the moment there are lots.

The only vivid Christmas memory that’s coming to mind at the moment isn’t necessarily my favorite but it is vivid. I remember one Christmas there was a lovely jewelry box on the mantle with my name on it. I committed the Christmas morning no-no and peaked. It was a cute CTR ring with teddy bears on the side (I still have it). I got all excited and probably had the expression on my face that Mama would have liked to see, but then I realized I shouldn’t have looked yet so I put it back. Then when we were officially opening presents I pretended to be all surprised and Mama asked me if I had peaked and I LIED!!! I lied about a Choose The Right ring! How bad is that?! I didn’t want to disappoint Mama and tell her I’d already seen it and I thought I got away with my little lie, but upon reflection I think Mama knew that I looked. Sorry Mama. I really was really excited.

8. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?

Not usually.

9. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?

Lights first from bottom to top and kinda tucked back in to the tree with the ornaments carefully placed all over. I’m sure I’ll have to get over my Christmas Tree OCD when children start to decorate it, but for now my wonderful husband is patient and lets me re-arrange the tree several times before I think it is good enough.

10. Snow! Love it or dread it?

I have a love hate relationship with snow. The things I do not like: I hate driving in it. I hate having to walk over the ice it leaves behind when it gets smushed down too much or when it partially melts then freezes. I have a hard enough time walking and not falling when the ground is warm and dry. I hate feeling guilty for being late for work on the days when the snow is just awful. I hate having to wake up earlier to make up for the extended commute time (I love sleep!). I hate how I feel more trapped when my only ways out of the valley are either over dangerously icy mountain passes or on an expensive airplane. If I think about it too much, the mountains start to close in on top of me and breathing becomes difficult. It’s a really good thing this valley is so big and there’s a good 30 min drive south and almost 2 hours north that I can drive before I hit really sticky passes or I might go nuts!

The things I like: I love how pretty it is. My favorite is when the snow is fresh and it’s on every branch of every tree! I love how it muffles the sounds of the world when it’s falling or freshly fallen. I love it when I can stay at home and be warm and watch it snow and just relax all day. On those days I say let it snow! I love playing in it once or twice a year (not much more though, ‘cause I don’t like being cold). And probably most importantly, I love how it makes the icky brown desert that we call Utah prettier in the winter and green for longer in the summer. As far as all that goes, I say bring it on!

Sorry this was so long, but I feel strongly about this topic.

Disclaimer: I promise I do not dislike Utah as much as it might seem. My dislikes have mostly been addressed in this one question and are 90% climate related.

11. Do you remember your favorite gift?

I don’t know that I have a favorite, but there were a lot that I really liked.

12. What is the most important thing about the holidays for you?

Besides the person that the holiday is for, I love spending time with family. Even though we aren’t going anywhere this Christmas, I’m really excited for us to have our first Christmas as our own little family and start building our own traditions.

13. What is your favorite holiday dessert?

I’d still have to say the pretzel jello salad but there are lots of yummy Christmas desserts. Mmm!

14. What is your favorite holiday tradition?

My favorite Christmas tradition… Hmm… Actually, I think that my overall favorite Christmas tradition actually has to do with Mama’s birthday. After the morning rush of presents then napping, cleaning up a little, making, eating, and cleaning up Christmas dinner, then chilling some more, we would have a birthday party for Mama. We always made sure to differentiate Mamas birthday from Christmas so we would buy her totally different presents and have birthday cake, ice cream, singing and presents for her. It was like Christmas again only where we didn’t get anything. We just gave Mama stuff. It’s fun.

15. What tops your tree?

A star. Angels are pretty, but real angels don’t have wings, so I have a hard time preaching that false doctrine. J Just kidding. I just prefer starts.

16. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving?

Getting gifts is fun. I have a harder time spending money on myself, so it’s nice to get cool stuff, but I think it’s a lot of fun to go spend money on family.

17. What is your favorite Christmas song?

I have a really hard time picking favorites, but here are a few. I love Carol of the Bells. Angels We have Heard On High is my favorite Christmas hymn, although Ring Out Wild Bells is one that I am always bummed if it gets skipped at New Years time. I really like that song! I know I am missing a bunch but oh well.

18. Candy canes?

I like one or two a year or to let them melt in my hot chocolate, but I like them mostly because they are Christmas-y.

19. Do you feel Christmas is too commercialized?

Yes! It is so easy to get wrapped up in the present buying and the material parts of Christmas that the real meaning of Christmas is easily forgotten even by the church going, Jesus remembering types. I love that we take a whole month or more of the year to remember (shop for) all of our friends and family and do something nice for them, but I can’t imagine how little I would actually think of our Savior if I didn’t have the Gospel in my life to remind me.

20. What is your favorite Christmas movie?

I really like Santa Clause with Tim Allen. It’s a funny one. “Dennys! It’s an American Institution!”

21. Can you ice skate?

Haha! You even ask! Again, I have a hard time not falling on my face on dry warm ground. Put ice and a narrow piece of metal under me and see what happens! It is fun though and as long as someone is willing to be there to catch me every 2 seconds I’m all for it.

22. Are all your Christmas presents ready yet?

Ummm. I think so. I have a few odds and ends to wrap up and some stuff to mail out, but I’m pretty close. I’m sure I’ll think of lots of stuff I’m missing later.

I tag anyone who wants to do this. Enjoy! :)

Happy Birthday!!

This has been a very busy weekend so far! We kind of started it early by picking up Teddy Friday morning. Our new little puppy is adorable! Nate took him to work with him on Friday and everyone in the office had fun playing with him and letting him sleep under their desks. Here are some pictures of his incredible cuteness.

We've been having fun playing with him and teaching him to behave. We haven't had to do a lot by way of teaching though. Over all, he's a pretty well behaved little puppy.

Today is also Nates birthday!!!! For his birthday he got to wake up at 6:30 due to a puppy making noises. He did get a few naps in though, so all is well. After playing with Teddy and taking a nap, we cleaned the whole house then went to get a Christmas tree. After that and introducing Teddy to a few people, we picked up his ice cream cake. He picked chocolate chip cookie dough again this year. It was yummy!! While we ate he opened his presents. He got a cute Cocker Spaniel Puppies calender, gift card for puppy stuff, a warm looking shirt, a belt (he didn't want a belt, but I got him one anyways), and... a WAFFLE IRON!!! I am not a fan of kitchen gadgets, so he had given up on me purchasing another one ever, so it really was a surprise. We have big plans to use his new waffle iron tomorrow for supper, so we'll have to post some pictures.

A Blustery Day

The wind outside is blowing hard and the leaves that are flying in it make it look kinda like a cartoon, the way they are blowing sideways and twirling around. I'm expecting to see Piglet fly by any moment now.

We are home from Washington and Oregon now. The trip was smooth and it was really nice to spend time with family. We didn't do anything super exciting, but sometimes the best visits are the ones where you just spend time together and catch up. The only pictures we got were of Chelsie right before she went to her Masquerade. I'll have to post some later 'cause she was cute!

The north west is beautiful! Even in November it's still green and wet and lovely. Compared to Washington and Oregon, Utah looks like the Moon. Nate even found his dream home. It was a cute white medium sized home, up on a lovely green hill that had to be a couple acres of field, almost completely surrounded by forest with a little lake at the bottom of the hill. Besides being so close to the interstate and probably WAY out of our budget (because of it's north western location), it was great. The dryness of Utah made me a little sad, but driving home I have to admit that I was glad to be back. Not necessarily because of the it's Utahness, but because it's home.

And my wallet rejoiced!

I just had to share my excitement with everyone! Today I went to COSTCO to fill up my very thirsty car. The empty light was on and I think the gas gauge was actually below the empty line, so the car was VERY empty. Well, shortly after beginning the filling, the gas pump clicked telling us that it was done filling up our thirsty car. I then looked up with great anticipation to see what the total was and it was only $25. For only $25 my car went from pretty much empty to totally full! I was so excited!!! At only $1.78 a gallon, is $1.50 a gallon an unrealistic Christmas wish?

That's my Sweetie!

So, it's official! Nate got a promotion! He is now the Dean of Students at the Orem campus of Utah Career College. He'll be over everything Student Services related. He's been there just under 3 months, so I'd say that's pretty impressive!!

P.S. He's looking for a Registrar to work with him in the Student Services department, so if you or someone you know is looking for a full time job with benefits, let him know.

Mad Madam Mimms!

This weekend Emily came down from Rexburg to visit. She came Thursday night and just left today. We didn't do anything super exciting, but it was fun! After getting Emily some tires on Friday we did some window shopping then went to PetSmart to buy Teddy a crate.

We had a slow start on Saturday. Once we were out we went to Gateway Mall and did some more window shopping. We went to Anthropologie, where I probably wouldn't have the heart to spend the money on anything, even if I had it. (Ok. I lie. One time I bought a shirt there, but it was REALLY, very much, on clearance). It's a really fun store though. They have really creative and cute stuff. After lots of window shopping we went to Buca di Beppo. Mmmm! That place is so yummy!

Emily left today, but it was fun to have her here. Emily visiting weekends are always nice!

We got a puppy!!

Well he'll be coming to our home on December 5th after he is finished weaning. So were really excited! His name is teddy. He's a brown sable Cocker Spaniel.

He's the top left with the white feet. Cute!!!

We love weekends!

Our lives aren't too exciting, but here's what we've been up to. Friday, after a long day of work, we had a simple night of window shopping, followed by a nice night at home with a movie. Saturday was similar, only we did a good bit of cleaning.

Sunday was rather busy for us! We went to church where some people actually recognized us! We even met the counselors in the ward Bishopric. In addition to that, I had visiting teachers over! that night we were sound asleep, resting up for the new week, when we both flew out of bed to the blare of our smoke detectors. 'Bout gave me a heart attack! All for a dying battery! It wasn't just a little chirp from the darned thing. Oh no! It went off! It and all the other ones in the house. Well, after removing batteries, flipping breakers, unplugging smoke detectors, and flipping breakers back on, we went back to bed. Granted, we were well awake by then.

Now we're back to our weekly routine. Work, home, work, home. So exciting!

Bear Bums and Long Drives

This weekend we decided a weekend out of Utah would be really nice, so we left. After work we headed up to Rexburg, where we met up with Mimily (Emily). Emily gave us the night time tour of Rexburg then we visited with an old Winder friend, Jenny, with whom we talked with for a while. Sadly it was a little late so we couldn't say hi to Mary, but next time! Saturday morning Emily had to work, so Nate and I went and gave ourselves the daytime tour of Rexburg and walked around the new temple. It is a very beautiful temple!

When Emily was finished with work we picked her up and started our drive. When we got to Yellowstone we saw lots of beautiful mountains and rivers, lots of fly fishers, one bison up close and lots from a distance, a coyote, and lots of birds. We didn't get to see even a 1/3 of the park, but that just leaves more to do when we go back.

I think this was my favorite part of the park. This was off of Fountain Flat Drive. The steam is coming from a hot spring that is just off to the side of the river.


Emily and I around the hot spring.


The bison was in our lane, so we had to pass it and risk the oncoming traffic. I personally would rather take on the oncoming traffic.


Bison Bum!


Old Faithful

After Old Faithful, we decided that we should hit the road and head to our hotel. So, we drove over passes, through snow, back into warmth, and out of the park. Shortly after leaving the park we found ourselves in the Teton National Park. Not as much to see, that I know of, but I think it is much prettier. I think that the Teton range is the most beautiful range of mountains I have ever seen. The Tetons and the Alps are pretty close in prettiness.

Our first good shot of the mountains


Another pretty shot.

The drive to Jackson Hole was beautiful! It was getting dark when we got into town, so we found a map and made our way to our hotel. We stayed at the Snake River Lodge in Teton Village. They had really nice rooms, a fun ladies locker room that's gotta be bigger than our house, and a really cool pool that was an indoor/outdoor heated pool with caves and waterfalls. The outside hot tub was in a cave with a heated waterfall flowing into it. It was pretty fun! The next morning we managed to get a few pictures in the lobby without feeling really ghetto.

Emily petting a bear chillin' in the Lobby.


Bear Bum!
Poor bear is stuck in the log pole. There were actually lots of bears hanging out in the logs in the hotel. It was pretty cute.


Nate petting a bison in Jackson.

It was a fun trip and I don't think it was our last. There's still lots to see in Yellowstone and there's lots we'd like to do in Jackson Hole. I'd say it was a rather fun weekend!

An itch in time

An itch in time

Anyone remember this little cartoon? I know it's long, but in case you've forgotten, it's a pretty funny cartoon. About 4 1/2 min into the cartoon the little flea stakes out the dog, like a butcher would stake out a cow.

Hopefully you all now know what I'm talking about. Well, that's kinda what I felt like last Thursday when I went to got my allergy testing done. I couldn't help but think of that cartoon as the lady was staking out my arm for the different needles she was about to stick in me.

After 32 pokes in my arms, another 31 in my shoulder, and 2 very close calls with passing out, we found out that I am allergic to dust mites, tumble weed, and kochia. So what did I learn from that couple hours of fun at the doctors office? I'm allergic to the desert, wood floors and leather couches are good for me, and I really need to get over the issues I have with needles 'cause I don't like it when the room starts spinning then goes black.

Boy are we bad at this!

So, Nate is getting into the groove with his new job. The new Orem campus of Utah Career College just started their first term and it's been a lot of work getting them there, but so far so good.

Things of note, that we should have covered a while ago:

#1 Mama and Daddy celebrated their 25th Anniversary in August! They went and had pictures done. Aren't they cute?!

Daddy doesn't remind me of Grandpa at all!

#2 We went out and gathered thing for the first package we've sent Cami since she's been in Florida. (Sorry Cami). It was actually a lot of. We went to Build-A-Bear and made a cute little turtle, who's shell comes off and opens like a back back.

Elder Todd the Turtle
That's a Book of Mormon hanging from his wrist.

#3 Emily came to visit last weekend! The two of us went up to a Bead Fair in Salt Lake. I was expecting just beads, but alas, I was wrong! There was lots of fun jewelry and had I had enough money, there is lots I would have bought. I am quite happy with myself for not going overboard and sticking to a simple pair of amber earrings. They're nice, they didn't break the bank, and I'm sure I'll get a lot of use out of them.

On Sunday we made a new recipe out of the Martha Stewart Living o' the month. We had this German sausages with apples and sauerkraut with a side of yummy potatoes and pickles. It was very German of us and oh so yummy!

It's quicker than driving!

Let it be noted that today, the Seventh day of September, 2008, we walked to church. As today was regional conference and the entire stake was meeting at our stake center to watch the conference broadcast, we decided that we'd not bother with the traffic and drive to church instead. We've been meaning to do it since we moved here, but today we actually did it. On our walk back home, we were laughing at the fact that we could walk to church and how we both used to make fun of Utah for their living so close to church. (Note to self: Don't make fun of places you don't think you want to be, 'cause I think the Lord has a sense of humor too and He might just decide to teach you a lesson.)

"A" would be the church and "B" our house.


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1 Whole Year!!

We knew we were missing something when I posted last time. As of the 24th of August, we've been married a whole year!!! We can't decide if it's gone by quickly or felt like a lifetime, but either way, it's been wonderful. For our anniversary, we went to Salt Lake and made a whole day of spending time together. Nate was brilliant and made a reservation for the two of us a spa for a 1+ hour massage. (I love nice, long massages!) After that we walked around the mall for a bit and we each got a nice new pair of work shoes and I got a new skirt. After we'd walked around the outdoor mall, we went out to a yummy Italian restaurant then a fun movie. On Sunday, our actual anniversary, we spent our afternoon just chilling as we enjoyed a light dinner and some cheesecake (since our topper is long gone). It was a lovely weekend!

Finally Slowing Down

Here is the fire picture I promised, only it's not a picture.

It was so close to our house!

Even more has happened since the last time we've said anything. The most exciting thing is NATE GOT A JOB!!!!!!! The job hunt is over! Nate is now a full time working man at Utah Career College. They are opening up a new campus in Orem and he will be registering all the new students along with lots of other things since they don't have all of their people hired yet. He started on Monday, August 25th. It's kinda strange for us both to get up and all dressed up for work in the morning.

The next most exciting thing that's happened is that Nate officially graduated on the 14th and 15th of this month. His whole family was able to come out including Grandma Talbert and Aunt Judy! (Cami, we missed you! But that's ok.) We had fun touring Provo and attending graduation festivities.

As a graduation present, Nate got a grill! That's where he made a yummy graduation dinner of steak kabobs, grilled veggies, and hot dogs! It was pretty gosh darn yummy!

Our first meal cooked on the grill.
This was actually a couple weeks before graduation.

Before then we went to a family reunion up in Idaho and were able to go to the Twin Falls Temple open house. It was really nice to see so many Dixon family members all in one spot again. I don't think that's happened in a LONG time!

I love them!
(Thanks for the picture Mark!)

Now that the summer is coming to a close, our lives are settling back down. Summer was busy, but it was a really good one.

Busy, busy, busy!!!

It has been well over a month since we've made any posts, but man have we been busy! Since our last post we have packed, driven to Idaho for a weekend family reunion, I turned another year older, we moved, unpacked, survived a forest fire, and Nate officially graduated from BYU! Seeing as how I've been sitting here a while and we don't have anything comfy to sit on in the tv/computer/everything else room just yet, I might tackle pictures and such one event at at time.

We'll start with the packing and moving. We got the keys to our new place on July 23rd and started moving in that very next day. We didn't get all moved in until August 2nd, but it was nice to move stuff in slowly and unpack as we went. Now we're down to a maybe 6 boxes. Not to shabby, if I might say so myself!

The night before our major move to Payson (August 1st) we came to our new home, only to see a huge fire up on the mountain by our house! When we first got there it actually wasn't too bad, at least for us. It was big, but under control and a few miles from our house. We went and watched until we decided that we had lots to do and just needed to go unload the car. Well, by the time the car was unloaded, the wind had picked up and pushed the fire in our direction. It got kinda close to our house. We weren't too worried about it taking out our house, but it was only about half a mile away and quickly reaching some homes. Many people in our ward were evacuated. The local fire fighters were amazing that night! They really worked hard and for long hours to save so many homes. Thanks to them, and I am sure some divine intervention, all homes were spared. It's amazing to see where the fire went and how close it came to some homes. You can see where the fire went around some homes and an orchard, only to go through abandoned lots that had homes on each side. The only structure that was claimed was an old shed that was about to be torn down. That really was amazing!

I'll have to finish up later and I'll make sure to upload a bunch of pictures from the last month. Eventually I'll get all caught up!

We're Moving!!!

So, we're moving. Not as far as we thought we'd be moving, but we're still really excited! We found a town home down in Payson. It has 2 bedrooms, 1 1/2 bathrooms, and almost triple the space we have right now! The offer was just accepted yesterday, so assuming everything goes through, we should have a new set of keys by the end of the month!

Cute little bay window!

I think the floors and the trim work are 2 of my favorite parts!

Ceiling fans are great!


I love the floors!


Granite counters, a nice fridge, and a mini double oven!


The half bath


The falcons stuff was not a selling factor (despite popular belief) nor were they asked for as part of the offer.


The back bedroom


The lovely upstairs bathroom!

There is also a small back yard with lots of open space behind and in front there is a brand new baseball complex, so we won't be having anything built over there. We are VERY excited! Anybody feel like helping with a move?

Happy 4th of July!

This weekend was rather busy, but pretty fun! My entire family came down for the weekend! On the 4th we didn't do the typical 4th of July stuff. We did go get some pizza and found a nice park by our apartment and watched various people and their fireworks. We were all glad that there were so many people willing to send their own money up in flames. Thanks to several people in the North Provo/South Orem area and to the Stadium of Fire, we had a pretty nice little show! That night Chelsie and Caleb camped out in our living room while Mama, Daddy, and Emily went up to Sandy to stay the night. It was kinda fun to have them over for the night. Nate and Caleb played a game called Field Command while Chelsie and I watched a nice chick flick (I actually fell asleep pretty quickly).

Saturday we got visit with all sorts of family. We saw most of the Nances before they head off to Josephs wedding and then their new tour of Germany. After a couple hours of visiting with them, we spent some time with Dusty and Bill. Bill made his very yummy burgers. Yumm!!! It was nice to be able to see so much family! The weekend went rather quickly, but it was nice to spend a little time with my family.

The Joys of Google Reader

I am confessing to a slight problem I have with spending time on the computer. After an entire day of looking at a computer, I come home and spend hours on end staring at my own computer checking email, Facebook, friends blogs, and other such things. But now, I am happy to say, I have been spending MUCH less time on the computer. I found this wonderful little thing called Google Reader. I have it check for updates on all of the blogs and news pages that I read, so instead of spending hours checking several different sites, I just check Google Reader and it tells me who has made any changes. I love it!!! I'm not trying to sound like a commercial, I'm just saying that I am happy to be breaking my computer addiction. I can now keep up on everything online and spend time on different and more important things. I feel so free!!!

Happy Birthday Emily!!!

We haven't posted anything in a while but we have been very busy. One of the more recent exciting things was Emily's visit from Rexburg for her birthday! She came down Friday then headed home Monday morning. While she was here, we probably spent most of her visit making a birthday cake. Not really, but we did spend a few hours Friday night then ALL Saturday morning. It was pretty fun! This was the first attempt at using fondant for both of us, but I don't think it was too bad. Here are some pictures from the fun weekend.

Emily mixing our triple batch of yellow cake.


Cake with yummy raspberry icing.


The frog beginnings.


The finished product!


Happy 20th Birthday Emily!

Not to shabby for our first attempt at fondant and all the special cake carving we had to do. After the cake was done we went to Nielsons Grove park down the road for a little party with family and friends. By the end of the day we were all exhausted, but it sure was a fun day!

The Growing Chives

A quick update on the baby chive. The one little chive got pretty big, but then I went on vacation and neglected it for a week. It is coming back to me now and has been joined by a few other chives that are growing quickly. I'm not holding my breath, but as for now, they're they're still alive!

The Lovely Carolinas

Yes, it has been a few weeks since we've given any kind of an update. I blame this mostly on our wonderful vacation to the Carolinas. It was VERY nice to get away for a week. In an attempt to be cheap, we had separate flights from Salt Lake to Minneapolis then we were supposed to hook up in Minneapolis and be together for the rest of the trip. Not bad, yeah? Well... Due to technical difficulties, Nate ended up getting stuck at the Salt Lake airport for 10 hours! After a very long day, Nate did finally make it to Charlotte only 5 hours after I did.

The rest of the trip went rather well, except for the one time I misheard the hotel lady tell me what exit we were supposed to get off at...oops. On our way down to Charleston from Charlotte, we stopped by the lovely and historic University of South Carolina. From there we drove on to Charleston and due to my little directions mishap, we took the scenic route around Charleston to the hotel. We got to play around downtown Charleston and go the the beach on Isle of Palms. That's the second time in a year that we've been to Charleston. We love it! What can I say? I do have to say though, that we did different things this time. It was fun!

"Will I be going to school here in the near-ish future? Who knows!"


Nate shooting the big cannon at Ft. Moultrie

After a few days in Charleston, we drove up the coast to Carolina Beach, NC. We got a good deal in a new Marriott Courtyard, with our room overlooking the beach. That was lovely!!! Even when we were sitting in the hotel, we could watch and listen to the ocean. Oh! If only that could be a regular thing. I miss the sound of the ocean! The Carolina Beach experience was mixed. The area is a little depressed, but the hotel was very nice! The depressed area did force a local fresh seafood place to cut all prices by 40%, which meant that we got some very yummy seafood for a very good deal.

The beach and one of the pools from our room at Carolina Beach


Annah from our balcony

After a few days at the beach, we drove up through Raleigh, Durham, and Greensboro to Winston-Salem. North Carolina is a beautiful part of the country! It was nice to see lots of green trees again!

We drove back to Charlotte on Saturday and flew back to Salt Lake. It was a long week, but it was a lot of fun! Now we're back to Utah and back to the routine. We're getting excited to see where we're going to end up this summer. For now though, we're glad it's warming up and enjoying having school free evenings together.

Chillin' at one of our favorite sitting spots in Charleston