Passing time

First time trying sweet potatoes, the expression says it all...

I'm back in North Carolina for a few days before the big move back west, I miss my girls a ton and I find myself watching videos and looking at pictures to get me by. I have been deep cleaning the house to prepare for the movers, then I'll have to clean again after they leave. It doesn't make much sense I know, but I can only play so much Dr Mario before going crazy.

New York was fun, I love that city. This trip to NYC was great because I saw a lot of things I haven't seen before. I met up with Mike and Jen and we ate at Dumont in Brooklyn. I also had the opportunity to eat lunch and sing karaoke with the chiefs of FDNY, they were so cool and totally crazy. One of the chiefs accidentally spilled the beans about where we were going on our big secret night on the town, turned out to be a dinner cruise in a glass boat around Manhattan...because he felt bad for giving away the secret, he had a FDNY boat spray water from all directions up in the air as our boat left the harbor. They only do that on special occasions and we were all moved by it. I felt like I was 2nd grader hanging on every word when I listened to their stories, and I admire and respect those who put their lives in danger to help others.

We got to see some behind the scenes stuff too like the Today Show set, I danced on the floor of studio 6b (Jimmy Fallon/Conan O'Brien), and we ran into Ann Curry. Joni probably hates me for not taking pictures of everything, it was funny because she watches the Today show every day. It would be like Joni touring ESPN without me and not taking pictures...sorry.

I found out last week I will be going to Bangalore, India for a week in August for work. How crazy is that? I never once thought I would set foot in India, pretty cool stuff.

Ellie has been a rock star touring all of Utah this week. We are amazed at how much she smiles and is open to being held by so many people. She is definately loved by many and missed, I was sad as I folded her little socks last night, and I'm catching a small glimpse of how hard it would be to be a grandparent and live far away. When I brought Dilly home from the kennel she ran straight to Ellie's room to see her only to find that they were gone. We will see them soon, but until then...its more cleaning, moping, staring out the window and Dr Mario.

In limbo

Time is flyin' by, we spent our last weekend together in this place. Hard to believe 8 months has come and gone already, and we are feeling ready to move on to our next adventure. I feel like I'm getting old because this whole moving-around-the-country to-a-new-state-every-year thing is starting to wear me down. We've got one more 10 month stop and then we hope to "settle" for at least a couple of years. We have been thankful to see some of our family in the South before leaving. We spent last weekend in DC, and the past two weekends Jen and Steve have stopped in for a few hours. Joni's good friend Andrea also stopped in for a visit on Easter weekend.

Now we are in limbo...feeling like we've checked out of here already...but also soaking in the beautiful North Carolina spring while we still can. The pollen has hit us hard, all the cars are covered in it, but its still really pretty. We tried to hit up Duke campus one more time but its so crowded you can't even find a place to park now that the weather is so beautiful. I'm boring myself talking about the weather...on to some pictures.


We put our table out on the porch for Easter dinner. My little table top tiki torch sets the mood and it keeps bugs away...there's an endorsement for you tiki lovers out there...Not that setting the mood with my 5 month old and wife's friend was on my mind.



We even had some time to play some Bocce ball, lucky Alyssa was the scorekeeper and she had me winning one million gagillion to one.



And one last stop to Maple View Farms for freshly made ice cream from the creamery.


Next week I'm off to New York for the week and Joni is heading off to see family in Utah. We'll be apart 2 weeks, and it will be sad to be away from my girls for so long. Dilly and I will hold down the fort and drive across the country when I get back. Until then, if we don't see ya...good afternoon, good evening. and goodnight.

We took one last trip to DC to see the city and the Jefferies, did I spell that right? Last time we were there it was freezing and rainy in January, so the sun was a welcome sight.
We took the Metro into Arlington cemetary and hung out there for the morning. The place is way bigger than I thought. The graves were all divided up into the different wars in our nation's history. I think the one big thing I got out of it was the magnitude of how many people died serving our country. It was wierd to see so many people walking around and touring a cemetary. There are many famous and influential people there, but now that they have all come and gone, the memory of the unknown soldiers is just as powerful as the most famous leaders.
We thought this picture was funny because of the fingers...maybe it was funnier while in the cemetary.

Usually we get to see quite a bit in the cities we visit while walking around, but DC is so spread out we were completely exhausted after seeing just a few of the main sights.



So many people were taking pictures of their feet looking up the Washington Monument, we thought the better picture was of them.

It was the start of the Cherry Blossom Festival and people were EVERYWHERE. We owe a BIG BIG thanks to Melecia and fam for babysitting Ellie for the day. I think we realized that she is such a good baby for us, but maybe not always around everyone else. I think she is getting old enough to recognize us and feel comfortable around us, but it takes a bit for her to warm up around other people now.


How can you not love that face..."huh?" The time went by too fast. It seemed like once Ellie was comfortable and we were all having fun we had to go.

Barking babies and Crying dogs

I love this video. Dilly loves our little girl and she cries and howls when Ellie cries and howls. Now that Ellie is old enough to recognize Dilly, we caught her reaction on camera. Its a competition between who can cry the loudest now. Watch how Ellie reacts to Dilly..."how dare you interrupt my cranky time"

Our whole plan to change the world one person at a time, one month at a time, is not going as we hoped it would so far. We won't give up so easy, but its funny how things have gone. For every person we have gone out of our way to help, we've had people go out of their way 3 fold to try and make our lives miserable. Ok so thats a bit of a stretch, but its just been one of those months it seems people are out to get us. Some lady even pulled over while driving to criticize Joni while she was jogging with Dilly. Who does that?

I don't want to leave North Carolina with a bad taste in my mouth, this place is so beautiful, but people just seem to be so cold here at times. I know a lot of really good people here, but in general I just don't like the vibe I get. Does that ever happen to you? We've lived in a lot of places and this is a first for us. Maybe telling people we would only be here for 8 months was a mistake? I don't know. As the visiting teaching supervisor Joni gets snapped at all the time by women in the ward, but since we're moving its not worth bringing up. I can't help but think about the Book of Mormon, and how entire cities could be filled with pride and hatred while others thrived by being righteous and Christlike. Anyways, I Don't want to discount any of the good experiences we've had. We will miss this place like all the rest, but it won't be as hard to leave this time around. Our next options are between Atlanta and Colorado, thats right I said Colorado, so we'll keep ya'll posted.

Ellie found her hands a while ago, and now she is starting to find things and grab at them. We think she'll be ready for rice cereal any day now. She can actually grab onto the bottle and pull it out of her mouth. Funny how excited we get to see the smallest little progress she makes. That reminds me that Joni and her sister made a list of "things that make people look like idiots" years ago, thought I'd share a couple of them:

1) Watching people interact with babies
2) Watching someone get attacked by a bee
3) The threat of having a rubberband snapped against your bare skin

Can you think of anymore? My dad has his own category including sticking his finger in a fan, skiing down a black diamond without any skis, and stubbing his toe.

So the grandparents have been harrassing us to see more pictures of their newest grandaughter. Ok so "harrassing" is a strong word, but I know death threats will soon be coming if we don't show everyone how fast our little one is growing.

We spent what was probably our last weekend ever in Charleston. Andrea graduated and is moving back to Utah, so we spent some time in one of our most favorite cities in the South. Ellie was awesome on the whole 5 hour drive, I don't know what we did to deserve such a good baby, she is so sweet.



We toured the retired Yorktown aircraft carrier, and went inside a WWII submarine that was a little creepy and clostrophobic, but it was fun to play with all the buttons and levers. There were a million Boy Scouts there with us that day.






We went to Folly beach at sunset, it was so beautiful, but it got really cold once the sun went down.









Apparently Ellie is a future Diet Coke-a-holic with the look she's giving that soda.

Living in a box

I'm realizing more and more each day how so many people, myself included, tend to live in our own little box. We have our own little family, our own little house, our group of family and friends, our possessions, and we don't tend to think much about people around us. We do that because its where we feel comfortable, but if you think about it, are we really that different than anyone else? So different that we shut others out of our lives, and walk/drive past someone who needs help?

We all think that WE are the best drivers and that everyone else is out to get us. We think that our own problems are the biggest and the worst, and that we are successful businessmen because of something we did on our own. We look at things other people do, and jump to criticize them because its not the way WE would do it. See a recurring theme here?

I'm finding that one of the best ways to find satisfaction and happiness in life doesn't involve a couch and a television. It involves picking up a phone, walking out the door, and meeting new people. The more people I get to know, the more stories I hear, and the more I realize how lucky I am to have a job, a nice rental, 2 cars, a beautiful family, and a sweet but troubled little dog. I remember one of the things I wanted to bless Ellie with more than anything, was to feel compassion and love for people around her who aren't as fortunate as she is.

We have great friends and family who are always stepping out of their little boxes, and I admire them for that. Joni and I think it would be nice to find a way at least once a month to do something positive for someone we don't necessarily know well. It seems that there are a lot of sad people out there and people struggling to get by that I know through work and my church calling, but I've felt stongly that I need to do something and I think this is it. We'll let you know how it goes and share our stories of our new friends, not to toot our own horns, but with hopes to inspire others in the way we've felt inspired.

Joni took some pictures this weekend of some random stuff around our neighborhood. She made a couple of friends (a horse, and some neighbors who were curious as to why a girl was taking pictures of their barn). We'll post a video or two of Ellie for the grandparents soon.