Where are YOU?

Right now my husband is out helping someone move. I was upstairs reading Pride and Prejudice when he got the call from his EQ president and when he came up to tell me, I must admit I was disappointed. Even though we weren't having "together time" the realization that it wouldn't be a possibility for the next few hours was not at all pleasing. Kind of funny how that works. At least I was able to finish my book, which only gets better each time I read it. Between readings I somehow forget the small things that make me love their story so much. It is nice to rediscover them.

Cory has never been to the apartments where this couple is moving so he had me tell him how I would go there before he left. It is a little ironic that someone who is so terrible with directions is married to a geographer who creates maps for the highway department. :) When he got into his car, he also plugged it into my GPS, which I have really lost ownership of at this point, and calls me when it tells him to go a different route than the one I gave him before he left. After assuring him that the route given by the GPS would take him where he wanted to go just as well, I told him to have fun and hung up. When I called about 15 minutes later to make sure he had gotten there okay (this is the man who once drove all the way to orangeburg trying to get home from the Fort Jackson building) I didn't get an answer. Immediately I know that he put his phone in the cupholder after we hung up and didn't think to put it back in his pocket when he got out of the car. How do I know this, you ask? Well, lets just say I have shed a few tears worrying over not being able to reach him after he assured me I would be able to only to be told "Sorry babe, I left my phone in the car." The fact that I really didn't need anything doesn't matter at that point. It bothers me that IF I needed to reach him, I couldn't. Silly, I know. It is strange what being so connected to another person will do to you. You think you are a totally independent person and then bam! a huge amount of your happiness depends on another person and how "reachable" they are! :)

Our New Nephew!

We got the phone call Friday evening that my sister in law, Jenn was starting to have contractions. When I went to bed that night, I neatly folded my clothes and put them by the bed because I just knew we were going to get a call in the middle of the night. Well, I was right! By about 2:30 a.m the contractions were close enough together for them to head to the hospital so Cory and I hopped out of bed and headed over to their house to stay with their older boys. Ever since life has been crazy, but those are stories for another post! Carson was born around 1:40 in the afternoon on Saturday and we took the boys up to see him a couple hours later. He is so precious and we are so glad to have another sweet boy in the family! His brothers are definitely in love!

They hadn't given Carson his official cleaning at this point and the boys made all kinds of faces at the little discoveries they found on him! It was so funny! Since it is only his first day in this world, I think we will forgive him for being slightly "yucky." :)

He has the sweetest little face!

Cory holding Carson looking so cute. His brothers are already so protective of him. Hampton wouldn't let go of his little trolley the entire ride from the nursery to Jenn's room. It was adorable.

Pearce loves to take pictures and so of course he had to take some of his new little brother. Right now he is getting a good zoomed in shot of the umbilical cord. :)

E&P's Wedding Weekend

A couple of weekends ago Cory and I took our first weekend trip since our honeymoon to go to a friend's wedding in Gastonia, NC. Aren't they so cute!?


We had such a wonderful time! We got there pretty late on Friday night so we just hung out with our BFF's David and Joel for a little while. The next day we played basketball at the YMCA before heading back to get ready for all the festivities. The ceremony was so sweet and the reception was awesome! Here we are all dressed up and ready for fun. :)


As you can see, there was a lot of dancing going on so I was loving it! The boys even danced with Peter's mom! They are so crazy!


After everything we went back to the hotel and watched USC beat Clemson in baseball which was pretty exciting (for me at least!). David and Joel both had to leave to go visit their families but Cory and I stayed the night and left Sunday morning. I originally wanted to stay and spend the day in Charlotte Sunday but we decided to just head back so I could teach my primary class. It was so worth it to see their sweet little faces and hear all the stories they had to tell me. I just love being a primary teacher!

Discoveries

I have boxes of my things still in the garage. This drives my poor husband nuts because that garage is "his place." After my repeated evasions from coming outside to unpack them, he has started bring boxes inside for me to look through. This is quite a challenge because I literally keep everything that has ever meant something to me in my life. Just tonight I uncovered some very sweet birthday cards from Cory, thank you notes from friends, letters from missionaries, and even some quotes on marriage I collected. Two of the quotes were from President and Sister Hinkley and they were just so sweet I had to share.

"I like this man a lot, but I like him sometimes a lot more than others."
-Sister Hinkley
I admit I feel this way myself sometimes.

"As I held her hand and saw mortal life drain from her fingers, I confess I was overcome. Before I married her, she had been the girl of my dreams, to use the words of a song then popular. She was my dear companion for more than two-thirds of a century, my equal before the Lord, really my superior. And now in my old age, she has again become the girl of my dreams."
President Gordon B. Hinkley
I will further admit that this makes me cry every time I read it, but I hope I am blessed with a love like that. It may take two-thirds of a century or more but I have a feeling we've made a good start. :)

Snapshots!

In the past few weeks Cory and I have done lots fun things! Here are some snapshots from some of the exciting stuff!

River Rats!

My family from Arizona came to visit last week and we had a huge river party on Saturday! We had so much fun! They are all awesome and I am doing my best to figure out how to move AZ closer to SC.
And how cute does Cory look holding my cousins baby!? And how about my adorbale pregnant best friend! Seriously, I a can hardly wait to meet "Peanut" Jennings! I am with Stephen and keeping my fingers crossed for brown hair. :)
(Disclaimer: These comments do not mean Cory and I are planning on kids anytime soon, I'm just saying...I like babies, pregnant people, and cute boys holding cute babies. This is not a crime.)

Beachin' It!

We also went to the beach last week and had a blast! It was so nice to be able to spend time with our family and friends. David had never been buried in the sand before (seriously, this man had a sad childhood) so we had a lot of fun making his dream of being buring come true! We even threw in a sand beard. It just doesn't get better than that!

My brother took this picture for us before we left and made fun of me for my "prom arm." I actually hate the hand on hip arm pose but if you don't do it then your arm looks all flabby and gross (well, mine does at least). Maybe I should just try flexing them or something. I don't know.

Wet 'N' Wild!

Finally, I set up a gaint slip and slide in our back yard and our nephews came over to play on it. Hampton and I had a blast! Everyone else pretty much just watched. But I love Hamp's face in the middle picture. He is definitely a tough guy!

Heathcliff the Conqueror

Cory and I wake up some nights to hear Heathcliff barking like a mad man, er, dog. He doesn't usually bark, so of course we go and check out the situation. Upon investigation, we discover this, just sitting on the ground, covered in bite marks and looking absolutely terrifying:

That's right, a storage bin is my dogs worst enemy. He bites it, drags it across the yard, pins it in a corner, and just in general roughs it up. Despite the beat down, it apparently still sometimes gets the best of him because when he barks at it, he won't go anywhere near it. I don't know what game he is playing in his head, but I just don't have the heart to take the bin away. So I guess I will sacrifice a little sleep all in the name of my dog having fun...I am pretty much a sucker for that guy. :)

Our New Addition!

Meet Heathcliff:

He is named after Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable. (The Cosby Show is one of my all time favorites!) We adopted him from the Richland County Animal Shelter last weekend! We both just feel in love with this guy, especially Cory! I really had wanted a puppy but Cory really does not have the patience for that yet. Heathcliff is only about a year old so he still has a lot of energy but isn't whiny like puppies are sometimes!

He LOVES to sniff things, mostly the ground. He is a pointer and needs lots of exercise! We have taken him for a few walks and runs and running is definitely easier! When we are walking he has his nose to the ground just like he is hot on the trail of something!

He also really likes to play fetch and Cory love to throw the tennis ball with him. That is a lot better than sticks, like he is using in this picture, because he just likes to chew on those!

Cory is trying to convince him to bring it back but...

Heathcliff is enjoying a snack!

So yeah, we have a dog! It is kind of crazy because it was sort of an on the spot decision. I was actually wanting to wait because when you are at the shelter you just feel so badly for the dogs and want to give them ALL a home. I wanted us to make a practical decision, not just an emotional one because a dog is a huge responsibility! Despite that, we decided to take him on a little walk just to see how we would get along. As soon as Heathcliff saw the goats they have at the shelter also, he went rigid. His nose went forward and his tail pointed straight out, just like in a cartoon. Well, Cory was sold from that moment on. So much for practical!