Memorial Day Weekend

Well, if you are living in South Carolina reading this then it's safe to say our Memorial Day weekend was different than yours. First of all it was COLD!!! We had highs of 50 degrees with wind and rain. Yuck. But Monday cleared up and we managed to have some fun.

Saturday night we went to our first Salt Lake Bees baseball game. Shay will say I'm exaggerating but it felt like that stadium was 35/40 degrees tops. I had already packed up our winter clothes for the move back (yay!) so we headed out with only light jackets and hoodies. Holy cow it was freezing! A sweet lady in front of us gave us a blanket for Rivers and probably thought we were nuts for not bringing one ourselves. I guess we are used to wearing bathing suits on Memorial Day, not hats and gloves!

There were fireworks after the game and we quickly learned that Rivers is NOT a fan. This photo was taken outside the stadium since we had to leave after about 5 minutes with our poor terrified child screaming "Take me home! Take me home!"

On Monday we went to the Island of Sodor! Just kidding - we went to Heber Valley Railroad for a Day out with Thomas! This is the same railroad we went on to see Santa at Christmastime.

Rivers and Maria got train "tattoos"...

Played mini golf...

 Then gave tickets to the conductor for a real ride on Thomas the Train!

Good thing chaperones were there...

What a fun day! We also had hot dogs, played with bubbles, used a special map to get a prize, and danced around to percussion music.

Choo Choo!

Spring in Utah

It has been so fun to live in a completely different part of the country to see what each new season brings and how it is different from home. Spring in Salt Lake started the last week of March. The first glimmer we noticed were the beautiful tulips blooming in our back yard and the return of green grass.

Such a fun surprise to see rows of tulips we didn't know were there!

More tulips in the front

At Heritage Park, spring also means baby animals! Rivers and I had so much fun meeting (and holding) baby chicks, baby ducks, a baby pig and baby lambs.

Although we lived in Utah during one of the mildest winters on record (hallelujah!!) it was still a treat to go to the playground without worrying about jackets, mittens and hats. 

That's one happy boy! And one happy daddy!

Things really started blooming in April. This is the tree in our front yard. (A crabapple, I think)

We've also enjoyed trading the ski slopes for hikes again. This hike, in City Creek Canyon, starts in the middle of the city and is paved, so it's easy to get to and easy to take a stroller on.

Shay is back to playing six a side soccer, and Rivers loves to go watch. We need to work on his understanding of the game, huh? Put that ball on the ground!

These are the beautiful flowers downtown in Temple Square. This is just a tiny part - it's almost like a mini Biltmore gardens there.

Hands down, the best thing about spring here vs. spring back home is the lack of pollen! Some of our neighbors here told me that pollen was bad here, but, umm, they have NO IDEA what bad pollen is like! There is no yellow haze at all and I didn't have any kind of allergies this spring (I did in the fall). They do, however, have these little flat, round seeds that are everywhere right now. They fall out of the trees that line the roads and pile up like our South Carolina pollen tumbleweeds, but they don't have a powder like real pollen does, so you can just sweep them away and not sneeze.

I got my first mosquito bite yesterday and the bees are back in full force, so spring is definitely now in full swing. I feel like we are about six weeks behind South Carolina weather wise. This week is our first week in the 80s (record highs here, it's usually in the 70s this time of year I'm told) so it's nice to not start 90-degree weather in April like we do back home :) But the downside is that the farmers markets here don't even start until August (after we're gone) so I do miss the early homegrown produce.

Easter

This year's Easter was definitely like no other we've ever had...

This was the Friday before Easter! The upside? The easter eggs are super easy to find on a white background!

Egg hunt in snow boots and a snow jacket. Never thought I'd see that!

The munchkins had a great time decorating eggs at Maria's house.

They were so anxious to get their eggs out of the dye that we made them sing and dance in between to give the eggs time to actually turn a color!

Rivers' beautiful handiwork

Sweet Natalie and Dominick

The crazy kids ready to go out in the snow

The Easter Bunny came! Rivers got a balance bike and way too much candy!

That bunny sure had fun hiding eggs

Our sweet guy on the way to church. Love his big boy belt and that he has about six cars in his hands :)

Our Easter lunch. We had deviled eggs, ham, asparagus, rolls, lemon bars and cake.

After lunch we went to the DeWitts to watch the rest of the Masters and play outside. As per usual in Utah, two days after the snow storm the weather was back to being beautiful :)

What we've been up to

The past month has been busy, and great! Here's what we have been up to:

Dad retired from Selective Insurance and now is spending his time, golfing, masterminding pranks, waiting for Rivers to get home, and more golfing! This was at his farewell dinner at High Cotton.

Jeter came to visit us for a long weekend and we had a fantastic time! This was at our hike to The Living Room, and we also got to see some snow at Snowbird Resort, check out Temple Square and, of course, SHOP!

Rivers is enjoying the sunshine and warmer temps! This week is going to be in the upper 80s -ahhh, feels like home to us!

I just think this is hilarious :) One of our family walks. Let's just say we don't break any records for speed.

Rivers loves our weekly story time trips to the library. Here he's perusing the hard hitting novel, The Helpful Tractor.

Guess who is potty trained?!?! I finally bit the bullet last week and did potty boot camp with little man. He rocked it! Had a few accidents the first two days, but has been a champ ever since. So proud! For those who are keeping count (aka Mia and Mimi), in the last three months he has transitioned to a big bed, said goodbye to his "pappas" (paci) and now is potty trained. What a big boy!

My two favorite people on a sunny day :) Life is good.

This is what I woke up to on Mothers Day!

Like father like son

This was lunch on Mother's Day....soooo good!

Rivers dining al fresco :) He LOVES picnics and asks to have a picnic at almost every meal.

Drumroll please.... our new house!!!! We are beyond excited to get back to Greenville and into this lovely house.  The best part? It is right across the street from my grandpa!

74 days left in Salt Lake...but who's counting?!