zion

When through the woods and forest glades I wander
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees,
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur,
And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze:

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee:
How great thou art! 

There are just no words to accurately describe Zion National Park. But I can try:

Majestic. Grand. Breathtaking. Intimidating. Exalted.

We were there a few short hours but still got to take it all in. We're grateful our friends Sarah and Brandon Jade and their two kids were our tour guides. When we first arrived, we were following the Jade's car through the entrance, but we didn't see them turn right into the visitor's center. So we continued forward. For about an hour and a half. It was a beautiful, scenic drive--we basically made it halfway to the Grand Canyon, when we realized maybe they were back in the canyon. Anyway, we found them, and hopped on the tour bus which took us into the park where vehicles couldn't drive through. We stopped at the very end and saw some deer, and then hopped back on to our stop at the Emerald Pools. I think we made it to the second pool and were there maybe ten minutes when we realized the light was fading so we hurried back down. I had Everly in a wrap and Franco carried Clarke in the Ergo carrier. The weather was perfect. We didn't even need any jackets which was impressive for November in Utah. I wish we would have had more light, as the winter sun set around 5:45pm. But I couldn't have asked for a smoother hike and first experience. I honestly had no idea how it was going to be--so glad to have the Jade's and actually Shantel Andersen gave me some tips as she and her family had visited a few weeks earlier.

Oh Hello.

I don't want to get too wordy on this post, so I'll highlight the last few weeks (or few months...has it been that long?) in bullet points, with a smattering of photos to break up the monotony of text:

life as a wife, mother, friend, designer:

• playing constantly with Clarke, who is now 11 months old and has no shortage of energy. God bless you mothers with more than one child.
• cleaning. Every day. It never ends.
• teaching Clarke sign language--his favorite sign is "more," no surprise there.
• planning two-week meal calendars and buying groceries every two weeks. Life. Changing.
• keeping up with a birthday calendar, for once--this year I designed and printed birthday postcards and when I see a family member's or friend's birthday coming up on the calendar, I write a short message and pop the postcard in the mail. Easy, simple, effective, personalized, and inexpensive.
• jogging. That's right, three times a week!
• dating my husband regularly.
• designing logos, labels, invitations, business cards, t-shirts, book covers, posters, certificates, you name it.
• serving at an ever-growing capacity in the primary, and learning more than I ever thought possible.
• weekly piano teaching, a new job I started last year. I have two wonderful, dedicated students!

life as a family:

• waiting until Franco gets home from school every day so we can all play and laugh together.
• traveling to and from Camarillo and/or Santa Barbara as much as we can swing it.
• looking forward to pizza Fridays.
• attending the LA temple as often as we can.
• taking walks around our beautiful neighborhood.
• going to Disneyland in the rain or shine. Literally.
•  spring-breaking at museums in L.A. (and seeing the space-shuttle Endeavor up close--magnificent!) Soaking up the sun in Camarillo and Santa Barbara.
• contemplating where Franco's fourth year of externships will take us...do we want to stay local or travel around the country (and world) every three months? Definitely calls for many pro-cons lists.
• encouraging Mosiah, Franco's youngest brother, who will serve a two-year mission to Montreal, Canada starting May 1st. (!!!)

 So that's what we've been up to lately. I totally neglected to take any pictures on Easter, mostly because we were having such a good time that I forgot to pull out the camera. But we had a great day, well, great week, actually, for Franco's Spring Break. That's what I love about working from home, I can vacation whenever I want!

Happy April!

* Instead of waiting for the rare post on here, you can follow us on instagram and vine. We'd love to connect with you through those awesome apps!

All My Bags Are Packed, I'm Ready To Go.

I love to travel. Just knowing I'll be hitting the road and leaving home, even just for a little while, sends adrenaline through my body, mounting my excitement and making me all giddy. Of course, the farthest I've traveled so far with a baby is three hours in the car, so it's just a bit daunting to think that we're going to be taking an 800+ mile trip here in a little bit (one way...). But, I'm determined to enjoy it, no matter what! 

Wise words to live by: "Stress before you travel to avoid stress while you travel." (credit?)

And if you're a list-maker like me, I found this Packing List helpful.

Happy Trails!

Rewind: I Wish I Was In New Orleans.

In the next little while, I will be "rewinding" a bit to post about events which occurred in the past 6 months or so. Bear with me while I catch up!

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Rewind: Wedding in New Orleans, Louisiana

End of September 2011 

New Orleans. It's unlike any other city I've visited. If you've been to New Orleans Square at Disneyland, you might get a feel for what a corner of the city looks like. But New Orleans, for me, was a completely different experience.

Since Franco couldn't make the trip with me, I traveled with my parents to and from New Orleans. I love flying! If I can help it, I always choose a window seat. Something about looking out the window at the receding lights and buildings and tiny cars as we fly higher and higher...it's a great feeling to me. Almost magical. Then, landing in a new place to explore makes it even better.

 

The 5 things I Loved Most in New Orleans and lots of pictures of the architecture, alligators, and the fairytale wedding after the jump!

Food, Lights, And Other Happenings In Utah.

I couldn't resist stopping by the Mad Greek Cafe in Baker on the drive up and having one of their delicious gyros! • Franco and I tried some French cuisine at Gourmandise; I had the smashed chickpea and red bell pepper sandwich with avocado. Oh. My. Taste Buds. YUM! • Beautiful morning in Provo • my cousin Ed and Franco eating cereal and browsing the internet one lazy morning.

Whoa! Twice in one day. I may just be getting the blogging bug back again. We shall see :)

Though the pictures may illustrate otherwise, we did do more in Utah than just eat, though we did eat a lot, too. Pregnancy is so much more enjoyable when you actually have an appetite! We joke that Franco is having "sympathy pains" because he eats as much and whenever I do (probably more). Now that the holidays are over, though, we really have to rein in how much we eat and when. We don't want to end up having a twelve pound baby!

Besides being with family, here are a couple of highlights from our December 2011 Utah trip:

Temple Square in Salt Lake City is gorgeous all throughout the year, but especially at Christmastime. I was thrilled that it was only in the mid-40ºs the night we went! We expected much worse. Even if it had been a lot cooler outside, I'm sure it wouldn't have changed the magical atmosphere around the temple.

And finally some pictures of the lovely luncheon/baby shower my sister, aunts, cousins, and Bita, my grandmother, threw for us. I have the best family in the world!