Lawrence, Carrboro, & Baltimore!

The 36 hour drive from Salt Lake City to UNC- Chapel Hill was.... fun? We listened to a couple books on CD which we bought from the DI and were exactly what one would expect from a DI donated book. NOT great but we laughed at them and they did make the time go faster.

Luckily, the 36 hours was interrupted when we stopped in Lawrence, Kansas (18 hours away) and visited Ryan and Chelsea.  I wish I had taken pictures of this little vacation, but I didn't :-(.  We had a lot of fun though walking down Mass Street, walking around KU campus and visiting the museum, and looking at all the cool vintage shops in town.  It was also just nice to relax, watch movies, and once again--eat good food! haha.

When we got to NC, I immediately got a job which was a huge blessing.  We were still driving and when we were in TN I got a call offering me an interview for the next day.  I went to the interview and was offered the position the day after that.  I'm working as a receptionist at a private freshman dorm facility.  It's really laid back and I love my bosses/coworkers.  They are really great people and they crack me up. Plus, I get a free meal plan which is awesome.

Over Labor day weekend, Daniel and I got to go to BALTIMORE to visit Nate, April, and of course Edison and McKay. It's only a 5 hour drive! We had so much fun. Nate took us all out to a really nice crab lunch on the water and that was so great.  The whole meal was a social event and we had to work for our food which made us enjoy it all the more.

 Just waiting for our food.

 Edison's favorite part was the lemonade haha but he liked the crab meat too.

 When I say we ordered crab... we really did! and french fries and corn on the cob.  It was a real feast.

 Firstly, let me say how handsome I think Daniel is in this picture :-) and secondly, I don't usually like sea food, but this stuff was so fresh it was delicious.

After our lunch, we walked around downtown Baltimore.  We picked an interesting weekend because there was a literal race track going through the city with cars like this one zooming by constantly (well, behind a fence).  Edison got to sit in a real race car! You can see his little blond head peaking out.  He didn't like the racing though because it was too loud.  The only way I could get him to smile when we were watching it (he had his ears plugged the whole time) was when I mentioned that we would have a big pillow fight when we got back to the house. He loved that.

Jessi Warfield and her boyfriend Richie came down too!!  We went to dinner one night at the Hard Rock Cafe and just talked and laughed for about three house.  It was great. I love Jessi and it was so nice to finally meet Richard after I've been hearing about him for the past four years.  For those of you who don't know, Jessi and I have known each other since we were like 13 and we've managed to see each other every year despite the fact that we've lived on opposite sides of the country for the past 6.  It was so much fun.  I'll try and post pictures of that later.

And that's all the exciting stuff to date.  Well, for the most part.

We finally got our apartment living room decorated.....

 

 Daniel made this piece with his bare hands! All we need to do now is sand and paint.

So Yeah.

Scotland, a cross county move, and now on to our new adventure...

WE ARE HAVING A BABY!

AND IT'S A GIRL!  Surprise!

Back in Utah

Being back in Utah was great. 

We had an 80th Birthday Party for Grandpa Alexander and a family reunion.

 The party was cowboy themed and we had over 250 IBC rootbeers. Oh and yes, those are the flower arrangements that I had at my wedding haha

 Sarah and baby McKay.

 The man of the hour talking to Rinda!

 Cousins! I just thought this was too cute a picture not to post.

We also celebrated Daniel's 25th birthday!  Me and Chelsea made him Lemon Merenge pies.  His absolute favorite.  We even had homemade crust!  Daniel said he deserved it because he's been makin his own pies for the past few years. haha I don't know what my dad is doing in this picture, or better yet, what somebody is doing to him. But it was a great day and I love Edison (and Daniel)

 Edison tried to blow out the candles, but luckily Daniel stopped his hefty blow with a slotted spoon.....

We also got to go on a camping trip with Aunt Melanie, Uncle Kim, and their family.  We LOVED it.  We went rafting and ate like royalty.  It was the best. 

 This is Daniel rafting down what I believe is Lunch Counter.

 This is Daniel--no longer in the duckie after Lunch Counter. They flipped and FYI the water was FREEZING.

 Here is the rest of the crew coming down.  It really was just a momentous weekend.

As soon as we got back from camping, we went crawdad hunting with Cooper, Amy, Jillian, and a bunch of other folk.  It was a grand time.  We caught TONS of crawdads and had a real feast for dinner.  I still wanted a burger afterwords though.  

 During our Utah Trip, we also went to the county fair.  Daniel rode on a bull and looked mighty tough doing it... even though he didn't last for more than 3 seconds. haha

Being home with the family for almost a whole month was great.  We just hung out, watched movies, ate good food, and spent some quality time together before I left for my first big move with the hubsters to NORTH CAROLINA for gradschool.

England!

So Daniel and I went to England.

First we went to Milton Keynes to visit his dad and it was really great to see him. This is us toasting to our reunion.  It was a great day (and I got to take a nap--something Daniel rarely lets me do haha)

Then we went to LONDON!  (this is a very brief version of our trip, just so I can catch up.  Sorry)

Me and Gandhi chillin in a beautiful park.

 View of North Bridge (I believe)

 A castle in London--which is actually called something else that I can't remember.

 Me and Daniel in front of North Bridge

 Daniel pointing out some bomb residue beneath a Sphinx -- left over from WWII

 A obelisk that was brought over from Egypt a very long time ago.

BIG BEN 

 The National Gallery- I gave Daniel and 30 min tour of all the important pieces.  We had too much to do and too little time.

 Olympic Countdown!

 Royal phone booths.  I wish that boy (the small asian) would have gotten out of the picture, but he always managed to hop on in it whenever I snapped the shot.  So annoying.

 Some more big Ben

 Westminster Abbey--William and Catherine were married here.  The line was so long that we didn't get to go in.  We'll have to do that another time when we happen to be in London.

 The London Eye

 Parliament!

And then Daniel and I went to the Film Museum.  There was supposed to be some 007 stuff there, but it had all been moved out for a Harry Potter display.  Daniel was less than pleased, but I still found some rare treasures.

 Armour that Heath Ledger wore in A Knights Tale :-)  I'm still sad that he died.

SIMPSON'S!  I really just love this display.  I may even make it my facebook profile picture soon. I feel like I would really fit in with this family haha.

 Daniel did take a picture with Harry Potters robes from the movie where he battles a dragon.  I can't remember which one that is.  He was still upset about the 007 stuff being gone though.

 We also went to the changing of the guards.

 and Buckingham Palace

 Where the band played "Lady in Red" and Ricky Martin's "Livin La Vida Loca" (no joke)

 We got a closer view of the Westminster Abbey

 And then we took Daniels first trip on the tube. To See.... CHELSEA STADIUM.

 He loved this so much.  That's his excited face. haha

 Daniel bought a Chelsea hat.

 Then we went to the National Museum.  We didn't have much time there because we had a train to catch.  But we ran around like maniacs, carrying all our luggage, and got to see some really cool stuff.

 Like the Rosetta Stone-  helped the world be able to read hieroglyphics.

And a large Papa New Guinea Statue.

After the museum, we hopped on a train back to Milton Keynes to see Daniel's padre one more time before we shipped out to the states.  That night Daniel and I went and saw the new transformers movie in 3D and then we stayed and watched the final Harry Potter movie at midnight.  It was a blast and it was very memorable.  We got back to the apartment at about 3am-ish, where we packed up and then got in a taxi at 4am to get us to the airport. Then it was homeward bound.

Goodbye Europe!  (Sad face)