A Rainy Hill Cumorah

Jeremy and Clara and I went to the Hill Cumorah Pageant last Tuesday evening, where we met up with my aunt, uncle, and two cousins who were touring with the Utah Valley Children's Choir. The weather held long enough for the choir to sing a few songs, for us to visit and walk around for about 3 hours for the pageant started (we were very early!), and for us to see about half of the pageant. Unfortunately, after that Clara was a bit fussy and we were a bit tired of crouching under our umbrella in the ever-increasing rain! We're glad we went though; it was fun to see family, and the pageant is always a fun time. Hopefully we'll have better weather next summer (although I think we picked one of only two nights where the rain fell steadily--oh well).

Free-ninety-nine

Imagine our surprise--and elation--when we were driving home from having dinner with friends and found this beautiful TV cabinet sitting on the side of the road, lonely, waiting just for us. Syracuse definitely embraces the culture of putting unwanted items (usually junk) on the side of the road rather than being bothered with a drive to the Salvation Army. All the better for scavengers like us, apparently! We somehow managed to get about 1/3 of the armoire into our hatchback (I wish we'd taken a picture of that!) and also somehow managed to get home--slowly--with no incident. And now look at it! I have had to fight off the urge to troll the streets of Syracuse hoping for my next big find--like a mint condition leather armchair, for example.

And we're back...

I don't know why, exactly, but when Jeremy and I decide to take a vacation, we remove all connotations of "relaxation" from the word. For example, our most recent vacation, which lasted for 10 lovely days, took us through seven states (New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Delaware) and over more than 2000 miles. And all of this was with Clara in tow! When we got home last Sunday evening we were totally exhausted (and poor Clara had no idea where she was), but we had a wonderful time and would certainly do it again! (Though probably not right away.)

Over the course of our 10-day trek, we saw Jeremy's dad, all of my immediate family, and our fab friends Steph and Steve and their cute boys (they are the beeeest!). I wish we could've stayed longer in every place we visited, but we're so grateful to have been able to pack everything in. No one will be surprised when I say that, overall, Clara was a complete angel. We just love our darling girl!

Jeremy's dad put us up in this great bed and breakfast, where an uber-friendly couple have converted old tobacco barns into little cabins. The highlights of the stay were three-fold: 1)eating our weight in meat at 9:30 p.m., courtesy of Short Sugar's Pit BBQ of Danville, Virginia; 2)our little friend the field mouse that joined us for some post-dinner conversation before finding its way back outside to bay with the coyotes; 3)breakfast, which was immense, delicious, and delivered to us in a wooden basket by our friendly proprietor.



We spent about 20 minutes in Savannah on the way to visit my sister, and we can't wait for an opportunity to go back. Easily one of the most unique and amazing places we've ever seen.


The main event of the week (also known as the reason for the seven-state Tour of Glory) was a family reunion with my family in Amelia Island, Florida. We braved wind, rain, and sun to enjoy our three days together. Here's the crew, sans me (behind the camera) and my brother-in-law, who had to work for part of the reunion (how lucky for us that they only live an hour and a half from where we were!).


Jeremy and Clara shared a birthday on July 4th (his 28th, her 8th month). Clara was so, so happy about Daddy's balloon bed!


On our way to Philadelphia, we stayed the night at a run-down little motel in one of the most charming towns I've seen: Edenton, North Carolina--yet another place I wish we could've spent more time in! Clara and I are posing on the shore of the historic Albemarle Sound.


In Philadelphia: Clara's first cut-out photo op. Seriously, if every 10 dollar bill were this cute, I would never spend them!


Finally, at the top of the famous "Rocky" steps outside Philadelphia's museum of art.

A Romp in the Park

Sometimes getting out of Syracuse can feel so, so right, so we decided to take a quick escape to Marcellus (12 glorious miles away!) for a picnic in the park with some friends. The temperature never hit 70, and the sun smiled on everything we did.

Birthday Weekend, Take II

Jeremy has really treated me like a queen this weekend, especially if queens get to eat their weight in super tasty food! This morning I awakened to the delicious scent of an egg-bread-and-sausage breakfast casserole (as if yesterday's waffles with strawberries and cream weren't enough!). For lunch, he treated me to a picnic in the living room complete with sandwiches on artisan bread, our favorite baba ghanouj from Wegman's, and sparkling cider. To top it all off, he made forty-eight mini Funfetti cupcakes! Now I am ready for bed, having enjoyed not only my food but also the kind well-wishes from so many family and friends. Merci!

Incidentally, Jeremy has also, he says, had a nice Father's Day. I, for one, can't imagine a better dad. This picture is of his newly spruced campus office. Happy Father's Day!

Birthday Weekend, Take 1

To launch my birthday weekend, Jeremy took me to Chili's, where we feasted on many a "southwestern" delight (but no, did not actually eat an Awesome Blossom). What a way to spend a beautiful Saturday afternoon! We did miss Clara, though, who was with busy being an ideal baby with some friends of ours.

Bedtime

Getting ready for bed is such a good time if you're Clara (even if you have to wear your blue-girl pajamas). You get to eat your own feet and feel the bouncy tremors of the "shaky baby" game. What a life.

Polish Fest 2007

Kielbasa. Pierogis. Mmmm. We went to the Polish Festival in Clinton Square for the food, and we were not disappointed. But the highlight of the day was our non-Polish trip to Friendly's ice cream, where they were serving up free cones. Bless Friendly's and their Hunka Chunka PB Fudge.

Onondaga Lake Day

Despite the hot, muggy, hazy weather, we had a great afternoon picnicking and walking at Onondaga Lake. The highlight: an hour spent with four sailing enthusiasts on the screened porch of the Onondaga Yacht Club. Ahoy!

X-Ray Specs

Jeremy never tires of this joke...

Yum!

A Year in S-Y, N-Y

Today we mark the one-year anniversary of our arrival in scenic Syracuse, New York. How time flies! Of course, in so many ways it seems like yesterday we finally pulled up to Westcott Street after five days on the road to be greeted by the severe heat and humidity that seems to characterize May 31 in Central New York. But I will say that I never would have imagined then, staring at the gently sloping floors of our first, funky apartment here, that we would come to love Syracuse as much as we do today. Moving into our new apartment after four months certainly helped, but it's more than that. We've put down our roots here, much as we tried to do in Montana, and much as we hope to do wherever we live, regardless of duration. It's just our way: live your life in such a way that you're always sad to leave a place. I know we'll be sad to leave Syracuse when that day comes. But in the meantime, we'll melt on the hot days, freeze on the cold ones, and enjoy as much as we can of everything in between.