Love My Mom

My mom is great.  She's been dying to come out to Philadelphia every since she knew we were moving here.  While I was still in the "What have we gotten ourselves into?" moment, my mom offered to use her frequent flyer miles to come out to see us and get us settled in.  We had a great time with her here.  She helped me unpack, problem solve storage, and home-ify our place.  And having her here was a great excuse to get out and see the city.

For Ryan and Shanda, the first place we went was the Shady Maple Smorgasborg.  Ryan and Shanda have been raving about this place for years.  It was so good, it was even worth the two hours of traffic to get there.  Sweet potato pancakes, fresh omelets, and crispy hashbrowns.  All made fresh from the Almish farms.  It definitely lived up to its legendary standard.

We also saw Valley Forge.  We took the trolley tour around the park.  The guide was a little intense, but we learned a lot.

George Washington's Headquarters at Valley Forge

Oh, this is just the very banister that George Washington used.  No big deal.

Our second day was all about Old City.  Independence Hall, Liberty Bell, City Hall, Betsy Ross House, Congress Hall, even good old Ben's grave. Walking around Old City is a little astounding. You walk around these buildings and know that you are standing where George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and so many more great men once were considering the founding of this nation.  I don't remember who asked who first, but one of us asked, "Are we on vacation or do we live here?"  These seem like places you just don't live next door to.  But this is our city now and we're so excited to spend more time getting to seeing Phillie.

This is the inside of Independence Hall.  By far my favorite place we've been to.  It's unreal to be in a place that was so pivotal to the founding of our nation.

The original chair that George Washington used at the Convention.

"Whilst the last members were signing [the Constitution], Doctor Franklin looking towards the Presidents chair, at the back of which a rising sun happened to be painted, observed to a few members near him, that painters had found it difficult to distinguish in their art, a rising, from a setting, sun. I have, said he, often and often, in the course of the session, and the vicissitudes of my hopes and fears as to its issue, looked at that behind the President, without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting; but now at length, I have the happiness to know, that it is a rising, and not a setting sun."

Did you know that Philadelphia used to be the capital of the United States?

Thank you so much mom for coming to help!  We appreciated it so much!  Hopefully you can come visit again sometime and we can show you more around our city.

Packer Planning

Brad and I had our move planned to the T.  We knew when we were arriving in Minnesota, how long we were staying, and when we needed leave to arrive in Philadelphia.  Aaron planned to be in Minnesota at the same time as us.  Ryan and Alissa were coming a few days after we were scheduled to leave.  However, if there is one thing I've learned about Packers is that you don't plan on anything.

It wasn't planned for Greg and Lauren to come to Minnesota for the weekend.  Neither was it planned for us change our moving plans and be able to stay 3 additional days (yay!)  We didn't plan for all 4 Packer boys to be in Minnesota at the same time.  And somehow, with not planning all of this, it all worked out.  We couldn't have planned a better time if we tried.  It's one of the things I love about the Packers.  Somehow in the end, not planning everything turns out great.  We loved that we were able to spend time with all of the Packers!

This little girl is such a sweetheart.  After going out to eat we were driving home in separate cars.  I waved to Kate in the other car and Lauren asked Kate who was waving at her.  She replied, "That's Aunt Alisha.  You know, she's my best friend."  Melts my heart.

And if everyone is going to be together for the first time in a very long time, you know there is going to be a family picture.  Don't worry, given 1 day to shop, return clothes, and shop some more, we were able to find matching outfits for everyone.  Once again, Packer planning at it's finest.

Look Where We Are

For our whole married life we've been working towards a goal, to get Brad into dental school.  Brad has studied for hours on end, done research for a professor, took so many practice DAT tests he thought he'd explode, did humanitarian work in Nicaragua, and spent way, way too much on applying for a lot of schools, not to mention the expenses of interviewing.  We've lived on a budget and saved what money we could to finance (in a very small part) this venture.  We've moved across the country for this opportunity of Brad attending dental school.  We are paying a ridiculously huge amount of money for him to attend one of the best schools in the nation.  This is not a small undertaking.

Three years to the very day of starting our new life together, we have at least something to show for our commitment to our mutual goal.  This anniversary has been very different from every other anniversary we've had.  There was no special getaways, no evening together, not even going out to dinner as a couple.  Instead, Brad got something else.  Brad received his white coat, a symbol of becoming part of the dental profession.  During the ceremony the dental class recited a professional pledge, a sort of dental Hippocratic oath.  I am so proud of Brad for making it to dental school.  With studying, applying, and interviewing nothing was for sure.  But Brad has made it to dental school.  It feels like we have finally started on the path toward becoming an actual dentist.

These are the other LDS dental students in Brad's class.  In all the other years there are only two.  We are so excited to have so many friends who are doing exactly the same thing!

I've been reading this poem for months, thinking about our life.

Sometimes I get so overwhelmed with life.

And then I try to look into the future and I picture us together,

and no matter what we're still together,

and somehow life doesn't seem so hard,

or so long.

It just feels like the things we do make life hard,

But being together is who we are.  That's our real life.

I think today I was able to see a little bit of that future together and see that this path, the sacrifices, everything we've been doing will be okay in the long run.  This is our life and I'm so glad I get to have this adventure together with Brad.  Happy 3 year anniversary!

Red Rocks in Moab

Throughout our marriage, I have known that we are never going to live in Utah permanently.  It's just not in the picture for us.  However, while we were on this trip Brad asked me, "What would you think about living in Utah?"  That's how much fun we had on this trip to Moab.  We loved seeing both Arches and Canyonlands.  Utah really does have so much natural beauty to offer in its National Parks.

We arrived in Arches a little later in the day than we had hoped.  We did make it to Delicate Arch in the evening.  There were so many cameras set up taking pictures at sunset (and quite impressive cameras at that.)  This group of photographers was so big, that none of the tourists dared to go up to the arch.  Some tried, but the group of photographers started booing until they moved away.  We stayed late into the night for star pictures.  Plus, you can't beat stargazing at the Milky Way.

We spent our second day in Canyonlands.  It was amazing to see just how powerful erosion can be on a landscape over millions of years.  From where we were the river was 2,000 ft below us!

Canyonlands was beautiful, but I think we would have enjoyed it so much more if it wasn't for the bugs.  Mosquitos weren't the problem, though there were a few of the kind that really hurt when they bite you.  Thousands of little gnats would swarm around your face, land all over you, and go into your nose when you breathed.  They were horrible!

We left Canyonlands early because of the bugs and headed to Arches.  Such a good decision.  We were treated with the most beautiful sunset of our entire trip in front of the red rock.

We learned our lesson and stayed away from Canyonlands.  Instead we spent our last day in Arches.

Anyone recognize this?  This arch was filmed in the beginning of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.  It's called Double Arch.

Landscape Arch.  The most spectacular arch of our whole trip.  At one section it is only 6 ft wide and is 290 ft long!

We had a wonderful trip.  Hopefully one day we can come visit Utah again and see all the National Parks it has to offer.  We had such an enjoyable time hiking and taking too many photos!

Idaho

This was a long time ago, but we had so much fun with Zack and Karen going to see Uncle David and Aunt Colleen in Idaho.  They were excellent tour guides and took us to their cabin in the mountains next to this huge reservoir.  The scenery was perfect and the company exceptional!

Soaking our feet in the hot spring as it mixed with the river

Shoshone Falls

Caldron Linn

Eagles, rock chucks, skunks, oh my!

We had so much fun and enjoyed relaxing.  Thanks for having us!