A trip to Utah

A couple of weeks ago we finally made it to Utah for a long weekend to visit family and friends. It had been almost 2 years! We had been meaning to get out there for some time so when we saw a great deal on tickets, we couldn't resist. We crammed in seeing as many people as we could and it was SO wonderful to see everyone!

A few of the wonderful people we got to visit:

My Grandma Whitby, who hadn't met Zachie yet.

Zach and my other Grandma and Karl, at a restaurant (The Brick Oven, a Roper familiy tradition! Mmmm).

Nice and snuggly, huh?

We stayed with our friends Aaron and Amy (thank you!!!!) and their little girl Emma. Unfortunately, I didn't take many pictures of them together and this was as good as I got. By the end of the weekend they were really buddies and would hold each other's hands and pull each other around. It was SO cute and made me wish even more that we lived closer!

We met my dear friend from BYU, Katie at temple square. It sounded like a good idea that we could walk around and Zach could play outside for awhile, and I wanted to take pictures of the temple (where we were married and I don't have any good pics of it). BUT it was FREEZING!!! So we walked around a little, then decided we needed hot chocolate and headed to where the mall apparently used to be, but is no longer. We found some eventually... It was so great to see her!!

Zach was sure the reflecting pool was a swimming pool, despite the cold.

Me and Katie.

Of course, a family shot.

Hopefully it won't be another 2 years before we see everyone again!

FYI

I've recently updated my photo blog with lots of new stuff. So if you haven't seen it in awhile, you may want to check it out: http://ersphotos.blogspot.com/

If you want...

Worth the wait

It's official! We are homeowners!!!

After a year long search for a house we finally sealed the deal this last Thursday. We had mostly stopped looking at houses but casually checked every once in awhile, then randomly decided to look at the neighborhood we currently live in. We love it here, but knew we couldn't afford it.

But the perfect storm of good fortune struck, intrest rates plunged, and we lucked out and snagged a foreclosure in our neighborhood (we can see it out our window!). The house is split level with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. We were immediately drawn to the kitchen with a nice little island and nicer cabinets. The floor plan works well for us and Zach has already had many adventures in the smallish backyard (luckly he has short legs so it seems big to him).

Being a foreclosure, it needs some love and we are already full force in renovations. We are grateful for wonderful family that is willing to help us paint the entire inside! I'm talking everything. We've been painting like mad and it's looking better already. The master bath is already gutted and the basement will start getting finished tomorrow, among other projects. We don't expect to move in until the end of February, mainly because we don't want to live in the house while it is getting worked on, and we can get out of our lease with out paying a penalty of 1 months rent after February but not before. It has all worked out so well and we are so excited!

More to come on our new BIG project.

Paradise

For Christmas the Smith's took the whole family to Oahu for a week. It was such a treat and fun to spend a whole week together- our schedules usually don't allow that! The weather was a little rainy, but we still had a great time and got in plenty of beaching. Thanks Calli and Calvin for a wonderful vacation!!!

I'll have to warn you, there are a LOT of pictures. For Christmas Cal surprised me with a new lens for my camera, and combine that with a gorgeous place that's green and lush and nothing like home, and some free time... (true free time, what's that?) Well, you get the idea. I went a little nuts. I'm going to post mainly family-related pictures here, and mostly "pretty" pictures on my photo blog. So it you want, check that out too.

Don't say I didn't warn you. :)

(in no particular order)

The family

The kids. Note Zach going for my hair.

Fun with Grandma Calli

And Grandad Cal

The plan was to hike to a waterfall. But it RAINED. So we explored this arboretum for awhile. Gorgeous!

Jay and Rosie

Yes, a picture of me!

Rain, rain, rain.

The sun came out.

Experimenting with Toby's super wide angle lens. (thanks Toby!)

Cal and I got a little date one afternoon. It was so nice!

Uncle Pete's first babysitting job. (thanks!) Zach was smitten by him and they were best buds the whole week ("Hee-haw"- Zach's attempt at Peter's name). We came back to find him giving Peter loves.



With Grandad and Grandma

"Tree! Tree! Tree!" This was a cool enough tree for a new word.

What little boy doesn't love to splash in puddles?

Zach and his buddy, Pete

Rosie and Zachie

Jay

Like Mexico, he LOVED the sand and water. Even better this time now that he's running.



Cal





Daddy and his boy.


Pete

This is definately my favorite picture!

More of the huge trees.

Showing us the ocean.

Waimea early one morning. Great, isn't it?

The wild waves of Waimea later with everyone. I wasn't brave enough to venture into these (most everyone else is somewhere in that wave). It's hard to tell, but they were HUGE.

Thankfully, Zach was a good sport and flexible about naps. Here he is in the car.

And even in the sea of pareos on the beach.

Lovin' the beach