Do I really live in Florida?

Jared is back to school and we are settling in.... Here are some photos of the "Commons" building and law library on Jared's campus. Driving to the school this morning I questioned the reality of my surroundings again. I never planned to live in Florida, but here I am! We are eager to see what new experiences we will have ahead. I wonder when things will sink in and start to feel more normal. I hope to take some pictures of our home and post them in the next few days.

Frist trip to our beach

This spot is around 6 miles from our home. The condos provide shade in the morning or if you go in the evening-- like we did-- it is cool and you can see the sunset before taking the kids home for bedtime.



The boys already started a shell collection and it is one of the first decorations for our new home.



Beautiful sky at sunset!

Traveling

We enjoyed every minute of our trip out west and all the time with family! The boys first airplane trip was exciting too --here are a few photos of that. Then, we said a few sad goodbyes to Virginia and packed up our car to make the journey to Florida. We arrived last Sunday to a beautiful new home . Michael said today that people in Michigan and Utah must be praying for us. I don't think he knows exactly what he said but I think it is true. In between unpacking we are enjoying a little exploring around town.....

Harston cousins and reunion at Heartland

I took a few good videos of our time with the Harstons but not enough photos.... Here are a few:

Sophie and Jordan at Grandma's
The boys had lots of fun time with cousins
"Ella Bella"

Fun at the cabin!


Here is Grandpa and Grandma in kayaks! and Rachel and Rob taking some nephews out in the canoe.


Some of the crew played on shore at Smith and Moorehouse Reservoir while others created log rafts, jumped off the huge floating stump, or paddled around for the afternoon.

We love Great-Grandmas and Grandpas

We were grateful to be able to see our fabulous Great-Grandmas and Grandpa in Garland, Brigham City, West Jordan and Sandy!

Yellowstone with the Clarks!

Here are some pics of what we loved in Yellowstone!!

The Stan Clark Family


Cousin Beckah!

Sweet Girls

and wildlife.....

and natural wonders


ice cream after waiting for Old Faithful
(my last purchase before losing my wallet)

We will miss the Rocky Mountains

Our Country's Birthday

I feel like most of my blogs lately are about trips. Sorry about the one track blogging, but here is more journaling and more photos about our time to explore. Someday I won't have any trips to blog about--

We took advantage of the long weekend over the 4^th to drive to Washington D.C. And Philadelphia. It was good and bad timing—We encountered lots of patriotism and crowds.

We ate our lunch in front of the Library of Congress -facing the Capitol. The Library of Congress was one of the impressive places I remember from my visits to D.C. when we lived in Virginia growing up.
Jared enjoyed seeing the Supreme Court building.



We made it to part of two Smithsonians to show Jordan the dinosaurs and Michael the space ships.


Of course the best part at the end of a long day was our stop to the temple. It is a spectacular sight and such a peaceful place.

The rest of these pictures are in Philadelphia on Saturday the 4th!
Waiting for the parade--Michael's patriotic artwork

We arrived just in time to claim a great spot for parade watching. The red brick building we faced across the street was the restored "Declaration House" where Jefferson rented a room while he worked was working on the Declaration. Michael wants me to include that he was the photographer for that picture.


One of the fun floats in the parade was the carriage with Abraham Lincoln commemorating his 200th birthday. The Lincoln festival outside the visitor's center had fun activities for the boys like building Lincoln Log cabins and making stovepipe top hats out of paper....

Our last two stops before heading home were the Liberty Bell and Independance Hall where the Declaration was signed.


There is the synopsis. condensed but not brief..
Happy Birthday America!