Happy 26th Birthday!
I don't have a cool picture to post, but I'm thinking about you and hope you had a great birthday!
With love,
Heide

Happy Birthday Hailey!

Finally, and update!

I kept waiting until I had pictures of Chapel Hill to post, but since that is not happening I decided to just write a quick entry.
Dallas and I are settled here in Chapel Hill, NC and have been here for about 2 months. I can't believe how fast time moves. Dallas is enjoying school for the most part- and so far he doesn't seem too much busier than normal (except he has a few more late nights).
I was really lucky and I found a job after one week! I was hired through UNC's temp service to work in the Scholarship and Student Aid Office and then a permanent position opened up there and they hired me for that! So now hopefully Dallas can qualify for in-state tuition because his spouse is a university employee. The job is definitely "low-stress" which is what I wanted- but I spend a lot of time doing mundane tasks like filing and alphabitizing etc.... still I will make as much as I did teaching- so no more complaining!
We live in the married student housing- with about 30 other LDS couples- I feel super fortunate because I was so worried about having friends here. I already feel like I have made some good friends and that has made the transition much easier.

Okay- I will hopefully write more later (I always say that!)and post some pics. It looks as though I am the last roommate without a blog- maybe someday when I have baby pictures to post I wil start one!
I hope everyone is enjoying fall- we are waiting for the "mild" temps here.

Waffles and Macaroni Grill

This time of year always makes me a little nostalgic (and maybe homesick) for our waffle parties and our trips to Macaroni Grill. I hope you all enjoyed your conference weekend. I am so grateful for your friendship and I'm glad that we've stayed connected (even if I'm not the best at it!).

Things in Danville are going well although life has been very, very busy. We moved again! We're now renting a house and we love having more space. Ethan spends every waking hour crawling around and exploring his new territory. We've done and are still doing some home improvements such as finishing a second bathroom, painting the whole house and fixing up the yard. The house is looking much better, but I can't wait to be done with it so I can be a full-time mom again.

I've also been busy with my new calling as young women's president. We have a great group of girls although our numbers are few. And to be honest the calling makes me feel old, but I love the girls and the fun we have together.

Steve is still enjoying work and is thrilled with the fact that our move has shortened his commute from ten minutes to five...Ahh the simple joys!

I miss you and hope you're doing well. Remember, someone in Danville loves you!

Request

Hey Roomies! We need to hear updates from everyone! I'm putting out a request. I'm sure you're all sick of hearing about me and my boys, so someone else should update us.

The Mommy Update

Hi friends,

Thanks for your emails and blog comments. I really appreciate your support and love. I am doing well and enjoying being a mom. Sometimes its hard to believe its real. In some ways, its seems like we have always had Sage. She is a very good baby. She's already on her own little schedule and typically eats about every 3 hours during the night and morning. During the afternoon, she takes a couple even longer naps. She is eating well too. However, it will be nice when my body can figure out exactly how much milk she needs. The poor child can barely keep up when we start nursing! We typically get up a couple of times at night and then I just sleep in the morning when she does. So the day typically doesn't get started until about noon. But we both need to sleep, right? A friends of mine said "Take care of yourself for 6 weeks and you'll feel it at 6 months."

I am feeling pretty good overall. Just taking some Motrin. It sounds like the tailbone is a slow heal, but I guess it just kind of heals by itself. My stitches and tear are doing better as well.

I really do enjoy being a mom and feel a lot of peace and joy and that we are starting a new phase in life. It has been really great to have Eric here with me for the first two weeks. I have had a few post-partum, weepy moments where I cry for no reason at all, but he just listens and lets me get it all out. I've also started to relax a little bit and not run to the crib even time she hiccups (for some reason, you feel like if you're not with them every second, they'll stop breathing :).

Anyway, Eric is with me the rest of this week, and then I'll have a week on my own, and then my mom and family will come out. Hopefully by then, we might venture out of the house a little!

I love you guys and hope each of you are doing well. I can't wait until we can have a reunion sometime.

Our Summer

Since this is our last summer in Utah, Dallas and I made a list of things we wanted to do before we moved. Some of the items on the list were very small like 'Go to Jamba Juice.' Others were a little more time consuming like 'Hike Mt. Timpanogos.' I think by the time we move we'll have been able to do almost everything on the list. Unfortunately, Dallas' backpacking trip to the Uinta Mts. got canceled. (I am okay with that!). Here is just a quick summary of the things we've done- with a couple pictures attached of some of them.

1. Visit Temple Square and Salt Lake Temple- strange to think that I got married there and had never done a session there- I really enjoyed going and walking through the grounds.

2. Watch the Joseph Smith movie at the Joseph Smith Building- excellent film.

3. Go to IKEA- the store opened in Draper at the end of May- I really enjoyed the trip and found lots of cool things to decorate my house (as we try t sell it) and future things for my apartment in NC.

4. Camping/hiking Mt. Timp. I know Megs has done this and probably more of you- but that is quite the hike- especially if you take a wrong turn like we did! I had never heard of the Glacier that you slide down but it was lots of fun.

5. Visit Zion's Nat'l Park. Luckily my mom had a family reunion there so we were able to do both- we did a hike through Orderville Canyon (similar to the Narrows) and saw some very beautiful slot canyons.

6. Go to Bear Lake- lots of waterskiing..... the waterskiing part is mostly Dallas' doing... I still get butterflies in my stomach every time it is my turn! I will spare you and not post pics of that!

I hope everyone is having a great summer. Miss you all!

Lauren