England-Hong Kong...where do I begin?

Let me start out by telling you- All I ever wanted was to live in England and have a happy family and travel the world. I guess it's a lot to ask, but in a sense this vacation was like all of my wildest dreams coming true for 2 weeks. The trip was perfection to me- the girls did awesome and were so pleasant, Brad loved it- the musicals, the golf, the accents, the beauty of the land- he really seemed to take it all in which really pleased me, it was fun being with my parents, we had perfect weather and I couldn't have imagined it going any better.  Even though we were traveling with babies it felt like a vacation in the truest sense of the word- which was a pleasant surprise. I got full nights of sleep and had 3 extra sets of hands with the girls that I don't normally have everyday. I was imagining China, but forgot I'm not nursing the girls and they don't wake up every couple hours anymore, plus we had my parents this time- easy peasy.
We traveled through...

England

Wales

Scotland

and even took a day trip to Paris!

Don't hate me. ;)

I can't lie- I didn't want to leave. As we drove home from the airport late at night it felt so weird to be back. I couldn't stop thinking how weird it felt, we were just in all of these amazing places and now we were pulling in our driveway. After I got the girls changed and down for bed I just started sobbing and couldn't stop. I know I don't get any sympathy for those tears, but I just felt so sad it was over. I'd been planning and dreaming about this trip for so long, it exceeded all my expectations and suddenly it was just a memory and it was time to get back to real life. It really was a dream I didn't want to end. I'm normally at least partially relieved/happy when I return home from traveling, but for some reason I wasn't at all this time, I could have stayed there forever. I think my heart belongs in the UK.
I felt so sad for Brad leaving to work the next day. Then all of the sudden Brad had an opportunity come up to be in Hong Kong for a few months...like literally this started happening the day we got home, and leaving 2 weeks later. So...we're moving to Hong Kong next week. Um...I said I wanted to move to England Brad.

Just Kidding...this will be quite the adventure and may open some doors for us so I'll take it. I'm missing some of my favorite time of year, but we'll be home to catch the end of the Christmas season at least. I guess somewhere inside me knew we weren't supposed to be home yet, I was just hoping it was the other side of the earth we were supposed to be on. Till later England, hello Hong Kong! 

{photos taken last year}

It shouldn't be too hard to get around this town with two toddlers on my own...right?

Er...right? Should I worry? 

OKAY. FINE. I'll hire an assistant photographer I mean nanny. 

But only because you are worried.

fish n' chips, the english way

 I've always enjoyed a good quality fish n' chips, my favorite was Annabelle's (a little restaurant in Ketchikan that puts dill in the batter and of course uses the freshest halibut)....but then on our recent trip to England I discovered the beauty and simplicity of the English way. I opted to try the malt vinegar before plunging the fish in tarter sauce, and to my surprise it was even better! The little punch really balances it out, and does anything deep fried really need more fat like mayo anyways? 
I'm not normally a big fan of deep fried food, but a few weeks back we bought a little deep fryer for Brad to make wings with.  Once we got home from our trip I knew I'd found a new use for that terrible and wonderful little thing that makes our whole home smell like McDonalds. Some really delicious stuff can come out of it, and we don't use it too often so I don't feel so bad about wasting all those fat calories on something that isn't dessert. 
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that this is a pretty awesome recipe- definitely the best thing to come out of our deep fryer and even though it was my first time attempting fish n' chips they came out delicious!  I used some of our cod just in case the recipe was a failure so I wouldn't waste halibut, but now I know this is definitely no waste of fish!
It's a combination of a recipe I got from a lady in Alaska, one I found online, what I learned at Annabelles, what I learned at some of the English pubs we visited, and what felt right.  
I made this on the day of the big BYU-utah game so I went to the grocery store in my bright blue BYU shirt and hesitantly passed the beer aisle about 10 times trying to catch labels out of the corner of my eye before determining it would be misrepresenting too much and made Brad return in an unlabeled shirt to buy the beer.

Here are the girls at a pub, coloring away whilst we wait for our beloved fish n' chips:

BEER-BATTERED FISH N’ CHIPS
¾ C flour                                          ½ C cornstarch                      ½ tsp soda                          
1 Tbs powdered sugar                     2 tsp salt                                 ½ tsp granulated garlic    
¼ tsp ground white pepper           ¼ tsp paprika                       ¾ tsp dill (optional)         
1 tsp grated lemon zest                    1 – 1 ½ C beer or ale           1 ½ lbs halibut or cod
3 lbs potatoes, peeled                      oil for frying                          malt vinegar, to serve.
Heat oil in a deep fryer (or heavy pan) to 375°, peel and cut potatoes into chucky-sized fries. Rinse and dry thoroughly. Fry for 3 minutes until soft. Drain, shake, and set aside. Lower the fryer temp to 320°. In a bowl mix the first ten ingredients(flour-lemon zest), then add beer till the batter has a crepe like consistency.  Add a splash of malt vinegar to the batter. Put a little flour on a plate and dredge fish pieces in it, it will help the batter stick to the fish. Take fish pieces one at a time and holding onto the thin end, swirl around in the batter till well coated. Immediately drop into the oil, cooking a few pieces at a time and making sure they don’t stick together. Cook until golden (about 4-6 min, depending on size) Drain on paper towels and place in a warm oven while cooking the rest.  Return fryer heat to 375° and return chips, fry till golden and crisp.  Sprinkle with fine salt. Serve immediately with malt vinegar and salt (the English way) or tarter sauce and lemon (the American way- it's just not as good)

Some more of us getting our English pub on:

Brad looking so legit with his beard and hat at the pub...till he asked for a still water instead of beer. :)

3 years

Last week was a fun week celebrating my birthday and our anniversary. I dislike celebratory events being too close to each other, but we got married just a few days after my birthday so every August it happens- of course it's fun, I just wish I could bask in it longer. (you know, just ONE pedicure for the two events when they're in the same week...sometimes life is difficult.)
Anyway, I turned 27. I really hadn't been looking forward to my birthday and hardly recall the last time a birthday for me was that awesome (16 maybe?), anyways Brad really went all out this year to make it special. He knows my favorite thing is food so he took me out to breakfast with the girls,

brought me lunch, 

and we went out to dinner that evening at Brio, because I couldn't get this dish out of my head.

He has gotten so wise over the years...
He also showered me with surprise gifts. The storage ottoman I'd been pining for (but given up on actually acquiring):

He also gave me a nice card and got me season tickets to PTC, which was a complete surprise and they have a very promising season this year. SO sweet of him! This should balance out those BYU basketball season tickets.
On Saturday we celebrated our anniversary with pedicures, a dinner at Ruth's Chris (their steak and their shrimp were worth every penny!), going out to the movies, and spending the night at the Grand America. We had so much fun! Sleeping in is my new favorite treat ever since I became a mom. 
This all made me reflect on our first year married and how far we've come.
And that brings me to marriage. 3 years to be exact. It's sort of amazing that my life could transform so much in 3 short years.
It was just a few years ago that I was a lone girl with no idea what the future had in store for me...

Now I have my own little family a with handsome husband and two beautiful daughters- the works.

I thought marriage was a HUGE adjustment, now my parental self laughs and laughs at that naive girl who thought there was any level of difficulty adjusting to the life change of living with a man.

I love Brad and truly believe he was the exact person the Lord had in mind for me to share life with, we are a perfect combo in so many ways. I remember before we got married my dad voicing his one concern about us together which is that we both have these adventurous, dream-filled minds that sometimes doesn't take into account responsibility and reality as much as they ought to. (hence falling in love on the forbidden island of Cuba) And you can see how it's played an awesome role in our marriage ("let's go to China with our twinfants!" "Okay, lets!!!") In all reality we are very responsible parents- much research was conducted, discussions with our pediatrician, we knew it would be hard, but we also knew the fun would be worth it. I really feel like life has been one big adventure since I married Brad. It might appear that the adventures are a result of wandering the streets of Cuba, riding camels in Morocco, and hiking the great wall of China with our babies, but I don't think that our life is full of adventure just because of some amazing trips we've been lucky enough to take, I could travel with someone boring to a foreign land and it wouldn't be the same. The wonderful part about being married to Brad is that even our days in our little old house in the Salt Lake valley can be filled with excitement and adventure. I love being with someone who wants to live life to it's fullness and who doesn't immediately dismiss my dreams, but thinks through them with me and considers which ones we can possibly make a reality.
Life is all too real sometimes, but sometimes it's like a fairytale. This is how the story goes:
Once upon a time...

boy meets girl. boy and girl paint together. girl is skeptical of boy{s in general}, boy becomes skeptical of girl.

 a year passes.

boy and girl reacquaint, very much intrigued they befriend each other. 

Boy woos girl with MC Hammer dance moves-

 seeing girl's infatuation with dress-ups boy further woos girl at a truck rally.

boy and girl visit a forbidden island {with a chapperone} and there confess their love.

girl finishes school, boy is too cool for school.

boy takes girl to NYC and gets down on one knee.

news travels far and wide of the proposed marriage between boy and girl.

a marriage takes place at the castle temple.

boy and girl become man and wife.

 all the land rejoices.

man and wife ride camels in exotic lands. 

man and wife live together in their little house.

wife teaches man to fish.

 climbing a mountain, man and wife contemplate life.

man and wife attend a life changing concert.

man and wife are happy.

 parenthood is imminent.

man and wife become mother and father to wee twins.

mother and father take wee twins to china.

 the family of four safely returns to their homeland.

And they all lived happily ever after.

I won't pretend that our marriage is perfect, it's not. There are incredibly frustrating days and miscommunications at times. I'm not going to pretend that all was bliss as we adjusted to our parental roles- My memories of Brad in the first 6 months after the girls were born are mostly staring at him with envy and madness in my eyes as he slept while I nursed a baby, or came back from nursing a baby, or was getting up to nurse a baby in the middle of the night. The injustice! I'm sure his memories of me from that same time include fear that I would remain forever a disfigured, hormone crazed lunatic who aimlessly roamed through our house crying and rambling on about well...the injustice!  Sleep deprivation is dangerous folks, I don't recommend it.
But I married a fighter. He's committed. He's not going anywhere, and he's willing to work for a good thing. Growing up in a house of all boys he didn't get a lot of exposure to life with women, it's a new world for him that although I'm not sure he'd really say he "enjoys" it, he has grown leaps and bounds in this area and I salute him for it.  And I know he secretly likes some of his new world of little women.
I truly believe if anyone were to find and marry the imaginary spouse of their dreams, the most perfect person you could imagine, in marriage you could easily grow to hate that person. You could grow to hate anyone being exposed to their idiosyncrasies and flaws day in and day out. On the flip side you could take someone you cared little for and through effort and sacrifice and sharing in life's experiences with mutual respect grow to love that person. I'm certainly not for arranged marriages, start our with a fighting chance by hand picking your favorite person. :) But if you think about your family- your parents and your siblings, you didn't get to choose them, but you probably love them a lot because you know each other so well, care about each other so much, and have been through so much of life together. 
I married the perfect guy for me, and I know as long as we focus on all the good that we have (which is so much) we really have everything going for us. Strong marriage, adorable children- I just have to pinch myself and knock on wood because sometimes it really feels too good to be true. I feel very blessed and don't take that for granted. Here's to the best 3 years of my life, I couldn't imagine anyone I'd rather share my memories with.

the 4th of Julyla

Summer fun checklist:
schools out! (hasn't applied for years, but...) check.
the weather is warm! check.
pool days! check, keep checking...
BBQs! check.
visit the zoo! check. As a family... TO DO
go on a hike! TO DO check!
breakfast at Ruths! TO DO
4th of July! check.
Pioneer day/handcart days! pretty much check.
birthday/anniversary celebration! TO DO check!
I also kinda want to drive up to bear lake for a day trip... TO DO
I've almost got everything out of the summer that I want to. It's funny because from January-March all I can think about is summer weather. I want to be sweating in the sun. I don't mind being hot, I prefer it 100x to being cold. But by midsummer I always start getting an itch for the change that autumn brings. Sweaters. Changing leaves. Caramel apples. Pumpkin cookies. The anticipation of the best holidays of the year. October through December is by far my favorite time of year.
Summer used to be so cool because you were out of school, but without school little changes- I have a few fun things to check off the list and July has 2 fun holidays (2 in Utah anyway) that break up the summer nicely.

THE 4TH

The fourth of July is always fun- BBQ, fireworks, instilling patriotism.

  Unfortunately Brad wasn't in town this year and I couldn't keep the girls up past 8:45 so I had a nice, quiet 4th with my mom.

 We went to a neighborhood breakfast then headed up to Midway for the holiday.

 I took a few pictures of the girls at home before we left.

 They were inspecting progress on our never ending deck project.

 dusty bums

 They love running around in the yard.

 I love that they can't get out.

 

PIONEER DAY

Pioneer day isn't till the 24th, but in Bountiful we always celebrate it early, because Bountiful is just awesome like that."handcart days" is by far the funnest day in Bountiful! They have little carnival rides, booths where you can buy rolled gold and tiger paws, and my very favorite parade.  In my opinion, the perfect balance of small town candy throwing and handing out of flags, mixed with a few impressive floats that are used in the big Salt Lake parade on Pioneer day- just right. In the evening they do a respectable fireworks show and I have great memories sitting in front of my parent's house watching the fireworks together.

 The girls loved it!

 I love this pic, my nephew tommy is hilarious.

 It was my other nephew's birthday!

 Lyla never let go of that flag.

 June never let go of her chips.

 They thought they were the parade at first, you know, until it started.

I won't even tell you what time my bro-in-law woke up to get us these awesome seats...let's just say Bountifulites take their handcart days seriously! Thank you rich for your dedication. :)

 Doesn't it kind of look like L&J are in charge of crowd control?

Brad has never been to handcart days since we've been married. The first newlywed year he was out of town. I watched the fireworks with friends and imagined how fun it would be to be with Brad. Last year he was out of town again. I sat through the parade and tried to get the girls to notice everything with my family.  I was disappointed when we weren't going to be able to go this year- we had 3 comitments in one night! In the end we decided to just make appearances at all of them- we gave the girls their first "taste" of a parade, hung out for a few minutes at Brad's big summer work party, and enjoyed seeing family at a wedding dinner. We really packed it in last night! The girls didn't even go to bed till after 9 which is the longest they've ever stayed up. It was a fun evening and I was so glad we finally got to go to the parade as a family!

I love the July holidays celebrating sacrifices for freedom, the sacrifices of my pioneer ancestors, and my love of America and Bountiful. God bless America, land that I love!