My Trip Home

 My trip home seemed to fly by! I don't know where it went!  It seemed like it would be such a long time that I was home (a month) but for some reason it just flew by!  It was long in some ways, like not seeing Kade was not fun.  But I got to do so much stuff that I miss during the summers in Utah.  I went horse riding, I went on the mountain, hung out with family, played with my dog, planted flowers, went yard saleing with my mom and lots of other things.  The above pic is of my dad and his sheep camp, he was invited to enter it into  the car show in Fountain Green.  Everyone loved it!  He has done such a good job with it, its so nice.  It was fun hanging out at the car show with my mom and dad.

 The mountain is so pretty in the spring/summer.  Its so green and TONS of flowers everywhere!  I miss it so much!!!! 

 I got to hang out with Trent and Cass while I was home and it was a LOT of fun!  She made us wraps one day and they were HUGE! So we had to get a pic of them!

 Of course the parade and festivities in Moroni are such a hit!  Its always something that my family enjoys!  I didn't quite know how this year would go with my grandpas house being sold.  The whole family used to just go to his house and hang out during the parade.  The people who bought the home are good friends of our family, and they INSISTED that my mom and dad come and sit on the swing on the porch of my grandpas old house. So it felt like it always has!  What sweet people! They made it so fun for our family again!

 Little Cooper is running around like crazy!!!! He's so big and I just love him!  :)  I enjoyed my family, the mountains, and just being home in my house!  It was so nice!  And the thunderstorms that came through while I was there were awesome! They smell so yummy.  And I loved yard selling with my mom.  We found so many good deals!  I got an old trunk for decorating my hselves in my living room, for $7.00!  I also picked us up a nice shovel for $2.00.  I got 2 boxes of beautiful, brand new, (wrapped in the original plasic) beaded garlands for my Christmas tree for $1.00 a box and a few other things!  And Cass found some snowboarding boots that had been worn a couple times, that looked like new, for $8.00! We had so much fun!  

 

 I took Shilo everywhere with me!  She loved it!  We went up on the mountain a few times and she of course heads straight for the water to swim!  Such a funny dog.

 I LOVE the flowers on the mountain.  They were all pretty much in bloom when I went home.  I love these yellow ones!  I want to transplant some of them into my yard....not sure how that would work, but I wouldn't care if these were everywhere in my yard, they are awesome!  I happened to get to go to the temple with my mom while I was home and saw these very yellow flowers on my way into the temple!

 another cabin pic

 Got to go to the fireworks with my family, and we all sat on the lawn and waited for the fireworks to start.  Snapped a quick pic of my beautiful sister!

The fireworks once again, didn't disappoint!

As much fun as I had at home, I was SOOOO happy to see Kade again!  When I first saw him at the airport in SC as he was pulling up in the car, I couldn't quit smiling!  And then a HUGE, LONG HUG followed!  It kinda was long without him:(   I'm glad I had my family to keep me busy.  Sure do love this boy, and Im so glad we are back together again, don't know what I would do without him!  And I know he's glad to be getting cooked for, laundry done, and house cleaned :) Now we only have 7 weeks left and I know its going to fly!  Good times!

Being Home

Being home has been SO nice! But of course I miss Kade:( I always miss Kade when we're apart. One of the first things I wanted to do when I got home was take Shilo out to the property. She loved it, and so did I:)

I swear Fairview is the promised land:) At least that's what Kade always says....and I think it's true. 

Shilo was loving the little bit of water spraying out. She gets do hot during the summer!

Me and Cass being crazy....it's been so fun hanging out with her:) She has stayed twice already! Lucky me!

My nephews wedding at the Salt Lake Temple was awesome! It was so neat being in the sealing room with a lot of my family. I love hearing an actual temple marriage ceremony, they are so beautiful!

This little guy is getting SO big and I just can't get enough of him! He's so cute and so fun and he's walking all over right now, which I haven't seen yet!

The new Mr. And Mrs. Oliver! They look great together!

Oliver Fam

I stayed the night at Katie's house with my sister to help her get a lot of stuff done and we were up until about 11 making these beautiful center pieces for the luncheon! I LOVED the Quaky trees that they used throughout the wedding! SO pretty!

The reception was beautiful as well. They had it in a barn and had dancing afterward. 

Oh I love this kid! Colt makes me laugh! He'll never smile for me! But at least he let me get a pic of his face!

Again, you'll notice they used a giant Quaky for the bottom of the cake! Love it!

It was a beautiful reception with lots of yummy food! A buffet style!

We got a little carried away with the bubbles during the send off! 

And last but not least, I'm loving my flowers! The yellow ones Kade and I replanted in the fall, but the pink and purple ones I planted yesterday with my bro. I love enjoying my house during the summer, just wish Kade was here to enjoy it with me:)

Morris Island Lighthouse

 On Sunday, we came home and took a nap....we're getting into a pretty good routine of getting a quick nap in after church so that we can go see stuff :)  Its nice though, I feel like sometimes, and especially with this job, you have to have a power nap!  I've been wanting to see Morris Island lighthouse, which is on Folley Beach, on the North end.  We didn't know that last time we came to Folley or we may have checked it out then, but that's ok.  Its a very old lighthouse, not in operation anymore.  Its so old that its out in the water now, because over time the erosion has taken it out to sea.  Its such a pretty place even though we didn't get to go inside it.

 There was some fun washed up wood that made picture taking more fun :)

 And the dolphins came to see us again!  I wish so bad I would have been by the shore line when we saw the dolphins because one of the dolphins was only about 8 feet from the sand, I could have waded out mid calf, and petted it!  I ran to see if they would stay, and if they would let me get closer but they were already moving along. 

 We're getting pretty good at taking pictures by ourselves!  We just set up the camera and run for it! :)

 It was a hot walk (about a block) to the beach but when we got here, it was so nice!  And it was just the two of us! No one was on this entire stretch of beach but us!

I'm getting ready to go home for a visit and I'm going to miss Kade a lot.  We have had a lot of fun together just hanging out, the two of us so it was nice that we got to spend time together all day!  And had we have known that there wasn't going to be any people we could have brought a picnic and planned a little better.  Oh well.  Still fun.

 I loved this old washed up wood.  It was fun to sit on and watch the dolphins swim by. 

I love lighthouses.  I think they are so pretty and they have such a great meaning behind them. They are to help those who are lost at sea, find their way back, they stand as a beacon, shining forth their light.  There are so many analogies of the lighthouse that we can relate to things in our lives, like letting our light shine to those around us to help bring them back to Christ.  Or looking to our Father in Heaven who shines through all the darkness of life.  Or, this particular lighthouse no longer has its light, which could mean, never let your testimony fade, make sure you keep it strong so that others don't look at you and loose theirs too....Lots of things can be related to a lighthouse.......I LOVE THEM!

Anniversary Time

On Sunday, we went and celebrated our anniversary which I will write about as you scroll down.  But our actual anniversary day, Kade had to work, but I thought I would make him a yummy dinner anyway for when he got home(he never likes to eat a meal late at night).  We had salmon with brown rice and steamed spinach, and I made a apple crisp with vanilla ice cream for a treat after.    

 Kade loved his dinner, he was surprised.  But I was even more surprised when he came through the door with a big bunch of roses! :)  Made my whole night! 

 I had a little tiny bunch of silk flowers that I had put in the middle of the table, but those were soon replaced with this much more beautiful arrangement!

We were able to attend the Columbia temple for our anniversary as well, which I really loved.  It was so nice to go to the temple.  Its been difficult to go because Kade is so busy with the office and the temple sessions don't start until 9, which puts us 12:30 getting back to the apartments and their meeting starts at 12, so we haven't been able to do it yet, but we were able to this once and I'm so glad! :)

 

Drayton Hall! Kade surprised me and got a package deal on the Drayton Hall and the Magnolia Plantation!  He knew I've been wanting to go to both of them so that's what we did.  Drayton Hall is one of the oldest original plantation homes in the US. 

 Drayton Hall has been preserved, and will continue to be preserved, not restored. They wanted to keep everything original.

 Even the paint is original from way back!  And the stairs were awesome! This place was completed in 1742, so its 271 years old!

 It was cool seeing this home and picturing how the people lived back then. 

 It was also interesting hearing the facts about the slaves(or servants).  They were always kept behind closed doors unless they were serving meals and things like that. 

After Drayton, we went to the Magnolia Plantation.  We actually didn't go inside this home.  We spent our day out in the gardens.

 The gardens felt like they would never end, which I was very much ok with.  I think we saw 10 different bridges that crossed water.  The bridges were everywhere and they were beautiful!

 They had this cool wildlife overlook that you could climb 4 flghts of stairs to get to.  It was cool to look out over the Ashley River.  It was also nice to be above the trees for once! :)

 I think this was my favorite bridge, only because of the trees that hang right over your head and the green swamps below and you could see the Ashley River through an opening in the trees to the right. 

 There was actually a petting zoo at Magnolia Plantation, and this deer decided that I  tasted good, and then she decided that she wanted to eat my dress! :)  She was cute.

 I feel like South Carolina is kind of a tropical feel.  It is very humid that's for sure!  Its pretty hot but not unbearable yet.  I'm sure that come July, it will be SUPER hot. I'm glad it wasn't too hot for our visit here.

 In this picture, there is an alligator on the very bottom right of the pic.  We didn't realize he was there when we took the pic, but he snuck his way into my photo!

 I also loved this bridge.  So pretty!

 And another bridge!  I'm not sure how much we walked but probably a few miles at least!

 The edge of the gardens is bordered by the Ashley River.  I was taking pictures and I saw and heard something come to the surface.  It was dolphins!  They kept coming up to the surface for a while so we sat and watched them :) So fun!

 In this pic, you can actually see two bridges, one on the left through the trees and one on the right.

 We saw lots more alligators again!  Only this time we got even closer to one.....Kade could've held a yard stick and reached out and touched it!  It kinda made me nervous!

 Alligator behind Kade!

 I love the trees here.  I can't get enough of them.  I love all the moss that grows on them.

 

This peacock was showing off for everyone that day!  He just kept fanning out, so I took advantage of the moment and got lots of pics of him!  Fun day!  Thanks Kade for a great anniversary!