Rest of our Utah trip- Cora with her great grandparents.

It was especially nice to see my grandparents. It was my last trip seeing all four grandparents, so I am glad we stayed extra. It made the 3 hour layover in Detroit on the way back worth it.

Cora was so nice about pictures. Not.

 Cora and grandpa became total buddies. She helped organize his office a lot, and talked to him through the whole thing. I'm glad they got along so well, since I know Cora can be a grumpy toddler and I'm glad he didn't take offense to that.

  Rocking chair in Cora's size! Score!

 Yes, this is how I want to run my treadmill run. 

 Thanks Cora.

 I am so glad I got those pictures! Even though Cora wasn't happy during them, she did really like spending a week with Grandma and Grandpa Murphy.

We came back to Grandma and Grandpa Myres' house the weekend before we left. Cora was good about being with everyone, despite trying to climb up their stone steps in the backyard every time she got outside.

Our flight back would have been... more... terrible if it weren't for the giant color tunnel in the Detroit airport. We spent a lot of time here, burning energy.

 Cora got to watch her first Pixar movie... "Finding Nemo". She was fascinated.

We were glad to make it home!

Rest of our Utah Trip, September 2016- Cousins and Friends

We loved our time with the cousins and friends when we were in Utah!

Cora loves her bear backpack leash. She wanted to hike the Y that way.

 But she only made it that far before they had to turn back.

 Bethany's first official hike to the Y as a cougar!

 Graham and Cora LOVED eating the peaches off great grandpa's peach tree.

 Graham really wanted Cora's bottle.

 Hugs.

 We got to visit (the outside of) the Provo City Center temple! Notice poor Cora's feet. Her shoes from the wedding cut huge blisters into the back of one foot (ankle roll problems) so she had to wear socks and ace bandages for a while.

 Poor baby.

 

 Then Cora got a fever and was sick for a few days.

 It was so fun to see Jamie and Clay and meet baby Abigail! Cora was more than happy to run around the park, and got super hot and sweaty.

 I also got to see my old roommate Lindsay who I haven't seen in SIX years. Cora was obviously thrilled.

 Not a cousin picture, but still cute.

 They liked the old Provo Library. I was dying from the construction and death traps.

 It was fun going to pupusas in Provo.

Cora loves having so many other people around her to play with. So did I!

DK Wedding!

Beginning of September we had the chance to see Dallin and Krystel get married! It was a great time.

Cora and I flew out first, since Brandon couldn't get out there until the morning of the wedding. Thank goodness for an afternoon sealing time!

Cora was a doll in her wedding dress. She had a great time.

 It was so fun to see everyone gathered in Grandma and Grandpa Myres' backyard. Lots of friends and family there to wish the new couple well.

 The sealing was beautiful. I have seen my grandpa perform 3 sealings now, and I love it every time. I got a little teary at the end thinking about how I wanted my dad to be there, and he wasn't able to. It brought up the lyric "Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven".

Now see naughty Dane in the corner? He had the idea to hide behind that pillar and run out to tickle Krystel when they came out. Nobody knew until he did it. It was hilarious!

 

 See there he goes!

 Cora got scared of the loud cheering,

Cora was a joy to work with during family pictures. 

Luckily she sat with Grandma while we took some bridesmaid pictures and took a little nap. We found out her shoes rubbed huge blisters into her feet, so that was a poor parenting moment on our parts.

 The luncheon made us laugh and cry, and then Dallin's "groomsboyz" (BFFs from high school) decorated his car.

  I will write about the rest of our trip next!

A little about Brandon and I as adults.

So while we are obsessed with Cora and our lives revolve around her, here are a few things we are doing that don't involve her.

Did I mention I started a master's program? I did! I'm almost 6 months in, in fact. It has been hard but it is something that I want to do. I am getting my master's in special education. It is something that I feel will help me through these first couple of years of being a stay-at-home parent. It is hard sometimes, finding creative things to do. I just have one more paper to turn in by the end of the month.

I also have started teaching piano lessons for the ward. It has been a nice little job, and people have been SO kind as to let me work around Brandon's schedule as he is in the ER rotation. The only frustrating thing has been when people don't communicate when they aren't coming and I am left hanging. I feel badly because I have to have someone in the bishopric come and unlock the door. But it has been enough to make our car and credit card payments for the month! I am going to keep working as much as I can before we move,
While working with piano lessons has been a blessing, we were praying that I could find some job that I could work while we are in California for a few weeks after we leave Florida, and then when we are moving somewhere else. Well, a week or so ago a teacher I worked with reached out to me and told me about a job she started in the mornings teaching English to kids in China online. I jumped on the application and got hired last night! I just need to turn in a few more documents and I will be ready to go! The only tricky part is I need to work 7.5 hours a week during their peak hours which is 6-10 AM Florida time. Which means when we go to Utah for Dallin's wedding in a few weeks I would need to work an hour and a half a day between the hours of 4-8 AM. So I am trying to find a Starbucks or something nearby so I can have good Wifi. But this is such an answer to prayers!

I am crocheting again and trying to sell things online. I found a niche in the Pokemon stuffed animals market, so hopefully those sales pick up more!
https://www.etsy.com/shop/CamillesCrochet?ref=hdr_shop_menu

And Brandon got a job as a TA for the fall! It is only about 2 hours a week, so not much money but it looks GREAT on a resume.

We are just getting ready to fly to Utah at the end of the month for Dallin and Krystel's wedding!
And one more thing with Cora. We are going to Ecuador this fall! I got Cora's passport all ready, and we are so excited to go there and spend time with Grandma and Papa and Cole and see what they are doing.

Cora's mugshot passport picture.