Back to Life, Back to Reality

I’ve been singing the tune “back to life, back to reality” in my head for the last few days. You know the one. Once it gets in there, it’s hard to get out. That’s probably because of how real of a statement it is. It’s a cruel reality how fast vacations fly by. You anticipate them for weeks, months even. And then BAM! The vacation flies by at an unexpectedly fast rate. Back to life. Back to reality.

We’ve spent the last 10 days or so in Utah visiting our families. I’ve already touched on some of what we did, but I’m pretty sure visiting Utah is slightly bittersweet, because it only reminds us of how badly we miss our families. We wish we could always be within a short drive's distance, but I guess at this point in our lives we’ll take what we can get. Take a look at some of our experiences this last Christmas break:

We got to visit with some close friends while in Utah. The top left is with Russ's best childhood friend/former roommate, Stephen, and his cute family. The top right is our new nephew, Brigham! He may be the most well-behaved, calm, perfect baby ever. We've got some competition.

And that little orange cup, my friends, is one reason why I miss Utah so very badly. Mango Chicken Salad, I love you. The bottom right is my random and awesome visit at my old college job, the Money Room. Luckily one of my best friends from Spokane (who I was nice enough to hook him up with the job... you're welcome Sean) was working with my old boss, Karla. You know you have a friend when your old boss still calls you on Christmas Eve. It was good to catch up.

I absolutely love getting to play with Benny and Lucy, Marcella's other two older children. Benny is obviously in a super-hero phase, and Lucy is just plain adorable. She melts my heart with those big brown eyes and cheesy smile. And speaking of cheesy smile, the Mr. looks pretty happy there with his new multi-function power tool my parents gave him. (I may be stealing that tool for a few projects in the near future.... thanks mom and dad :))

Again, more snow. We loved the snow, even if it meant bearing below 0 temperatures. (YIKES!). We were also so glad we got to attend little Brigham's baby blessing (pictured in the center). 

All in all it was a great vacation and went by way too fast. But like all good things, they must come to an end, and you must get back to real life.

{ ....aaaaand cue the song}