Closing the Culdesac Chapter

In December 2012, I remember feeling so excited as Eric and I began moving in our things to this quaint little four-plex apartment in a culdesac in south Provo. We were just about to get married and thinking of starting our own home together was SO dreamy. Now as we packed up all of our goods and put them away in storage last weekend, my heart surprisingly ached a little. This apartment carried with it so many memories from the past 2.5 years. So it is time to close that chapter of our life story and move on to the next. Change is exciting and healthy and yet a little scary and hard. I'm grateful for the chance to welcome change and am so looking forward to the future.

Here are a few of our final Provo memories 

(including our last week-ish of living in Provo) in pictures. 

It's a tradition for the Sackett ladies to go bowling while the boys to go Priesthood session of General Conference. Hunter loved the colorful bowling balls and the crazy lights!

Hunter and his cousins Alisa and Aaron. These three were all born within 4 months of each other. They are sure to be the best of friends. This was after our Easter egg hunt.

Eric played on an intramural soccer team at BYU this spring. Hunter loved going to the games to see all the soccer balls. And I loved watching Eric get to do something that he's crazy about.

 We have been so blessed with a lot of financial help to get Eric off to New York. One of the ways we were blessed was with a few scholarships and grants. This is our little family at a scholarship awards luncheon. I'm so proud of my sugar!

Our last week in Provo was seriously a whirlwind. I'm still kind of recuperating from it haha. It was busy and crazy and a bit stressful and wonderful! You'll see...

Eric has been interning at Vivint Solar in Lehi. So Hunter and I hopped on the FrontRunner to visit his work. Then we all headed over to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point Gardens. I LOVE the tulips and we have some special memories at the gardens. That is where Eric proposed to me. It is also where we went before Eric left for China a couple of years ago. So it was very fitting to spend one of our final evenings together as a family at that special {and oh so beautiful} place!

Our last week also included our nephew's soccer game in SLC, a few family dinners, and plenty of moving! Perhaps the most exciting part of our final week was Eric's graduation. Now, I'm not necessarily talking the actual services {those graduation speeches are awesome, but a bit long with a little person}, I'm talking the part where Eric is DONE! Woohoo! We will enjoy him being school-free for at least a little while.

After Eric's convocation last Friday, we all went back to his parent's house and had "gourmet take-out" haha. Aka: we ate Zuppas on nice china and had sparkling cider in crystal goblets. This type of meal had Eric written all over it. This is totally his style haha. That's why I love him.

YIKES! This was our little apartment during the thick of packing. Half packed, half not, half just complete chaos. For trying to be organized with packing, it sure didn't look like it haha.

Saying our final goodbyes to our little culdesac apartment.

One thing I will not miss is that ugly green carpet! :) 

On Sunday, we enjoyed a wonderful stake conference with Elder Ballard. {Hunter and I even got to shake his hand!!} Then we had to say good-bye for the next 8 weeks to the man who makes my world go 'round. That was a hard good-bye. Whoosh.

It has almost been a week, and I'm missing him a lot. Like A LOT! But, I really am happy and grateful for the opportunities that we are having while we are apart. Here is what we are up to half a country away from each other....

Hunter had his first real bout of vomiting. Not just spit-up, like the days of when he had bad reflux. This was full on puking. I don't know who was crying more haha. I remember always thinking that I would have the hardest time when I had kids who were puking. I get sick when I see/hear/smell it. But then I taught school and had a throw-up episode, my heart just ached for my little student. And now with my own little babe, I didn't care at all that he puked all over us both. It wasn't a party by any means, but I didn't feel at all like I was afraid I would when the "dreaded day" came.

Eric is having a bit more of an adventure in the Big Apple. It looks just like he is in the movies!

The view from his apartment.... right?!

So there you have it. Our good-byes and new adventures in a nutshell. Or a blog post, rather. Who knows, maybe we will end up living in Provo again one day. But for now, I'm throwin' up my deuces to the city where our family started. Peace out, Provo!

P.S. Here are just a few pics of our Hunter boy... I couldn't resist!

 "Be someone's sunshine when their skies are grey."

-Anonymous

Obsessed

WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS LARGE AMOUNTS OF CUTENESS AND IS THE RESULT OF AN OVERLY OBSESSED MOTHER

I'm afraid to admit that I have a little problem. Well, more like a major problem. It is definitely an obsession. I admit that I'm obsessed with my baby. Haha seriously though, sometimes I just can't get enough of little Hunter. Both Eric and I have come to terms that we are completely and undeniably infatuated with our sweet boy. But every parent is obsessed with their kids, right? So, can you blame us? 

He is now 9 1/2 months old. He has been out of the oven as long as he was in the oven. And it's amazing to see how fast he is growing. He has such a sweet personality and he brings incredible amounts of light and goodness into our home. That is just the nature of all babies. They bring a piece of heaven with them and help lift all those around. Including the random strangers at the grocery store or the park haha. Hunter has definitely brought many smiles to many strangers' faces. 

So here are some recent pictures of our little lovies. Hopefully he can bring some sunshine and smiles to your faces too. He sure has left permanent smiles on ours.

So yep. Call me obsessed. I won't deny it. 

Here are a few more pics of what we have been up to as a family this past month. 

We only have one car right now so Hunter and I go on a lot of walks since we don't have the car that often. The best is when Eric gets home and can go on walks with us! Hunter obviously feels the same way.... haha.

 So I may or may not have fallen asleep while we were saying our prayers. Oops! But the funniest is that Eric would take a picture of it. I would be bugged if I didn't love him so much!

On our way up to Logan, we made a pit stop to change Hunter's diaper. We just happened to pull over by a mini-golf/arcade place. So what do you do when the mini-golf is just calling your name? Well, you delay your drive and play a rousing game. Hunter loved it too!

After our game of golf, we played a few arcade games and got some [lame] prizes. Hunter = pumped. Eric = not so much. Haha.

My little brother performed with his high school's show choir Encore and was amazing! Eric and I were able to do a workshop and choreography for the group back in January, so it was fun to see the kids perform. Good job Aaron! 

 Our friends Kevin and Ali came to visit this past month from Washington D.C. We were so glad to steal a little of their time and go to lunch. Isn't their daughter Maylen so adorable? It's fun to see these long-time friends being daddies now.

I just melt when I see Eric and Hunter playing together.
Hunter adores his daddy.

I don't blame him one bit. 

Last summer was the summer of so many mini-bonfires! With our cute cudlesac friends, we had a bunch of fires and roasted a good number of mallows. This year, all of our dear friends have moved away for school and jobs, so Eric and I are the last ones left. In honor of them and the fun we had the past two summers, we lit a fire the other night. There's nothing quite like sitting around the fire and listening to it crackle. Mmmmm it got me really anxious for summer to be here. 

We didn't have any big marshmallows to roast, so we experimented with roasting mini marshmallows. Might I suggest trying it sometime? They were the perfect size to just pop into your mouth. I might have had a few too many... #sugaraddict

We were soaking up the spring weather.

Hunter and I were taking selfies while Eric fired up the sprinklers. 

I think it's safe to say that I am a smidgen obsessed with my cute boys. I have been blessed with the best. I am so grateful for my Father in Heaven and my Savior Jesus Christ who continually shower me with blessings. My heart is so full and I know they love me. And I love them. I hope that I can teach Hunter to the best of my knowledge of the goodness and divinity of our Heavenly Father and His Son. They live and love us all. I know that families are of God, and they help us become who we are meant to be...who God wants us to become.

So here's to being obsessed with our beautiful families. :)

"Some old-fashioned things like fresh air and sunshine are hard to beat."

-Laura Ingalls Wilder