Good Things to Come. . .

Chase and I will be in Utah in a little over three weeks! To say we are excited would be an understatement! The last few weeks of Dominica have been hard, to say the least, for a variety of reasons. It has made me all the more excited to go to Utah and live the good life for a little while. The only thing that would make it better would be if Ben could come with us, but he won't be freed from the bonds of medical school for a few more weeks, so he'll join us a little later. And just because I keep day dreaming of all the fun things to do and enjoy in Utah, here is a list of what's rolling around in my head on a daily basis:

1. Seeing family! I've missed them so much! It's amazing what even that first little glimpse of them at the airport does to my heart.
2. Eating at my dad's restaurant- we've missed it a lot while we've been here.
3. Eating my mom's delicious cooking. After 15 months of pretty tedious cooking here (which I mostly like) I am seriously looking forward to a little break from cooking. And everything my mom makes is fabulous.
4. Seeing friends! Especially a few out of state friends who are going to come visit while we are there! It's been way too long!
5. Going to the temple- especially with the emotional roller coaster that this experience has been, Ben and I have really missed being able to attend the temple.
6. Swimming at my parents pool- and the luxury of just being able to suit up Chase, grease him with sunscreen and walk out the back door to enjoy the pool! (As opposed to loading up the stroller and walking over a mile to get there in blistering heat. I'm so hot by the time we get home that I've cancelled any cooling effect of the pool)
7. Kelly's wedding! The reason Chase and I are leaving a tad early.
8. Normal restaurants, I've been dreaming about Cafe Rio and Zupas lately. Also, Ben and I agreed to go out to a nice dinner to celebrate our anniversary while we are there and we can't even decide where to go, there are so many amazing options that sound incredible to us! Mazza? Macaroni Grill? Red Iguana? Just a few on our list :)
9. The peace of mind that comes from taking Chase to his pediatrician, getting caught up on shots and to check everything out. And being able to have him ride in a carseat again. Basically, being able to feel like I'm doing everything possible for my babe's health and safety!
10. Shopping- not that we've got an extensive budget these days, but even Target looks amazing after you've lived here for more than two weeks.

However, I'm still trying to enjoy my time here. There are many things I'll miss about this island. I'll miss how calm my life is here. There is still lots to do, being a mom and wife and keeping my house clean, groceries bought, baby happy and boys fed. However, it's not the crazy busy that life is in the states. I don't run errands (mostly because there wouldn't be anywhere to run them to). Our social circle is pretty small, but it's a great group of people, and I will miss them a lot. I'll miss being able to walk everywhere; I really have enjoyed just throwing Chase in the stroller and going places. I'll miss the smoothie shack where I stop almost every day to get a strawberry-mango-banana smoothie to share with Chase. I will definitely miss the beautiful view of the ocean I get every day. So I think I'll enjoy my last few weeks here, even though I'm so incredibly excited to be back in Utah!

Totally unrelated, but this picture I took two weeks ago makes me laugh. Chase took a little tumble at the park and scraped his little nose and forehead. As you can see by that mischievous smile, he didn't stay sad about it very long. His smile melts my heart!