Moby Dick

There are lots of things Tenny misses from DC, including his school and his friends.  But there's just one thing so far that he missed so much he cried about it:  Francine, his fish.  It's just really hard to move your fish, since movers won't take liquids and the TSA only allows 3 ounces.  So Tennyson decided to give Francine to his friend, Arabug.  And even though we know Francine is in good hands, Tenny missed him (yes, Francine was a boy) terribly.  So, we bought a replacement:  Moby Dick, the Beta fish.

So far it seems to have done the trick.  Except now T is asking for a dog, and that just isn't going to happen.

Kicken' it old school

In Harper's Ferry

Julie - 7 weeks

Arlington Cemetery

I always liked visiting Arlington Cemetery, but not everybody does.  For example, this is an actual conversation I had with Tennyson recently:

Tennyson:  "Daddy, do you know why I'm glad we don't live in DC any more?"

Me:  "No, why?"

Tennyson:  "Because now we don't have to go to Arlington Cemetery all the time."

Julie - 6 Weeks and Blessing Day

Sporting the pretty dress in which her mommy was blessed.

La nostra famiglia.

Four generations - with Great-grandma Prince and Grandma Stewart

Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate this special day.  We were shooting for 50 guests for lunch to help us break in our new casa fiesta, but we fell short by a couple.  We'll have to try again soon!

Shadow Mountains

As seen from the Garnet Canyon trail

25 observations from our first month living in Utah

1. Gorgeous - the state doesn't have a bad angle.
2. Snow - it doubles the gorgeous and the fun.
3. Utah nice - nice is the norm, and it's contagious.
4. Customer service - still exists here.
5. Running - everybody does it but us.
6. Desserts - you've heard of the Turducken?  Utahns do that with desserts.
7. Huge portions - buy lunch, get dinner too.
8. Family dining - restaurants that offer dinner for the whole family for $20.
9. "Crick" - a small stream of water.
10. Parking and driving - we drive more but look for parking less.
11. Make-up - enormous amounts of it, especially mascara.
12. Symphony - it's as good as the big city at half the price.
13. Religion - discussed openly and casually.
14. Georgetown - impressive (whereas in DC it's normal).
15. Dangling monikers - "Hey, guy."  "How ya doin', dude?"  "Thanks, pal."
16. Government debt - frequently inserted into completely unrelated discussions.
17. Physical privacy - keep neighbors at a distance, and put up fences and curtains just in case.
18. Personal disclosure - like the car dealer who thought we should know about his love child in Connecticut.
19. Self-aware - unlike other quirky places (i.e., everywhere), everyone is hyper-aware of Utah's quirks.
20. Sports - matter.
21. Family aware - like the child care service at the grocery store.
22. Middle class - by far the majority.
23. Prices - almost everything is noticeably less expensive.
24. Work - equivalent quality, less quantity.
25. Education - less aggression because the options are plentiful.

One month in, we miss our DC friends like crazy but we're loving our proximity to family, our new home, our beautiful surroundings and our new adventures.