The reason it hurts so much to separate is because our souls are connected. --Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook--

I actually found a lot of good quotes for this blog title, it was hard to choose! SO here's a couple more real quick :)

Missing someone gets easier every day because even though it's one day further from the last time you saw each other, it's one day closer to the next time you will. ~Author Unknown

You can kiss your family and friends good-bye and put miles between you, but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach, because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you. ~Frederick Buechner

Distance between two hearts is not an obstacle, rather a beautiful reminder of just how strong true love can be. ~Author Unknown

Anyway....

This past week and a half have flown by and I’m not too happy about how quick it went! As most of you know Mark came for his leave visit this past week and a half and it was so wonderful to have him home! Evelyn loved having her daddy here and LOVED all the attention and play time she got. I loved seeing them together again and quite enjoyed not being Evelyn’s jungle gym for once! I also enjoyed the break from changing diapers (Mark graciously accepted my request of him changing all the diapers while he was here, I think I only changed 1 or 2! Good man…. :) Anywho…it was a wonderful visit and I’m so glad he got to come.

Mark and I spent the first night in Kansas City (Evelyn spent the night with Grammy and Grandpa) and had a wonderful time. We ate dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, which was YUMMY!!! Then Saturday we did a little shopping and then went to see the last Harry Potter movie before heading home. Man that was a good movie!!! I loved it! I was balling (or trying not to, tears were streaming but inside I was balling like a baby). It was such a great book and they did really good with the movie. Anyway, it was a perfect little getaway for us as we spent the rest of Mark’s visit with Evelyn.

We got home Saturday afternoon and as much as I would like to say that Evelyn was ecstatic to see her daddy, it wasn’t quite the case. She had woken up from her nap just MINUTES before we drove up and she’s not a very happy person after waking up and that day was a bit more grouchy cuz she hadn’t seen her momma in 24 hours so it was a bit rocky. Mark went in first and she heard that door and came running, saw him, ran past him (crying all the while), and ran straight to me. Poor dear! I was taking a little video to capture it but stopped it right there. So no pics of that! And no video cuz this still won’t let me upload….ugh!!!! So yeah…we went home pretty much right after that and after she calmed down (and opened a present from Mark) she was just dandy and they played and played and had lots of fun. It was wonderful! I love seeing them together. They are so adorable. He misses her so much and gets so sad about missing out on her learning/doing new things! So it was nice to have him interact with her even for just a week and a half. She has been working on her colors lately and really picked a few up while he was here so he loved being a part of her learning something new. (She now knows pink and blue 99% of the time and red, purple, and yellow 80%...she picks things up so quick!)

She loves picking "flowers" for me :)

So we pretty much just hung out around home for Sunday and Monday, playing and enjoying each other’s company, and also getting ready for a little trip we took. We went to Nauvoo on Tuesday and stayed til Thursday. It was a quick trip but really great and I’m so glad we did it! We spent time with Monie and her fam and saw the new baby, sweet little Kellen! That baby is SO good and SO adorable! I’ve never seen such a chill baby…but I’ll get to him later. We did a little photo shoot of him so I’ll dedicate a whole post to that later. So yeah…on Wednesday we hung out with them and then went to a waterpark in Burlington which was pretty fun. Kady and Evelyn had a great time playing in the water and running around like little kids do.

(Dancing with Daddy at the hotel! SO adorable!)

That night we went to the Nauvoo Pageant, which was wonderful, although we were all so beat and tired and cranky we didn’t stay the whole thing. Evelyn would NOT stay still and kept running off and since it’s at night it was pretty hard to see where she went sometimes…I was kinda afraid to lose her! So we went home and went to bed instead. :) Thursday morning Mark and I dropped Evelyn off at Aunt Monie’s and went to the temple to do some temple work, which was so wonderful. It’s always wonderful to go the temple with your beloved but it’s even more wonderful to go back to Nauvoo where we were married and where we can reminisce and feel the wonderful spirit that is there. I absolutely love that place and love going back with Mark. I feel so grateful that we were able to go while he was home.

Daddy offered to share his hot dog with her...

And she grabbed it and ate the whole thing!

How can you resist that face though? :)

After we were done at the temple we picked up Evelyn, made some lunch, and headed off! We drove part way to Columbia where we did a little shopping (Mark needed some new running shoes for PT) and then went to my good friend Rori’s for a BBQ dinner with her, her hubby, and my other two good friends, Jeanie and Cheryl. It was great to see them all and enjoy some time with friends. I rarely get to see those girls anymore (darn growing up and getting married/jobs/etc.!) and it’s always wonderful to get together. We stayed for quite a while and then drove home (amidst and nice lightning storm chasing us) and spent the rest of Mark’s short visit spending every possible minute together.

Here's just a funny one from the pics we took :)

I had my best friend Sarah take some family pics of us while Mark was here, which went pretty good, except Evelyn, of course, wasn’t cooperating and kept running around and not paying attention to anything but what she wanted to do so we don’t have too many of us all looking at the camera but got some cute ones anyway! I’m just gonna have to get used to having lots of pictures of us up and walking or side shots or less formal shots. :) That girl is So active! Mark spent lots of time playing/chasing her outside and she loved having him at her beck and call to play with :)

So the rest of the visit was pretty calm, just spending time together, which was perfect. But Monday came all too soon and we were soon dropping him off and he was gone. :( It was very sad but we got through the first 4 ½ months and can get through these next four! Just gotta keep busy like before and it’ll be gone before we know it. I’ve still got a craft to-do list as long as my arm or longer (pinterest is getting SO addicting! So many cool things on there), so hopefully I can get some things done! Then in September we’ve got some traveling to do (hopefully it all works out) so that’ll go quick and then it’ll be October (Evelyn’s 2^nd b-day…holy cow!!!) and then November!

There you have it. I’m afraid this week won’t be too productive…it’s BLAZING hot (it was a high of like 108 yesterday! UGH!!!) and that always makes me more lazy/reluctant to do anything too productive…Evelyn gets cranky cuz she’s all cooped up inside and then bothers me when I’m doing projects so I don’t get as much done…vicious cycle :) I’m praying this excessive heat crap will go away!!! So yeah…I think that’s all for now! Evelyn’s asleep and I’m getting there so off to bed for me! Love to you all!

Evelyn and I went to Chipotle for lunch after we dropped Mark off at the airport...she was really into the burrito! She has good taste :)

The Kansas City Temple! This is a shot I got with my phone while driving by from the airport :) It's SO pretty!!!

Our family is a circle of love and strength. With every birth and every union, the circle grows.

As I said in my last post, we went to Nauvoo this past weekend and it was WONDERFUL!!! I haven't been back there since we got married, which is coming up on TWO years if you can believe that! It was really so amazing to go back. We went because my cousin Jack (he's a few months older than me) got married so most of his siblings came and since my mom and Emily and Mellisa and their kids were going we decided to go too.

My cousin Crystal and her family were there and I was really excited to see them. They've been stationed in Italy the past while and will be there another 1 1/2 years so we don't get to see much of them! Then her sister Chanda was there, she got a whole weekend without her kids which she said was very nice :) And then their sister Melanie came with her new little boy, Aker, who is ADORABLE!!!! I rarely see these three so it was quite lovely to see them. Their little sister Chantelle was there too, who I've seen more than the other three, and then their brothers Eli and Philip. So with all them and my fam it was a nice little gathering! :)

So anywho...on Friday night we had Sierra take some family pics of me, Mark, and Evelyn at the temple and we got some very nice pictures from it! We don't have a whole lot of time (or extra $) to pay someone to do it so we did it this way and they came out great! Sierra did an amazing job and I appreciate her doing it! Thanks Si! Here's a few of my favorites....










So yeah....Saturday Mark and I were able to go to the temple and do a session before the actual sealing ceremony for my cousin, so that was absolutely wonderful. We haven't gone together since December before we left Utah and it was especially wonderful that we got to go back to Nauvoo where we got married! I absolutely LOVE the Nauvoo Temple! It is so gorgeous inside and out and I just love it. As always I got some pics of it (outside only of course) to add to my collection. Springtime is my favorite and it's even more wonderful at the temple!

(Momma and her girls! Minus Annie... :(




The sealing ceremony was wonderful, as always, and my cousin Jack looked sooo happy, he and his new wife looked so cute together! They couldn't take their eyes off each other the whole day :) We were all slightly shocked he got married cuz none of us have ever ever seen him with a girl at all! But we're very excited for him and happy for the two of them. I didn't really get to talk to his gal much but she seems to be a nice girl. I didn't get too many pics of them but here's a couple.




The reception was nice, it was a beautiful day for a wedding and the food and cake were very good! I do love a good wedding cake :) My sisters and I got our kids matching outfits and took some pics of all of them at the reception. It was super duper adorable! Of course it's pretty much impossible to get a pic of all these kids without one having a fit or turning away but we got some good ones. Unfortunately I cannot put up a pic of the entire group because of Emily's foster baby. We aren't allowed to put up pics of him on blogs or facebook, etc. until he's adopted, which is going to be finalized in May so I'm gonna have to do a blog after that with pics of him. He is a sweet little thing but very much a high maintenance baby!

(Cute brothers!!!)

(Jerica, Santana, Abrahm, Matteo, and Kady)

(Matching outfits! My cousin Hyrum is in the back with Ephraim and Jack, and then Jerica, Carmen, and Natalia are holding Santana, Evelyn, and Kady)

(What a poser!)

(Monie wanted me to get a pic of her and Kyle, I thought this one was very cute!)

So yeah...that's pretty much the whole weekend. Evelyn traveled pretty good. We had Sierra ride with us so it was an interesting, entertaining ride. :) I do love that girl and will miss her and all my other nieces and nephews and sisters and parents when we leave in a few weeks!!! I can't believe our time here is almost up! But I guess it's really time that we get out into the real world for real real...It'll be an interesting next few months though, I'm sure I'll have lots to blog about, or maybe nothing! :) Anywho...time for me to hit the sack...it's been a long day and I've been a bit stuffy today so I need sleep! Hopefully Evelyn sleeps well tonight.........big wish there but it could happen! Here's some random pics from this weekend if you haven't had enough pics to look at yet :)

(This girl cracks me up!!! She's so crazy....)

(Awwww....she's so cute!)

(What beautiful girls! Chantelle and Sierra)

(The Fredrick Girls and the Hallman Girls...Chantelle, Chanda, Melanie, Emily, Mellisa, Crystal, Me, and Monie)

(Another two cuties!)

(I just LOVE Evelyn's face in this one!!! So funny!)

(This is Abrahm and Matteo "dancing"....more like wrestling!!!)

(Santana loves pushing strollers...kept Evelyn entertained so I could eat!)

(More cuteness!)

(And yet another couple of cute girlies!!!)

Everyday, you make me smile. Everyday, you make me glad to be a mother. Everyday, you make a memory I'll never want to forget.

Evelyn went in for her 6 month check up today and is pretty much perfect the doc said! Which of course I already knew that :) She weighs 17 lbs 8 oz, is 27 1/2 in tall, and her head measured 17 in. She's in the 80th percentile for her weight and the 95th for her height, no surprise there though, this girl is so tall! She's such a cutie too! Here's a pic we took of her this past weekend in Nauvoo as a sneak peek to the family pics we took there :) I'll get a post up about all that as soon as I can!

May 9th, 2008: Two lives change forever as they enter into the bonds of matrimony

Now for the actual wedding day! I was surprisingly calm that morning...I woke up, ate, and then Mellisa started working on my hair while everyone got ready around us. I just sat there listening to everybody and trying to stay awake cuz I was really tired! Mellisa did a fabulous job on my hair though! I loved it! Maria, Mom, and I left before everyone since we had to be at the temple earlier than everyone else so we left and got there around 9:30. I got changed and met up with Mark and we got to spend some time alone together in the Celestial Room, which was so nice! It helped me calm down any jitters/butterflies that I had. Then we went to a room where our Sealer spoke to us and then we went to the Sealing Room to get married! Of course I realized like right before we walked in the door that I had forgotten Mark's ring in the dressing room so I had to give Maria my key and we had to wait for her to run down and get it, which was fun cuz we just sat in there with all our other family members and chatted for a second before the ceremony started. When I told Maria I needed her to run down and get it she just looked at me with her classic Maria look, shook her head, like..."typical Tara"...(which is totally true) and went and got it like the amazing, awesome bridesmaid she was!

Like I said in the previous post there weren't too many people in there with us, maybe 15 or so, just family and Maria :). The ceremony was short and sweet and pretty much amazing, although I really couldn't tell you what the Sealer said at all...me and my memory! I really feel like an old lady sometimes cuz I can't remember anything! Anywho, when the ceremony was done Maria, Mom, and I went down to the dresser room again where I changed into my actual wedding dress and laced it up and put my veil on, which took a bit of time...but Maria was a pro by then so it looked great. (Maria and Whit did a pre-wedding trial lace up with my dress the night before we went to Nauvoo so they wouldn't have to figure it out the day of...it looked awesome though!!!). Then I went out into the foyer and met up with Mark and we went outside to greet our family for the first time as husband and wife! So weird I tell you...

I was so ultra happy though after we walked out of the Temple (well, inside too :) I even didn't mind all the picture taking that took place for the next long while...and if you know me you know that I really, really, don't like to have my picture taken. I'm sure I'd be more willing if I looked as beautiful as I did that day everytime I got my picture taken! It helps when someone's done your hair and make up for you so it looks fabulous and when you're wearing a beautiful dress. When Sarah and I were trying on dresses she kept saying she wishes she could wear a wedding dress everyday! Which I'm sure would get old and wouldn't feel as special after awhile but it's still fun!


Anywho (sorry I use that word a lot but I get sidetracked and then have to get back on track and that's my favorite transition word... :)-we did take lots of pictures. We had our main photographer (who we had lots of fun with, he was pretty cool) and then all my sisters had cameras and my roomies and there was just tons of pictures...but I love pictures and wanted LOTS so we took lots! We started with family pictures cuz my family had to leave right after to head back home, so that was fun getting everybody together and looking at the same camera at the same time and everything...VERY hard to do with over 20 people! That didn't take too long though and then we got to do individual pics of just me and Mark and we definitely had fun with that! I wanted cool pictures, not just the traditional serious ones and we did just that! I think it shows our personalities though...kinda...well the ones with my bridesmaids sure did :) THOSE were great!

The best part was all the awesome red accents I had with everything. I had the red lace up on the back of my dress, red flip flops, and then the red umbrellas which were especially amazing! The umbrella's were a result of Maria's fabulous genius, she saw them at Target and we HAD to get them! And I must say it was brilliant...simply brilliant. Really made the pictures. My aunt was walking around the historic area of Nauvoo and started to talk to some lady, a temple worker, I think, and told her that she was down there for her niece's wedding (there were actually four weddings that day) and the lady was like, "was your niece the one with the red hair and red flip flops?" And my aunt was like, "yeah, she is" and the lady was like, "oh my goodness! I thought she was so cute and I loved the flip flops!" So apparently I was a big hit with the temple workers :) But I couldn't help it, I looked amazing!

I really was very, very happy though with my pictures and have been having a fun time scrapbooking it all...I ran out of page inserts in my album though and have to buy more to fit them all :) I'm actually doing a real 12x12 album instead of an 8 1/2 x 11...really breaking out of my shell this time! I don't know if I'll go back or not...the bigger pages are so much more fun!