friday favs

carter,

you make me the happiest mom in the world

and i'll never, ever stop loving you.

i know i tell you that about 47 times a day 

but in case you ever forget,

here it is in writing.

i love you squirt.

and there's nothin' you can do about it.

they knew each other before

i believe we lived before we came to earth

all as spirit sons and daughters

of our Heavenly Father

in a place that us "mormons" 

call the pre-existence.

i'm not sure how many faiths have this same belief,

but it's one of my favorite truths

the gospel teaches.

i am a 100% confident that 

daron and carter were best friends

in heaven before they came to earth.

it's almost hard to describe the bond 

they have between them.

sometimes i watch carter look at daron

and i swear he is thinking, 

"finally, finally i get to be with you on earth."

i picture those 26 years carter had in heaven without daron

agonizing for him.

i have never seen a son love their dad so much.

it really is somethin' else.

i am so grateful for the chance to witness such a bond

and i pray my heart out every day

that it will never skip a beat.

take me out to the ball game: round 2

a year ago i took carter to his first ever major league baseball game.

(round 1)

it was a disaster.

he had a look of complete terror on his face and pretty much screamed the entire time.

so, as you can imagine, we have steered clear of baseball games.

a week ago, daorn and i had the chance to go to an angels game

in awesome seats

as a date night.

we ate a bowl of nachos the size of our head,

(literally)

enjoyed incredible weather 

and the all-American spirit of a baseball game.

we also couldn't stop talking about how much 

we wished carter was there.

we were pretty positive

 that his 20-month-old self would be much different 

than his 8-month-old self.

5 days later, we got the chance to see.

we took carter to "mormon night" at the angels

(an event i look forward to every year).

lucky for us, carter loved it.

he clapped,

he cheered,

he danced,

and said "ball"

(his favorite word)

about 1000x over.

the awe on his face was priceless.

^thumbelina is still working on taking our "family selfies"

sorry babe! :)

now carter walks around the house all day with the nacho helmet on his head trying to say "baseball." 

of course, i think it's the cutest thing i've ever seen.

positano: CAPRI!

after rome, we made our way down along the coast to the cliffside towns on the amalfi coast. people often quote john steinbeck who once wrote, when describing positano, "it is a dream place that isn't quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone." daron and i both found those words to be dead on. everything about this place was dreamy. everywhere you look, you see pastel-colored houses perched on top of rugged mountains over-looking the sea. i also read in one of my travel books that "it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say positano is one of the most beautiful places on earth." i thought the author was exaggerating...until i saw it for myself.

the first day we arrived it was late in the evening. all i remember of that night was sitting at our table outside starring at the view from our room (pictured above) with googly eyes until the sun went down. oh, i also remember constantly reminding myself that i wasn't dreaming and indeed, i was in positano and the amalfi coast was already exceeding my expectations.

warning: i tried to take pictures that captured the feel of this place but my very limited photography skills don't even come close to portraying what this place looks like in real life. i don't know if any picture does it justice. it's one of those "you must see for  yourself"...

the next morning, we headed to the beach to catch a ferry to the island of capri and spent our first full day there. at one point, daron and i both layed on one of the public beaches to hang out and swim. both of us ended up falling asleep and having what we will always remember as the best nap of our lives.  it was a mere 30 minutes but if felt like 4 hours. everything about the island was so romantic. i'm convinced it had this weird super power to relax you too. i always tell daron that when he gets stressed, i'm going to remind him of sleeping on capri. i don't know if it will help him but i get heavy eyes just saying those words!

once we landed we grabbed a snack and hopped on a boat to take our tour around the island and to see the blue grotto, an absolute must!

^tons of boats meet at the opening of the cave 
that takes you into the blue grotto.
then men in rowboats come pick you up to take you inside.

it's a little chaotic but after spending only a short time in italy i wouldn't expect anything less from the italians! ;) 

^to the right of the guy's head in the middle is the opening to the cave.

can you see a teeny-tiny dark spot with the back of row boat?

everyone has to crouch down to be able to fit through!

^truly one of the most beautiful things i have ever seen.

i tell daron frequently that i cannot die without going back to that cave!

^i'll let you in on a little secret that lets you know daron is enjoying this nap.
he usually has a frown when he sleeps... check out that smirk he has!

after our time on the beach, we had a delicious lunch right on the sand next to the water. i fulfilled my dream of eating mouth-watering caprese salad on the island of capri while daron had a caprese sandwhich. before the last ferry came in, we headed up the funicular that takes you to the top of the mountain ridge next to the harbor. capri is known to be expensive and luxurious. and what we saw was just that. so since we definitely wouldn't be doing any shopping, daron and i bought the delicious mandorlati treat for 4 euros and basically just let our jaw drop at all the expensive shopping...

oh, you can bet there was some people watching in there too! 

^part of the view from up top!

then we had to say goodbye...

up next, the rest of our stay on the amalfi coast!

*a side note for next time: 

one day i want to come back to the island of capri and stay for a few days so that i can -

1. swim at a private beach

2. swim in the blue grotto with just daron. the workers at the blue grotto repeatedly said swimming was forbidden inside the cave. but daron and i talked to a local who said if you stay on the island and make it to cave before 8, you can take a dip inside and have the blue grotto all to yourself. how amazing does that sound!?!?!? 

next time...