Back to the States and a Quick Summer in South Carolina

So we went to China. And then we came back. And coming back was almost as much of an ordeal as going.

But despite the ridiculous experience that was moving back to the U.S., there was nothing better than coming back to loving family just in time for a holiday weekend. Even with a massive cross-country road trip looming over our heads...

After we finally made it into LAX after several hours of delay because of a storm, I practically ran into my beautiful, smiling mother's arms. She even made a sweet welcome sign in English and Chinese. Bah, my mommy. After hugs all around we piled into the car and headed to the place that I had been dreaming about for weeks.

In N Out baby. Oh man, it was SO good. (Maybe I should mention now that much of this post is about food...) The rest of the weekend was spent enjoying the sun, food, sleeping in, the beach, food, my family, and food.

So ever since I moved out of the house Adam and I have a tradition where every time I come home to visit I take him to Coldstone, just the two of us. Well this time he had a sweet gift card and he bought ME ice cream. Love this kid!

The day after Memorial Day we started our long journey across the country. The first stop was Utah. Spencer had to take a couple of language proficiency tests to end his time with the Flagship program and we had some things to do before we headed East, so we spent a whoppin' 1 day there before we got back on the road. We spent the day fixing the car, taking tests, having lunch with friends, and visiting grandparents. Oh yeah, and eating food.

Kneader's fruit tart....LOVE

And then we were really off. 3 days cross-country and we finally rolled into Spartanburg, South Carolina. Our new home.  And just because I know you were dying to know, that was 2 airplanes, 13 states, 43 driving hours, and over 10 THOUSAND miles traveled in less than a week to get to our new abode.

Another restaurant checked off the list!

So, SO good, and nothing like real Chinese food.

Whew.

You will be pleased to hear that we had a MUCH better first impression of our new apartment this time around (remember this?). Our complex is set back in a forest and the apartments were recently renovated. And we actually decorated this time!

So our time here in South Carolina has seemed like a whirlwind, but we have loved it. The people here are awesome, we've made some really great friends, and it's been fun living in the South. A quick look at some of the things we've done this summer...

Peach date! All things peaches.

Puzzles, puzzles, puzzles

Every once in a while Spencer is in charge
of dinner. He's had to make a few new things
and they all turned out really yummy!

We decided to build card buildings and then tried to shoot
each other's down with rubber bands.

Trips to the temple!

Our little friend. Who randomly showed up on our balcony.
On the second floor.

Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain.

Out of the 90 days we've been here, we are fairly certain
that it has rained at least 70 of them.

And it's crazy that we actually head back to Provo on SATURDAY! Our apartment is a mess as we're packing up, but we're really excited to be back at school and be surrounded by people we have known and loved for years. And frankly, I'm excited to be in one place for more than 3 or 4 months. So look out Provo, here we come!