BFFs, time capsules, and photo shoots. Oh, my!

Once upon a time, I had a best friend named Heather. We met in second grade and became attached at the hip, as the best of best friends do. We clogged together, were tom boys together, tried to shave our legs without permission together, and did all sorts of other wacky 8 year old girl things together. Well, a few years went by and my dad switched jobs. Suddenly my family was packing up and leaving the good old land of Utah for the rugged east coast. I was devastated. How could I leave my other half?

Now that we were separated, we schemed ways of getting back together. We started saving all our allowance and baby sitting money, pooling it together for a plane ticket for Heather. She came to see me in Massachusetts two years after we moved. For several summers to follow, my family went back to Utah to visit, and I always made a point of spending time with my BFF.

Well, around the time we turned 16 and started dating, driving, and other shenanigans, our lives started parting ways. We fell out of touch and did not hear from each other until we were 23 and I was gearing up to marry Marty. As it turned out, while I had been sewing my wild oats and then meeting my handsome husband, Heather had met and married her own wonderful man and started her family. Now, three years later, I've got 2 babies, she's got 3, and at the beginning of this year I decided it was high time we met up. Marty booked me a ticket, and off I went with my lap-sitter, Lucy, for Chicago (or thereabouts).

It was incredible to reconnect and see where we both have ended up. Aren't we just a sight to behold?
Heather has three of the sweetest little boys I have ever met. This one is nothing but a love bug and was a great playmate for Lucy the whole time we were there.
Here are our two tiny munchkins, all snuggle buggled and ready to go!
One of the nights I was there, Heather informed me that she had a time capsule that we had created when she came to visit me in Massachusetts. I had completely forgotten and was a little nervous as to what the contents could be. 12 year old girls are weirdos, after all.
Apparently plastic jewelry was of uber importance to our little pre-teen selves. Plastic earrings and rings made up about 80% of the contents. We had also thrown in a few random pennies--not pennies to mark the year of the time capsule, mind you. Just plain old pennies, you know, in case the U.S. currency had dramatically changed in 14 years. We had also cut out a piece of one of our clogging camp shirts and written "Clog Utah" on it--man, we were die hard. Oh, and then there were the notes we had written to our future selves. Absolute gems, I tell you. The highlights of my letter were that I was going to be married to my middle school crush, Leo Waible. I was going to have 9 kids, work as a herpetologist(google it), and live nowhere but Provo, Utah (otherwise known as Paradise--right?:). All of our free time was going to be spent helping those in need, and "passers by." Our large house, to fit our large family, was going to have candles everywhere (apparently the large amount of candles was particularly important to note). And the BEST part, the final line of my letter, was that I hoped to be beautiful like Cindy Crawford. Well at least I achieved one of my goals:).
Sporting our plastic goods.
Heather and her husband have taken up photography as a hobby, and she spoiled me with some great shots of me and the Goose while we were there. If only she lived close enough that we could get her to capture our whole family *sigh.* One day.








Our trip ended with an unexpected two day extension when the airline had to cancel and reschedule our flight due to weather. After a momentary panic, it ended up being a great blessing to have a little more time. Dorothy and Marty were back home safe and sound enjoying some one-on-one time together, and Lucy and I still made in home late Sunday night before school vacation ended for Marty. Thanks for letting us come, Taylor family! Let's try and have less than a 10 year break between visits next time!