the lake {or the fake one} {called a reservoir}

we are visiting our family in Utah & California and it's been oh so nice! 

Adam has been in school full-time plus working all summer so we haven't done much yet together to celebrate & have fun this summer. so we're living it up where we can and just relaxing.

and taking millions of pictures of course.  

so some of these posts coming up will most likely just be photo dumps. 

you good with that??

while we were in Utah my nephew, Phoenix, was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. it was a really special day to see my nephew take that next step. it was even more special for me because it reminded me of my own baptism which was on the exact same date 17 years ago. i wish i understood then what i know now of how much the gospel would truly bless my life. i realize how much faith a small 8-year-old exercises to make such a big decision and to then continue to stay true to those covenants, even without seeing the immediate blessings or lessons that i can now look back and see. just a really amazing thing to think about... 

Eli had so much fun seeing his cousins and kept yelling out for Phoenix even though he couldn't go sit by him yet. i'm grateful for the good example Phoenix and my niece Jersey is to Elijah that he can see the good choices they are making and follow in their footsteps. 

after the baptism, we went to a local, neighborhood reservoir-lake-type-place and spent the afternoon swimming and talking and building sand castles. so it was just an all-around fun day!

fun was had by all! 

and that is part one of my photo dump :)

we miss you, Utah!

I did it!!!

all bright & shiny before the race!

waiting for the race to start

my little cheerleader with blue hands :)

thankful for this girl for pushing me the whole way!

nailed it.  

on Saturday i ran in my very first race ever!! 

it wasn't that long and i totally suck at running.... but i still can't even believe i went through with it!

my friends encouraged me to sign up with them and since running a 5K was on my 20 wishes list for this year, i decided to go for it even though i never run.
ever.
never ever. 

but i finished. and more importantly, i survived. 
AND i completed it under my goal time!
so i mean... i thought that was pretty great :)

Adam and Elijah came to cheer me on too. as much as i told him he really didn't need to come, i was really happy to see them on the sidelines smiling, clapping, and yelling "GO MEGAN!!"
i feel like i feel in love with both of them a little more that day.

and anything with bubbles + hanging out outside + eating fruit snacks all day automatically means that Elijah will have the time of his life.

i was telling Adam today that i was feeling kind of bad about it all since i didn't really run that far
or have that great of time
and other people run way bigger races
and i couldn't believe i was proud of such a small thing....

but Adam reassured me how proud he was of me and that for just starting out running it was a great accomplishment. he also reminded me that i should feel good about myself for what i've done instead of comparing myself to others all the time.

which is true. comparing is my weakness.

but looking at these pictures again reminds me of the rush i did have for completing something that was honestly a big challenge for me.
maybe i'm not the best runner. or have the most endurance. or the fastest.
but i'm good enough for me.
and i should be more proud about that.

so..... all in all, it was a pretty exciting & momentous day!! 
I DID IT!!!!
:)

exploring

[my feet are turned weird apparently…? i think it’s the shoes]

[i threw the tennis ball and he was really concerned about where it went]

yesterday we went exploring around our little neighborhood apartment complex. we looked at bugs
collected rocks
found playground treasures {a tennis ball}
looked at flowers & leaves
discovered new paths
and ran ran RAN!

i’m glad we have one more summer here in Provo and even more glad that Elijah is old enough to finally enjoy it.
i love Provo summers & will be so sad when we have to say goodbye. walking around our neighborhood made me really sad to leave.
i love this little place!! more than i thought i ever could.

but right as i was feeling sentimental & nostalgic,
Eli decided to run away from me & ignore my instructions to not run into the street
throwing me back into reality and taking him swiftly home for his nap.

i will still miss this place.

San Diego

i’ve been trying to figure out how i want to write this post.
and in addition, how i want remember our trip to San Diego last week.
i want to be positive but i also want to be honest
which is sometimes a hard balance to strike.

so i’ll just start from the beginning and try to tell it how it is.

+ Adam had to opportunity to go to the International Experimental Biology conference in San Diego and present his research. it was a big honor and i’m so proud of him to be able to go!
and since it was a school thing, BYU paid for him to go AND he got extra grant money from the conference which paid for me and Elijah to tag along as well.
so not a bad place for a free trip!

- it is a 11 hour drive and Elijah screamed most of the way home {torture}. and then Adam was gone at the conference most of the day each day so i was left with a really grumpy Elijah trying to figure out what to do most days (minus one day where Adam only went for a half day. but the morning was brutal!)

+ we were able to visit La Jolla beach and see the tide pools & seals, check out Seaport Village, walk around the Gaslamp District, see the Mormon Battalion visitor center, go to the San Diego Zoo [by the miracle which is my good friend Ginny!!], get to hang out with Adam’s lab, get serenaded in Old Town, see the U.S.S. Midway, and eat lots of yummy food!

- Elijah fell in the water [twice!!] and is now completely traumatized of water {an after effect we are still dealing with!}, we had to walk everywhere! and when we wanted to take the train we missed it so my legs are still aching, Elijah screamed at every restaurant we went to and we had to take him outside most of the time [or in one instance when i went to lunch with my friend Ginny, we had to give up eating altogether and just leave], Elijah also didn’t sleep 3 out of the 4 nights we were there

[Elijah’s progression of getting taken out by a wave.]
  

+ we stayed in a really nice hotel downtown that was actually a suite so we could have a separate sleeping area than Elijah and he had his own corner. and although he didn’t sleep at night, he did take his naps all but one day which was nice.

- although people told us downtown San Diego was nice, walking around by myself with Elijah [and at one time after 8:00 at night] i found out it was NOT the nicest area and at one point i’m pretty certain i saw a drug deal. there were people yelling and some that were drunk along each street and let’s just say i found out i’m a lot more brave than i thought i was!

+ we made lots of good family memories despite all the bad parts! 

nope, it was not this perfect, glamorous trip.
yep, we are still feeling the effects of what a messed up sleep schedule can do to a toddler.
but overall, i do not regret going.
{although in the first 5 hours i definitely wanted to get on a plane and come home… }

i’m glad i got to go support Adam and we could be together and celebrate his accomplishments.
even though having a 2-year-old puts a whole new twist on family vacations, there were still many moments that i was happy to see Elijah’s face light up in pure joy.
it was definitely a trip we will not forget!

{Mormon Battalion & zoo will have another post. too many pictures as you can see!}