California Lovin'

 This adventure features Dan and I, our dear friends John and Kelsey Nelson, and Jafet Santiago (a boy I taught on my mission in Los Angeles!) Jafet was the one who inspired the trip out to watch Utah State play USC in Los Angeles at the Colisseum. Jafet attended USC and is an avid football fan. And what do you know, I'm married to a man who attends Utah State and is an avid football fan. It was a great plan!

DAY 1- Travel and Vegas!

We started our adventure by spending the night in Las Vegas, but not the traditional "Strip" experience most have. Jafet now lives in Las Vegas and considers himself a local and knows all of the local things to do. Jafet was an excellent host and gave us a fun tour of old-town Las Vegas and we ate a delicious dinner at a Thai restaurant!

 Dan, Megan, Jafet

 Kelsey and John on the teeter-totter!

 Yeah this restaurant is called "Heart Attack Grill"and anyone over 350lbs. eats for free! They have a massive scale outside of their restaurant to weigh yourself before entering! So nasty!

GAG!

Viva Las Vegas!

  DAY 2- Beach Day!

The next morning, the five of us took off from Las Vegas and headed for the coast of California!

 Finally, out of the car and in California!

We spent the day at beach next to Santa Monica Pier! It was overcast, but so much fun! 

Dan and John were immediately in the ocean! Kelsey, Jafet and I stayed on the beach and were content just sticking our feet in!

Body Surfing attempts!

 Classic feet in the sand picture... I have to take one ANY time I go to the beach!

 I've had kites in the trunk of our car since Easter, just waiting for the perfect opportunity to bust them out! And that day finally came! We found out that Jafet had NEVER flown a kite before! Guess there isn't much room to do that kind of stuff when you grow up in Santa Monica! So Kelsey and I were excited to teach Jafet and watch him experience what it's like to fly a kite!

 And it's up!

 Dan and John came back in from the water, only to grab the football! I guess since we were here to watch a football game, they had to make sure football was incorporated to every part of our trip :)

 Look at that handsome face ladies, it's all mine :)

 So much cooler to pass a football in the ocean waves

 Action Shot!

 This little boy was just cracking me up the whole time we were at the beach!

 Eventually, the passing the football got boring, and trying to hit moving objects, like seagulls became way more entertaining.... (wives: sigh)

 We found ourselves quite entertained digging for these little crabs as the tide came in and out! Those little buggers are fast and hard to catch!

 These two are the nicest and funnest people! And adorable together!

I could kiss this face all day haha

 Kelsey just being a babe as usual!

 We tried to take some romantic pics under the dock... not sure how that turned out!

 We decided they look like Dinosaur teeth!

 So presh!

We finished off the day with burgers and sitting in a hot tub chatting till the wee hours of the night!

 DAY 3- Game Day!

After being stuck in traffic for some time this morning, we made it to the game! The sun was out and we all got sunburned! It was so cloudy the day before and we came totally unprepared. The Colisseum is HUGE. Ah it was so cool to be there. We walked though USC campus and it was pretty incredible as well.  Even though the Aggies lost, I think they gave the Trojans a run for their money.

 After the game, we went to the Los Angeles Temple to do a session- totally the best part of my trip! We missed the last session, but were able to do sealings instead. The Sealer was from Tremonton, Utah (of all places!) and we had a special connection with him, it was such a great experience!

After such an eventful day, it was time for food... and watching more football! We went to this little pizza place in Beverly Hills and had the most delicious calzone of my life!  Which we then met up with Prince and Sam (two of the coolest guys I know!) and got ice cream at McDonalds!

We had such an awesome trip and some much needed time away from the day-to-day life.We loved spending time with our friends and made some great memories :)

 

So Long Summer

Dear Summer,

You were so so good to us this year.  We had an especially good time because Dan dropped his summer classes and that freed up 50% of our time. The sun has never felt so good, my skin hasn't had this much sun in years!  It was 3 months of bliss.  Some of our highlights included:

- Boating in Oneida, Idaho with our friends the Buttars.  That was THE most gorgeous lake I've ever seen in my life! And after a long day of boating, you could end it with an evening in the hot tubs!

- Boating with our friends the Nelsons and the Lunas at Utah Lake.  Thought the boat almost sunk, and the water was so shallow it came to our waists, it was a good time!

- Boating in Bear Lake with our ward! Delicious food, adorable toddlers in their swimsuits, and great company. What else could we ask for?

Hmmm... I wonder if we did anything else except boating this summer... Oh yeah, there were a few things...

- A Real Salt Lake soccer game, an Ogden Raptors baseball game, and weekly ward softball

- We finally went the Willow Park Zoo!

- A Drive In movie with our friends! Nothing like laying in the back of a truck under the stars.

- Seeing "Bandito Rides Again" at the Pickleville Playhouse was an absolute BLAST! We want to go there every summer as a tradition.

- Our one time trip to Seven Peaks was a good time.  We like water, and slides.

- We can't forget our rodeo experience here in Logan accompanied by dutch oven dinners.

- There was also that one weekend we went up to Lava Hot Springs and floated the river all day and ate square ice cream and yummy Thai food for our anniversary! That was fun!!!

- Game nights and camp fires up the canyon with friends are always a must.

Well it was good to see you old friend.  We hope the next nine months of winter here in Logan will pass quickly.

Love, Megan

P.S. I know Fall is only here for a week, but please let it know we're always happy to have it as long as it would like to stay.

A Disney Princess

Growing up, I loved Disney Princesses.  I wanted to be one. I cried every time my mom made my trim my hair because I was "that much" farther away from having the hair of Sleeping Beauty or Jasmine.

Lately, I've been on a bit of a Disney movie spree. I honestly can say I haven't watched most Disney movies from my childhood in like 10 years! I mean there is Finding Nemo, Cars, and a few of those other Disney movies that have come out since I've been in High School and College that I've seen a million times over (and still love!), but I'm talking about the Disney "classics"... Sleeping Beauty, Pocahontas, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Cinderella... pretty much any Disney movie before the year 2000. I have for sure been overdue in a stroll through my Disney movie childhood.

I will always love Disney movies, don't get me wrong! There is a life lesson in every movie! But it's kind of funny the things that I pick up on as an adult that I didn't as a child...

Is it just me or does anyone else notice how these Princesses are VERY quick to fall in love with the male characters who don't always have the best tempers, morals, etc.  I mean the male characters are always changed for the better by the end of the movie due to the love of a Disney Princess... but this is not reality!

I remember thinking in my teenage years that I was waiting for a Disney Prince to walk into my life and he would be charming and rich and have the manners of royalty... But now that I've grown up a bit and am married, I don't know why I wanted that! I married a boy who is better than a Disney Prince!

Dan my man was not born rich, but has hard work ethic and understands the value of money!  He is charming because he can be himself around me, and I around him.  He took me to a Temple (better than a castle!) where our marriage can last forever-- where there this a true Happily Ever After!

"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams" - Dr. Seuss

Speaking of Disney, I'm pretty excited to watch Once Upon A Time... Season 3 is starting on September 29th! If you haven't seen it, you should start!

And speaking of Princesses, I am completely obsessed with Kate Middleton... she is so classy and I want her wardrobe!