Catch My Breath

Have you ever felt like life sometimes sweeps you off of your feet and you just go and go and go? And then you go some more and the busyness never quite seems to end? Well, that has been our lives the last few months. We have had so many fun and exciting things happen, but finding a minute to sit down, relax, and blog about it has not been in the agenda. 

However, we are finally starting to slow down and catch our breath. Thank heavens for these laid-back, lazy summer days! We feel so fortunate to be able to have a fairly calm summer this year. But, we have done such lovely things, so here I go, catching my breath and sharing all of our fun!

1. Eric with the Young Ambassadors in China

Eric had the awesome opportunity to visit China in May with the Young Ambassadors. He is just becoming a little world traveler! So he left for a month and toured Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, and Hong Kong, plus a few more cities. And no, I did not get to go with him. Bummer, I know. Let's just say, I am very glad he is back home. And I think he is too, at least as far as the food goes. :) He had an incredible experience though! Who wouldn't? This is China we're talking about. If he ever gets to go back again one day, you bet I'm going to find a way to be there with him haha.

2. Megan's little life in Provo

Alright, alright, I know this doesn't sound near as appealing as being in China, but I did a few things to stay busy while my sweetheart was away. Luckily, I was still busy with school. The last two months of the school year are nuts! Between the testing, assemblies, field trips, parties, and good-byes, it literally goes in the blink of an eye. And before I knew it, my first "half-year" of teaching was over. There were some definite bitter-sweet feelings. I also got to go back to USU to walk for graduation. It was so awesome seeing old friends and being back in the town I love so much!

I also made a few goals while Eric was gone. One was to visit as many temples as I could. I wanted to do a little "traveling" of my own. I had the opportunity of going to three new ones, making it a total of 7 different temples I have visited now. I hope that number just gets bigger and bigger as I get older. Not to say I have been to a lot, but because I love the same feeling of peace and love felt in every single one. Another goal was to hike the Y, so my mama came down for a weekend to visit and we did it together. Good memories!

3. Together Again

What a good place to be....together. I just love spending every minute I can with my dear Eric. Whether we are visiting family, playing with friends, watching a movie, or heck, even doing the dishes... if I can be doing it with Eric, I love it! Here are a few of the things we have been doing since our summer began.

At a super rainy REAL game

Celebrating my dad's 50th birthday 

An evening in the park with Avery and Kimball

The first of many summer campfires 

Supporting our sweet friends Taylor and Bailee at Bay's half marathon. 

A day on the lake with our friends

4. Disneyland Adventuring

Okay, this could and probably should be a blog post all of its own. Yes, we went to DISNEYLAND! The Sackett's have a family trip each summer and this summer we were so lucky to get to go to the happiest place on earth. I have only been once before when I was 14, so it was a dream come true to go again. All of the siblings and spouses and nieces and nephews were there...which means complete crazy, non-stop fun! We went to St. George for a few days, then headed to Disneyland and California Adventure, went north to Universal Studios, and then headed south to San Diego for a day at SeaWorld. Ah, talk about a great vacation. It is nice to be back but I secretly wish we could do the whole thing over again. It was so fun!

 

5. The 4th of July 

I seriously love the 4th of July holiday. It ranks right up there next to Christmas, in my opinion. I LOVE the bbq's, the fireworks, the parades, the warm summer nights, the family....I just love it all! This year was the first 4th of July that I haven't been up at Pickleville in four years, so I think all of the fun seemed even more special since I hadn't done it for a while. On the 3rd, we had a neighborhood "Cul-de-sac of Fire." We had the grill out, lots and lots of treats and watermelon, and some sweet fireworks. Then on the 4th, we went to the Provo City Parade, had a family bbq (with more watermelon and some homemade ice cream), and then went to the Stadium of Fire. Let's just say, Kelly Clarkson is INSANELY talented! Gosh, she is just as good live as she is on her albums. And the fireworks were amazing. Wow. Such a memorable night. Here's to a successful celebration of our nation's birth!

Phewww.... It feels good to take a moment catch up... to relieve the memories we have had the last little while. Eric and I have been married for just over 6 months now. And they have been 6 of the greatest months I have lived. I like having that guy around. He makes life fun. Oh! Let me share an example. Lately, we have been having some great thunderstorms here in Provo. So, the other night we were driving home when a storm really started picking up. Eric was DYING to be out in the rain. He gets so giddy over summer rain storms. It is really funny. He would be right in the middle of saying something and stop with a "WOAH!" or a childish giggle. See for yourself....

Haha, life is pretty great. It isn't perfect by any means. But it's treating us well right now. We are so grateful for the things that we have and more importantly, the people that we have in our life. But no matter what happens in our lives, be that good or bad, the Lord is mindful and has promised blessings if we serve Him and do what is right. 

And knowing that, we can truly catch our breath.

Zoo Day!

Yesterday was a day of pure delight! Animals. Strollers. Kiddo's. Fun. You know, all the goodness that comes from a day at the zoo. It had been a few years since I had visited Utah's very own. The last time I had been to Hogle Zoo, it was on a slightly odd date haha. So whoosh! I'm glad to now have a new memory of this zoo.

And what a fun memory I have fresh in my mind. We had such a great time. I was able to go with some of Eric's family. Since three of us were educators, we can give all the credit to Spring Break for this little zoo trip. We can also give all the credit to Spring Break for the MASSIVE amounts of people there. I don't think I have ever seen so many strollers in one place before haha. But the ooh's, ahh's, and wide smiles that came from seeing the fascinating animals were so worth fighting the crowds. I seriously felt like one of the hundreds of giddy children roaming around. My camera was just a-flashin' all day long.

We saw some incredibly beautiful animals...

And some, well, not so beautiful animals...

We also came up with a theory that some of the zoo animals are literally insane. I mean, think about it: if you were caged up in a small little space either by yourself or with one other person and had absolutely nothing to do but just sit, walk, swim or play (in a very confined space), wouldn't you go nutso too? I sure would. My mother-in-law heard that for an ocean animal, like a seal or sea lion, to swim in one of the pools provided by the zoo, they feel like we would feel sitting in a bathtub. Ity bity living spaces... that's all I can say. Poor animals. Anyway, the reason that we believe this theory of mentally unstable animals living in the zoos is because of the following animals. Say hello to the pole-licking giraffe and the cardboard box-eating gorilla.

We watched the giraffes for a solid seven minutes, and this guy wouldn't stop licking the pole and tweaking his jaw the whole entire time. Iron deficiency? Possibly. Insanity? More than likely.

This big gorilla-friend was one of a few monkeys that were sprawled on their backs, eating cardboard. Who eats boxes all afternoon? A crazy gorilla! The poor thing had a crazed look in his eyes the whole time and would pick up a full cardboard box, rip a big hunk off of it, then tear it down to chewing size and begin the munching. Hungry? Maybe. Toothache? Slight chance. Psycho? I wouldn't doubt it.

But what was even more fun to see than neat-o animals was the sweet faces of our niece and nephews. Gosh, they are cuties! I couldn't have scored better in the cutest nieces and nephews category than I did when I married Eric. 

 Kimball

Zach

 Avery

 Taylor

We had such a fantastic trip to the zoo. By the time we left, we were all pretty ready to be done. How badly I wish that adults could ride around in strollers at the zoo. Now, that would be the life! This fun little trip got me even more excited for Disneyland with this crew in June. Woo hoo!

The only thing that could have made this day better would have been to have Eric along with us. He is in the middle of projects and finals and wrapping up another semester. I'm not going to lie, I do not miss that part of college. A "grown-up" job has it's own set of challenges, but the finals... yep, I'm glad that phase of my life is tucked away into the memory books. And our lovely zoo day will go into a special spot in those books as well!