home!

at the beach...


so it's taken me a few days (weeks) to get around to posting about our trip home... i kinda wanted to get settled and find my "happy place" before even looking at pictures of the beach (even though i hardly took any pictures at all!) and reminiscing over 2 glorious weeks in sunny san diego. and so, i think i'm ready.
spending the last few days of summer with family and friends was sooo good for us and helped cement in my mind why san diego truly is home for me. i think what is so alienating about idaho is that i don't know a soul here - no close family, not even distant relatives, no old friends, etc. of course, there is always room for new friends, but there is something about living close to those you love and who love you too. anyhow... the trip was a dream - we spent every spare moment at the beach, visiting with friends, and hanging out with the fam. owey and i got there saturday the 23rd and it was so fun to see him remember grammy and papa (my mom and dad) and get that huge grin on his face. he had such a great time with them and i know he misses the shower of kisses and attention already. that first week was spent mostly relaxing and playing. owey got to meet up with his long lost girlfriend (audra) and his brother from another mother (harrison) and had tons of fun exploring the beach, the zoo, the park, and grammy and papa's spa.
in the spa with grammy...

being away from clint for 5 or 6 days made me realize how close we really are and how lucky we are to have him around so much (studying of course, but at least he's home!). we really missed him and i caught myself talking about him all the time - he really is my best friend. clint finally made it to san diego after finishing up his finals (straight A's again!) and after a looooong night of delayed flights, being stuck in a phoenix airport with a hurricane-like storm that actually knocked out the power (can you imagine?) and eventually made it home at about 3am on the day of his birthday. poor guy. we spent his birthday shopping for new clothes for him and later met up with the fam for dinner at buca di beppo. if only the day had ended there... poor owey was up all night that night puking - and the night ended with the three of us passed out sleepover style on the floor in his room. definitely not the highlight of the trip.

at the park...

the next week went by so fast it is a blur. it started off with miq and her fam coming into town to get some good old cousin bonding time in, and it was fun to spend time with them. i can't believe how big her kids are getting! we went to the beach (of course) the boys went golfing, ate lots of good food, and played nerts like the good old days. we also visited our old ward (which we miss soooo much), had game night with the clarks, dinner with the kaltenbachs and the matters, said farewell to keri and rick, hung out with the o'farrells, hmmm... what else? i don't even know. all i know is we had such a great time and can't wait to go back!!

at the zoo...

sorry for the lazy collages...