♥ Hello Natalie, So Long California.

She's finally home!!

After spending 18 months anxiously refreshing my email on Mondays so I could read her latest letter, dialing her number just to remember she wouldn't answer, and crying whenever Mean Girls came on, Natalie's homecoming was surreal and wonderful.

She is SO full of light and joy, and just exudes serenity and happiness.  It definitely twists the knife a little bit seeing how much she's changed knowing that I can't serve a mission until Brooks and I are old together.  Ahhhh well.

This last week was SO fun and went by way too fast.  

Tuesday night I embarked on a short little journey to California by taking two flights, one to Las Vegas, and then the next to Sacramento (can someone PLEASE explain to me why non-direct flights decide to fly you in the exact opposite direction of your destination??? So annoying).  Brooks had to work, so he didn't join me until late Saturday night, so it was just me and my good pal Sonic.  I must admit, I felt quite popular at the airports with him working the crowd everywhere he went.  The flights were nice because the planes were basically empty so I got an entire row to myself and spent the duration of the rides reading on my kindle app... which as much as I try to like it, it's just not the same as a good, ol' paperback.  Wow, I sound like I'm ninety...

Anyways...

Natalie came home on Wednesday morning, and after spending time catching up with relatives at the airport, our family headed over to Mimi's Cafe for some good breakfast.  We OF COURSE made a stop on the way home to AT&T so Nat could get her iPhone set up (priorities people) and then went home to relax and listened to some amazing missionary stories.

Here's the cutest homecoming video you'll EVER see!  (Props to my uncle Doug Orchard!  He put the whole thing together in just a couple of hours.  Seriously, I would get married again just to have him video it!)

        

On Thursday we headed to San Fran so Natalie could get her hair done (again, priorities people), so Stephen, Brad and I headed to Pier 39 to enjoy some magic shows and, my favorite of course, seafood.  My brothers and I played our favorite game called "Pat" where you try and find the most pats (people who are nearly impossible to decipher what gender they are).  Brad got 80 one time I believe.  Gotta love it.

Friday was spent outdoors swimming in my grandparents' new doughboy pool and enjoying their BBQ.  Natalie got fried after 18 months of no sun haha, what a cute missionary.  That night she had an open house so all our friends and family could come drop by and see her, and it was SO fun seeing some old friends from high school and who just got off their missions as well! 

My gramps and Sonic.  The bestest of friends.

Saturday was pretty much spent playing the Wii and helping Nat learn Instagram and all the latest technology stuff (it's seriously amazing how much you can miss in just 18 months).  That night we went to my mom's last ever Upstage show, her dancing performance group that she has been running for over 20 years! It was so good and fun, and I even got emotional realizing it was my last ever time watching it.  Brooks FINALLY got home that night, so my mood was instantly better.  My aunt said I looked like a lost puppy dog without him.  What can I say, he's just so cute.

Sunday we of course went to church to hear Natalie's homecoming talk which was unreal.  Lots of tears were shed and it was so heartfelt and honest, not rehearsed like most talks.  SO good.  Afterwards we had the entire gang over for a luncheon where Brooks and I promptly fell asleep after our food comas.  I've missed my mom's cooking.  We also went and visited some of my best friends from back home that I haven't seen in years, which was so, so fun.  Brooks and I won the prize for greatest ever Father's Day card, which we found weeks in advance and got for both of our fathers because we loved it so much.  We both love corny/inappropriate jokes I guess.

Logan's love for Sonic isn't quite reciprocated...

Monday we headed to San Fran again for some major girl shopping (p r i o r i t i e s) while the guys saw the new Superman movie, fulfilled our tradition of eating at the Cheesecake Factory on top of the 5 story Macys, and went to the Giants game!  Although the game was super exciting and went into extra innings, the Giants lost, but we still had a blast eating nachos and dancing on the dance cam.  One of our (Brooks and I) bucket list items is to visit every major league ballpark in America, and this was Brooks' first time at AT&T Park, and he loved how it looked over the bay and enjoyed all the millions of seagulls that come clean up leftover hotdogs immediately after the game ended (Seriously, it's just like Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds.  It's creepy.)  It was a perfect day.

Tuesday was a sad day, as it was our last day EVER at my parents house (they move to South Jordan in two weeks) and maybe the last time in Loomis for a long, long time.  We went over and swam at my grandparents again and played volleyball and ate pizza.  That night was just spent with family and included getting shakes at Taylors (bomb as always) for the last time, and playing card games.  I love my family, and as sad as I am that they're leaving my hometown, I will love having them closer.

 Seriously, look how many flavors of shakes they have, and this isn't even all of them!

 

Wednesday we were off, and after waving goodbye to our cute house one last time, we stopped in Reno to eat some sushi with my bestie from high school, and then continued the 10 hour drive to Utah (which was of course was filled with a J.T. soundtrack, diet coke, and talks about the future with the love of my life.  I seriously am so lucky to be married to my best friend).

We are now back to work and reality.  I really am loving my position at the Central Utah Clinic (especially since they buy us lunch EVERY SINGLE DAY.  The way to my heart is definitely through my stomach), and I'm so blessed to be doing something I really love that can help support my family financially.

Well, this post probably got out of hand length wise, but you guys can deal.

Things I'm grateful for:

Missions:  They really are such an amazing opportunity, and although I haven't been on one personally, I have seen first hand how life changing they can be and encourage everyone to go on one!

Sonic: I must admit, it feels incredibly lonely to go back to sleeping by yourself after being so used to snuggling up with someone.  It was a major comfort having Sonic be able to snuggle with me and help keep my mind off Brooks while we were apart.

My Extended Family: I really have amazing cousins/uncles/aunts and I love how they all help each other and all cook really well.  It makes me want to always live close to family.

Till next time peeps.

Xoxo.