Melinda Payne : the last of california and utah.

We've been in Massachusetts for about a month, and unless you follow me on instagram, twitter or facebook, you'd have no idea because I never update this blog ever. But, I'm doing it today, dang it!

Our last little while in California was so much fun! We spent time with friends, went to the beach and made sure that Ellie got plenty of time with Grandma and Papa. It was so sad saying goodbye to our amazing ward and our wonderful little primary class full of girls who were just obsessed with Ellie. We sold a bunch of stuff on craigslist and through a big garage sale we had. The day before we left, we got together a ton of moving boxes, and with the help of my AMAZING mother in law, we got everything all packed and ready to go! We hired a moving company (they were awful. I can't even tell you. OMG) but they weren't going to come for another few days so we just boxed everything up in the garage and then packed up our car as full as we possibly could.

Sleepover party with lot's of fun cousins!

I got food all over my face. What.

Snuggling with a pastry brush.

Grandma and Papa took us out to dinner :)

I left her alone for 5 seconds....

Matching cheeks!

Then, the next day we were on our way to Utah!! We left at around 7 in the morning and our drive was a DREAM. One of us would sit in the back with Ellie to help her eat and to entertain her while the other drove, then we'd switch. She was so good and and so happy! I think she loved getting one on one attention for 10 hours straight. She napped really well, she didn't get very fussy and we just had a good time! The drive was over so fast. It was quite the transition from driving with a newborn, that's for sure!

We had SO much fun in Utah! I had a really hard time leaving. We spent as much time as we could with our family and as many friends we could convince to come and see us. My brother Dave set up a Wallace family campout in our backyard full of meals, games and activities through out the week that we were there. Every time I'm with my family, I can't believe how much I miss them all. They are so much fun to be around and I seriously hate not living close to them. We got to celebrate the 24th of July (for those non-Utahn's out there, it's Utah's founding day. Basically it's treated like July 4th number two. It's the best ever.) and so we got to go to the parade, watch fireworks, and go to the fun activities in Bountiful park. On the 25th, Eric's mom flew to Utah, and she and Eric started the long drive to Boston. I stayed and hung out for a few more days before Ellie and I flew the next week. She did really well on our drive to Utah, but I wasn't going to push my luck on a cross country drive. No thanks. I had a ton of photo shoots as well when we were there. Thank you so much to all that booked with me!! I'm so grateful for the work I get to do!! We're coming again in December for Christmas so if anyone wants to book with me or if you want to play, let us know!!

Ellie fell in love with her great grandma and grandpa Foy. It was probably the sweetest thing I've ever seen.

I literally had to pry her away from his arms. She loves him so much!

I missed the Great Salt Lake and Utah Sunsets. As beautiful as California is, it has nothing on Utah Sunsets.

The two best friends you ever did see.

I love this woman so much.

Eric took me on a mini date to Neilson's Frozen Custard and then up to the Bountiful Temple. It truly is such a blessing and a luxury that I took for granted while living in Bountiful to be so close to the temple.

This girl right here is the most amazing person I've ever met. She's helped me through some of the hardest times I've had. She's always there when I've needed to laugh, cry, talk for 15 hours or just have someone to watch viral videos with. She is such a huge example to me, and I'm so grateful that our little friendship that started in 7th grade is now one that will last a lifetime no matter where we are. Love your stinking guts Lex!

Playing with cousin Peyton :)

Shopping with my mama

Playing with cousin Chloe!

Naked baby bum! Right after this pic was taken she face planted in the water.. oops. No permanent damage, don't worry!

This amazing (no longer pregnant) friend of mine who I met in college in a photography class helped us with some family pictures! She's the best. She just had a baby girl who I cannot wait to meet!

The whole bunch! We took some quick pictures while we were in town :)

Our flight wasn't as bad as I was expecting. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't super easy either haha It was pouring rain when my mom drove us to the airport. It took us forever to get our bag checked in, and to go through TSA. Luckily, a sweet lady helped hold Ellie while I got everything loaded up to go through the little x-ray machine and such. With a necessary diaper change, we barely made it in time to the gate with 5 minutes before we started boarding. My heart was pounding haha I met another sweet lady who had a little toddler and she kind of adopted me on that flight. She and her adorable little girl helped me with my stroller, carseat, and two carry ons. (Having a big camera bag and a diaper bag and a wiggly baby are not easy things to navigate through a tiny airplane isle.) I sat down in my window seat (slightly disappointed because I was really hoping I could have an isle for easy access to diaper changes) but by some luck, no one sat by me! My new friend was only a couple of rows up from me and she and her girl would check on us periodically. I was so grateful for them! Ellie LOVED the flight. Last time we flew, she was tiny and slept through the whole thing, but this time she was wide awake. When we were taking off, she started squealing and screaming and jumping. Since it was raining, there was a ton of turbulence which she thought was the best ever. She was looking out the window, looking at me, back out the window, all wide eyed and thrilled. Trying to keep that child contained in a very small area for more than 10 minutes is a real challenge. But 3 hours... that was tough haha I'm so grateful for that empty seat, because I don't know what I would have done with her. She took a little nap, drank two small bottles and then we landed in Chicago for our layover. My friend helped us out of the plane, I basically kissed her feet in thanks (not really, but I was super grateful) and we said our goodbyes. Then, Ellie and I took the long trek through the airport to find our gate. I've never been in an airport that big. I was shocked haha Usually I'm really good at navigating through airports but here I had to ask a few gaurds where the heck I was. Once we finally found our gate after walking 17 miles, I gave Ellie a diaper change, put jammies on, got me a mini deep dish pizza (because I remembered that I had to eat at some point), and we waited at our gate to board. By the time we were in Chicago, it was an hour past Ellie's bed time. She was totally wired. She wasn't fussy, she was crazy haha I set her down and I have never seen her crawl so fast haha She was screaming with laughter trying to get away from me, and everyone who could see her was laughing too. The girl nearly crawled off a balcony before I snatched her haha Once we stated boarding, I once again met a guardian angel who helped me through the whole process by carrying my bags and getting us to our seat. Once again, I didn't have anyone sitting right next to me (although a cute teenage girl was in the next seat after that, and she was thrilled to be sitting next to Ellie haha). This time when we took off, Ellie wasn't just happy, she was ecstatic. I can't really explain it, but she was so tired, that she was belly laughing. She couldn't breathe she was laughing so hard! Everyone around us was laughing and I was in tears laughing so hard! Within about a half hour of the flight, she crashed hard. She slept through everything except the last 20 minutes when we were making our descent into Boston. I think it started bugging her ears because the poor girl just screamed the whole way down. It was so sad :( We landed and my other new friend helped us off and saw us all the way until we knew where we were going. There are good people in this world!! I'm so grateful for those that help others. Their kindness makes me want to be a better person every day. The second we got down to baggage claim, I saw the greatest sight I've ever seen. My sweet husband and my wonderful mother in law. When Ellie saw her dad and grandma, she freaked out! She was bouncing in her carseat and throwing her arms around and smiling from ear to ear. It was so sweet :) We picked up my bag and started our drive to our new apartment....