Happy Independence Day!

I love the 4th of July. It's casual and fun. The weather is great (though different in San Francisco. I could probably get used to hot chocolate for this holiday!) There's fun gatherings and good food and less stress.

We started off the weekend with a baseball game at the Oakland A's, including a family BART ride and complete with fireworks on the field.

This boy loves riding the train!!

It was late. James did amazingly well, but quickly fell asleep in the stroller on the way out of the stadium.

Love holiday family photos.

James had a great time keeping Uncle Nathan occupied playing catch. He often insisted Nathan crouch down to catch the ball with is scoop on the ground.

Sparklers were a huge hit! Thank you to Lauren's family for helping us all have a great party!

He just didn't stop grinning.

And about a week later, Nathan stopped by with the crib/ toddler bed! It fits perfectly in the walk-in closet and James is happy to have a big bed now! 

Fire Station!

Since James has shown particular interest in Firetrucks lately, we scheduled a fire station tour for him and some friends. They were a very young crowd, but very fascinated. We got to see a firemen get all dressed up in his gear and some come down the fire pole. They also let the kids explore the cabs of the trucks. It's always a good day when you get to see a firetruck!

Next up, trains!

Bump Ahead

Hello from California. 

It's been a while. Life has not felt picture perfect, so there's been less pictures. But thankfully that is changing. We've been on some lovely adventures and I will be posting more photos for the grandmas to enjoy. For starters, here's our small collection of Baby Girl bump photos. 

Golden Gate Bridge 24 Weeks

(Photo idea credit goes to Mark)

      17 weeks                                                      Mother's Day,  23 weeks

Pacific Ocean, 24 Weeks  (both photos)

    Payson Utah Temple,          28 weeks             Oakland California Temple, 34 weeks

Exploring California

What, you don't want to see more photos of Utah? Okay, okay. Here's what we're up to recently.

Exploring the marina in Emeryville.

I love this photo of James adoring and learning from Mark.

James now loves boats, and fish. He has always loved birds. We have not seen fish in the water, but he knows that's where they live.

Then on to John Muir Woods forest. Beautiful!

James' favorite part were the little deer on the side of the path.

So beautiful, in fact, that I felt the need to do sun salutations. In California, you can do anything at any time. Even yoga in the path.

James made friends with the bear. And loves his robot shirt. His latest skill is "doing the Robot."

Mark took James down to Muir beach. James is still getting used to waves.

And to end, this nice, sentimental succession of photos. Look how he's grown!

20 months

11 months

6 months old

The Real Graduation

Last week I posted the (rushed) posted photos of Mark with the famous University of Utah landmarks. These photos are from the graduation weekend events. Many were taken by Mark's mother and when I'm in the photo, other family members. 

Exhibition A:

First, we attended Commencement. I think James was a little overwhelmed by the noise and number of people. He did well with snacks. Only once near the end did I take him up to the back row of the stadium.  

Dorinda's camera has good zoom! We were all the way across from Mark, but got this nice shot.

President Eyring received an honorary doctorate that night.

The next day, we huddled in the rain while we waited to be able to enter the auditorium. 

We were lucky to run into Mark for a few minutes before the ceremony and took most of our family photos then. 

It was packed to the top. 

This was a cool moment for both Mark and I. Here you can see Dr. Cynthia Burrows in her red and blue Cornell robes jumping up to shake Mark's hands after his photo op. Dr. Burrows is the department chair and got to know Mark when he took a lab from her during our first semester at the U. I was working at Huntsman at the time, and Dr Burrows was on an email list for one of the projects I assisted with. One day in December I got an unexpected reply that said, "Kelli O'Dair, are you related to Mark O'Dair, the best student in my organic chemistry lab?" Why, yes! Yes I am!

Mark continued to make his impression on the department and was named the top student in the department a few weeks before graduation. Dr. Burrows jumping up to get to shake his hand was a nice icing on the cake for the work we both put in for the past three years.

Mark's sister helped us throw a decent graduation party the next day.

Little K and Mom got along a little too well. Mom is always such a good sport.

But let's end this post on this note, instead. Glad we made this happen. Now on to Phase 2: PhD