Beans in Bean Town

The week after school ended, I flew out to Boston with my parents for Mark's graduation from HBS. We had the best time and it wasn't too hard to say goodbye because we knew Mark & Elissa were moving back to Utah the following week (best news of 2014).

Mom and I got on the plan and realized we had brought the exact same book. Typical.

Let's talk for a minute about how proud I am of Mark. He gave us a tour of Harvard and I instantly felt smarter being on this remarkable campus. Harvard is a special place. It was so interesting to hear of his experiences and the people he made close friendships with. It's hard for my brain to comprehend the hard work and time he's put into this accomplishment. He's always been an influential role model in my life and I have such high respect for him. He's going places.

 Touring Harvard

 Mount Auburn Cemetery

 We walked up to the top of the tower to overlook the cemetery

Mark was given 2 tickets to commencement, so Elissa and dad went. Mom and I watched it on TV with 15-20 other people on campus. However, later we were able to meet up with them and sit together for convocation. Mark was one of the first to be called and it gave me the chills to hear his name. We then waited a couple more hours for the rest of the names to be called (let's just say I got pretty far on the book I brought) and then met up with him for lots of hugs and pictures. He found his LDSSA group and took oodles of pictures with them. After their smiles started to look fake from the hundreds of pictures, we walked down to a tent area where they had so many food choices. Holy cow. I felt like I was at a super nice wedding reception. They had tables and tables of desserts and finger foods. Thanks for dinner, Harvard. It rocked.

Mom and I watching Commencement together! Winner picture on the left. She's just on her phone way too much.

 Dad keeping it classy in the heat

 Isn't Elissa so cute and classy?

 HBS Graduates

 Harvard Library

Besides the big graduation event, M&E took us to some of their favorite dinner places each night. We loved walking around town and crossing the Charles River. The day after graduation, we drove to Maryland to see a lighthouse, which was breathtaking. We drove to Louisa May Alcott's home where she wrote Little Women, and our final stop was Walden Pond, where Mark proposed to Elissa last year. It was beautiful and the pond was more like a lake--much bigger than I pictured. Our trip wouldn't have been complete without multiple stops to bakeries.

 Was this before or after I slipped and drenched my whole left foot in water?

 Little women in front of Louisa May Alcott's home

My favorite part was just being with Mark and Elissa. They truly compliment each other and are the kindest people you'll ever meet. I loved getting to know Elissa better and I'm so happy she's a part of our family. I learned that M&E are going to live the longest out of our whole family. They eat super well, exercise every day, and stretch any extra time they have. Seriously, you're having a conversation with them and they just start stretching...well, mostly Mark. Haha, love them.

*Many of these pictures were taken by the talented Elissa and I give her full credit for them!