Epic 10 Day Adventure

July 22- August 3

Lived

- The past almost two weeks have been busy and crazy and amazing. We went on a trip to California for Camille's wedding. A few days at her parents, a few days at the Langham Huntington Hotel in Pasadena, and a few days in a scary hotel across from disneyland. In total we stayed at 5 different places in 10 days. Poor Leighton did great though even with her schedule being so messed up.

- Before we left i spent two entire days packing and trying to get ahead on my homework. Packing for an infant is as crazy as it gets, and getting ahead on homework is as impossible as you could imagine.

- Our drive to California went by quickly and Leighton slept most of the time. I highly suggest driving through the night with a little one.

- Our first day there we headed to Los Angeles to get Cami and Alex's marriage certificate and my birth certificate. We went to lunch and spent way to much money shopping. Mostly i spent way too much money on Leighton while we were shopping. The second day i spent most of my time doing homework and everyone else worked on the little wedding details that were left to do. I felt so bad that i didn't help more.

 

Leighton took a little nap while we shopped. First she picked out that owl though, right off the Nordstrom shelf. Yes, i'm a sucker and she is learning too quickly. 

 

 Thursday morning i stopped by the Lake Elsinore Cemetery where my grandparents are buried.

 

Cutest little owl hat ever! Picked this up shopping.

-Thursday we headed back to Los Angeles to the beautiful Langham where we stayed until the wedding. It really was beautiful! I think all of us were ready to move in for awhile. Our suite was like a cottage and it was perfect. Summer, Cami's sister did an amazing job at choosing the hotel.

 

My new favorite place to eat. Lemonade!

 

Just cruising around Venice Beach

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- Friday is when the party really started. Summer and I woke up bright and early and headed to the L.A. Flower market. Honestly one of the coolest places i have ever been. I am not considering my future as a florist, or wedding planner, or decorator, pretty much anything to do with weddings. After our two hours of flower shopping we headed back to the hotel where everyone was getting pretty for the rehearsal and dinner.  Both of which were so fun! We got to have a sneak peek of the venue and get in to mood of the wedding.

- Saturday was all about getting ready, taking pictures, and the wedding! Wedding days do not get more relaxed than this. It truly was special, beautiful and full of love. All morning Camille and the brides maids just hung out and got ready. We had a wonderful time taking pictures, and having our pictures taken. I feel so honored to have been Cami's matron of honor and so jealous of Camille's amazing friends. I don't think it is actually possible for anyone to have as wonderful as bridesmaids as Cami did. I sure enjoyed getting to know the girls and becoming friends with each of them. The wedding went so well and was absolutely amazing. Summer decorated the venue and if she ever wants to quit her job as a lawyer she could easily be a wedding planner/ designer. Camille and Alex's vows were beautiful. I few things that i loved about them were how true to themselves they were. Cami promised to give Alex lots of babies, to dance in the kitchen, and to be a great wife. Alex promised to continue to read, to learn to dance and to support Camille in all of her passions. They promised many other things but those stood out to me. After the ceremony there was lots of good food, toasts and a dancing. I should have been prepared but i thought i wasn't going to give a toast to before, so to my surprise i was asked to right before being handed the mic. I can't remember exactly what i said but i hope it all made sense. I mostly wanted to congratulate Camille on finding the man of her dreams, on choosing someone to be with that will always treat her kindly, that will fall more in love with her everyday, and that supports her in every way possible. I have never met a couple so obviously meant to be together. I even said in my speech that i love my husband dearly but our love does not come so easily. I felt like i must have done something right in my toast though when i started to cry and i noticed Cami and Alex both had tears in their eyes. It is something amazing to be at my best friends wedding watching her marry the man that she will be with forever when it feels like yesterday we were discussing our plans for the rest of our lives to have you know 12 to 18 kids. To live in northern Utah for some unknown reason and live next door to Daniel cami's brother. At this point we would have been married for 4  years and already had 4 kids. Thank the Lord life doesn't turn out the way you plan it when your twelve.

 

 

- Saturday night i finally got to spend the night with both Kaden and Leighton and it was so nice to have our little family all together again. Sunday we woke up, packed up and made our way from Pasadena to Anaheim. We figured the trip couldn't be complete without one last stop at Lemonade and without being ran into by a crazy california driver. The poor equinox will be going into the shop Monday to see what the real damage is. Anyways, we spent most of Sunday at Disneyland. Kaden and My Dad had been dreading this part of the trip for months but once they got there they didn't want to leave. Sunday night after my parents took Leighton back to the hotel to sleep Kaden and I got to have some alone time and go on rides together. It was so nice. Besides going to a movie a couple weeks ago, this was the first time we had actually done something together with out Leighton since she was born.

 

Couldn't leave Pasadena with out introducing this amazingness to Kaden and my dad.

(of course that is when we got hit)

- Monday morning Kaden and Dad headed home but Melissa came to Disneyland with us. Melissa is my oldest friend. We have literally known each other since birth and our moms used to take us to Disneyland together when we were little. It was so neat to be taking our little ones to Disneyland together now. She has two sons Aaron and Dean, both are beautiful boys and so much fun! We took the little ones on a few rides but mostly we pushed the kids around in their strollers and caught up on each others lives. I hope to have more of these sweet days with her. Especially as our kids get older. I have so many memories with our families together and am so grateful that we are still able to keep in contact with each other.

-Tuesday was our last day at Disneyland. We did a lot of pin trading and went on all the rides that we wanted to. I enjoyed taking Leighton around to see things that i thought she might like because of the colors and music. She loved the little mermaid ride and watching fantasmic. After the fireworks we all piled in the car and started our trip home. We only made it to barstow though. We got a room there for the night and finished driving home Wednesday morning.

- After getting home Wednesday we had a sweet baby shower for Hannah Melling at my house. Teisha did an amazing job getting it all put together. We had a lot of fun, i only wish more girls could have came. Ever since it ended i have been working on homework. My classes end Monday and i have a lot of catching up to do.

Learned

-Leaving home for 10 days is not easy. Going home might be even harder. If only vacations could pack and pay for themselves...

Loved

- I loved spending so much time Sarah, with Camille, and with Leighton and Kaden and the rest of my family. Sarah was a trooper and helped with so many things for the wedding and with Leighton. I loved spending time with Camille before she became a busy married woman. In the past year we have been able to spend more time with each other than we probably have in total since middle school. I am so grateful for our amazing one of a kind friendship. We can go weeks or even months with out talking sometimes but always know that we are there for each other and that will never change. Cami is probably one of my number one supporters and some one that i strive to be like. She has always been a huge example to me and i hope that i am to her as well. I felt to truly honored to be her matron of honor and absolutely loved getting to know her other wonderful bridesmaids. I loved watching our baby girl experience all the randomness of the trip. She honestly took everything in and it was fun to see what stimulation she enjoyed especially at disneyland. I loved the support that Kaden was to me. He never questioned me going to California early and understood how much it meant to me that i got to spend time with Cami. I also loved that he danced with me at the wedding and stayed until i was ready to leave. I loved that we had a little alone time as well and that Kaden was wanting to stay and spend more time with Leighton and me. It was fun to be at the wedding and disneyland with my parents and sisters as well. I hope they enjoyed themselves as much as i did. I always love when we are all together, all have fun together and laugh together. Time with the family is always very entertaining.

Life is Beautiful

July 9-21

Lived

- I know a lot has been going on the past couple of weeks but i have a hard time remembering exactly what happened when i sit down to write my posts. I swear i should post on here like i do on instagram. Everyday i think at least a dozen times "oh i am so writing about this" then by the time i actually write i have lost it. So here is what i do remember right now.

- My Mom came up last weekend to go cabin hunting. We took her to the little cabin we all fell in love with when my dad came up and after a quick look around she walked outside and told Sarah, "i am not going to say too much. Your dad told me not to look too excited because if i like it we want to get a really good deal." Well they both loved it, and we loved it and they put in a offer. The offer has been accepted and my parents are soon to be the proud owners of a cute cabin in Mammoth Creek. The cabin shopping is fully underway and we have big plans for lounging around and spending the holidays there.

- Kaden has been working hard on the backyard on his days off. It is looking beautiful! He has the shed finished except for a door, rocks lining our planters, plants in our planters, the porch concreted, stamped and stained and he is now getting ready to cover it. We hope to have sprinklers and grass in by the end of the summer.

cant really tell but here is out backyard while it is raining

- Leighton has been so full of life! Yelling at the top of her lungs, fighting nap times, spitting bubbles, laughing, rolling over, sitting up, and now starting to crawl. I have had Leighton on a sleep schedule for quite awhile now but after it getting messed up we started a new one this past week and we started letting her cry it out too. This has actually worked out really well for the most part. Leighton sleeps longer, and wakes up happier. She may cry going to sleep but she also falls asleep quicker. Sarah and Kaden are not doing well with it though. Both of them have attempted to go in and "save" her from my evil amazing sleep plan (Kaden succeeded once and at that point he needed his own saving, lets just say i was not too happy with him). Besides her new sleep routine we have also started some set daily routines as well. After her first nap she gets bathed and dressed and we play with her toys, then after second nap we read and she loves it. I seriously can keep her entertained with 3 books and thanks to Pierce i have a huge collection of Dr. Seuss and that's what we have been working through. I realize Leighton is only 4 months old and doesn't understand what i am reading, but this is one of the biggest things i have been taught in all of my early childhood classes that i actually believe in. Beginning reading at birth helps children in so many ways.

She loves pulling my hair!

speaking of hair... I decided i loved my hair and to start parting it in the middle (right picture) then a few days later i went and ombred it and the girl styled my bangs to the front again. I do love it now too except for looking at my before picture makes me want to cry a little. I just need to remember the majority of my hair days were not that good. 

- Kaden and I went on a date without Leighton yesterday. We went and saw the Dark Knight Rises. Even though these movies are very violent, we absolutely love them. We love most super hero movies but these ones are so well made it is just amazing to me. It was a weird feeling though sitting in the theater and imagining some crazy man coming in with a gas bomb and a gun. My heart aches for all of those people in Colorado. I just do not understand how there are people like that in this world. Obviously there are horrible people out there but of all places for something like that to happen. It is just bizarre to me. It is so sad to realize that you really are not safe anywhere. And even though i went and saw the movie and loved it, i know that the violence in the movie contributed to this mans actions. Where will the line be drawn for violence in the media? I wish that the people who make video games and movies would realize the impact that they are making on the world.

Learned

- I hate math! Okay, i have always known this, but my dislike has totally grown into a hatred. I am going to hopefully be a kindergarten teacher. When someone can show me a kindergartner who knows how to work with logarithms, parabolas, and imaginary numbers then i will do my homework without being angry at it. Until then i will be sitting on the computer 4+ hours a day finishing one assignment at a time.

- When offering to throw a shower, think it through. I am so excited to host this shower with Teisha and Jessica R. But i know the day of i will be a little stressed. I hope a ton of ladies show up though and support the beautiful mother to be Hannah Melling. She deserves a wonderful baby shower! 

Loved

- I have loved everything about the past couple of weeks, minus the homework. I feel like i have spent so much time with Kaden, that i have been experiencing more with Leighton, and enjoying Cedar. The weather has been nice, we have been going for walks and we have been hanging out with friends. (That is right, i have friends here.) I get to visit with Teisha a little bit almost everyday. I went to the car show with Courtney and her and Eric came over just to hang out the other night. It is so nice to feel like things are good and that life is beautiful. I won't say it is perfect, it never is but it is definitely beautiful right now.

Loving our walks

Loving the rain

Loving my husband!