Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

On August 17th, my good friend Val got married in the Las Vegas Temple!  Yay for Val and Brian!  So, the previous day, a couple of friends (Kajsa and Sara) and I drove up to Vegas after work.  We were ready for a 6 hour drive because we knew that going to Vegas on a Friday night usually means hours of gridlock.  Fortunately we were wrong!  We took a little detour at the very beginning of our trip to avoid the first stretch of traffic and then it was smooth sailing the rest of the way up!  It was awesome!  Later we were talking to some friends that told us they drove up Friday morning and ran into awful traffic...probably all of the people trying to avoid the Friday night rush.  Works for us!  ;)

We all stayed in the Golden Nugget, which was nice!  Kajsa and Sara were staying in a room with Val and her friend, Jen, but when we got there, Val was out to dinner with her family.  So, we three girls got to hang out in my room for a little while.  Somehow, I was given a room upgrade and my room ended up being super crazy!  At first, I thought it was way dated (I don't really care about that stuff as long as the bed is comfy) and we all had a good laugh about the faux wood paneling, etc.  Then I realized that it was purposely made to look like that.  This is where we can make the distinction of "vintage" vs. "dated".  Anyhow, it was WAY more than 1 person needs and I thought it was pretty funny.  It had a huge sectional couch, a king-size bed, dual sinks, a huge entertainment center thingy, and even CDs to listen to during your stay.  Also, even with all of the lights turned on, it was still only "mood-lighting" at best.  That made me laugh too.  

Here are some pictures:

And yes, that is a TV in the middle of the bathroom mirror.  Crazy.

Anyhow, with such a big room and with three crazy girls that had been sitting in a car for 3 and a half hours, plus a little spare time, things got a little wild (well, as wild as three good Mormon girls get) and we decided to do what girls do at sleepovers.  This included the compulsory duckface photos, which will not be shared (haha), silly photo shoots (including the cliche mirror shot), and of course, a pillow fight and jumping on the bed!  We had lots of fun!

 When Val got back to the hotel, we all went over and hung out in her room for awhile.  It was lots of fun catching up and talking about how exciting the next day would be.  We even got to help her choose which necklace to wear with her wedding dress.  It was a great night and we were a so happy for Val!

I figured out how to use my camera's timer so we could have one of all of us together.

The next morning came WAY too early.  Val did her pictures before her sealing, so she was up and out the door pretty early.  The rest of us headed to the Temple a little later.  We got there and I waited outside for Melissa (who also got to be there for the sealing).  Once she got there, we went in and all got to be together in the Temple.  It's always such a cool thing to be in such a peaceful place for such a happy occasion, with people that you love!  Just such a wonderful feeling!  The sealing was beautiful and Brian and Val are officially married for eternity!

We waited outside in the Temple waiting room for a while and then ventured out into the 116 degree Vegas heat.  My chapstick melted in my purse and my deoderant melted in my car, but that's ok!  ;)  haha  The happy couple came out, looking radiant, of course!

 After the Temple, we all headed to Roy's Restaurant for a delicious luncheon.  It was fun to catch up with people that we love, but haven't gotten to talk to much, recently.  Here we are in our "Roy's" chef's hats!  Big kids deserve to have fun too!  ;)

Most of all, it was awesome to see Val so happy and in love!  

Overall, it was a great trip!

A Little Bit of Southern Love!

July 19th was a pretty spectacular day!  It didn't start off that way, but it ended up being a great adventure.  I went to Aunt Cheryl's house to help her rip down some wallpaper, but when I got there, she told me that she was tired of working in the house and wanted to do something fun.  I had dressed in grubby clothes since I was just planning on removing wallpaper, but I decided that an adventure would be fun anyways!  Aunt Cheryl mentioned Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles and so we decided to go there.  We were getting ready to go when I noticed I had a new voicemail.  I listened to it and it was someone from HR in my school district wanting me to call them back.  I had interviewed to transfer to a new school the previous morning and so getting a call from them was great news!  I called back and they offered me the job!!!  So, so happy!  I walked back in the house (I had stepped out onto the porch to make the call) and shared the news with my aunt!  We were both so excited!  Then, I called my parents and sent out the happiest text ever to several others!  Now I was REALLY ready for an adventure and was not disappointed.  We made it to Pasadena without getting lost, which is major for me since I get lost everywhere I go, and even found a parking spot!  I have been to Roscoe's several times, but I had only been to the one in Long Beach, so this was a new experience.  Plus, I had heard from a friend, who used to be a police officer in Pasadena, to never go to the Pasadena Roscoe's in the dark.  Apparently, it's not the safest place.  Though we weren't going to be there at night, we still got to experience some pretty "interesting" people. In fact, the whole group of people sitting at the table next to us was pretty interesting.  We had a good time, though, and my aunt got to experience the magic of Roscoe's for the first time.  

It was a fun day!

Jumping Jacks!

Joshua turned 6 on July 8th and Dylan turned 5 on July 25th, and to celebrate, Jacob threw a party at Jumping Jacks in Rancho Cucamonga.  It was a party for the kids, but they let grown-ups jump too!  I decided to go for it!  There were several other adults who jumped and then others that just sat and talked.  It was so much fun!  It was so cute to see all of the little guys having so much fun and when Dylan would ask me to go down the slide with him and Jonathan, it made my heart happy!  This was just a week or two before Josh, Dylan, and Jacob moved to China, so every single moment with them was precious.

Going down the slide with Dylan

David and Joey jousting

 Melissa having fun

 At the bottom of the slide with Jonathan and Dylan

 Sliding with Melissa

 Jacob!

 So much fun!

 The special birthday throne!

 Each boy go to choose a cake.  Joshua insisted on an "Over the Hill" Grim Reaper cake, which he dubbed "The Cake of Death".  Jacob tried to dissuade him from choosing this one, but he was insistent.

 Dylan chose a Toy Story cake since he is currently obsessed with Woody.  He looks SO adorable in the little cowboy hat and cowboy boots Anthony and Marianne got him for his birthday. 

 Cake time with friends!

At the end of the night, Jacob, Josh, and Dylan said their goodbyes since they would not be able to see most of the people at the party before leaving for China.  We had a ton of fun at Jumping Jacks, but it was a difficult night for us because goodbyes are always hard and we knew that this would be the last big event we would have with the boys for awhile.  After we left Jumping Jacks, David, Melissa, and the boys, Nancy, Jacob, Josh, Dylan, and I went back to Nancy's house and spent some more time together.  Though a little sad, we had a good time together.

Life's a Beach!

I wouldn't really describe myself as a beach person.  When I was a kid, we went to San Diego alot!  It was, and still is, my happy place.  We would go to Cabrillo and look at the water and, sometimes, we would walk down to it and wade in a little bit.  Other times, we would stop at a beach (usually pretty rocky ones) and would take a little time wading in the water, but we never actually "went" to the beach for the day.  I have always appreciated the beauty and grandeur of the ocean, even to the point of it being frightening to me.  Vast, endless, yet beautiful and mysterious.  In the past couple of years, I have acquainted myself with Coronado Beach and its beautiful golden sand.  Spending hours walking along the beach, allowing the water to wash up on my feet and legs, was relaxing and the beach became more "do-able" for me.  Then, in May, we went to Hawaii and had lots of beach time, visiting beaches all over Oahu.  My Hawaii visit was the first time I had ever worn a swimsuit to the beach and actually went there specifically to play in the water.  It was a great experience!  A couple weeks ago, David, Melissa, and the boys were heading to Huntington Beach and invited me to come along.  Melissa has always been a beach person and taught me "the ropes".  I learned how to catch sand crabs, went into the water all the way up to my chest, and let the waves crash up on me all day!  It was actually pretty fabulous!

The water was pretty cold!

After several hours in the water and the brave adventure of changing into regular clothes in the disgusting beach bathrooms, we walked down the pier.

 While walking on the pier, I noticed Duke's, which is a restaurant we went to in Hawaii.  They have this amazing pie there, called Hula Pie, and so we decided we had to try it.  It's huge, so we just got a couple of pieces to share.  It was delicious and a great way to end a fun day!

It Happened in Sun Valley!

At the end of June, I took off and drove to Utah.  I spent the first night in Cedar City and it was nice to just be out by myself and taste a little freedom.  The next morning, I woke up and got on the road.  After getting horribly lost, I found the cemetery in Lehi and visited my grandparents' graves.  Whenever I go there, I'm reminded of how grateful I am that families are forever and, though I miss them terribly now, I will see them again!  Next, I headed to Provo, where I stopped at Daniel's apartment and visited with my sister-in-law and my cute nephew, who is SUCH a big boy now!  It was a short visit because Diane wanted me to go to her ward's Family Home Evening with her, so I needed to head up to Salt Lake City.  Once there, we pretty much had to head right out to FHE.  After the lesson, it hit me that I had been in a car all day and desperately needed a walk and some fresh air, so I walked to Temple Square, where I ran into my cousin, Dori, who is serving a mission there!  What a fun surprise that was!

The next morning, I was left to myself to do pretty much whatever I wanted.  Nice!  So, I went to The Gateway Mall and got some Hawaiian Shaved Ice.  I ordered the medium size and, when they handed it to me, I discovered that was a huge mistake. Like, literally, huge.

Who can eat this???  So, I chipped off about half of it into the trashcan until it was a manageable size:

Much better!

Ok, so now that I've spent way too much time and space talking about my stupid snow cone, I can move on.  I spent my day just walking around Salt Lake City and then went back to Provo for dinner at Daniel's.  I got there a little early and Daniel didn't get off until 5, so I got to play with Baby Danny and Tyisa.  I was pleased to find out that the stuffed dolphin toy I got for Danny in Hawaii promptly received the name of "Baby Dolphin" and Danny would cry for Baby Dolphin when he couldn't find him.  

Side Note: If you've been to Hawaii, you know that it's not a kid-friendly place, souvenir-wise.  Well, that is, unless you want to get them one of those "My auntie flew all the way to Hawaii and all I got was this crappy onesie" deals.  So, I was stoked to find a single stuffed animal that I could get for him.  It was seriously the ONLY one I found anywhere and I think it was placed there by the tiki gods who somehow knew that I was one more toy-less souvenir shop away from a nervous breakdown.  

Anyhow, back to Provo.  Danny and I had light sword-fighting showdown in the area of the apartment that he has designated for sword fights.  Really though, he took my hand and led me there and wouldn't fight with me until I was in the fighting zone.  So funny!

He also attacked me with his stuffed animals and demonstrated his war cry, which was a lusty and clear call of "Waka-Waka!!!"  a la Fozzie Bear.  

Soon, Daniel got home and we had delicious barbecue beef sandwiches and walked to Smith's to pick out dessert.  Verdict: Ice cream.  It was fun just to spend some time with them and be reminded of why I love my crazy family so much.

The next morning, I did a little shopping and packed up my stuff so that Diane and I could head out for Sun Valley, Idaho when she got off work.  I am planning on moving out within the next year and I am trying to get all of my stuff together to make sure I'm all set.  This includes decor and I have been on the lookout for the perfect painting for my new place.  When I walked into Diane's condo, I was immediately drawn to a painting that she had.  I kinda fell in love with it and decided that it was "the one".  So, I went and bought one and had it shipped to my house!  It's this one:

It's called "From Faith to Fear" by Howard Lyon and I think it's beautiful!

Anyhow, Diane got home from work and we got on the road.  It was a 5 hour drive from Salt Lake City to Sun Valley and it was a LONG 5 hours.  The parts on the freeway weren't so bad; it was the 25 miles per hour stretches when were were passing through tiny towns that were absolutely killer.  BUT we made it!  As soon as we got there, we took settled into our room and walked around the grounds a little bit.  Then, it started to rain.  Here's our super cute room, by the way:

Fortunately, there was a bowling alley in the hotel, so we went and played a couple of games until our dinner reservation came up.  It was a lot of fun, actually!

The restaurant we went to was really nice and it was pretty cool that they left the window open so that we could feel the gentle breeze and listen to the rain.  Most places would close the place up tight, but they didn't and it really added to the charm of the place.

The next morning was the 4th of July and we went golfing.  Now, I don't know how to golf.  I don't think I've even ever made it through a solid round of miniature golf without just deciding to carry my stick...er...club and walk on through the course, so a real-life golf course pretty much meant certain death.  Scott is amazing and, before I went to Sun Valley, gave me crash course on the basic how-to's and helped me feel more confident in the matter, but we both knew that I was in trouble! haha  Anyhow, the first thing we did was take a bucket of balls to the driving range.  Oh. my. gosh.  What a disaster that was!!!  haha  I could barely even make contact with the ball, at first.  I gotta say, though, I had improved dramatically by the time we left the course that day.  Not good, but better!

Ummm...what am I supposed to do, again???

Diane at the driving range

On hole #1, I went ahead and hit my ball right into the river, which is what you're supposed to do, right?  So, determined NOT to lose a ball on the very first hole, I took off my shoes and socks and went in after it.

GOT IT!!!

My first game of golf was...eventful.  I loved driving the golf cart, though!

We had lunch at the Golf Clubhouse and then went back to the hotel where we took some time to relax.  Diane did the paddle boats, while I went back to the room for some R&R.

That night, we had tickets for Sun Valley's annual 4th of July buffet and ice show.  The ice rink was right outside the Lodge, where we were staying, so it was super convenient.  We ate dinner and then still had about an hour before the show, so we went up to our room to watch some TV and eat these:

I bet they got that idea from Pinterest!  ;)  haha

When we went back to the ice rink, we got these cool necklaces that flashed red, white, and blue lights and we were way excited!  Nerdy, but excited!  The show was pretty good and then they did an awesome fireworks show afterward.  I was so happy that they did fireworks because I thought I wasn't going to get to see any this year.  We had actual seats for the ice show, but moved to the lawn with a blanket for the fireworks.

The next morning, Diane went horseback riding with her friend, Jonathan, from work (he was also there for the weekend) and I slept in a bit.  It's vacation time and I was not getting out of bed before the sun.  Nope.

When she got back, we went to the Roundhouse for lunch.  To get to the Roundhouse, you have to get on a gondola and ride up the mountain.  We had lunch at 7,000 feet and the view was breathtaking!

You can see what the gondolas looked like in this picture...nice and enclosed.  Safe.

In the gondola

The view from the restaurant

After lunch, we decided to go the rest of the way up the mountain in a ski lift.  This was a first for me and, since I'm slightly frightened at the aspect of plunging to my death, it was a little scary at first, but once you're up in the air for awhile and you realize that lots of people do this and, barring any crazy disaster, you will likely survive the ride.  After that realization, it was enjoyable and we really got a beautiful view!

After the ski lift, we got to check out this look-out.  Gorgeous!  We hiked a little farther up to the top of the mountain we were on and then took the lift back down.  I'm including way too many pictures, but since this is my blog, I guess that's just how it goes.

Beautiful!

That night, we took a wagon ride out to a restaurant called Trail Creek Cabin.  During the summer, you can take a horse-drawn wagon to the restaurant and during the winter, it's a sleigh.  Pretty cool!

On the way to the restaurant in the wagon

 The wagon!

It was a nice place with lots of cool atmospheric stuff.  You really did feel like you were in a 

little mountain cabin!  It was a nice way to spend our last night there.

The next morning, we went to the Sun Valley Gun Club, where we met up with a shooting instructor who was funny and very patient!  We had lots of fun shooting at flying orange discs.

Afterwards, we went back to our hotel to pack up and check out.  It was a lot of fun and it was WAY different from any other vacation I'd ever been on.  Here's a shot of me in front of our hotel before we left.  It really was such a beautiful place!

After we came home, I watched a movie called Sun Valley Serenade, which was partially filmed in our hotel!  It was awesome to see the place we had just been in a movie that was filmed in 1941.  Just a little bit nostalgic, but very cool!  Anyways, I'm grateful to have been able to take such a great trip!