Last week was a busy week for us. We went to California to visit with our friends there and celebrate 4th of July and attend a wedding. The kids had so much fun. Now we are just working on getting back on schedule for sleeping. Here is a short overview of what we did:

We left on the 3rd for California and arrived shortly after 8pm PST, it was a good drive and the kids did great. We flipped Barrett around for the ride and he loves facing forward. There’s no going back after that.

On the 4th we walked in a neighborhood parade, Bear fell asleep. Isabelle loved to look at all the dogs and of course the fire engine. Then we spent most of the day by the pool. It was HOT, I think some where around 109 towards the middle and end of the day. After a quick bite to eat we went over to our other friends house and visited with them and watched fire works. The kids loved that as well and Isabelle made a new friend, Christina. Bear fell asleep before the fireworks started and looked so cute. Isabelle was pretty dare cute in her little outfit and a holiday hat.

On the 5th we visited some winery’s in Lodi to pick up some wine that we really enjoyed. I only wish we could have gotten more. I really wanted to help replenish our “cellar,” which has not changed much but when you live in Utah and they jack up the price, you do take your time a little more. Bear took tons of steps all by himself today, it was pretty exciting.


On Friday the 6th we made our way up to Squaw Valley for the first day of wedding stuff. We checked into our hotel and of course played in the pool. Ben and Bear took a nap while Isabelle and I cooled off in the pool. It was pretty fun, she made some friends at the pool as well. Then for dinner we joined Jack and Avra at a local restaurant to get ready for wedding fun. Dinner was great, and the kids were wonderful. Barrett was such a good boy, he was happy so long as he had some food.

Saturday was the big day, but before the wedding we had to go to the pool, and a kite and jazz festival. Isabelle had fun with a finger kite and looking at all of the big kites that were being flow. She thought they were pretty cool. They even had a free craft for the kids to make their own kites. She made hers and had a ton of fun flying the kite. After nap time we got ready to make our way up to high camp where Jack and Avra were getting married. It was a beautiful setting with the mountains and Lake Tahoe in the background. The wedding had a funny part, as all weddings should, Jack forgot to give the rings to the ring bearer and so some of the guests offered up their rings to the happy couple. Avra did not think it was very funny at that point but I’m sure later on in life she well laugh about it. The reception was great, Isabelle had so much fun dancing, I think she danced for every song. It was too cute. She even danced with Christina, they were adorable. We had to catch the last gondola down the mountain so we all left and put the kids to bed. Since Bear was falling asleep while we were dancing. Once the music stopped he woke up.



Sunday was our last day in California, we went to breakfast and then drove around the lake. Ben had never been to Lake Tahoe so he was pretty excited to see all the sights. Emerald Bay was beautiful. The fires did not seem to make the lake too cloudy with ash, so you could still tell that it is a gorgeous shade of blue. The drive home seemed a little long, Bear did not like it as much as going out, but it still was not that bad.


Overall we had a really good time. Ben made it up to Roadway for a little bit at night, and some of the guys were sad that he did not come back during the day. He was happy to see his friends, Jack and Avra are great. And we were really happy to be able to stay with Jim and Barbara while we were in Sacramento.