To finish off the month of July we decided that we needed at least one beach day this summer. Brent and I packed up our car late Friday night and drove to California.
I had booked our room online like I usually do. All seemed fine and good until we pulled up at 9:30 p.m. to the most run-down crack house Hotel in the entire state. In my defense the pictures online were very nice AND very deceiving. An absolute lie to be honest.
I went in to see if our reservations were in fact at this hell hole and sure enough they were. I quickly asked what it would take to get out of our reservation and they were not very accommodating.
So we hesitantly decided to go up to our room to see if it was any different than the outside of the building. After we passed the two prostitutes and the one very intense drug deal going on in our parking lot we entered our hotel room which was literally a bed in the middle of a room. With one small microwave placed on the floor and a bathroom sink attached to wall...barely. Minutes later after pacing the floor Brent pulled back the sheet of the bed to reveal at least a wigs worth of hair from various body parts on the mattress pad...not to mention three very suspicious large strains.
After the two of us threw up a little we grabbed our luggage loaded it back in the car and demanded a refund. After speaking to our online booking source we managed to get most of our money back. But this is where the adventure begin. We spent the next two hours driving the better part of Southern California looking for a vacant hotel room. There were none to be found. At about midnight we finally found a hotel that had a recent cancellation. Way way way too much money later we finally had a room for the night that was hair free and somewhat acceptable.
At that point I no longer cared and would have taken anything. However my idea of just sleeping on the sand of Newport Beach probably was the best idea... but a hotel room with a shower was what we decided on.
After a somewhat peaceful night of sleep we woke early the next morning to spend our day in the sand and the ocean. All of our worries were left behind as we laid in the Sun, soaking in the Rays and enjoying the sounds of the waves.
Earlier in the week we had found out that our friends Adam and Stef were also going to be in California that weekend. We decided to meet them for an Angels game.
I grew up going to Angels games with my parents and have always been a fan even though they have taken a backseat to my Indians. However we cheered them on especially Good Old Cole who was a Sun Devil before he became an Angel.
I'm pretty sure the best part of the evening besides the good conversation that Stef and I had the entire game was the helmet full of nachos that Brent and I shared...andhr finished.
The week after our trip to California I received a text from Jo saying she was going to be up north and wanted to get together with everyone for dinner however in her text she said she knew it would be hard for me to make the trip.
Has the group text continued it turned out that all of the girls were able to make it. All six of us haven't been able to get together in years. There has always been one or two of us left out of each get together. So I decided that I was going to have none of that. I was not going to be the only one left out of this dinner. So Thursday afternoon after a short day at work I drove up to Salt Lake City to meet five of my greatest friends in the world for dinner at the Dodo.
It was a very fun night. We always pick up right where we left off. However I think that this year everyone seemed to be in a really good place. In the past we've had divorce, death, breakups, infertility, problems with our children and their dads, unforeseen moves and much much more heartache. I guess when you have remained friends since you were 10 years old there are a lot of trials that you go through. However this year we had brand new babies... twins to be exact, new jobs, steady relationships, trips around the world and overall happiness. We are all very tired but happy.
Words cannot express the love and admiration I have for these ladies. They have always been such a strength to me and there friendship means the world to me.
We only took one picture and Shenise had already left to get home to her twins.
I cannot believe it. I was so sad that I didn't get a picture of all of us together. But for sure next year.
That night I stay the night with Kelli in her darling little home in Sugarhouse. We got up early so she could get to work and I drove down to Provo to go on a morning run. I ran through campus. Iran by the new MTC. I made my way to the Provo City Temple and back to the football stadium. It may have been the best run I've been on in a long time. What a beautiful city that I spent many many years living in. Although some of those years were the hardest of my life the feeling that you have in that city is undeniable. There is a reason they call it happy valley.
And it is also home to one of the best acai berry bowls in the world.
The weekend following we were able to go to Kent and Lynns farewell. They are headed to Houston Texas to serve a mission for the church.
Beginning of August the kids returned home from Salt Lake. I couldn't have been happier. However once again I failed to take a picture. I'm going to go ahead and blame Brent.
His constant complaining about pictures being taken is really taking a toll on my photo excitement. However I've decided I no longer care if he wants to take a picture or not. He just doesn't need to be in them...But one day he will want to look back at our life together and his darling face won't be in any of our memories. Sucks for him.
We held our annual Pine Valley trip for Pey's 8th birthday.
For some reason she really loves Pine Valley and likes to spend her birthday there.
And for some also unknown reason she decided this year she wanted a Mexican flag accordion. I tell you this girl is definitely her own person.
I'm not sure what happened but the cake was a little bit of a disaster. At least we had Dutch oven cobbler that's another option. A better option in my opinion.
As we sat in a circle to play Nana's question and answer game it began to downpour. All of us ran to pack up our food and everything we had brought with us. We threw our stuff in the back of our cars and without saying goodbye to each other we drove back to St George.
I was pretty bummed I too love Pine Valley and her annual trip there.
Our new home is coming along nicely. It looks like we will close the Monday following the marathon. I believe it will be ready before then but the thought of moving prior to the marathon is a bit overwhelming to me at this point. So we will wait an extra week so that I can be there to get my home in order.
We are so excited to start this next chapter of our lives. We will start attending our new Ward next Sunday.
We feel extremely blessed to be able to move into a brand new home even though all of the pictures on the walls will be Brent-less. :)
