CA Coastin'

After Josh and I got back from Hawaii, we went on an RV trip up the CA coast with my family 

(in one last desperate attempt to convince them to stay put and not move to Idaho ;) 

We had the BEST time. First stop on Day One was El Morro Bay for some sight-seeing and sleep. The next day we headed to San Simeon to visit Hearst Castle. 

Bus ride up the long road to Hearst Castle.

The entire trip, there were so many friendly squirrels EVERYwhere. Especially on the beautiful, scenic 17-mile drive in Carmel.

We were in rodent heaven (well, everyone except Mom).

And there were some other friends too.

Captain Josh was the best driver. He manned the ship the entire trip. There were some real hairy situations along the coast cliffs, but he handled it all like the stud he is.

Because the RV is SO long, a lot of the camp sites we had planned to stay at could not accommodate us. So we had to improvise a couple of the nights and find somewhere sneaky to park/sleep.

Made it to beautiful Big Sur!

McWay Falls.

Santa Cruz.

On our way back down the coast, we had to hit the sweetest little town of Solvang.

We will always look back with fond memories on this amazing little weekend adventure!

Birthdays and Summery Things

Josh is incredible at making birthdays special:

 The night of my 24th birthday, he took me to Yamato for dinner and the following morning we drove down to Temecula, where we went straight to South Coast Winery Resort & Spa. There we were spoiled with pool lounging, sparkling cider, and a couples' massage. That night, we went to dinner with my family at none other than Lazy Dog Cafe, so I could bring Rupert {of course}.

South Coast Resort

Headed to Lazy Dog.

My family came out to LA for Mormon Night at Dodger Stadium. We got to see Elder Holland throw the first pitch, and there was a firework show down on the field after the game. A highlight was that our seats were right by the opposing team's bullpen, so we {meaning Brooke & I} got to talk to {meaning harass} the players the entire time. I even got one of them to toss a ball up {which I proceeded to throw back to him with a pen so he could sign it and throw it back again}. Of course I gave the ball to my brother, Jon, the future Dodger.

The fourth was SO fun this year! Since Kelly & Steve moved back to Mesa from the East coast, we decided all the Californians would caravan there and spend the 4th in the blazing heat! We had such a blast boating, fireworking, shopping, swimming, movie seeing, board-gaming, and being all together for the first time in over a year!

Per usual, this summer has been full of beach time.

We were recently able to meet up with our friends Dillon & Sara, who moved to Texas for Dillon's job. We've missed them so much!

We also found this amazing secret spot in Laguna {thanks to Josh's cousin}. It's a natural infinity pool raised right above the ocean. Talk about gorgeous!

L.A Temple.

And we celebrated a very happy 1st birthday to the Mister Rupert!

And this past weekend I spent in Temecula with my family while Josh was on the annual Baker Mammoth trip.

Penny and her beautiful long hair.

Feeding the ducks.

The Father.