This and That!

 Cute Children

Sometimes I'm afraid that Joe/Shana and Tina/Jer took all the kid cuteness for themselves and I won't be able to compete when I have kids!

She's just the most darling little pixie!

Daddy is taking care of Ella, who is sick, while Mommy is at a friend's wedding.  Love her set-up on the couch. Reminds me of when our mom would take care of us when we were sick!

What. A. STUD.

 Let the BBQ's begin!

Jessame made an amazing Sunday night dinner of BBQ chicken, cheesy potatoes, asparagus, and homemade (gluten-free) macaroons!

And this is what happens when you let friends look at your phone. 

Straight up BYU thug.

Style Upgrades

I had the same comforter on my bed for 12 years.  Many of you know exactly which one I am talking about- the red down comforter.  I decided it was time to get a bedroom set.  I feel surprisingly more grown-up now.  But I'm not getting rid of my red blankie.

Went on a shopping trip with my Mom and walked away with these cuties (thanks, Mom!) which both my sisters also own!

 Cool

Fruit bouquet from Angela and Mark

 Relief Society Spring Social

Our stake relief society does an amazing job with the annual stake social! So lovely.

My only complaint was the lemonade was just for decoration!

We heard a babrbershop women's quartet, "Simply Sassy."  They were so fun to watch. What performers!

Chris Williams, whose pregnant wife and 2 of their 4 kids were killed when hit by a teenage drunk driver, spoke to us.  I was filled with so many emotions as I listened to him speak about the pain and the forgiveness he felt.  It's so incredibly difficult to wrap my head around what happened to him and how he pressed forward. So grateful for his example!

tARTanFEST

We had our annual arts fest at Highland this week.  The Highland Arts Council did an incredible job.  They decorated with banners made out of old music!  I wish I could show more pictures of the event, but I'll try to describe it.  They had art demonstrations set up with students throwing pots, molding sculptures, drawing with colored pencils, and face painting.  They had a theater stage with kids performing scenes and monologues. They had two stages with instrumentalists, vocalists, and dancers performing a huge variety of music.  They had galleries set up of kids' art work and people passing around mint chocolate brownies from BYU and lemonade.  Everyone had a wonderful time watching the performances and coming and going as they pleased.  It was possible to enjoy a little of everything.  They are excited to continue with this idea next year and add even more exciting elements like BBQ and a dance with live music at the end. 

Surprise!

For Labor Day weekend, Dave and Christina and I surprised Anna and our parents by driving down from Utah to see them. It was priceless to see the look on our mom's face when we came singing in at 3:30 in the morning.  Even just that moment made the whole drive worth it! Though the weekend was short, we lived it up as much as possible.

We prepared and ate dutch oven cooking...

I was in charge of table decor. That's usually my job (as opposed to the whole cooking thing). 

I originally had vases and candles and my dad took one look at the decorations and said, "We're eating cowboy grub!" I took that to mean I hadn't quite captured the vision. So, I went in a bit of a different direction.

After a delicious late lunch, Dave and I went on the infamous "Nickel Tour" with my Dad around Santa Barbara. I had no idea how much my dad has studied the rock walls all around town! It's something he loves and it was really cool to see things I have never noticed before.

I was thrilled the artwork from the chalk festival at the mission was still visible, though faded considerably.

Going on the pier is one of my favorite things to do with newbies to Santa Barbara!

The next day, we attended church in my home ward...

Showing off my new shoes from Ross...$11.99!

We all decided to wear pink accents...cheesy, I know, but fun :-).

I saw a friendly face at church! This is Celeste's brother who is serving his mission in my home ward!

After church, Tina and my Mom went through a bunch of clothes and found these gems!

While they were organizing, we went with Holly to walk on the beach. Being on the beach reminds me that the world is good. Life is beautiful. Even amidst a lot of corruption and evil and trials and heartache, beauty prevails.

Dave's favorite part, hands down, of the whole trip was seeing dolphins 20 yards from the shore.  Check out this shot Anna got!

I am very fond of Dave.

In the evening, we played Speed Scramble, a family favorite, using themes.  The theme for the round above was "church" and we had to justify all our answers.  Mine included Daniel in the Lion's "den," and "Dave" because he is a member of the church.

Dave's tie got misplaced around my neck!