The Two Week Turn-around

One of my best friends, Ashley, whom I love dearly got married 2 weeks after my sister. So, Harrison and I flew to Atlanta, stayed for 5 days and flew back home. Then 2 weeks later, we flew back to Atlanta, stayed for 3 days and flew back home. It was crazy to be away from home for so long and then go twice in a matter of days. It was great though! It was such an amazing weekend to share with some of my closest friends. Ashley and Josh are such a great couple and I wouldn't have missed their wedding for anything. I was also able to go to my sister, Kelly's baby shower while I was home. I was so glad to be able to go to one, so that I could take part in celebrating Kale and Kelly's sweet baby Karland before her birth. Here are some pics from the baby shower. I don't have any from Ashley's wedding.

A New Brother!!

I know it has been a while...I actually got reprimanded from one of my friends who said she was sick of seeing the Dodgers game at the top of my blog. So, I am going to try and catch you up on some very exciting events that have been happening...one blog at a time. I am going to try and keep it in chronological order. Starting with...my sisters wedding!!

So, my sister Paige got engaged in February to Jason Dees. They set the day for May 23rd and we prepared to make the trip across the country! We were so excited to be gaining a brother, sharing in this happy event, and also to have a reason to go home to see family. It was a very eventful weekend to say the least. Wedding weekends are always crazy, but the fact that it rained (it was an outside wedding) all weekend made it even crazier. We ended up moving the wedding inside and it turned out beautful!!! Thankfully Paige was an easy-going bride and Jason just went with the flow too. It was wonderful! Here are a few pictures. These are from my cousin, Courtney, because I didn't get a lot. I think the rain kept me from taking any pictures!

The whole Gang

Our First Dodgers Game

Our friend Brian had a birthday on May 12th. Kelly, his wife, organized a trip to the Dodgers game to celebrate. We brought our own grilled hot dogs, chips and drinks and enjoyed the view way up from the top. It was great!!! There is nothing like a good hot dog and cheap seats at a baseball game. I love it! At the end of the game (which we lost) they had fireworks. They actually opened up the field and we got to go out on the grass and watch the show. It was awesome. It was themed to music and everything. Here are some pictures from that night. Hope you enjoy!

On the field!

Brian and Kelly catching a (pretend) fly ball

Our own "Kiss Cam"

A lady playing the organ for "Take Me Out To The Ball Game." I didn't know that there was someone who actually played this live!!

I don't know why this is on here twice...but I can't get it to delete...Sorry!

Just arriving at the field!

I definitely need to preface this video...

Harrison thought it would be fun to get a view of the whole stadium and have us spinning with the camera. This is a pretty crazy video...especially when Kelly starts to fall.

Cam and Sarah come to visit!

Harrison and I were so excited for Cam and Sarah to come in April. We had a lot of fun the week they were here, but of course it went really fast. We did a lot while they were here. We made it to Malibu, Irvine, Fullerton, San Clemente (for some clam chowder in a bread bowl) and then we went to Temecula. Temecula is close to the Ranch that Harrison's Grandfather managed during his retirement years. It was so great to see a place that holds such a special place in Harrison's heart. Here are a few pictures we took on the Ranch. Sorry there aren't more.

Joshua Tree

During the long Easter weekend we decided to go camping. Any long weekend we get, we don't want to waste it. So, we headed to Joshua Tree, which is about 2 hours from us. We went with some friends from work and school, Brian and Kelly. When we got there (around 4pm on Thursday), we found out that every campsite was full!! The Ranger informed us that they had overflow campsites that we could use that were right outside of the park. By the time we got to the end of Joshua Tree (where the overflow camping was) it was late, so we were searching in the dark. We ended up finding a dirt road that had a few open dirt spots with a rock-made fire pit. They were pretty bare, but they were free. So, we set up camp in the dark and started making dinner. The next day we went hiking and found the Palm Springs Oasis. We headed back home on Saturday, to get ready for church on Sunday. It was a very full weekend, but it was fun. We had a great time and are looking forward to camping some more in California.

This is what a Joshua Tree looks like

Our very desolate campsite

At Palm Springs Oasis

A Few Updates

Its been a few weeks since I posted anything, so I wanted to catch you up on a few things. Harrison and I went with Patrick and Lindsey for a drive down Sunset Blvd. This was our March adventure and the book (1,000 Places to See Before You Die) told us what we were looking at and where we were as we drove from one end to the other. We were in the car most of the time, but once we made it to the coast we got out, stretched our legs and took some pictures. Our next adventure was to go to "The Getty." This is a really nice Museum that sits up on a hill in L.A. We enjoyed it, but it was definitely more than we bargained for. We got to the Getty and had to wait in line to get into the parking deck. Once we paid the parking fee and got in the deck, we waited in another line. Then we parked and started walking, then we realized that we had to wait in line to catch the tram that takes you up to the Getty. There were quite a few lines. It was really nice though...once we finally got up there. For April, we finally made it to the beach!! We have been waiting on beach weather for a month now and we finally had a great weekend. We didn't stay very long, which probably helped us not get burned, but we are hoping to go the beach a lot more on the weekends. That's it for now. I will catch you up on a few other things very soon.

The Chapman's

I wanted to introduce you to Jim and Aaron. We don't have a lot of pictures of or with them, because we do every day life with them. We try to eat together at least once a week (usually we eat at their house). They have been so helpful since the day we moved in. They helped us get settled and took us out to dinner. They informed us on all the things they wish they had known about Pasadena or California when they moved out here. They are from VA, which is where my mom is from. It was nice to have some East Coast people that we could connect with right when we got here. They also love sweet tea and Chick-fil-A!!!! These are a few things you can't find very easily out here. Here are a few pictures of them when my parents were here. They went out to eat with us on Sunday afternoon, to get to know my parents a little bit. We have some great times with Jim and Aaron and have appreciated their friendship. They are very giving people and are always thinking of what they can do for others. We are glad to have them in our lives and are grateful for them. These pictures aren't that great. I will try to get some more soon.

This picture isn't very good, but this is the whole crew

Jim and Harrison

Dad and Jim


Me and Aaron