Northern California Road Trip

I flew home with Stone for my cousin Rachels wedding up in northern California. We drove up with my brother Brandon's family and my mom and dad. It was about a six hour drive north and a beautiful drive too. It has been a long time since I have been on a "family" road trip, the kind where you are singing songs and kids are fighting and everyones snacking and laughing and talking and asking, "Are we there yet?". It was great to sthe bee close family and friends all over the hotel and at the wedding of course. Garberville is a small town in the redwoods and it was such a peaceful getaway. Our fam had fun going to some of the fun shops with redwood carvings and skunk and davey crocket hats, and other fun trinkets. We drove the suburban through the famous Chandelier tree in Legget, CA. We had so much fun playing that we (the girls) were extremely rushed to get ready for the wedding, which I wasn't too happy about. The wedding was something out of a storybook. Rachel looked so beautiful and happy...the scenery was beautiful, overlooking the valley, a pond, llamas, and sunflowers everywhere, a great barn dance, and of course great food. (it's a Sowards event). I know some people dread going to weddings, but I absolutely love it. After the wedding we slept over one more night with the whole fam in a suite and headed back to the bay. On the way back we drove part way along the coast and stopped in Mendocino...It's an artsy coastal town with lots of bed and breakfast. I drooled over some high end boutique fashions and some other fun shops. We had lunch at a cute cafe overlooking the water (depending where you sit). My family dropped Stone and I off at the Oakland airport a little early and I ended up seeing and sitting next to one of Brandon's old friends who was at the wedding and Bishop Halls son Jon and his new wife. (Perks of living in S.L.C.) It was such a great trip and so fun to have quality time with my family. The only way the trip would be better was if my husband could have came. I knew he would have loved the area. I just have so much more fun with my hubster around.

More pics from the Wedding

My cousin Rachel's Wedding

Hanging out near Garberville before Rach's wedding

Catchin up

Why can I never post my pictures in the right order?? Why?? So we have had a busy past month or so. The picture of Stone's first ride on a carousel and train was back in mid July when our family went out to San Jose for a visit. For some reason our cute pics from the aquarium weren't scanned right so I am movin on to more current events.

The last two pics are of my handsome husband who just celebrated his 31st b-day on September 14th. I usually like to surprise him with a gift on his birthday but this year no surprise...I took him to a local mixed martial art fight(s) and surprised him with a new steel string guitar...it just was an early surprise since I got the fight tickets at the guitar shop. Plus he's left handed and plays guitar right handed but I forgot that in the store...I ended up buying the right kind though. Anyhow I think I am back to surprises next year even though my husband could care less about gifts. I did surprise him with a yummy breakfast made a yummy dinner. He wanted homemade donuts instead of a cake so I tried my hand at donut making. They actually turned out pretty well for my first stab at it. I can cook but anytime a recipe requires yeast and rising I am always keeping my fingers crossed to see if it comes out ok. Our immediate family on the Thompson side came over and enjoyed the donuts and eachothers company.

More pics of Stone

Stone is growing so fast, I can't believe it. It has been a bit cooler so I he has been wearing a few of his warmer outfits...which won't fit for long. Anyways I put him on our bed and when I came back a minute later his hat was over his eyes, it just looked cute even though he hates it.

The other pics is the Brazilian Festival in S.L.C. although you would not know it by the pictures. My cousin Juliana and her family have lived here for over a year and I just barely found out. It has been so fun to get to know her and her husband better. I only had seen her about four times in our whole lives and know we have been out twice in two weeks. Her and Andre (her husband) have great english. It is so nice to have some family in Utah. It was such a hot day, poor little Stone was melting, you can tell in the pictures how sunny it was.