California Here We Come...

This past weekend we went to California to help my family celebrate Brad's High School Graduation and Mike's Mission Homecoming. We had planned on leaving Wednesday after work and had everything all packed and by the door so that went Trent got off all we had to do was pack the car and leave. Well that morning at 4am we woke up to a loud thunderstorm and it was pouring down rain. Trent went back to sleep but I couldn't because I was so excited because this meant that Trent probably wouldn't be working! Then at 5:30am his phone rings and its his boss saying not to come to work...wohoo! The only bad thing was I still needed to work for a couple hours so by the time I got home and we packed we were on the road by Noon...about 3-4 hours earlier than we were expecting. We decided to surprise my parents and not let them know that we left early. So when they called at 4 pm to see where we were at I let them know that we had left late because Trent couldn't get off early and so we were just in Salt Lake...I could tell they were disappointed because that meant that we wouldn't get there until 2 am!!
At about 10 pm and only 10 minutes away from my parents exit I called them to see where they were and to let them know that we were halfway there. They were up at my grandparents hanging out with all my aunts and cousins that had come down for the week so we decided to head up there to surprise them! It was so much fun seeing them all! Erika was a little shy at first because there was like 27 people in the house but she got over it quickly! Erika was pretty good for most of the trip there and we stopped every couple hours and let her get out of her carseat and run around which I think helped.

While we were in Cali it was party after party after party! Thursday we hung out by the pool and just relaxed. That night we had family pictures taken and Erika was pretty good for them! My favorite picture is the one of us goofing off!
After family pictures we raced home to get ready for the 1st party. We were having all the family over to celebrate Brad's graduation. We ate lots of yummy faijitas and had brownie sundaes for dessert...yummmy!
Friday we got up early and went to the lake for a couple hours to get in some wakeboarding and Shamu riding time! It was a beautiful day and the lake was so smooth! I captured some awesome pictures of them wakeboarding!

Then we got home and got ready for dinner and we went out to eat to Chipotle before Brad had to rush off to graduation. Since we only got so many tickets Trent, Mike, Kyle, Erika, and I all met them at the graduation right at the end for pictures! The other picture is of Brad and his girlfriend and I thought it was so cute!!

On Saturday my Mom and I went to a bridal shower down in Sacramento for my cousin Mindy and it was fun to see people from our old ward down there and other family members! When we got back we started preparing more food and lots of salads for the next parties! That afternoon 4 of my Mom's sisters and brothers came with their spouses and my grandparents from Utah . My uncle flew them down on his jet so that they could be there with us for Mike's homecoming. That night we had everyone over again and BBQ'd and pigged out on lots of food! Trent and I spent lots of time in the pool that night with Erika and the other cousins and it was so much fun!

Sunday we went to church and Mike gave an AWESOME homecoming talk! He spoke on Alma 5 and he really did such a great job! He has turned into an amazing man and I really look up to him and everything that he has done with his life! After sacrament meeting we took pictures of everyone who came up for the talk before heading to our house for more parties! We had a luncheon for family and close friends.

Then that night we had an Open House and friends and some families from the ward came over and ate goodies and hung out! I made a DVD slideshow from pictures of Mike's mission and we had it playing in the living room so people could watch it! After the last family left we all sat in the living room and rested our aching bodies. It seemed like it was party after party non-stop the whole time we were there! It was so much fun to have the family all together again and be able to just hang out! While sitting there Mike and Kyle were taking turns spinning Erika around and then making her walk and she would wobble all over the place and since we were all laughing at her she was trying to entertain us and started standing up and spinning herself until she would get dizzy and fall down. Sometimes she would stop in the middle of spinning and start spinning the other direction...it was way too funny!

Monday morning we just took our time getting ready and then we left around 11:00 to head home. Its always hard to leave my family and I think it was easier this time since I get to see them again in just 2 days! The trip home was pretty uneventful and boring! Erika was kind of a pill so we were good to get home and finally be able to go to bed!