Carson's Birthday and 4th Of July

Since Carson was down in San Diego participating in Trek (a reenactment of pioneers crossing the plains) we did not celebrate his birthday until July. It was really fun to host everyone at our own place. Unfortunately, I didn't take very many pictures. I did catch a video of Rachel and Westin's birthday song, but unfortunately, it won't load.

Our family got together (minus Jenna, Drew, and Addison) to celebrate the 4th of July! After our full breakfast spread and a good ol' American BBQ, we set off a bunch of fireworks we picked up in Nevada. It was a great way to celebrate the independence of the United States.

Westin, Rachel, Carson, Mom, Dad and Lori Mom and Lori with their sparklers.

First few excursions of the Summer

Carson and I tried to live it up these past few months before school started and since I won't have time to travel once school starts. The first of our travels was to San Diego to visit Carson's family.

(This is a long long post, so feel free to scroll through and just look at the pictures!)

This is a puzzle we started at Christmas and finished Memorial Day. Thanks Linda for
keeping your promise!

One of our favorite restaurants, Juanita's

My man, the lumber jack!

After a busy semester of working and finishing up pre-reqs to enter nursing school, we decided to celebrate the end of the semester by going to a giants game. All of these wonderful girls are applying or have applied to nursing school! It's been so fun to study with these amazing girls who will be even more amazing nurses!

Some of my favorite people to study with...without these wonderful gals, I wouldn't have gotten into the nursing program!! Thanks guys!

Everyone that came to the game!

Carson and I were given tickets to the California Academy of Sciences, which was amazing!! I have wanted to go ever since it opened September 27th, 2007. We made a day of it, and went out to a nice breakfast at Joanie's, just down the street from our apartment (remind me post about our apartment!), then headed up to the academy and the Japanese tea garden.

The roof! It was a bit bright after the planetarium

We were there during the extreme mammal exhibit. What can I say--it was pretty extreme!!

We found Jaques!!

One of my favorite places within the academy was the rain forest! We thought that we were fortunate to spot these little red guys, then we realized they didn't move...

The butterflies were everywhere and landed on us! There were mirrors at the exits to check yourselves before you left the rain forest. This little guy that Carson is holding was quite fond of us. He managed to land on my bag, Carson's head, hand and my back!

Also, lots of birds throughout the rain forest. Apparently, they started with just 2 birds of every species and the rest is history!

Some of the other animals...

Loved the whole California Academy of Sciences and highly recommend it!!

After the CAS, we headed to the Japanese Tea Garden. We didn't have any tea, but the gardens were beautiful and we enjoyed walking around outside although it was a bit chilly.

I wish I could remember the facts about the bridge and pagoda, but it's been too long since we were actually there.

To learn more about the Japanese Tea Garden, click here.

Here are a few pictures from a quick weekend trip to San Luis Obispo with Stephanie and Laura.

Here are our matching glasses we purchased. There were only 3, so Steph opted for another pair.

Tyler also joined us at the beach. We hiked, layed out and had a great time!! Thanks Casey!! (We had a wonderful weekend, yet we missed you Brooke!!)

Rachel's Bridal Shower and Wedding

My sister, Rachel, got married May 22, 2010 to Westin R. Hatch! We're so happy for them and are even more excited that they moved in down the hall!! Here is a photo log of the events (bridal shower, wedding, and friends that came for the special occasion):

Beautiful shower hosted at the Bena's

Rachel, Rachel and Maren

Rachel received many wonderful gifts (as you can see from the bows)..

I didn't take many pictures at the wedding, but here is Carson and little Carson

After all the wedding events, we decided to take a dip in the fountain to cool off.

All those that have kids...

Old Roomies

Wish we could say this cute boys was ours...we love little Carson!

Monica and Issac! Kory was there, but for some reason, we don't have a picture of him.

After Sunday dinner, can't get enough time with these wonderful girls!

Ash, Jen, and El! Absolute love!

It's about time....

Hello blogging world, it is really time you and I become acquainted. I have been a bit nervous to enter this new element as it seems that it is yet another way to distract myself from doing things around the house as well as the more important things I need to be doing such as homework. But really, who wants to do that? Alas, it is time for my very first post.

As for our latest trip together, Carson and I ventured up to Tahoe for a weekend getaway, and it was absolutely wonderful!! The snow was perfect for skiing and we had a blast. Now, I have not been skiing since 2007, so needless to say, I was very sore after our first day. Carson, on the other hand, already hit the slopes once this year, had no issues and was amazing!

Carson was a trooper and drove the whole way up after a long day of work.

We left Palo Alto much later than planned, and arrived at our hotel late Thursday night. After a short but restful night sleep we hit the slopes for our first day of skiing. The weather was not my kind of weather for an enjoyable skiing experience, but we braved the blizzard and crazy winds. Because we wanted to maximize our skiing time, we ate on the lift between runs, and I opted not to pull my food out as it would expose my face and hands to the wet cold elements (instead I mooched off Carson =) ). I watched the time go by, thinking, okay I can do this, one more run of hard snow pelting my face..just get down as fast as you can! Finally, around 3:30 I looked over at Carson while riding the lift and noticed a thick layer of ice on his face mask and a fluffy blanket of fresh snow completely covering our clothes that I asked if this was our last run. Thankfully Carson was thinking the same and we headed down the mountain.

Our ride from the slopes after the first day. Carson is definitely wind burned!!

On our ride back, we stopped off at a favorite of ours, The Char Pitt, for a burger and tacos! Amazing! If you are ever up in Tahoe near King's Beach, it's a great little joint that serves all sorts of food. After our "snack" we headed back to our hotel where we took a dip in the hot tub and thoroughly warmed ourselves in the sauna. Later that evening we went to a place called Hacienda's for Mexican food. Craziest thing...our waitress was from Romania and Carson was able to practice his Romanian! I'm sure he enjoyed this much more than reading or speaking to himself (how he practices and keeps up with it).

The second day of skiing was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! The weather was warmer and it didn't snow til the end of the day. I also got my skis waxed, which helped a ton with speed (Carson would pass me on the flat parts even though I would go literally straight down the hills to get speed). It was so nice that we didn't need our face masks and we felt comfortable pulling out the camera to get a few shots.

This was the first day, before the blizzard hit.

This was the second day, much clearer and warmer!

After the second day of skiing, we were supposed to head back to Palo Alto to spend Sunday with my family celebrating Easter and listening/watching General Conference (a semi-annual broadcast of the prophet and apostles of our church). Instead, we decided to stay another night, relax and get a good nights sleep before the drive back. We ate the most delicious sandwich from the local deli called Grog and Grist for our after slope snack. We watched a movie, showered up and headed out to the BEST little diner called Austin's. You HAVE to go there if you are up near Incline Village. It's seriously the best place..small, family owned/run and amazing food. They are in the process of being part of Diner's Drive Ins and Dives on the food network. I would definitely say it's Incline Village's best kept secret! Prior to leaving, Carson and I stopped off at the lake and he insisted on taking a video:

All in all, we had a great trip and recommend staying at the Parkside Inn at Incline Village if you ever need a cheap CLEAN place to stay. Definitely not the Hilton, but very clean, quiet, and has great amenities such as hot tub, sauna and continental breakfast. They were super nice and close to Diamond Peak and Northstar (where we skied). Can't wait to hit the slopes next year!

At the entrance to Parkside Inn at Incline Village before heading home to Palo Alto.