California!

For the past few months we have been planning a suprise trip to California for my moms 50th birthday party. It took a lot of effort to make sure we didn't ruin the suprise, but we are proud to say it all worked wonderfully. We left Wednesday May 11th in the evening and flew into LAX and got back to Salt Lake Tuesday May 17th in the evening. We actually even discussed this trip before we were engaged. Random Fact: Quite a while back as Holly and I were getting closer I had the idea of proposing on the Santa Monica pier, but she is an impatient pretty little lady so instead we just went already being engaged. No complaints though. Andrew came as well and he was able to spend the week with his family. We didn't really see each other very much the whole week but that was kinda to be expected. The day after we arrived I wanted to get some tanning in, it was a nice HOT day! Which I was excited for since Utah has been having such crappy weather! Turns out I got BURNT. I wasn't even out there that long but such is life. So after that I couldn't go out in the sun much but it worked out becasue the rest of our trip there was pretty much windy (welcome to Palmdale) and cold. Spencer also took me to this store called Charlie Browns... Crazy awesome store!!! They have all sorts of cool knick knacks and old candy and new candy. Even a santa with a surf board!! =] I did get to meet some of Spencers friends and his old job and met his favorite dog Skye. =] What a crazy dog! (I second the crazy dog statement, but it was great to see her again.)
It was a great break from life yet it seemed to be very exhausting at times. We were technically the first surprise of the week. Followed by Dianne arriving Friday, then family pictures Saturday morning and a surprise birthday party for my mom. It was my first time meeting Erin, Kevin, and Logan. Logan is a hoot. The pictures were the first time they'd been together as a family in a very long time. It felt good to be a part of it. And we got a sweet picture of me doing a backflip over Holly! Well i guess we haven't technically seen it yet but i'm sure it's awesome. Holly seemed a little freaked out though... not sure why. Hopefully we will get those pictures soon =] Can't wait to see how they turned out. Spencer and I did REALLY good at not spending much money. On Sunday I gave a very short talk in Sacrament meeting, I had planned on longer but thus is life sometimes. That afternoon we went out to see Calzada and Desiree, it was so nice to relax and catch up, I just feel bad because we weren't really able to stay very long. I was able to stick my feet in the Pacific Ocean (Huntington Beach), scary! (She got a nice suprise from one of the waves too... hehehe wet pants!) We drove through Sunset Beach where we will be going for our Honeymoon! Before dropping Dianne off at the Airport in Long Beach we went to Jack in the Box. You get the option of curly fries (which are delicious) or their normal straight fries. Holly had a thought if those fries are straight then the curly fries must be gay. We had a good laugh with it. Also we were able to walk down City Walk (at Universal Studios) and see all the shops. I was thrown a Bridal Shower by Jessica, which was very sweet of her. It gave me a chance to meet all the ladies in Palmdale and for them to meet me. I recieved a lot of great gifts (yay!) and we played some fun games. We did recieve two pictures to hang up in our new house. One from Spencers teacher Mr. Calzada who did an oil painting of the Mount Timpanogos Temple, and a drawing of Spencer and I with a peacock feather from his friend Jeff. I had originally planned on both of these being a surprise for Holly, but with all the other secrets we were keeping I decided to just tell her about them.
All in all it was a fantastic trip, a vacation much needed from all the work drama I was dealing with. This trip brought Spencer and I closer together. We love each other even more now then before. I couldn't imagine my life without him now. Awww :) But I agree, we laughed a lot and enjoyed the time together and with my family. Time for life to continue on... woohoo!