Ariana and Jared's Wedding (Weekend in Cali)

Since we've moved to Utah our days in California have been very limited.

This past weekend we were able to go visit for Ariana and Jared's wedding! 

They were married in the L.A. LDS temple.

We got to see so much family and if you can't tell by my lack of pictures we all just wanted to talk.

For once mum had to remind me to take pictures (usually its the other way around.)

Here we are waiting for the newly weds to come out of the temple.

the boy cousins found rocks to play with. This is Thayne and Jose.

Jose taught Thayne how to throw rocks and Thayne showed Jose that rocks are 

actually pretty yummy to suck on.

Shauny climbing a tree. They had so much fun with the landscape. 

What I needed to get a picture of was how good Shaun was to Thayne. He helped keep Thayne in safe areas and made sure he was always in sight. I appreciated it so much!

Here is the beautiful couple! 

Thayne and mum

Grandpa (Thayne's great-grandpa) feeding Thayne an orange. I think

Grandpa couldn't believe how much Thayne could eat.

The wedding cake.

Table decor

The reception room. Can't even tell its in a church cultural hall!! Go Mandy!

Because a lot of their family couldn't go in the temple they exchanged rings at the reception. 

I thought it was a wonderful idea. They just told each other how much they meant to the other 

and gave the ring. It was simple, it was sweet, it was perfect.

Congrats you two! Thanks for letting us share your sweet uniting!

The Oregon Trail Part 2: Thayne's Birthday!

2nd Part of the Oregon Trail

The beach...

For Thayne's birthday we took him to an aquarium! We all had a lot of fun.

I think Thayne's favorite part was splashing in the water at the touch tank...

And squishing the poor creatures. That was the last poke before I pulled him out!

Papa found him this wonderful cupcake creation with sea creatures. For his first birthday

cake

It didn't take long after that first photo for Thayne to dive in...(if you can't tell by the tiny hand about to grab the cake)

The cake never stood a chance against Thayne.

After demolishing his cake we decided to take Thayne to the beach. He loved the sand between his toes!

and water...

And in his mouth...

After packing everything from the beach we headed to Aunt Cindy's and Uncle Dave's house.

We stayed the night and had a fabulous breakfast and visit. Then it was off back to Utah.
It was so good to see everyone!

I'm so glad we were brave enough to travel with a crazy, cute, cuddly, toddler. Thayne hasn't ended our lives

he has started them!

Happy Birthday little man!

The Oregon Trail Part 1: Brock and Emily get married!

I love Oregon

I couldn't ever live there (something about the sun shining just makes me happy!)

It was so nice to visit though!

Here is Thayne right before we left on his new toy.

We decided to leave on this Oregon Trail adventure because well

Adam and Brock go way back... I mean way back. Pretty sure they have

been friends since they were 3.

This was our first road trip together as a fam! Along the way we found this...

A dinosaur! Thayne just couldn't help but want to touch it and poke its eyes.

Yes, this was actually at a gas station.

First night of the Oregon trail we thought to save money so we decided to camp. Which was super nice.

Thayne had to explore he loved everything about camping.

The most important things I'd like to mention about camping with a baby are

1. BUG SPRAY! (thanks Mom!) Bugs want to eat your baby up as much as you do.

2. Be careful with fire. We could not get him away from it and had to put him in the tent

3. Huge tent=able to take playpen, playpen=safe spot for baby and good nights sleep for them

it was so nice to be able to have the playpen while camping he is such a wiggle worm I couldn't imagine having him sleep in our bed.

Oregon Trail day 2:

After camping we had to travel another 6 hours to make it to the family dinner which was totally fabulous

and made it worth the drive just right there. Unfortunately Thayne was pretty crazy and it was hard to take any pictures.

P.S. I didn't take any cloth diapers for this trip I really did think about it then I thought we are going to be in so many different places and be so busy I better not. BUT I did make some food and took plenty for the days we were there and we only went out to eat once just because we wanted too. That right there saved a ton of money.

I took some pasta salad that I found from Road Trip Recipes 

Everyone loved it and didn't mind eating it for 3 days straight.

I also took a loaf of bread and peanut butter and jelly

Another must was bumblebees tuna salad with crackers (super easy for on the go!)

and my favorite lots of pudding!

Oregon Trail Day 3: The wedding

Emily and Brock! They are geuninely in love and we couldn't be any happier for them. So glad they found each other

Congrats you two!



Adam and I...

The Hassell Fam!

It was a beautiful day for a wedding in Oregon! I'm so glad we made it!

It was super busy the whole time but we didn't mind. Brock and Emily Nelson were sealed for time and all eternity

in the Portland, Oregon LDS Temple. There is nothing like being able to be with your family together forever.

Be sure to check out Oregon Trail Part 2:Thayne's Birthday!