Quick Update

Steve and I are finally both back in Tennessee. Steve is three weeks into his first semester of his second year.

My sisters and Steve somehow convinced me to take eighteen credits over the summer. In hind sight, I am so glad I did! Now I only have two semesters left. I will graduate May 2013! I will start my next semester on Aug 27th and I will be taking eighteen credits. So Steve and I might be somewhat anti social the next couple of months!

As much as we have loved traveling this year, I am really looking forward to spending the next couple of months at home. I have not spent an entire month at home this entire year! I am glad we will have a couple of months of not traveling before we head to Utah for Christmas. But I also didn't expect to travel so much this year, so you never know what the fall might bring!

Girls night!

The greatest part of my trip to Utah was being able to spend so much time with Shannon and her family. I miss her and her kids everyday! It was so nice to spend so much time with them.

I decided I wanted to go out for a girls night right before I left. We decided to go get pedicures and go to dinner. It turned out to be more a family night because Andrew came with us.

Me and Adie

 The girls were bored while we were waiting for our pedicures, so I gave them my camera to entertain them.

 Love these girls!

 Isabelle took great pictures of our nail polish!

 Adie trying to figure out my phone. She kept trying to touch the screen. Haha!

 The girls loved the big massage chairs. Adie kept telling me how relaxed she felt.

 This is random, but I wanted to share a picture of the newest Aaron family addition! This is little Scout! Isn't she so cute? The girls have been begging Shannon to get a dog for years now. They are so happy to have little Scout around. She is the sweetest, little dog.

I really can't thank all the Aaron's enough for their hospitality this summer! This may sound weird, but I really didn't realize just how long two months is! When I booked the trip, I was just thinking about how excited I was so spend so much time with them. I really appreciate them letting us stay for so long. I just have the best family in the world! I miss the Aarons so much already! Thanks again for everything!

Day trip to Logan

My dad made the excellent suggestion of taking a day trip up to Logan, Utah. I have never been before, and I really wanted to see my campus. I also wanted to see where my Grandpa Bell and Steve were both born.

The first thing we did was go to Utah State University.

Outside my building!

 USU is such a beautiful campus!

My dad bought me a USU hoodie! Thanks again, Dad! He said he has seen people standing on this before in pictures. I feel like I am auditioning to be on the catalog!

 Then we went and got Aggie ice-cream! Steve is always telling me it is the best ice-cream in the world. It was so delicious!

 Outside the stadium.

 Then we went to the Logan temple. It is a beautiful building!

 My dad

 Sign at the temple. I thought it was pretty funny.

After the temple, we went to see some areas of Logan were my grandpa's family owned businesses. Then we went to Brigham City and got excellent hamburgers.

It was a great day trip! Thanks again, Dad, for a fun day!

Natalie's Birthday

Even though we went to St George for Natalie's birthday, I still wanted to hang out the whole weekend of her actual birthday. I just can't get enough of my bestie!

 I took her to Red Rock for a birthday brunch!

 Happy birthday, Natty!

 After brunch, we went and got Starbucks and went for a walk around Liberty Park. It was great to spend time just the two of us, talking.

That night she had some people over to her apartment for a little party. It was such a fun day!

Natalie and I have been best friends for eighteen years. She is one of the many reasons I miss Utah so much! She has been such an incredible friend to me for the last eighteen years. She is always there for me and I know I can count on her for anything. She is really my only consistent friend. I seriously can't say enough nice things about her! I am so happy I was able to be there for her birthday. I am so blessed to have such an amazing friend.

Happy birthday, Natty! I hope you had a fabulous day. Love you!

St. George

This year has been a big birthday year for me and all my friends. We all turned 25! We decided to celebrate my very best friends birthday by going to St George for a girls weekend.

Natalie, Jess, me and Keelie

 We started the day by getting pedicures. Then we laid by the pool all day. It was wonderful!

Me and Jess by the pool.

 Then we went to dinner at the Pizza Factory.

Me and Jess

The next day we went and got massages and then we drove home. It was a fun, little weekend getaway.

Hale Family Reunion

On July 21st, we went to the Hale family reunion. I forgot to take pictures! Oops!

I just wanted to document that we were there! We had a great time. It was great to meet even more of Steve's family. It was also great to see Grandma and Grandpa Hale again.

Thanks again to everyone who put it together! It was great meeting y'all!

Will's birthday

We came back from California just to attend Will's 11th birthday party!

His Aunt Keelie makes amazing cakes!

 I just can't get enough of these kiddies.

I am so happy we could be there for his birthday. I have missed the last three and I am so sad every time I miss it. I am glad we could be there this year. I can't believe he is 11! We love you, Will!

California 2012

While we were in Utah, we decided that we should go to California to visit some family. 

We started out in Southern California. My grandma lives in Fullerton and we stayed with her the first night there.

The next day we went to Laguna Beach.

 Laguna Beach!

 When we first got there, the weather was great. Then the clouds started coming in. We just always get bad weather!

 It started getting too cloudy to go swimming, so we went and looked at some big rocks on the beach.

Steve climbing on rocks

 Black Seagull!

 That night we went to Steve's cousin's concert. He is in the All-American Boys Choir! Steve wanted to go surfing the next morning with his cousins, so we decided to spend the night at Uncle Kelly's house in Dana Point. 

The next morning we had a great family breakfast with Uncle Kelly, Uncle Randy, and their families. Then we took off so the boys could go surfing. Kelly took us to an awesome beach that had huge waves.

 The weather that day was not good. Surprise surprise!

 Surfer Steve!

 Almost standing up!

 He did it! Yahoo!

 After surfing, we met up with my Uncle Randy at Laguna Beach. We sat on the beach talking and freezing to death. Then we went back to his house and spent the night.

Laguna Beach

 The next day we woke up to beautiful weather! Finally! Steve and I started the day with a fabulous breakfast made by my Uncle Randy. Then we went on a great run around Randy's neighborhood. After that we headed to the beach. It was a perfect day!

 Laguna Beach... again!

 Alligator! We didn't make it... but it was really cool.

 Again, perfect day!

 We spent most of the day in the water. Steve taught me how to dive into the waves. It was so fun! Then we went back to my grandma's house.

 The next morning we headed up the coast to visit Northern California! Neither of us have ever been to Northern California before. We both really wanted to go to San Fransisco.

 We spent the night with my Aunt Anita in Los Altos which is about thirty minutes outside of San Fransisco. She had a lovely dinner prepared for us. Then we spent the rest of the night vising with her and my Uncle David.

The next morning we woke up and had a delicious breakfast with Anita. Then we headed to the big city!

 Golden Gate Bridge!

 Driving onto the bridge

 So incredible!

 We drove over the bridge to a great look out point. This is the view of San Fransisco.

 Beautiful views

After the bridge, we went to Fisherman's Wharf. We had lots of fun driving up and down the massive hills!

Steve on Jones Street!

Fisherman's Wharf

We got lunch from a vender fisherman. It was pretty good! We decided to sit on the docks and eat. We sat and started at Alcatraz. We really wanted to go on a tour, but apparently you have to get tickets way in advance.

Then we went to Pier 39 and walked around.

Alcatraz

Golden Gate Bridge (notice how the weather cleared up?? Finally!)

Alcatraz in the background

Then we drove to Golden Gate Park. Again, we loved all the hills!

We decided to drive down Lombard Street. This is the super, curvy street.

Driving down!

There are the most beautiful homes on this street!

A home on Lombard Street

Lombard Street

I jumped out of the car to take this picture, then I ran to the car in front of us and tried to get in. Then I realized it was the wrong car. Super embarrassing!

More hills

After we walked around Golden Gate Park, we decided to go to Chinatown for dinner.

Unfortunately, we had terrible luck with the restaurant we picked. The service was terrible and the food wasn't any good. Such a disappointment!

After dinner, we left the city and headed to Reno for the night. We got a great deal on a hotel, right on their version of "The Strip".

The next day we finished our drive home. I just have to say that the drive from Reno to Tooele has to be what hell is like. I don't think I have ever been on a more boring drive! I was so happy when we finally reached Salt Lake.

Thanks again to all our incredible family members who provided us with great company, delicious food, and a place to sleep. We really have the best family!