Congratulations, Brent & Amanda!

Cousin Brent and Lovely Amanda were married in the Redlands California Temple on Saturday, August 20th. It was very hot, but don't they look great? It was a very nice wedding and reception--we thank both of their families for hosting such a fun weekend.

First Stop: Las Vegas

Our first stop was in North Las Vegas to visit my former roommate/good friend, Erin, who is moving to England this week. Here, mommy and Heidi cool off in the Caspers' Pool

Addie and Eliza walking to the pool (sorry it's fuzzy--I had to super-zoom)

Heidi excited to jump in the pool--she is my water baby!

Here's my cute hubby wrangling all the kids: from left to right, that's Tarah, Brandon, Brittany, Rich, Eliza, Heidi & Addie.

Thursday in Newport Beach

We drove straight from Las Vegas (at 6am) to Orange County (10:30am). To tour the new temple, you had to park and ride a shuttle bus to the temple grounds because there were thousands of people there! Here are Rich and Heidi riding to the temple...
...and here is Addie listening intently to the tour guide.

Here is the Newport Beach Temple.

Our first stop was actually in Costa Mesa at IKEA. We had a little lunch and chose the furniture we would pick up Sunday and take home in our trailer. The Asian people behind Addie were taking pictures, too--all over the store, inside and out.

At the Beach

The girls ran straight in to the water when we arrived at Newport Beach (just north--or is it west?- of the pier). They LOVED the beach! In hindsight, if we'd realized how MUCH they'd love it, we would have skipped Disneyland this trip and jsut played in the water all day for TWO days.

Heidi making a silly face as she chases the waves.

Addie says, "Surf's up!"

More Beach Fun

She was squealing with glee...

I was trying to keep Heidi from running in and washing away!

Heidi loved when the tide came in and washed the sand from her hands!

seashells for grandma

The Best Hotel Pool Ever

After the beach, we went straight to the hotel pool, which had this cool little beachy kids' pool and a little fountain with dancing waters and a turtle...

...we were in mermaid HEAVEN!

Friday: Disney Day!

There's Mickey welcoming us to Disneyland-- it's 50 years old, you know!
Jamie, Heidi, Addie, and Rich at the Happiest Place on Earth!

Princess Adeline found her castle!

First stop: Teacups! Here are the girls spinning like mad...
Heidi didn't want to get off the ride!
Heidi also did not want to wait in line AT ALL! She had to sit on daddy's shoulders and when he got tired, we stopped going on rides with lines and reminded ourselves to come in January or Februray next time.

In Toon Town there were lots of rides for little kids and we saw Chip & Dale there (don't ask me which one this is); this was the only character that Heidi wasn't afraid of.
Pluto gave Addie a big hug!
We got really hot and sweaty so we took a noon break and watched the new Snow White show. It was soooooo good! We loved it! Here we are watching intently.

We saw lots of Princesses! Sleeping Beauty and Belle were really crowded when we found them, so we just snapped this picture of Belle as she passed by.
Mulan was out front when we went to lunch.
The best princess was Cinderella--Addie's favorite! She took time to visit with Addie and her stepmother was there, too! Addie asks every day when she can have the Cinderella DVD and I have to tell her, "Not til October." I am excited for that DVD, too--it's my favorite because it's the only one without a really scary, evil part. It's just the mean step sisters and mother, not all the powers of hell, you know? Otherwise, Sleeping Beauty would be my favorite for the Prince and the music. But I digress...