They Did

On August 7, Russ' little brother Trevor got married!!! Trev and Amanda have dated for 2 years so she was already a part of the family, now it's just "official."

Their wedding day was almost identical to ours so it was fun to just sit back and ENJOY this one. Just like us, they were married in the Salt Lake Temple, had their luncheon at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, and their reception at the Stein Eriksen Lodge! It was a total flashback, except we actually got to EAT the delicious food this time!!!

Baylor's reverent Temple manners :)

I don't know where he gets it from...

Look close and you can see his pimp flame converse. I thought they were totally appropriate :)

The official MR. and MRS.

Welcome to the family Amanda!

The bride and groom with Baylor and Brooklyn

The 3 amigos

aka brothers: Brian, Trevor, and Russ

After the luncheon we headed to the lodge and got ready to party!

B looked so handsome.

Amanda and I both share the same love for the color blue. Their colors were really fun.

I absolutely LOVE Russ' grandparents Burke and Verla. They remind me so much of my mom's parents who I miss so much, so I'm always happy to see them.

The reception was beautiful, FREEZING, but beautiful and then we got the party started.

The D.J. played some kickin' classic 80's music and some other dance favs. My personal favorites were Beyonce' "shoulda put a ring on it" and Outkast's "Hey Yeah" because who can resist shakin' it like a polaroid picture (all my college girls, oh the memories of that one)

We had a serious conga line going on...

alright alright alright alright alright....

(is it in your head yet :)

And please check out my new sister-n-law CROWD SURFING!!! Love it!!!

Papa Bill (my dad) and B were getting down to "Jump Around"

And then after chucking rice at them the night came to an end.

This is me with our friend Diana and my mother-in-law Debi. They are both a hoot.

And of course, me and the hubs.

CoNgRaTs Trev and Amanda!

Heeeeeyyyyy yyeeeaaahhhh

Business in the front, party in the back

There's a very fine line between cute little baby curls and a full blown, white trash mullet... we crossed it. Baylor's hair suddenly got really long so now that Michelle is home from L.A. we told her it was finally time to CUT IT!!!

My sister had the most beautiful salon in her basement. While she was in L.A. her neighbors put a pond in their backyard. It FLOODED her basement TWICE. The second time it did a lot of damage, so now they are in the process of tearing everything up. They had to tear out walls due to mold, the entire floor, and the cabinets are coming out next. Luckily she still has her chair in there so we were able to have aunt "chelly" give him his first cut. How lucky are we... she is the sister who also is the photographer!!!

He wasn't too excited about sitting still (HA HA because he never is) so we bribed him with a sucker :) Totally did the trick.

A few snips later and he had his stylin' faux hawk!

It's so crazy how a haircut can make a little boy look so grown up!

So cute!

Then we decided that Russ and Baylor needed to be twinners, so he sat in the chair and Michelle gave him a faux hawk to match! Love it!

It's a wrap

I am finally bringing our Cali trip to an end. Here are the last highlights of our vacation...

We had a blast swimming with Braxton and Aspen in the swimming pool.

Baylor LOVES his cousins. They constantly make him smile.

After we got done swimming, we all just relaxed by the pool for a while. I LOVE hooded towels. Almost as much as footy pajamas.

And then we hit the beach. Braxton had a day off so he got to come with us. We went to Manhatten Beach and it was fabulous. I did however, learn just how hard it is to PULL, not push a stroller through sand. It was impossible to push it, so I got a serious leg workout pulling it to our spot. We had so much stuff to bring down there that it was easier that way. Anyone with children knows what it's like going somewhere. You practically have to bring the house (or suitcase).

B had so much fun playing in the sand. He and Aspen built some great sandcastles.

And then he got brave and we were all playing at the edge of the water. My sister was taking pictures of the kids and was taking pics of Baylor when he tripped and went tumbling. I don't know how he did it, but he face planted in the sand and then was so startled I swear he did a flip over. It was not only traumatizing for him, it was for me :(

Because Michelle was taking pictures of him right when it happened, we got the aftermath on camera... It's almost too sad to even post, but I had to share. His poor little face was covered in sand, like sugar on a churro :(

Once I finally got him all cleaned off and settled down, he spent the remainder of the day in his Buzz towel. Can I just mention that I think this towel is THE BOMB. One of my favorite finds this summer :D

And my last request on the day Baylor and I were going home was to drive up to the Hollywood sign. Thanks to my amazing GPS (whom I named Roberta on the trip) we drove right to the sign. It was 2.2 miles from our condo, but it took some serious winding through the Hollywood hills to get there. There was an amazing view and a Lake which I cannot remember the name of, but it was really cool. There are lots of celeb homes, and after the drive to get there I officially think they are crazy. I would NEVER wind and drive up and down that hill to get to my house. Okay, maybe if I were super rich and had a driver :) Anyhow, here's the one and only...

My superstar, Braxton

I couldn't resist

This is how excited Baylor was to see the sign. He opted out. Notice the collection in his lap. He always has to hold at least 2 things in the car. His requests never cease to make me smile.

And here's my sweet Brax. After his month long camp with Adrian R'Mante and several other actors, he did 2 performances at the Elephant Room (I think that's what it's called). It's just off Hollywood Boulevard, but it was for agents and managers and ONE guest, so I didn't get to go :( The day after the performances my sister got two phone calls from different agents that both want to sign him. They ended up staying an extra day to meet with both of them. She is still struggling with what to do because they want him in L.A. for pilot season which is from January to March. I'm glad it's not my decision to make, but regardless, Braxton got a once in a lifetime opportunity, met other kids from across the nation, and was trained by a TON of celebrities. He is a great kid with the sweetest heart and I am so lucky to be his aunt. I'm very proud of him.

That BLOWS

I don't know what was going on at 4:00 today where you live... but here in West Jordan the WIND was BLOWING and the RAIN was POURING. HARD. It was so loud, we thought the house was either going to blow down or land in Oz. After the craziness I got a phone call from my sees Leanne asking if Russ and I could come down and help them. They only live 5 houses down so her kids came and watched Baylor and we ran down. During the wind, their trampoline flew across their fence and into the neighbors yard, almost crossing another fence!!! Here's the view from Leanne's back steps. If you look clear back by the tree you can see the tramp.

A closer view. Talk about crazy!

The sad news is that they only got this trampoline in June. The bars were so bent that we had to tear it apart and get rid of it :(

Sorry sees, no bueno.

The neighborhood took a pretty hard hit. Our neighbors' fence blew down, there were shingles EVERYWHERE, and the worst for us, the "bounce bounce" went bye-bye. sad face.

On the Boardwalk...

Another of our Cali adventures took us to Long Beach. We found the neatest little boardwalk/harbor.

I'm pretty sure Baylor had more fun on this 50 cent horse than on the rides at Disneyland :) I had an equal amount of fun watching him.

We found an authentic Zoltar machine. One word for you... BIG.

We also found the coolest hat shop. We had a blast trying on hats and laughing at each other. I found a super cute hat for B that he will be debuting in his next picture session. (not the one below) It will be a surprise :)

Grandma Ju Ju modeling "the crow"

This hat is totally perfect for him now that he is OBSESSED with the hot dog song from Mickey Mouse Club House.

And doesn't this one make you want to do the chicken dance???

Then we hit the beach. B finally enjoyed playing in the sand. These waves were a lot more calm than when we were in Laguna in May, so he wasn't at all nervous.

He loved watching the HUGE freight boats and cruise ships. If you look hard you can see them in the distance. The Queen Mary is one of them.

I tried dipping him in the ocean, but he thought it was a little too chilly (and he was right) and he curled up like a potato bug :)

Love him

I'm ALMOST done posting California- then I can get on to everything else that I am SO behind on!