Back to the Beach

Our first day back on a beach in awhile in San Diego. I only had Luke and Paisley with me and they were in sand heaven. John, Alana, and Brian were with us and rented a couple of surf boards. Brian got out there later in the day and broke the tip off his board, but luckily the rental place was nice enough to only charge him $15. Paisley was apprehensive about the the water at first. She couldn't quite figure out how it came in and then went away, but she got the hang of it and loved playing in the wet sand. Luke took right to the boogie board and was out in the waves riding like a little pro. One lady even asked me how old he was and couldn't believe he was only 4 and maneuvering so well. He is a natural. Paisley had a blast chasing a beach ball around. There is nothing like the beach to me. I love it; the kids love it; it is pure happiness!!!

Our little surf bum

John and Brian back from catching some waves

Bridal Shower

Alana's sweet friend Daniela threw her a little bridal shower while we were all in San Diego. She made it so cute with little party favor bags and play jewelry for us to all wear. She had some fun games and a adorable notebook for us to write things to Alana in. For each time Alana ansered a question wrong she had to put on something fun/funny to wear. She was a great sport. We went to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory and had a really fun night with just the girls.
My SIL Jen, Aunt Leslie, and me

Granny and Alana

Granny, Alana, Mom, and Daniela

The bride to be! (I love Mom's grin)

Alana's San Diego Wedding 9-3-09

The Wedding Bowl, La Jolla

Flower Girls

I don't even know where to begin. There is so much that could be said about this last week. The family was all together for Alana's wedding to Brain on September 3. It was a beautiful day (slightly hot for San Diego) and everything went smoothly. We spent the night before putting together the bouquets for the chairs and the flowers looked gorgeous. Alana ordered specific ones that she liked as well as had some meaning; like one called kangaroo paw which represented how they live in Australia. It has been over 2 1/2 years since I have seen my little sister and it was sooooo great to be together again and see how glowing and happy she is. My older brother, Nathan, walked her down the isle since Dad wasn't able to leave the mission. All the little girls were in matching dresses and looked so pretty. I spent weeks getting ideas for doing their hair and mine. I had intended on wearing my hair down since it is so long now, but it was too hot for that so everyone got an updo in our house. The boys all wore matching ties in either red or yellow and looked so handsome. Everything went off without a hitch. Alana asked me to do a reading for the ceremony and I was a little stressed about finding just the right one, but did eventually settle on Blessing For A Marriage by James Dillet Freeman and it was perfect. I even got a little teary as I read it. Alana looked stunning in her gown and everyone was just grinning. Paisley didn't cooperate with picture taking, but I should have expected that to happen. I was so glad to be able to spend a few days getting to know Brian before the wedding. He is a perfect match for Alana. So kind and sweet to her and easy to get along with. He will fit in with our family great and we didn't scare him off with our craziness :) !!! I can see why Alana fell for him even with coming from different backgrounds. He is so respectful and supportive of Alana and her beliefs. It was fun to be around love birds for a few days too. Made me think back to my newlywed days and how new and fun being engaged was. I have soo many pictures and so there will be a lot of them :) Scott did a great job getting lots of great pictures. Unfortunately it ran out of battery so we didn't get any at the reception or of lots of extended family that was there.

Alana's side of the family

All 5 siblings

GrannyLuke did this hand pose a lot :)