California- Los Angeles Zoo

David was nice enough to take a day off of work while I was there. We were going to go to the beach, but the weather in Pismo wasn't cooperating so we changed plans and went to the zoo instead.


The L.A. Zoo- it was so weird to drive into the zoo in the middle of such a huge city.


Audrey let me do her hair in "piggies" and loved seeing all the animals.


I love flamingos! I think they are the weirdest bird but so cool.


Jordan walked alot (he did not want to be confined to the stroller) and most of the time with his hand in his shirt (he has a small obsession with his nipples- SO FUNNY!). Hi Melanie in the background!


It was a pretty hot day, so we stopped to have a good old fashion snow-cone. Audrey and I shared a strawberry one.


David had lime and Mel and Jordan had a blue kind.

We saw a ton of animals and walked alot!

Jordan got tuckered out from all the walking and passed out in the stroller.


By the prairie dog exhibit, they had these holes you could pop out of. Audrey thought they were the best!

California- Sprinklers & Ice Cream

Every summer, I go to California to visit my brother and his family. I love spending time with them and playing with my niece and nephew.

One day we went to a sprinkler park and enjoyed some relief from the heat.


Audrey & Jordan loved pushing all the sprinklers on.


Melanie and Audrey riding the motorcycle and sidecar on the playground.


Jordan loved the motorcycle and did not want to get off to even play in the water.


Audrey is so cute! She loved the playgrounds more than the sprinklers.

One night we went to an ice cream parlor. It had a cool inside and also had the biggest portions of ice cream!

Jordan's favorite color is orange...so he HAD to have ORANGE ice cream. (that is a kids size!)


And Audrey's favorite color is pink- hence the strawberry ice cream.


Melanie and her fudge sundae.


David and I and our treats. I took over half of mine home to eat the next day.

Family Time- Her Side

We've made numerous trips down south to spend time with my side of the family too.

During one visit- we went to support my sister Lindsey, run in a 5k support Autism Awareness.


It was rainy and pretty cold! Jarad and I all bundled up waiting for Linds.


Run Lindsey, RUN!


Mom, Lori & Kev and Linds- now we are all warmed up!


Sissers- proud of you Linds!


What's so funny?! My Dad is adorable!

One weekend, we also made a trip to Boise, ID with most of my family. My Aunt Monica got married in the cutest little church on the Boise State Univ. It was a long drive and a quick trip, but it was pretty fun.


Jarad and I just before the wedding.


Who's that cute photographer?! Jarad was asked to "freelance" the ceremony.


Here is one of Jarad's shots. Mom is the matron of honor and Dad walked Monica down the aisle.


Kevin & Lori as we walked to the reception.

On another trip, my aunt was also there visiting. So, we had to have a fire! And most of the family was there.


Lindsey & Aunt Bernie


Mom & Dad


Kev & Lori


Jar & I


My parents have a firepit on their back porch and we love to make s'mores and roast starbursts (you gotta try it...YUM!)


Sadie didn't like the fire...so she just chilled on the stairs.

Family Time- His Side

We are lucky to live close to alot of Jar's immediate family and more lucky that his sister from Reno came to visit.

I got to spend part of the day with all the nieces.

We went to their favorite place- McDonalds! Sienna & Mya enjoying their sodas.


We ate, played in the play-place and they had a great time! Aleah & I

We also went to the Relay for Life in Greeley and walked in memory of Jarad's Dad.


Jarad & Mya (she was tired!)


Here we are....walking away! Honestly, we only walked a few laps but it was cool to do (Thanks for the invite Janna!) and we'd love to do it again.


Janne, Aleah & Mya as well as Deahna & Sienna

We all also hit up Berthoud Days.


We watched the small-town parade. It was pretty fun!


This was my favorite entry! Seriously, a giant, Red-Flyer wagon! How cool is that?!

The pool was also frequented twice while they were here visiting. We had a blast playing in the pool and going down the slide a thousand times with the girls. We also loved watching them all brave the diving board over and over (we were also very tired from catching them and making sure they got over to the wall).


Mya, even though it was her first time braving the diving board, she tried doing a flip! Jarad caught this awesome picture.


Sienna showed us her mad diving-board skills too!

It was so fun to hang out with everyone here!

SLC or BUST!

After I finished the school year, Jarad and I packed up and headed to Salt Lake for a week to visit friends and family.


Look! Even Sadie is excited for a road-trip!


The trip was nice and Sadie was a champ in the car.

Right when we got into Salt Lake, we went to visit our friends Jenn & Ben. Sadle, I forgot a picture! Love you anyway Jenn!!


We got to go visit our Maura and meet the sweet little Crew-man!!


We did lots of playing with this little cutie! Kate loved Sadie even after she got a little excited and knocked her over.


One evening, Chris & Tarina & Kate and Jar & I went down to the Gateway to do a little shopping and enjoy the evening.

Jarad was growing a quite a bit of scruff but then decided to shave and to try something new...


Isn't he a stud?! (YIKES!)

One morning, we went to one of our favorite breakfast places (The Original Pancake House) with our pals Brian, Michelle and Fiona.


We also got to hang out with them most of the day and see their new place and catch up. Thanks for spending the day with us!

That evening, we got dinner with Jarad's sister, who was passing through on her drive to Colorado, in Bountiful at CAFE RIO! SO YUMMY! (And the best news, we just found out that they opened one in Denver!!)


Of course, we had to go see Grandma & Grandpa Tangren. They are so cute and we love them so much! We also got to see Jar's Aunt Amy and her kids.

The event that spurred our trip to begin with, was the blessing of little Crew. He was long awaited and is such a cute baby!


The proud parents and the little man!


At the blessing, we got to see some friends from our old ward too. Alec & Tiffany are gonna have a little girl of their own to bless soon!

We loved spending Memorial day with Chris, T & Kate! We hung out, went shopping and ending up building a fire-pit in their backyard!


Kate snuggled up to Jar while her parents picked out bricks!


And lucky for us, a summer tradition was open and we got a BOB'S!!!


Seriously!! Could she be any cuter??!!

Fire-pit done, and my girls (those who still live in SLC) came over for a BBQ and camp-fire.


It was a great dinner and a great fire!


We got to meet little baby Theo while we were there as well! Chrissy & Thayne and their adorable baby Theo!


Our little family enjoying the fire.


Tarina, Kate (she really like the s'mores!) and Chris (Thanks for hosting the BBQ and for letting us stay with you!)


I love my girls and I am so glad that we got to spend time with some of them. (Miss all my non-SLC girls too!)

Before we left the great Salt Lake, we went to visit Jarad's Dad's grave in Heber. It is hard to believe it has been two years since he passed.

We just took some flowers and a few pictures.

Sadly, we did have to leave. But we had a great time visiting and will surely return!


Sadie made her own little perch in the back seat for the drive home.

Eventually, she got tired of the backseat and moved...

onto my shoulders! She is so crazy, but seriously did so well the whole trip!