Flashback: End of May

Before our trip to SA in early June, we had a busy and fun couple of weeks at the end of May...

TIM & LAUREN'S WEDDING IN NASHVILLE

After going to Ryan and Lainey's wedding on May 14th, we headed back to the east coast for Tim and Lauren's wedding in Nashville on May 21st. On the way there, the weather was bad that weekend in the middle of the country and we ran into some travel trouble. Friday morning, our flight (and lots of others) was severely delayed and in jeopardy of being canceled. We had a short connection already and were sure we would miss it and were afraid we wouldn't make it to Nashville! We spent forever that morning at the airport trying to figure out how we were going to get to Nashville - trying to look at every rerouting option from any airport in Southern California. Joey even sent me a text message from the customer service line considering driving! (see picture - last bubble).

That would've been insane! Luckily, our flight ended up not getting canceled, just leaving like 2 or 3 hours late. And we were super lucky to make our connection because it was also delayed like 3 hours because of weather. When we finally arrived in Nashville, we had missed the rehearsal but made it in time for a little BBQ at the picnic dinner. 

Once we de-stressed a bit from our traveling adventure, we really had a great time hanging out with the family all weekend. We really love seeing everyone and it always reminds us how much we miss everyone when we all get together. We are so lucky to have such a big fun family. 

For some reason, I wasn't my usual self, taking a million pictures to document the experience, but I did manage to take a few....

Hanging out at the pool Saturday morning. We took over the place!

Best buds - Katelyn and Sarah.

A little pizza lunch with the Johnstons.

Katelyn before the ceremony.

All the girls in the church.

Uncle Joey with Sam, Katelyn, and Brianna.

Me and my date Sam. We were inseparable this night. :)

The beautiful church and ceremony.

Family pics after the ceremony. Tim and Lauren looked so beautiful and happy! Correction, Lauren looked beautiful, Tim looked handsome, all looked happy!

No pictures from the reception!

I know, I'm terrible! I think it's because my camera is so bad at low light photos and I hate using the flash, so I didn't even bother. But I've bought a new camera now that is better - so this will never happen again! Either way, the reception was very pretty and a lot of fun! Tim and Lauren did a great job designing the event to match their style. 

This is the only picture we took, and it was at the very end when everyone was cleaning up.

Tim and his matching buddy Martin the next morning. Too cute!

Leah and Ruth at breakfast.

Joey and I saying goodbye to the Johnstons. Oh, we were so sad to leave!

I don't think my pictures really capture it but it was really so much fun. It was the best weekend we had in a long long time. We really love everyone and were so happy to get together, especially for such a great celebration.  We can't wait until the next time! And of course, congrats Tim and Lauren! The family is now complete! :)

ERIN COMES TO TOWN

For those of you who do not know Erin, she is my oldest friend and was one of my bridesmaids. We met around first grade when we were playing tball or in daisies or something like that - we can't quite remember. Here's a picture from my childhood scrapbook. She is on the top left and I'm on the bottom right. 

Anyways, the weekend after the wedding, Erin came to visit during the Memorial Day holiday. We were the first stop on her way to Vietnam for vacation and she stayed with us for 4 or 5 days. We had a great time doing all the standard visitor activities. Again, I didn't really take any pictures (what was wrong with me?! I must've just been stressed out or something from the busy month!) - but luckily Erin took some good pics which I stole off Facebook. Here are some highlights.

Standard visitor activity # 1 - Saturday Farmer's Market in Little Italy. It's always a hit!

Standard visitor activity # 2 - Dinner in Little Italy for authentic Italian. This was at Mona Lisa's - a new favorite we discovered when Joe and family were in town.

Standard visitor activity # 3 - Night out in the Gaslamp. This was somewhat non-standard because me and my girlfriends decided to dress up for the occasion in our most "gaslamp-esque" outfits. Normally we would be super casual and feel totally underdressed compared to the girls in shiny mini skirts and high heels - but this time we decided to try to fit in. Erin played along.

Standard visitor activity #4: San Diego Zoo! Joey and I are members so we always bring animal loving visitors here.

Standard visitor activity #5: Old Town and somewhat authentic Mexican. Old Town is like a Mexican Helen - it is a historic attraction with old school houses and banks and such and has lots of Mexican restaurants and shops. It's a little touristy feeling so it's not my favorite place but some people like it.

Standard visitor activity #6: Day at the beach. This time we went up to La Jolla Shores - a beautiful cliff lined beach. We met one of Erin's childhood friends Brian (who also went to GT and is a surfer out here - a perfect friend match for Joey!) and some of our other friends - Sarah, Jordan, Ashley, and Max. It was a good day!

What a great way to spend a holiday weekend! Thanks for visiting Erin! 

That catches us up to South Africa, which I've already posted, so next will be my Latin America travels (and subsequent health issues!) and my brother Kenny's visit.

Have a great week everyone and keep on blogging!