California

Landon was finally able to take his first trip to California! My friend Beckee (we've been friends for almost 30 years, YIKES!) was getting married in St. George, UT. Instead of just flying in for the wedding, I decided to fly into LAX and make a week long trip out of it.

I was a little scared to fly alone with both boys! They weren't perfect, but we survived!

 

The first thing I HAD to do when we got to Long Beach was meet my new nephew, Mason!

Isn't he seriously the cutest little thing!!!

The second thing I had to do was go to Dominicos (our FAVORITE family restaurant)!

A few months back a friend posted on Facebook about this cool little park, so I had to take the boys...

The boys loved meeting their new cousin and we were able to get a cute picture of them all.

The Marengo Cousins

Devon noticed in this picture that Mason and Landon are holding hands. Seriously, how cute is that?!?!?

 

 

 A HUGE benefit to having the wedding in St. George is that I got to stay with my other bestest friend, Jen and she finally got to meet Landon.

(A little side note, I also spent time with one of my most favorite high school friends and her two little boys, but I got no pics, boo me!)

And finally, the reason for the trip, the wedding. It was in a canyon just outside of St. George and it was BEAUTIFUL! Weston had a blast playing in all the dirt and trying to climb all the rocks, just like the big kids. 

I just love this outtake!

The beautiful bride

I LOVE seeing old friends!

We've all been friend FOREVER!

It was a fun trip, but I was SO excited to get home and see my hubby. I'm glad that Devon is coming on our next trip to Cali!!

Oh and a couple more cute pics of the boys from the trip...

And DONE!

Grandma Yoak

Devon's grandma passed away a few weeks ago, right after her 91st birthday. I am SO grateful that I was able to know her and that both my boys were able to meet their great-grandma.

I just LOVE this picture, the way they are both smiling at each other melts me

We flew Utah for her funeral. Although it wasn't under the happiest of circumstances, I was really glad to get an impromptu chance to see family and celebrate the life of an amazing woman.

The day of the funeral the boys got all dressed up...

The funeral was beautiful! One of my favorite things was the blanket display. 

Grandma crocheted a blanket for EVERYONE of her 38 great-grandchildren. The display took up a few long tables and showed the love she had for all those kids. The blankets are such a treasured gift.

And the graveside, there was a flower arrangement that had the exact number of flowers to represent all of Grandma Yoak's posterity. There were two lilies representing Grandma and Grandpa Yoak, five flowers representing their children, 21 roses for grandchildren and 38 carnations for each great-grandchild. Everyone was allowed to take their corresponding flower. I just LOVED that! I let West choose a carnation for himself & Landon and a rose for Devon.

 During a BEAUTIFUL violin number by his Uncle Ethan, Weston was literally mesmerized. So much so, that he didn't move an inch the entire piece and the Bishop, that was officiating over the funeral, pulled out his phone in the middle of the service and took a picture.

So, of course, when we got home West got a chance to try out the violin for himself.

We also had time for some fun! The boys always love playing with their uncles, but this time they really had a great time playing with Grandma and Grandpa Black. Every morning Weston would walk around the house yelling, "Gandma Lack, get up Gandma Lack!"

Weston also really appreciated the fact that he has a TON of cousins in Utah. It was so fun to see him running around and playing with everyone. The day before we left we went to the Discovery Science Center with cousin Creed. The boys had a blast!

It's hard to be so far away from family, but it really makes you grateful for the time that you do have with them!