FOURTH WITH FRIENDS

I promised my brother that I'd update last week...and I didn't. So sorry Uncle Wheat Thin! Better late than never, I hope.

It's become a tradition for us to spend the 4th of July with our good friends Elliot and Samantha. And this year we were happy to also spend it with their sweet daughter Leonora. We had a weekend full of barbecuing, beer and wine sampling, and hiking at Garland Regional Park in Carmel Valley (and I somehow managed to only take photos of the hiking trip).

It was great to see them and we so wish they lived closer!

Noah with his buds Leonora and Samantha. We miss you guys! Come visit again soon!

YOSEMITE

Last month, we took a combined Spring Break/Isaiah's birthday celebration trip over to Yosemite. To state the obvious, it is absolutely beautiful. I have a feeling we'll be heading back soon...and often.

It was POURING near the falls. Also, check out that beard behind Shawn!

But the boys favorite part? Definitely the hotel pool and hot tub!

Eli took a break to make some important phone calls from the remote of the lift chair :-)

70 YEARS

One thing that I'm terribly behind on posting about is our trip down to L.A. to celebrate Shawn's Uncle Benny and Auntie Rita's 70th wedding anniversary. Yes, you read that right - 70 years! How amazing and inspiring is that?!?

The lovely couple

Check out this party star!

   It was the first time that the boys got to meet many of their cousins and they had a blast! 

Our usually shy Elijah immediately fell in love with his cousin Robbin. He embraced her as if he'd known her his whole life. The picture doesn't do it justice, but it was adorable. 

He also took a liking to his younger cousins.

Cousins!!

CATCHING UP, VOLUME III

And, as usual, we made time for beach days.

Aptos:

Carmel:

A day of extreme waves at Asilomar in Pacific Grove: