Back from the abyss...and Happy Birthday, Cody!

Well, we're back! We've actually been back for almost two weeks, but I've been catching up at work and post-poning what is going to be quite a long blog post. First of all, today is my dear sweet husband's 31st birthday! Can you believe he's 31? I can't, and neither can he. He really doesn't look that old. But anyway, I hope he has the best birthday every and knows that I love him oh-so-very much. And Joshua loves you too, Daddy!

So, where do I start? How about at the beginning...well, we left for CA around 9pm on Wednesday, August 13th, in a car packed full of suitcases, snack food, a stroller, a carseat, three adults and a baby (Brianne came with us--meaning that she was the third adult, not the baby). The trip was...long. Joshua decided to choose this road trip to HATE his carseat, and so what should have been a 9 or 10-hour trip ended up being around 12+ hours. Apparently he also decided to become severely attached to his Mommy, which was cute at first but quickly proved to be a little annoying. For example, I couldn't sit in the back seat with him, because he'd just reach out to me, crying and screaming for me to hold him. I ended up driving most of the night, and luckily adrenaline helped me stay up once we arrived at my parents' house in Corona on Thursday morning. We spent that day getting things ready for Kirsti's wedding and reception, which was to be held in my parents' backyard. Thursday night was her bridal shower, where she was indeed showered with gifts and we played fun games and stuff. My good friend Wendy Weitzel came, too--it was so good to see you, Wendy! And Rich was there for part of it, which was weird...until we learned that he was only there at the request of the shower organizers to play a game with Kirsti.

Friday morning, we (meaning me, Kirsti, my mom, Brianne, and Rich's sister Becca) went to get our hair done at a fancy salon. I wish I had a picture of how my hair looked that day, but alas, Cody and I were NOT the best picture-takers on this trip. We have to rely on others now for our memories. Kirsti's hair and makeup were beautiful, which makes sense because she was the bride--she was supposed to look beautiful. Then again, she pretty much always does. Anyway, so we all drove down to San Diego that afternoon, left Joshua with his auntie and soon-to-be aunt-in-law (is that what Becca would be?), and entered the temple. The sealing was wonderful. Kirsti of course cried afterwards as everyone hugged them as we left the room. Pictures afterwards were good...there were tons of people milling around everywhere. We actually got a picture of our ENTIRE family, which hasn't happened since--I think since before my mission, actually! But all five of us original Burr children were there, our four spouses, two "grand"parents, and five little cousins. I need a copy of that picture. As we were walking around outside the temple, I was struck with memories of our wedding day two years before at that very temple...sigh. I'm so glad that my little sister chose to be sealed and was worthy to enter the house of God. And I wish her a long and happy life as Mrs. Richard Lee.

Joshua freaked out again on the trip back to Corona that night, but at least we got In 'N Out as some sort of consolation. The next day included feverish amounts of working to get the backyard in order for the reception, which turned out to be BEAUTIFUL. Seriously, my parents went all out. New grass, a gazebo, tulle everywhere, pretty lights, tables and gorgeous centerpieces...and Becca and her mom even figured out how to write "Kirsti & Rich" in lights, which was displayed on the slope near the gazebo. It was such a fun evening, and Kirsti was once again a gorgeous bride. One of my favorite memories of that evening, though, was my nephew Damon (he's 3) having the time of his life with the fruit from the chocolate fountain. He had a little collection going on his plate of chocolate-covered fruit kabobs, and his clothes were absolutely covered in chocolate. It was adorable. The little program was sweet--Rich sang a song for his mom (some kind of inside family thing), and Brianne, Becca, and I sang "When You Say Nothing At All", for which I accompanied on my guitar. Then Kirsti and Rich had their dance, then Kirsti and my dad danced, then Rich and his mom, and then...I think we went upstairs to put Joshua to bed. But seriously, beautiful reception. I'm kicking myself for not taking any pictures of my beautiful sister and her handsome husband (I hope that's okay for me to say that about my brother-in-law)...if I do get some, I shall post.

We spent three more days there in CA, enjoying the nice weather and gearing up for our flight to Florida. I do have a few pictures of a few things we did, all taken with my cell phone. First, here is Cody with the crab he found when we went to Newport Beach on Monday, August 18th (Joshua's 8-month birthday!):
And here is Joshua curiously looking at the starfish that Cody found...he called it "Daddy's Traveling Animal Show":On Tuesday night, my brother Dana and his wife Melissa invited us over to their house. It was good to spend time with them and their kids, Luke and Sydney, as they weren't going to be able to come to Florida with the rest of the family. Kendall and his family were staying with them, and so I took the opportunity to introduce Joshua to his cousin Audrey, who is just 3 and a half months older than him:
Aren't they cute together? I think Joshua weighs more than she does...which I guess is as it should be, seeing as how he's the boy. Anyway, this blog post is proving to be WAY too long, and I really do have work to do, so I think I'll leave this for now and post about our Florida trip and the excitement we had on the way home for another day. Thanks for reading!