Sequoia National Forest = The Biggest Trees You Will EVER See!

We visited the giant sequoias and I was awestruck at the size of these things! You can't tell how big they are in the picutres. 

They are HUGE and really, really tall!

Pretty waterfall

Wes got a little thirsty.

Even the pine cones were giant! I've never seen pine cones this big!

They always split at the bottom and of course, a small slit on one of these bad boys is a massive manhole! I could live in one of these trees!

I think the whole world shook when this tree fell. 

He's standing on one of the BRANCHES from the top of the tree! They are so high up you can't tell how big they are!

They seriously look like they came straight out of a fairy tale! They were so awesome!

Cousin Swim Party

This was my first time attending the famous Annual Richardson Cousin Swim Party. I'll tell you what- these people know how to throw a killer swim party! Tons of friends and family attended, lots of amazing food, great southern-California weather, and my father-in-law owns a pool company so his pool is pretty much the best pool ever- super-clean, perfect temperature, attached spa, diving board, and water squirting into the sides of the pool.

It doesn't show in the pictures, but the pool was more crowded than the hottest day of summer at the local public swimming pool!

Complete with a long line for the diving board.

How may kids does it take to remove candles from a birthday cake?

Brownie Sundaes were the hit of the party. Such great toppings - all kinds of crushed candy bars, gummy bears, fruit, hot fudge, whip cream,...
And by the end, every single bowl of topping was completely empty! haha

This kid cracked me up. He was walking around squirting whip cream in his mouth.

A pool party is never over until someone gets a cooler of ice water dumped on them and poop is found in the pool.

Our First Visitor and One Fun Weekend!

My cute youngest sister was fearless visitor #1 at the Cardall's new home :)                                                   We packed soooo many fun things into every single day!

Yogurtland

BJ's Pizza twice

Six Flaggs Magic Mountain

Out for ice cream sundaes twice

The Dark Knight Rises matinée

Bowling and dinner at the bowling alley

Swimming and laying out at the pool almost every day

The lines were about 90 minutes so we got Flash Passes which made a huge difference. Time has not treated Wes and I very well so we were worried about motion sickness and took some Dramamine. Poor Wes barely made it through 4 rides then had to leave, but Kami and I went strong from open to close. I was impressed. We went from ride to ride to ride, never stopping to wait in line or even eat dinner. The ride shown in the middle with all three of us was our favorite. We are facing out the whole time and started out staring at the ground (look at the trees behind us).

My healthy sis is apparently on a pepperoni pizza and chocolate ice cream diet. Hahaha Gotta love teenagers! :)

Surfing, Disasters, and Hikes. Welcome to the Beach!

We went back down to OC for a long weekend and had quite an interesting trip. Surfing the first morning turned out to be a disaster. To make a long story short, I crashed trying to catch a huge wave (ok, it wasn't that big, but for me, anything that projects above the surface is huge) and my board broke my nose. Tons of blood, getting me and my board back to shore, the whole beach staring, the sight of my nose deformed and off to the side, wondering if I will ever look decent again, trying to reset it, and explaining the story to Wes' whole family including all his nephews (and a few extra times for his adorable niece who kept asking about it), while trying to recover at my in-laws' house made for an interesting day.

After that, Wes decided hiking was a better idea for a Utah girl, so hiking we did. One hike above town (you can see the whole city behind me) and one beach hike. Wes was really cute too because I used to have to fend for myself (3 mile hike on a rugged Kauai coast our honeymoon with a broken toe? ya.) but this time, he helped me up and down the rocks and steep places and kept saying, "if you don't feel comfortable, don't do it." Basically, we were both glad my face wasn't permanently disfigured.

These are just some pretty pictures of our adventures. 

Wes is determined to keep me out of the water from now on, but hopefully someday I will make my big comeback!

Sisters' Retreat (and Mom and Niece)

My sisters are starting a new tradition where we all get together once a year and have a girls' weekend. JaRelle was 38 weeks prego and needed to be close her her doctor so what was her responsibility? You may think it was to sit back and relax and let us take care of it all... Nope! She was assigned to host! No sympathy! Haha, but she did a great job! We packed a lot of fun in our couple days together. 

Dollar movie chick flick, made yummy food, gave each other pedicures, swam in the pool every day, shopping, frozen custard, out to eat, professional massages!!! It was awesome! :)

Independence Day 2012

We went to Huntington Beach on July 4th and met up with our friends Jordan and Kelly and their family. It was a very busy day at the beach!

The boys went surfing while we watched from the beach (we were the smart ones, the water was freezing!). Wes has a good board for Independence Day too :)

California is a very interesting place. It's where I spend the warmest Christmases and the coldest Independence Days, hence the hoodie at the beach.

The day ended with a BBQ with his family and cousins then fireworks at the local park.