Just The Two Of Us: Double Dose of Spring Break!!!

I can't believe it's in the middle of April already! How did it come so suddenly?? I'm certainly not complaining, because I love the month of April. :) LDS General Conference, Easter, and spring break all occur in April. They are all something to celebrate and live for. Although, it was almost hard to believe it was spring break not too long ago because it recently snowed in Utah!! It didn't last long, but it was so crazy that there was snow in the middle of April! Then again, it's Utah. :)

Spring break was so fun this year! Towards the end of March, my best friend Chelsea came up to Utah to visit us!! It was her spring break during the week of March 30th. She came into town early on a Saturday morning. We were so surprised!! She called me saying that she was right outside my door catching us both completely off guard. We knew she was coming into town on Saturday, but had no idea she would get there so early. It was probably one of the best wake up calls I have ever had. :) I was so excited to have her here!! It was great to catch up and reminisce on the good times that we had up at college. She was also helpful around the house and even washed a few of our dishes. She was so thoughtful for doing that. Even though I still had to work while she was visiting, I still consider her visit as a part of my spring break. :) She stayed with us for about a week, and than I had to leave to go to California for my spring break. She is amazing!! I miss her already...

Celebrating her birthday while she was visiting us. :)

I was so happy to have the opportunity to see my family in California for spring break from April 3rd-10th. Since we are making the big move to Texas soon, I figured it would be a good time to see them before we take the next step in our lives. Unfortunately Collin couldn't make it down to California mostly because of school and finals. I even asked him if he was going to be okay without me. Haha. I'm glad that because of the technology we have today, I was able to talk with him on the phone and Skype during the time I was away. This made me cope with really missing him while I was gone. I flew from Provo to Oakland to meet my dad and stepmom Patty. We got to spend a few hours on the San Francisco beach. I love the beach so it was a dream come true for me. My family members are a lot like me and love to take pictures. :)

Me and my handsome daddy at the beach

Patty and I. She's fantastic!! :)

In front of the tulip garden and a giant wind mill

Love this picture in the tulip garden!

In front of a bath house that has been deserted for centuries. It was neat to explore it.

San Fran!!!!! It's great to see you! :)

When I got to Loomis, one of the first things I did was see my adorable niece! She has grown so much since the last time I saw her. She can now sit up on her own, likes to stand, puts almost anything in her mouth, and is eating solid foods. Not to mention, she gets cuter all the time.

Look at us girls!!

This makes my heart melt.

The following weekend was General Conference. It was so spiritually uplifting, and was even more special since I got to spend it with my family on Easter! I really didn't have a favorite session, I loved everything that was said at conference. However, a talk that really stood out to me was President Uchtdorf's talk about the grace of God. He talks about how we can understand His grace that will help us experience a mighty change in our hearts to do good continually. It was a powerful message and something that I needed to hear. I didn't get to hear the Saturday afternoon session, but I eventually got to see it on lds.org. Like I said earlier, thank goodness for technology. :) Here are the highlights from Easter weekend:

I love this family so much!! It's almost like Abbey is reaching out for me. :)

She can sit up like a big girl. :)

More family pictures.

I am framing this picture. :)

Playing an epic game of croquet

Just being goofy...

A sweet Easter treat my mom made. It's a layered rice crispies treat made out of peeps.

We took a walk and passed by the house that I used to grow up in. It's such a cute little house. :)

California sunsets are always so beautiful.

My amazing mother. I love her to pieces!!

My cute sister and I

Gorgeous Easter sunset. I live for moments like this. :)

Throughout the rest of the week, we spent a lot of much needed time as a family. I got to see my Uncle Frank and Aunt Diana when they stopped by on Monday for dinner. My mom is just fantastic and made so much delicious food. Uncle Frank gave more ukulele lessons and I got to learn more songs. Now I will be strumming much more. I love how fun the ukulele is.

Tuesday, April 7th, was the day of my "conversary" or day that I joined the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I still can't believe that it's already been 8 years since I made this big decision to be baptized. I guess you can say we went out to celebrate? Haha. I got to satisfy my sushi craving by eating out at my favorite sushi restaurant called Blue Nami. I couldn't help myself and ordered 3 sushi rolls! My sister Kelsey thought that I was crazy for ordering that much food, but I ate all of them! I don't eat sushi often in Utah, so going to Blue Nami was a special treat for me.

Picture from my baptism 8 years ago! I was just a baby. :)

That's a lot of sushi...

April 7th was also a special day for me to hear Abbey babbling for the first time. Kelsey said that it was the first we heard her babble. It's just the cutest thing to hear. I cannot believe she is starting to "talk" now. Haha. Such a sweetie pie!

I was very fortunate on Wednesday to see Collin's uncle and grandparents during lunchtime. They are all just so generous and one of the sweetest people I have met. They make me smile. I was glad we got to bond and spend time with them before it was time for me to go back to Utah. I'm going to miss them when we move to Austin.

I couldn't believe how quickly spring break had flown by. Before I knew it, it was time to say goodbye to family. I hugged my mom, stepmom, sister, and brother-in-law and practically teared up. I knew I was going to see them again, but it also hit me that I was going to be so far away from them. My dad drove me to the Oakland airport early Friday morning. As I hugged him and said goodbye, my heart once again began to sink knowing I was really going to miss them all.

However, I couldn't have been happier when the plane pulled up to Provo. I was once again reunited with my husband whom I haven't seen in person for a week! He drove me back home to a clean apartment and beautiful flowers. He knows how to make a good homecoming. :) Here are the rest of the pictures from my adventure in California.