A Best Friend's Wedding

Our Mikey Bear got married!

The first stop on our crazy-long, crazy-eventful trip was the Salt Lake Temple for Mike and Aimee's wedding. Matt and Mike have been best friends for a solid decade now and we are so happy to see him so happy! Aimee is everything we ever wanted for him and more, and we are so excited for a lifetime of couples' cruises with them. And really, aren't they the most beautiful couple? We love you, Mr. and Mrs. Reeder!

After the ceremony, Mike's little nephew Mont ran up to give Mike a pretzel. So adorable.

Mike has a beautiful family! This is his sister Molly, his sister-in-law (and my new friend) Jayci, and his cute niece Emmy.

Another one of Matt's best friends, Anthony, got to come play with us for a few days around the wedding! It was awesome.

Beach Volleyball at Hermosa

Last weekend was perfectly laid-back and wonderfully exciting all at the same time. That's because we spent a our Saturday with the O'Bryants, whom we hadn't seen in more than two years.

Shaun and Amber O'Bryant just PCSed** from Florida to Los Angeles AFB and we're so excited they're so close! They were our best friends during ASBC in Alabama, and then we got extra lucky when Matt and Shaun's FAM training dates coincided in Ohio. Pretty sure those TDYs were supposed to be boring, but we had all sorts of fun with Shaun and Amber. We were gym buddies, class buddies, game buddies, and travel buddies, just to name a few. Saturday was a happy reunion that included afternoon volleyball at Hermosa Beach and a delicious double-date night in Manhattan Beach. 

Jake hung out in his beach clothes while Amber and I talked babies (she's due in July!) and the boys engaged in a little competitioon. He then became Amber's biggest fan when I jumped in for a few points.

It was a lovely day.

**My siblings point out that not everyone "speaks military," so I'll try to remember to decode whenever I use common military acronyms. PCS= Permanent Change of Station, or military-required move. ASBC = Air and Space Basic Course at Maxwell AFB in Montgomery, Alabama. FAM = Fundamentals of Acquisition Management, a 3-week-long course at Wright Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio. TDY= Temporary Duty, or business trip. You're welcome, Sister.

Italy and Catan

News of our impending move made me realize just how awful I've been at documenting our more regular activities here in Southern California, like our daily walks around the park, last summer's block parties, Saturday tennis matches, or dinners with friends. You just don't think about whipping out a camera when it's so typical, you know? That's one thing I really regretted from our time in Colorado. We spent nearly every Friday night for 2.5 years at Anthony's house and have maybe ten photos to show for it, and that's a bummer.

So this weekend, even though we just laid low with some spring cleaning and a night at the Moores, I made sure to whip out the camera because we really want to remember those simple good times. With Duane and Kaley, that is -- not the Clorox. Our night consisted of homemade pizza, fancy soda, cookies and ice cream, Settlers of Catan, and hours of conversation. The girls talked about important things like nursery decorations (they're having a girl in June!) while the boys talked about nerdy things like engineering. You know how it goes.

Sleepovers and such

Sleepover parties are all the rage around here! Last weekend, Jake, Matt and I all had sleepovers with our best friends and it was fantastic. Matt's Air Force Academy buddies had a Mormon-style bachelor party on Friday night (read: steak, ping pong and an ex-girlfriend-picture-burning-party) so he spent the night at Mike's parents' house in SLC while I took Jake to Idaho Falls so I could hang out with Liz and he could play with Isaac. It was so nice to spend quality time with our BFFs!

On Saturday, we met up in Twin Falls, Idaho for Jon and Erin's wedding. Jon was one of Matt's best friends at the Academy, and Erin is Chase's little sister, so we've known them both for a long time and were so happy to see them finally tie the knot. Another bonus was meeting Mike's new fiancee Aimee, who we fell in love with right away. It's wedding season already!

My boys looked so handsome!

The Arch of Sabers

Matt, Chase, Mike, Jason and Dan.

I also got to go out to dinner with two different sets of former coworkers while we were in Utah and had a blast! They made work far more exciting than it should have been, and after all these years, we still have such a great time together. On our long drive home, Matt and I couldn't stop talking about how lucky we are to have so many great friends. They're all just such good people and are so fun to be around. We love you all!

Take me there

You know that Rascal Flatts song? The one where he wants his lady to show him all the major places from her past? Well, I'm not a big fan of Rascal Flatts -- his overplayed voice just sort of bugs me sometimes -- but I couldn't help but play that song in my head as Matt, Jake and I drove up the 99 over Martin Luther King weekend. I was finally introducing him to all the major people and places from where I grew up in Northern California, and I was so excited.

Once we were there, I kept kicking myself for not doing it sooner. It was so great to see so many old friends and bring two of my worlds together in a sense. Matt clicked well with everyone, Jake was an angel, and the weekend was perfect -- albeit too short. As we were driving home, Matt told me what a wonderful time he had, how much he liked my friends, and how cool it was to have all my old stories come to life by being where it happened, with the great people he'd heard so much about. "I feel like I get you more now," he said. It was so sweet.

Highlights included:

*Lunch at Pluto's with my old BFF Christina and cheer friend Kelley.

*Stopping by my dad's old work, where we once spent many happy days.

*Staying with my old babysitting family, the Eppersons. I can't even begin to tell you how much I love them.

*Giving Matt a grand driving tour that included my old schools, my first job, my favorite park, and our old home.

*Brunch at Crepeville with my cheer friend Tiffany and her awesome boyfriend Rich.

*A happy night with the Marbles and an afternoon chat with the Mathiesens.

*Starbucks hot chocolate runs with my PE buddy Christy and her husband Tyler, and with my cheer friend Sydnie and her sweet baby Marshall.

Hopefully we can make it back soon!

People

One of the best parts of having a new baby is sharing him with all the people we love. The holidays, of course, provided for plenty of that and we were able to introduce Jake to lots of family and friends that will play an important role in his life. First up was all the Cedar Grafs, including his Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma Graf.

Grandma and Grandpa had even dedicated an entire square of their fridge to their first great-grandson.

Next, we headed North and arrived just in time for Matthew's Eagle Scout Court of Honor. He'd waited an entire year after earning his Eagle to schedule the ceremony because he wanted to wait until our whole family could be there. How sweet is that? The Northern Grafs came to support Matthew, which meant Jakey got to meet a whole bunch of them all at once.

Handsome fellow, that Washew.

This is also when he first got to meet his Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma Smith, who adored him.

Later in the trip, we met up with my Liz and Jake met one of his future best buddies in Isaac. They'll have their first sleepover in just a couple weeks, lucky boys (and lucky moms!).

Uncle Cheb made his debut on New Year's Eve. Chase is one of our best friends from the Academy, and he drove all the way down from Idaho on NYE so he could be a part of Jake's blessing the next day. We have awesome friends.

Jake met Ali, Brian and Brody on New Year's Day. Ali was my "cheer sis" back in high school and we've stayed close for all the years since, so it's safe to say the Hallocks will be part of Jake's life for quite some time as well.

And back to our awesome family, who are also friends. Angie is my best-cousin-friend and our trips home to Utah happily overlapped, which meant we got to squeeze in some quality girl time at lunch. Side note: Angie lives in NYC and is an incredible photographer and writer, which in turn means she has an fantastic blog. You should probably be reading it.

Ah, and before all the Utah introductions took place, Jake got to meet the Hendrickses! Jodie, Steve and the kids are such a huge part of our lives and we love and miss them terribly. They're living it up on the beaches of Florida and it was our first reunion in almost two years. Steve is deployed right now so Jodie brought the kids home to California for Christmas and we had a party at Susie's with the Rozsas. It was such a happy night!

Nicole and Jordan were Jodie's and my brainchild. You're welcome, little lovebirds.

Jake had a wonderful time with all of the people we love most over the holidays. In addition to all the previously-blogged activities, we did fun things like watch bowl games, play card games, go to the movies (Jake sat through all of Muppets!), cuddle and just plain hang out. A ridiculous number of photographic evidence can be found below.