A Week with Family!

I decided to do one large post to sum up having family in town instead of two... so hopefully the delay was worth it :)

Last Tuesday night  the first of South County Boy's family slowly started trickling into town for my baptism and confirmation. Since we live in a one bedroom condo and just one of his brothers family is 6 people all on its own, it was decided that the family would just book the same camp grounds they used for the wedding and all stay there and use our condo as home base and a break from the really hot weather we have been experiencing.

Of course when traveling with little kiddos, something always gets left behind and plans slightly delayed, so they weren't able to make it to camp until night fall so SCB and I headed over there with a better lantern and some extra flash lights to try and help them set up camp before it got too late into the evening.

We spent the next morning at our house making plans for the week and decided that  we should spend the day at the beach. We packed and loaded up our cars and grabbed chairs and sun shades and spent a full day breaking the heat on the coast, playing in the surf, and getting a good lead in to the book i've been working on. It was a really pleasant day all around! We had to race home that night because we had a last minute meeting with the missionaries to talk about my baptism and then we headed out to the campgrounds to help SCB's parents set up their campsite since they had arrived that evening.

After getting them settled in, we decided to spend the next morning going over to finally experience the giant orange county balloon! The city of Irvine has a giant orange helium balloon that's free to ride with a carousel inside "the great park" that they have been constructing over the years. While they ended up having some temporary issues and we could only go up part of the way (100 of the 400 feet), it was a pretty cool experience and SCB and I now have 10 "skip the line" passes that we can use to come back since the balloon was having issues that day and we never made it back out as a family to go back on it while everyone was there.

Look!!! Its a panda!

I like him!

The Balloon!

Our friends from Utah drove down to visit family in California and thursday afternoon they drove down from LA to see us and for my baptism. Just after they arrived, SCB's other brother and family were there as well!! We did a condo style BBQ (where some people ate outside on the grass, others on the patio, others in the kitchen and living room... few people on my bedroom floor) and my best friend came down and hung out with everyone too since she stopped in after working in Anaheim and stayed with us until after the baptism since she lives out in Riverside. I had invited my mom and sister to come over for the BBQ, but they declined... again. (It seems like whenever SCB's family is in town, they don't want to have anything to do with them, and then once they are gone my mom complains about how they never reach out to her... No wonder SCB's parents no longer thing kindly of my family)...

My friends adorable baby girl... makes me want kids....

After the BBQ we went over to the Church to prep for my baptism.... It was a really great ceremony. One of my old sister missionaries drove down from Arizona to speak at my baptism, My brother in law Carlos performed the actual baptism, and SCB's mom also spoke and gave a talk after I shared my testimony. All my close friends in my bridal party were there, my friends from church who could make it, and members of our local ward... At one point it was standing room only and it made me smile and feel loved. I wore a cute all white outfit (instead of the jumpsuit they have as a clothing option), and it went over well.

While my mom, sister, and her fiance were in attendance, my mom was drunk (yup, you could smell it on her), but on the upside, SCB's mom thought she was nicer drunk at my baptism than sober at my wedding. Oh, and they left the nano second they could afterward. My friend took photos and i'll post them once I get them from him, but I just have a post baptism shot with our friends from Utah.

Friday we spent down at the farmer's market selling pens and my crochet flowers in the morning, and then grabbed lunch and walked the mall to take advantage of the AC to help beat the heat before we hit chipotle for dinner with the family. I'll do a separate post on the breakdown from the farmers market a bit later.

Saturday we did a family trip down to the discover science center. I had never been there, but SCB had fond memories of the place from his childhood... and we had a pretty good time. The place is kind of neat and if I had kids that were old enough to enjoy it, i'd grab that $99 annual family pass they offer.

Wind Tunnel!

I'm a "smart" shopper!

I'm laying on a bed of nails.. It wasn't all that pleasant

yeah for fake screen backgrounds!!!

PIN WALL!!!

 After the discovery Science Center we hung out at the campsite and got little Cesars cheap pizza for a quite and not clean up dinner. There were more electronic devises (ipods, tablets, smart phones) than people at one point. I heart my new family.

The next morning was my confirmation at Church. My father-in-law conformed me a member and all South County Boy's brothers (and himself), plus the elders and a few members of the ward joined in. Allen even wore a tie for the occasion :)

My old sister missionary :)

 All in all, a good Sunday! Many family members had to leave after sacrament service to head back home, but I was so thankful to have them come out and be there. Family is good!