Our 4th of July

We had a great 3-day weekend! My parents drove up and spent the weekend with us. We watched a lot of tennis, had a lot to eat, and enjoyed the sun!

First off, I wanted something patriotic to put up so I decided to make something prior to the weekend. I found a font I liked, enlarged it, traced the letters on some scrap plywood, had my dad cut them out, I painted them, and finally Mod Podged some scrapbooking paper on them. Super easy!

We started the weekend by going out to dinner and watching Transformers. We all loved the movie!

For the 4th we went to our church's flag raising ceremony and pancake breakfast.

We went to our new favorite BBQ place, Gorilla's BBQ, for lunch.

We drove down the coast and stopped at the best little beach. It was a hidden gem! It wasn't crowded, wasn't windy and cold, and had a huge rock to climb on.

We were all attacked by this seagull when we climbed up on the rock.

Personal fireworks don't seem to be allowed in most areas around here (fire hazard, I assume) and there is only a handful of professional shows you can go to. We went to a show held at an amphitheatre, but we chose to find a seat outside so we didn't have to pay for tickets. We setup camp on a huge dirt field because most people were setting up around it and the place was starting to get crowded. We had the best seats and the bonus of having no one around us. It was great!

We hope everyone had a fun and safe 4th of July!

Monsters vs Aliens

My friend, Kara, and I decided to go see Monsters vs Aliens while our husbands were attending Priesthood session of General Conference. Yes, it's a kid's movie, and yes, it's a cartoon, but it was in 3D!









I've never seen an IMAX 3D movie and I thought the previews looked cute so here was my chance. Luckily, I was able to find another adult who wanted to see it as much as I did. I thought the 3D experience was pretty awesome and I will admit I may have jumped a few times at objects flying towards my head! Oh and yes, we were probably the only kid-less adults in the theater.

HSM3

I'm a big High School Musical fan, I'm not going to lie, and when I heard they were releasing the third on the big screen I just had to see it! I know they are made for tweens, but I think there is nothing wrong with supporting a good, clean movie. I actually think I like this one the best out of all three. I couldn't convince Travis to see the movie and I didn't want to see it by myself so I asked Kara to see it with me. She had the great idea of us doing their signature jumping picture.

We may have looked like the biggest dorks while doing it, but I think it was worth it! We had a blast!

The Best Day of Our Lives

...well, pretty close. Friday the 21st was a day both Travis and I had been looking forward to for a long time, but for different reasons. Travis found out Friday, at 6:00 pm pacific time to be exact, that he passed the California Bar Exam!!!!! Needless to say he was relieved.

Here are all the books he read, 3x5 cards he studied and notes he took. I had to make two trips to the dollar store to get packs of cards. I believe there are over 1000 cards!!

Friday, at 10:45 pm, I saw Twilight!!!! Okay, not as impressive as passing the bar, but I think waiting almost a year to see this movie without going crazy is an accomplishment. We had our friends Kara and Aaron over for dinner and dessert before we headed to the theater. Travis had read Twilight and was surprisingly looking forward to seeing it with us. And Aaron not wanting to be left at home alone decided it would be worth seeing as well.

I bought the tickets about 2 weeks in advance just in case it sold out. We also showed up an hour early to get good seats only to find there was already a decent line.

Kara and I, of course, loved it and couldn't stop talking about it. The boys enjoyed it as well.

As a side note I decided to make cinnamon rolls for our dessert. It's Travis' mom's recipe that she helped create with a friend and is the best homemade cinnamon roll recipe I have had. I had never made them before so I thought it would be a special treat for Travis for passing the Bar. Let's just say cooking is not an instinct or even common sense to me, although I think I am getting better. My point is, if it is not written in the directions then I simply don't do it.

Apparently, unbeknownst to me, I was supposed to place the cinnamon rolls a 1/2 inch to 1 inch apart to let rise before baking. I let them rise alright, but nowhere in the directions does it say to place them a 1/2 inch to 1 inch apart. I guess I just don't have the instinct or common sense to know not to stuff all of them on one tray. I'll be penciling that part into the recipe so I won't have another dysfunctional batch trying to escape over the edge of the pan.

Twilight Video Clip

OH MY GOSH!!! This has got to be the best video clip promoting the Twilight Movie. I've watched it over and over and I get goosebumps every time! I LOVE IT and I can't wait! I hope this whets your appetite.

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Transformers

I've really been looking forward to seeing the new Harry Potter movie. A while ago I had a conversation with Travis about seeing it together the first Saturday it came out. Yesterday as I was talking to him about my plans to go today he claimed that he didn't remember agreeing to go to the movie. With much persuasion he agreed to go to the 'theater' but he wanted to see Transformers instead. Luckily for him they were playing both movies starting at the same time or else he would have had to watch HP with me. Mine was good, but like always the book is so much better! Transformers, on the other hand, according to Travis is the best movie he's seen in a long time! Here's a video Travis found that he thought would whet your appetite to see the real thing. We'll let you be the judge.