Trip to California

On Monday we decided to go out to California.  Little guy had never been to the beach (even though we stayed on the Oregon Coast a year ago.  It was just too cold to take a newborn out to.).

We stayed in the LA area and tried not to overfill our days.  The first night we were there we felt an earthquake! It was CRAZY!  We were on the fifth floor of the hotel and it was so cool!  When the room started to shake I thought that something was just wrong with the hotel, then Stephen realized that it was an earthquake!  Luckily nothing near us was damaged.

Next we decided to go to the beach.  IV did NOT like the water.  He would get so terrified every time the wave would come and he would hold on super tight.

But he LOVED the sand.  He sat and played in it forever.  He would grab it and throw it wet or dry.

Then decided to take off.  He didn't want to walk on the sand, but he could have crawled the whole length of California if I'd let him.  He had a blast just crawling around and left the cutest crawl trail in the sand that unfortunately I wasn't able to capture with our camera.

While we were busing playing, Stephen was having a photoshoot with Matt.  

During Matt's photoshoot, these girls came up and asked Stephen to take their picture with their cameras.  Then they asked to have a photo taken with Matt.  It was going well until the wave came up.

And that pretty much sums up our trip.

For Allison

A little while back Allison asked me if I could send her Paige's wedding photos before Paige had a chance to look at them.  And I laughed.  But being the photographer's wife does have some benefits, so Allison, this one's just for you!  Enjoy!

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Just for reference this was at the reception during the dancing.  It's not often that you can catch Allison in this rare pose! And I'm pretty sure Paige won't mind me sharing this "gem" with everyone.  

Odd Situations

I am very lucky to have Stephen in my life.  He knows more in certain subjects than I do and he is much more level-headed when handling tricky situations.  Sometimes I wonder if weird things happen when he is present simply because he'll know what to do.

Case in Point #1: When we were living in Tempe, we went to Cracker Barrel for dinner one time.  I believe we were waiting to pay (in the store area) when all of a sudden this girl collapses, and grabs my arm in the process.  I had no clue what to do.  Stephen immediately helps get her up and sitting and then coordinates to someone to not only get her some water, but to call 911 as well.  As for me...I just stood there...awkwardly.

Case in Point #2: We were driving back from Pinetop around the curves of this mountain and suddenly we hit a rock in the road that we didn't see.  Stephen was so prepared that he was able to pull the car off the road, pull out his roadside kit (which includes a neon jacket and some other cool things like that) and he carefully clears off the road.  I sat in the car.

Case in Point #3:  Just before the start of school this past year we were at ASU waiting to get Stephen's light pass.  This boy walks slowly right past the line and right into the wall.  He backs-up and hits the wall again.  It was like he was in this daze.  And then he collapsed.  I again had no idea how to help.  And again it was taken care of by others around us.

Case in Point #4:  We were driving around in our truck when the truck in front of us lost two of the chairs they were hauling.  Again Stephen knows what to do and is able to maneuver through traffic; block the way so others don't run into them, load up the chairs and drop them off in a safe spot.  Again I just sat in the vehicle.

I know that there have been other instances where he knows just what to do and for that I am always so thankful that I wasn't by myself so that the issue was able to be handled.  And I am learning so much about how to better handle these situations.  Maybe one day I won't be so helpless after all!