yosemite {labor day weekend 2015}
Yosemite
A few months before labor day, we found out that Russ's cousin was getting married in Yosemite that weekend, and his parents were definitely going. We love any excuse for a vacation so we decided to tag along! We camped, ate food cooked on a camp stove and in a fire, and did a little bit of hiking. Dad, Russ, and Russ's cousin S. Curtis all hiked Half Dome on our first full day there, so that tired them out pretty good, and after Mom rolled her ankle, we girls were pretty content with shorter hikes, too. I was a little disappointed we didn't get to do more hiking, but all in all it was still a fun trip and good time spent with family :) The weather was perfect while we were there--usually sunny with a nice breeze. It was a great weekend :) And now, a picture dump! {But really, my favorite part of the post is about the wedding, which comes after all the pics, so don't miss out on that :)}
The Wedding
Despite the fact that I had never met this cousin of Russ's (Spencer P.), the wedding turned out to be my favorite part of the trip! The ceremony was nice . . . I've never actually been to a non-Mormon wedding, so I enjoyed hearing them read the vows that they had written (that's not something we do in a Mormon wedding ceremony). Cocktail hour was fun because I love free Shirley Temples! Haha and then we had a great dinner that lasted forever because there were so many courses :) But what really made it my favorite part was the dance party that followed!
Idk if you know this, but I love dance parties. In fact, during my sophomore year of college, I moved all of the furniture out of the living room and into the hallway so that we had a totally empty living room, got my good friend to DJ, and stuck a note on every door in the complex saying there was a dance party in our apartment. It was so completely epic and awesome. But that's right around when Russ and I started dating, and Russ isn't quite the dance party type (though he was at that party!), so we haven't really done any dance parties since we've been married.
Usually when we go to wedding receptions that have dance parties, he's not very interested in participating. But that's part of what made this dance party so awesome--he was into it, too! It probably had to do with the fact that his parents and Lacey were dancing along with us, as well as one of our favorite cousin families, the Jason&Erin Barnes family (complete with their kiddos who are between the ages of like 5 and 14). That made us a really big group, and even though we might have looked like idiots, we were having so much fun. We only lasted as a whole group for about 15 minutes, but I kept dancing all night because I was having so much fun :) Another part of what made the dance party great is that Russ danced not one but TWO slow dances with me! Again, he's not usually one to participate in much dancing, so it was really sweet of him to dance with me so much that night. The dance party was the perfect mix of crazy&fun and sweet&romantic. I was literally so happy that night that even an hour after we left the dance party and finally got back to the tent to go to bed, all I could think during my prayers was that I was so thankful for this amazing life I have. An amazing family, an amazing husband, and amazingly fun experiences. It's so great!
Laynah & Matt
Another treat about the trip was that my blog bestie/real bestie, Laynah, happened to be just 35 minutes away from Yosemite! I had talked to her months ago about how I'd be in Yosemite over labor day weekend, and hoped she'd be able to come, or hoped it was closer to where she lived, but it was like a 4 or 5 hour drive so it wasn't going to happen. Then, it turned out she was on a labor day vacation of her own which put us way close! After a little bit of drama amongst Russ, Lacey, and myself (basically we were all having a hard time seeing things from each other's point of view), they were very kind and let us drive the 30 minutes out of the way so I could see Laynah for half an hour. And we both met each other's husband! And our husbands finally met, too :) I wouldn't say they were besties at first sight, but they met, so that's a start :) It was sort of unreal to be able to meet up real quick with my bestie that is usually a 10-hour drive away from me :) Now she just needs to move into one of those houses being built a couple doors down from me ;)
All in all, it was a great trip, but I really hope I never forget all the happiness I felt during that dance party. It's weird how something like a dance party can bring such joy, but it really did. I'm already wanting to make my next birthday party be a dance party :) (keep in mind, that's like 6 months away--ha!)
A few months before labor day, we found out that Russ's cousin was getting married in Yosemite that weekend, and his parents were definitely going. We love any excuse for a vacation so we decided to tag along! We camped, ate food cooked on a camp stove and in a fire, and did a little bit of hiking. Dad, Russ, and Russ's cousin S. Curtis all hiked Half Dome on our first full day there, so that tired them out pretty good, and after Mom rolled her ankle, we girls were pretty content with shorter hikes, too. I was a little disappointed we didn't get to do more hiking, but all in all it was still a fun trip and good time spent with family :) The weather was perfect while we were there--usually sunny with a nice breeze. It was a great weekend :) And now, a picture dump! {But really, my favorite part of the post is about the wedding, which comes after all the pics, so don't miss out on that :)}
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| before the half dome hike |
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| I don't remember why I was making this face at Russ, but Lacey caught it on camera ha :) |
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| El Capitan |
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| Russ and Dad climbed El Capitan for about 10 feet so that they could say they'd "climbed El Capitan" haha :) |
One cool thing that we got to do was not only go to church in Yosemite, but go to an LDS church meeting in Yosemite! There is this little church and they offer a meeting for a different religion like every hour. It was awesome to sing my favorite hymn, How Great Thou Art, while we were right there surrounded by all of God's beautiful creations. Church is why we are wearing Sunday clothes in the next few pics :) (which, upon further examination, you can't even really see anyone's clothes except Russ's haha)
Despite the fact that I had never met this cousin of Russ's (Spencer P.), the wedding turned out to be my favorite part of the trip! The ceremony was nice . . . I've never actually been to a non-Mormon wedding, so I enjoyed hearing them read the vows that they had written (that's not something we do in a Mormon wedding ceremony). Cocktail hour was fun because I love free Shirley Temples! Haha and then we had a great dinner that lasted forever because there were so many courses :) But what really made it my favorite part was the dance party that followed!
Idk if you know this, but I love dance parties. In fact, during my sophomore year of college, I moved all of the furniture out of the living room and into the hallway so that we had a totally empty living room, got my good friend to DJ, and stuck a note on every door in the complex saying there was a dance party in our apartment. It was so completely epic and awesome. But that's right around when Russ and I started dating, and Russ isn't quite the dance party type (though he was at that party!), so we haven't really done any dance parties since we've been married.
Usually when we go to wedding receptions that have dance parties, he's not very interested in participating. But that's part of what made this dance party so awesome--he was into it, too! It probably had to do with the fact that his parents and Lacey were dancing along with us, as well as one of our favorite cousin families, the Jason&Erin Barnes family (complete with their kiddos who are between the ages of like 5 and 14). That made us a really big group, and even though we might have looked like idiots, we were having so much fun. We only lasted as a whole group for about 15 minutes, but I kept dancing all night because I was having so much fun :) Another part of what made the dance party great is that Russ danced not one but TWO slow dances with me! Again, he's not usually one to participate in much dancing, so it was really sweet of him to dance with me so much that night. The dance party was the perfect mix of crazy&fun and sweet&romantic. I was literally so happy that night that even an hour after we left the dance party and finally got back to the tent to go to bed, all I could think during my prayers was that I was so thankful for this amazing life I have. An amazing family, an amazing husband, and amazingly fun experiences. It's so great!
Laynah & Matt
Another treat about the trip was that my blog bestie/real bestie, Laynah, happened to be just 35 minutes away from Yosemite! I had talked to her months ago about how I'd be in Yosemite over labor day weekend, and hoped she'd be able to come, or hoped it was closer to where she lived, but it was like a 4 or 5 hour drive so it wasn't going to happen. Then, it turned out she was on a labor day vacation of her own which put us way close! After a little bit of drama amongst Russ, Lacey, and myself (basically we were all having a hard time seeing things from each other's point of view), they were very kind and let us drive the 30 minutes out of the way so I could see Laynah for half an hour. And we both met each other's husband! And our husbands finally met, too :) I wouldn't say they were besties at first sight, but they met, so that's a start :) It was sort of unreal to be able to meet up real quick with my bestie that is usually a 10-hour drive away from me :) Now she just needs to move into one of those houses being built a couple doors down from me ;)
All in all, it was a great trip, but I really hope I never forget all the happiness I felt during that dance party. It's weird how something like a dance party can bring such joy, but it really did. I'm already wanting to make my next birthday party be a dance party :) (keep in mind, that's like 6 months away--ha!)
we got invited to hike half dome this summer and ended up chickening out last minute (we were ill prepared and would be returning home like 12 hours before we had to start new jobs.) anyway these pictures make me wish we had followed through, it looks so fun! and yosemite is so beautiful!! what a fun trip!
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