the beach, part II

 

awwww, the beach.  there is truly nothing better than sitting on the sand, listening to music, and watching the waves.  thank goodness we went to the beach 5 days out of the 7 we were there.

we got balboa bars almost every day and walked the pier while feeling that ocean breeze.

one of my favorite things was when ashlyn layed down beside me as if she was modeling with her little pink sun glasses on and said, "aunt melissa, lets sit here and talk about our favorite things together". and that's exactly what we did.  we layed there on our sides propped up with one arm, under the sun, on the sand, feet away from the waves, talking about our favorite things together.

california with the elder crew! part I

we're back!! and praying the tan will stick with me longer than tomorrow.
it was so fun! a lot of beach, a lot of good food, an all around good time. these pictures are just of everything else that we did besides the beach. hollywood, the crystle, 6 flags, disneyland (only some went), swap meet, walking to bubba gumps on a perfect sunset night, and other randoms. poor russ got his head smashed against the bottom of the pool....hence the bandage. and i don't know why i have so many pictures regarding marilyn monroe. i'm really not that huge of a fan, but oh well, what the heck...she's hot.

how about brads perverted mustache eh? all the brothers grew them out for the trip.  

didn't kiss once.  because he's still a boy in certain aspects, it felt like little toothpicks against my skin. 

maybe when he's a man with a flowing stash, i'll love it then. 

but for now i prefer his baby-smooth lips.

new port, here we come!!!

we are off to new port with the elder family!

i happily quote the words from lisa's (brads mom) text this morning,

 "i can't wait to feel the sand in my toes and smell the ocean air!"

1. if you're looking for something fantastic to watch this weekend, me and brad highly recommend the sherlock holmes series from netflix!! we're hooked!!

2. this song has become my absolute joy in my day. i highly suggest buying it and listening to it right when you wake up. it will get your day started right.

3. this week for mutual we had to deliver fliers for a ward party.  me and one of my youngest girls was partnered with me.  we came up to this adorable little house and when we walked up to put the flier by their door we could both hear the man and woman screaming at each other, "f" word and everything. i cringed so bad.  my little young woman said, "it's weird how something so pretty looking can be so ugly inside." that was profound to me.

brad loves him some tooth fairy.

brads only request for his birthday was sweet toothfairy cupcakes and cakebites.  

go figure. i almost felt like it was my birthday too when he asked for that.  

although i did surprise him with a sufjan stevens and brasil t-shirt. 

he's a simple joe. don't mind it one bit.

smash burger.

we have a sickly obsession with smash burger.....and the sweet potato fries. it's unnatural.

if you haven't been, then get your skinny butt over there.  you won't regret it.

happy birthday booradley!

your my best friend, my lover, my biggest diabetic supporter,

my entertainer, my comforter, and most times my strength when i'm weak.

you turned out to be quite the man.

gosh i just appreciate you.

 happy birthday brad, i love you so much...

fhe in slc.

jax biffed it so hard right before this picture, i almost peed from laughing.

me and brad invited our family out to salt lake for some good game night time. 

we got into the games pretty fast.  

we love us some open fields.  

for a big, hyper family open fields suit us perfectly.

my family was never a fan of board games. 

instead we did things like hands up stands up, crab races, 

running backward races, and sprinting.....and we're talking for like.....hours.  

when we were younger sunday was a game/race day, 

and my dad would pick the race (ex. skip, crab, relay, hop, all fours) 

and we would just race and run for hours and hours.  

i think that's where we get all of our big, thick bums from. 

i'm just happy we all enjoy it still.

 

it was so great having them here. 

we might be the most dysfunctional family known to man, 

and we all have our problems individually, 

but when we're together.....we are together.

and it's always a hilarious, chaotic blast.

that's one thing we can always count on.