Hooray for Spontaneous Adventures!

The weather for the weekend was rainy, windy, and downright cold for southern Arizona.  A spontaneous trip to the ocean filled with sunshine and salty ocean breezes was just what we needed for a relaxing get-away!

 Jaylon and Hannah and their boys came with us too so Justin and Jaylon brought their paramotors and enjoyed flying over the pacific ocean!  (They flew with another guy that Jaylon had contacted in San Diego and he took this awesome shot of the two brothers.)

Justin said they saw dolphins and seals from their seats in the sky.

Hannah and I took the kids and went to a nearby beach where we got to see the guys fly over.  They had to stay above 500 feet so these are the best shots I have.

 It looked like we were going to drive into the ocean on this road!

 After Justin and Jaylon's flight we went our separate ways for the day.  Justin, Benaiah, and I drove further up the coast to Encinitas and found a quiet spot on the beach to enjoy the afternoon.

Benaiah was dying to get out of the stroller and crawl around on the sand...

The beach we were on had houses up on the cliffs overlooking the ocean.  

A few had these really neat stairs carved out of the rocks.

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After leaving Encinitas we went to La Jolla Cove to see the seals.  The beach was closed due to it being "pupping" season, it was soo cute to see all the baby seals lounging in the sun with their mamas.

The seals really blend in with the rocks on the shoreline.

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Saturday night we drove to a little town in California, about an hour west of Yuma.  

The next morning, Jaylon and Justin drove to Glamis and went flying over the dunes there before we continued the drive home.

These pictures are off Justin's go-pro.

Those white dots are all campers that people bring out and park for the weekend!  Everyone brings their quads, dirt bikes, and rigs out to have fun riding the dunes.  This is just one "village" of campers, there were literally thousands of people out there.

We had an amazing time in San Diego, it was so relaxing to be at the beach and spend some quality time with each other.

Hiking in the Stronghold

Monday after the wedding we went hiking in the Cochise Stronghold.  

As we drove into the campground we saw this fox on the road ahead.  At first we were all excited to see wildlife but as we continued driving in and the fox didn't move, but stared straight at us, we knew something was wrong with the animal.  When we drove past, we saw the fox was frothing at the mouth and it was determined it was definitely rabid.  A park ranger had been notified by other hikers and arrived later to put the fox down and take it to a biologist.

After the fox encounter we started out on the 2 mile hike to the dam.  

Abigail insisted on carrying Benaiah the whole way up :)

Grace, Amelia, and Chantel

Cousins...

Serenah fell asleep on Daddy's shoulders :)

We had a gorgeous day for hiking, it was a bit windy but the breeze felt nice as we walked along.

A snack break was taken at the dam before beginning the trek back to the campground.

Joel & Joanna | 2.10.18

The day before the wedding the girls that were staying at my house went with me to the Strite's to cut a truckload of evergreen off their trees for wedding decorations... The sap on our hands and stickers in our skirt hems were worth it though because the evergreen really made the wedding's wintery vibe come to life.

For Joanna's wedding we used the same pallet backdrop that Joylin used at her wedding,  (since the church Joanna's wedding was at had a smaller stage we only used the middle section of the backdrop.)  Joanna stained it darker and the evergreen we used to decorate it really personalized the look for Joel and Joanna's big day.  

We used stumps along the aisle with quart mason jars surrounded by more greenery.
Each jar had a votive candle in it. 

This is the sign that Chantel lettered for the guestbook table...didn't she do an amazing job?!

After decorating the church was complete we had the rehearsal.
I was coordinator at this wedding as well so that was fun!  

We left the church and had some time before the rehearsal dinner so a bunch of us stopped by the reception hall and set up the tables and chairs, cut table cloths, decorate and set the tables which was a huge boost!! (Thank you all so much!!)

The rehearsal dinner was delicious and made by Joel's family.  The girls and I went back to the reception hall and did some finishing touches there after the rehearsal dinner.  My family also flew in that night so they could be there to celebrate the big day as well!

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Joanna being led down the isle by her daddy... she looked absolutely beautiful and was such a radiant bride.

The wedding ceremony was performed by Brother Paul Derksen, Joel's pastor and also Jessica's father-in-law.

This is one of my favorite pictures from the day, (captured by Hope).  

I love the sweetness of the moment between the newly married couple.

Bridal party pictures and family pictures were taken at the church before we went to the Cochise Stronghold and took some more pictures with the photographer before heading to the reception.

The backdrop from the church was transported to the reception hall for decoration behind the sweetheart table.

Joel's mom made delicious truffles as a favor for each guest to enjoy.  Joylin sewed all the cloth napkins and Joanna ordered gold cutlery for the tableware.

Chantel also lettered this Menu sign for the food table.

Brother Paul Derksen was the MC at the reception.

Joylin and Spencer, loving the married life!! :)

Benaiah and Bekah were born 6 days apart!  It's so cute to see them interact :)

Sad goodbyes were said before Joel and Joanna left on their honeymoon.  They weren't coming back like Joylin and Spencer did so it was a tearful time as we each hugged her and wished them the best.  I'm so happy for her but I really am going to miss having her nearby!!

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The wedding was in the morning so the activities of the day were pretty much over by 4.  We didn't want the party to end, so we invited friends over for food and games at our house!  The next day Justin and I counted up how many people we had and it was an even 60.  It was such a fun evening!

Neil getting in on a Dutch Blitz game :)

Benjamin and Uriah arm wrestling!