Playing catch up: Apirl and May

So I am going to do a little catch up since I have been slothful in posting. I am going to start back in April. Over the weekend of April 24, my two brother-in-law's: Kayla's husband Kevin, and Zac's brother Rawleigh graduated from BYU. Kevin graduated in Neroscience, and Rawleigh graduated in International Relations. Kevin's graduation was huge and took forever, but it was a really hard major, so we were all happy to sit through the 3 hour ceremony to support Kevin! Rawleigh's on the other hand was short and sweet; however, maybe a little too short, and definitely a little to early in the morning since Rawleigh almost slept through it! We had to call and wake him up, and he ran over just in time to walk across the stage! We had a big celebratory dinner in downtown Salt Lake City with the Greenhalghs: Rawleigh, Dallin, Verl, and Ann; the McKay's: Kira, Gabbie, Kayla, Kevin, Sheila, and Pat; the Johnsons: Dacia, Joe, Ellie, Topher, Alysia, Grace, and Alan. It was a lot of fun, and great to see so much family!

We also went bowling in Provo with Kevin's parents. And of course we had to make a special stop at my dad's favorite place (besides the actual woods in Alaska)... Cabela's. They have a little shooting gallery were you can use (fake- obviously- it's not that red-neck) guns to shoot little targets. We all competed to see who could get the best score. I think Kevin technically won, but that's only because he happened to pick a gun that was broken and actually gave him a score of like 350 which isn't even possible! (A perfect score is 50- then the machine should reset, this machine obviously didn't reset).
The next trip was in May. Over the 7, 8, and 9 Gabbie and I went out to see Britney Holland (one of my best friends since grade school) graduate from Loyola Marymount University in International Business. Britney got all kinds of awards for being so awesome and hard working! We were so proud of her, and she was so excited to meet little Gabbie.

We took a walk along the boardwalk along the beach. It was really nice weather and we had a great time talking and catching up.

The next trip was May 19 through the 23. Gabbie and I flew out to Vancouver to see my best friend Lexy's brother get married. Scott married his best friend Christi, in a pretty little ballroom in downtown Portland. I have always been friends with Scott, but coming out was mostly an excuse to see Lexy, so she could meet little Gabriella. Kayla and Kevin even came out because Kevin was taking the MCAT in Portland.

My Dad took off for the weekend to go out for a trip to Alaska to do some hunting, which of course was a trip to heaven for him. After Kevin's test, my mom, Kayla, Kevin, Lexy, Sandy (Lexy's mom), Taylor (Lexy's daughter), me and Gabbie all went out to Fort Steven's State Park, for a little fun on the beach. All 8 of us squished into out tiny little camper trailer, it was cozy for sure, but it helped us stay warm!

We also stopped in the cute little town of Seaside for some elephant ears and a walk on the beach.

For the next vacation, everyone actually came out to see us. Over Memorial weekend at the end of May, all of my family: my parents: Sheila, & Pat; my sister Kayla and her husband Kevin; and all of Zac's family: his parents: Ann, Verl, Zac's sister Heather, her husband Quentin, her kids Geneva & Wesley; Zac's sister Aubree, her husband Phil, and their son Cooper; Zac's brother Garrett, his wife Ashley, and their kids Greta and Finley; and Zac's younger brothers Rawleigh and Dallin: all came out to the Bay area for a mini vacation.

Our first day was in San Francisco, and we started the day at the Golden Gate Bridge.

Then we went to the Exploratorium in Golden Gate Park.

Then we went to Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf for some lunch and shopping.

Then it was a walk up to the top of Lombard Street and then a fun walk down the curvy street.

Then we went to the "Full House" house and the "Painted Ladies" to see the pretty Victorian houses.

And of course we had to see some shows in San Fran. Kayla, Kevin, Ann, Ashlee, and Aubree all went to see Wicked; Kira and Sheila went to see Peter Pan; and Phil, Verl, Rawleigh, Dallin, and Garrett all went to see a San Francisco Giant's game. You can always count seeing great entertainment in San Fran.

The next morning my mom got up early to go for a walk and took lots of cool pictures. Of course no one else was crazy enough to get up before sunrise, so we were glad she took pictures so we could appreciate the view that way.

We stayed at one of my mom's favorite hotels the Stanford Court, it was a really nice hotel, and we had a really yummy, really fancy breakfast the next morning.

Before leaving San Fran we had to make a quick stop at Coit Tower.Then we endured crazy bad traffic on the drive down to Monterey. Our first stop was the famous Monterey Bay Aquarium.

We enjoyed all the cool exhibits.

We especially enjoyed the sea horse and sea dragon exhibit.

Then we took a walk along cannery row, and had dinner at our favorite place Louie Linguini's.

Then we took a drive along the beautiful 17 mile drive to see the Lone Cypress, Pebble Beach, and all the other pretty golf courses along the scenic beaches. And we ended the tour at our favorite beach at Carmel.

The next day was Sunday, and was the reason that everyone came out. It was the day of Gabriella's baby blessing. My mom made a beautiful little dress for Gabbie, Zac gave a BEAUTIFUL blessing (he even started to cry! He never cries! His little girl obviously means a lot to him!) and it was great to have so much family there to be in the circle for Gabbie's blessing.

These pictures definitely shows how much bigger the Greenhalgh family is than the McKay family!

After that we came back to our apartment and made an awesome BBQ lunch. Of course my dad volunteered to be babysitter for Gabbie. I'm not sure who enjoyed story time more... Granddaughter or Grandfather, and I know they both really enjoyed nap time!

Then we took a long drive on the congested road out to Santa Cruz. It took twice as long to get there as it usually does but by the time we got there we had a really great time.

All the boys played in the ocean, and a rousing game of beach volleyball.

And we took some time for some family pictures:

From the top down: Sheila, and Pat; Verl and Ann

Zac, Kira, and Gabbie; Quentin, Weslely, Geneva, and Heather

Kevin, and Kayla; Aubree, Cooper, and Phil

Dallin, and Rawleigh; Finley, Ashley, Garrett, and Greta

It was really great having all our family out visiting us for a weekend, I really wish they could come out and visit more often!

That catchs me up through the end of May! June and July coming soon!