L.A. , A Baptism, and a Trip Down Memory Lane

Aaron, the girls and I had a fabulous weekend. We spent it together on a quick overnight to the L.A. area. The reason for our trip was to attend the baptism of our dear friend Lisa's grandson Robert. We hadn't seen him since he was a baby, and it was so much fun to get to know him...what a cute little boy! I just loved him. We hadn't seen Lisa since Eve was a baby, so it was great to be able to catch up with her too. She is an amazing person.

Another fun part of our trip was kind of spontaneous, but well worth it. After church on Sunday before embarking on our 5 1/2 hour journey home, we decided to take a trip down "memory lane." We stopped in Glendale, which is my hometown. I was born there and lived there until I was 18 and went away to college. Even though I've been back to visit a few times since getting married, I hadn't seen the house I grew up in in almost 9 years (because my parents no longer live there.) From the moment we got into town, I was pointing out things to the girls (Aaron had already heard it all!) "There's my elementary school"..."I had a friend who lived in that house"...and so on. I'm sure it was weird for them to imagine that Mommy had actually once been a little girl!

As we pulled in front of my childhood house, the situation felt surreal. Even though I could tell it was the same house, it looked different. It was painted a different color, the driveway and walkway were completely changed, and my favorite climbing tree was hidden behind years of overgrowth. It was hard to see a place that had once been mine, now belong to someone else. Even though it was raining, I got out of the car to get a closer look at an area by the house where my younger brother and I used to play a lot. It was a our little hideaway, and it was really special to me as a kid. As I walked closer to it with Grace's hand in mine, it appeared just as it had all those years ago. Not only did it look the same, but the fragrance of the trees and foliage instantly reminded me of the feelings I had there as a kid. I was caught off guard by the flood of memories and was overcome with emotion. I couldn't believe I was crying, but it was just such a special place to me. I explained to my little girls how their Uncle Jonny and I used to pretend we were rulers of a secret land, how we buried treasure in the dirt, and how our cat used to stand guard for us! It was a really neat experience.

After that we headed to the Los Angeles Temple were Aaron and I were married nine years ago. Now it was Aaron's turn to get emotional! We hadn't been there together since a year after we got married. As we walked around and remembered our special day and how blissful it all was, we couldn't help but smile as we watched our little ones skip around the delightful setting. Aaron pointed out the doors we first stepped out of as husband and wife, and the many photo spots we occupied. My favorite part was when we sat down on a white bench, and Aaron told the girls the story of how he proposed to me right in that very spot. He even got down on one knee to demonstrate the moment to them!

The rest of the afternoon was spent in the car on our drive home. It was actually very pleasant, and we were even home in time for dinner. What a wonderful way to spend the weekend...I'm so grateful it all worked out!

One of our wedding day photo spots


Eve on "the bench"