What? Mikey is MARRIED?!?!

Here is a rundown of our exciting weekend in Oakland/San Fran. WARNING: Picture overload ahead!

Sightseeing:

We flew in Friday afternoon and since we had the rest of the day with no plans, we decided to head to San Francisco to do some sight seeing. We were able to see the fun trolleys, Fisherman's Wharf, and Lombard Street. I pretty much have no pictures except of Lombard Street because if I am to be entirely honest, we spent a LOT of that time looking for a bathroom that we could actually use without paying or having a code. Ridiculous. We also made the smart choice to park wayyyyyyy up the hills from the Wharf, not realizing that walking back up all those hills was going to be a beast- Especially when our 2 year old insisted upon pushing her own stroller back up. Fun times had by all. No really though, the scenery was gorgeous and it was fun to see some of the things I have heard about.

Visiting Friends:

Nearly the best part of the trip for me was seeing my long lost friends, Stefani/Ronnie and Meghan/Cody. We actually saw Meghan the first night and Stefani the second so these pictures are backwards, but whatever. We went to ice cream with Steffy and Ronaldo at this place that Ronnie had thoroughly researched before hand: the San Francisco Ice Cream Co. Don't worry, they have a sundae on their menu that costs $40. If we hadn't had so much to eat at the reception, we definitely would have gone for it. (yeah, right!). Ronnie decided on the candy sundae for he and Stef, and as you can see, it was a glorious choice. Devin and I had a sundae too, which was delicious, but it wasn't nearly as beautiful to look at as theirs. Thus, no picture. Anyway. I got to meet their little girl, Bailey, who was adorable. She didn't like me, however, and preferred to sit on Devin's lap the whole time. Why is it that kids just love him? It was pretty cute.

The first night, we went to dinner at a great place called Coconuts with Meghan and Cody. Oh how I missed Meg. It has probably been two plus years since I had seen her, but it was just like no time had passed. It was great to hear of their adventures since moving to the great state of CA. It was so fun to reminisce with her about all our great memories at good ol' LA Weightloss. What a gem of a place. Hallie took to Meghan and Cody immediately. She loved them. She is still talking about them. Oh and Cody's truck. She saw them pulling out in his truck and talked non stop after that about Cody and his truck. It was a nice change for a while from talking about the bus ride we took from the airport where she sat on Steve's lap. ("I ride bus. Steve's lap!")

Wedding Prep:

Nice, eh? So much for ironing. Instead, we steamed our clothes in the bathroom. Yes, we had 6 of us sharing a hotel room. Let's not discuss it. No, just kidding, it was fine. Anything to save a few pennies. The girls got the handy dandy cribs in the corner. They slept like champs through everything.

Temple:

Mike and Lara were married Saturday morning the 6th in the Oakland Temple. Everything was just perfect. The sealer was amazing, Mike and Lara were happy as clams, and the weather was gorgeous. Can I just say that the Oakland Temple is amazing??? It is so beautiful. I love that you can walk up on the roof and see the gardens up there. The view overlooking the city was beautiful as well. Fountains, flowers, trees, amazing view. What else could you ask for?

Hallie's cheesiest smile. Devin kept asking her to practice her "pretty smile" for the pictures and this is what she came up with. Awesome.

The siblings not getting married. Sparky, Jennifer, and Me. Yeah, the weather played games with my poofy hair again.

Hallie loved the bridesmaids' flowers. In fact, she marched on over and took possession of one of the girl's flowers and claimed them as her own. Nice.

On the roof gardens. Gorgeous.


Bride and Groom with all the nieces and nephews (all from Lara's side except Hallie and Sadie of course)

The Reception:

The reception was held later that evening at Lara's church building. The decorations were gorgeous and the food was amazingly good.

Hallie and Sadie got "Flower Girl" flowers. Of course Hallie was in heaven.
Having a dance with daddy.
This was by far the funniest part of the night; Michael and my mom dancing together while Lara danced with her dad. Let's just say that none of us really dance so well in our family. Glad that's over.
Cutting the cake. Yum.....................!

Okay, just had to throw this one in. After the long weekend of flying and driving, Hallie had spent a lot of time in her carseat. On our drive home, she entertained herself by sticking her crayons in the holes of her blanket. Quite the project. Maybe she will be an artist some day?

Congratulations Mike and Lara! We are so happy for you. Lara, welcome to the madness that is our family...