A trip home to LA

I have been very absent from the blogging world lately. That's because our lives have been extremely busy and full. There are many stories to tell, I'm not sure where I should start! So, I'll begin with our wonderful get-a-way to Los Angeles! ...This story really begins in Charlotte, NC...

After packing up our home in Charlotte, the girls and I spent a week with my sister and brother in law in Radford, VA while Pete took care of many last minute details of packing and moving. We met Pete in Charlottesville, VA and proceeded to unload and unpack every waking minute for almost a week. While doing all of this, we had some bad things happen to our new home in C'ville. A leaky roof one evening, holes and cracks in the window sills that were not getting repaired, and then we had a small flood in our basement. Unfortunately, our landlord was not interested in fixing these problems ASAP, like they needed to be. (Especially a dripping roof with increasing water damage and mold growth!), so we were let out of our lease (without penalty, of course). Added into that week, Avery had a fever and a cold.

After a week of living there, we knew we were going to be moving out, but first we had a week long trip to LA that had been planned for quite a few months. Our good friend, Nate Towery and his fiance, flew us out to LA to shoot their beautiful wedding in San Pedro. While we were there, we filled our days with visiting good friends, and eating at our favorite restaurants that we missed so much. We even fit in a trip to Santa Barbara, where Pete did some second-shooting with our good friend and photographer, Veronique Guy. It made our entire summer to spend such a great time with Peter and Veronique! We were also able to stay with our good friends, Scott and Donna Barlow and see their growing family. They made our trip such a blessing by having us in our home for two nights. After visiting with our friends in Simi Valley, we made our way down the 405 freeway to San Pedro for Nate and Courtney's wedding. It was not only a beautiful wedding, but such a Christ-centered ceremony full of joyful worship and adoration for our Lord. It was such a blessing to photograph such a lovely couple and capture their special day for them!
After the reception, we went to see Dave and Amy Casler in Glendale and we stayed one night. We had a great time catching up and they were so sweet to make a huge (and delicious!) french toast breakfast for us the next morning! We had a great time walking all over Glendale and eating at Pinkberry's. Thanks, Dave and Amy!
Then we were on to do a photo shoot with Peter and Veronique in Culver City. After our great time with them, it was a trip down memory lane for us...stopping by our old neighborhood Trader Joe's, where I used to go grocery shopping with Kyla and Avery when Kyla was only 2 and 3 and Avery was just a little baby in a sling. :-) Then we drove by our old apartment and Carlson Park. Kyla called Carlson Park the "tree" park, and we probably went htere every single day of the week. The memories that flooded our mind of our little Kyla running around and playing peek-a-boo behind a palm tree were too many to count. I don't think I realized how much I missed our "home" until I was back in Culver City.
The last leg of our trip was just the two of us relaxing and sleeping in our hotel in Marina Del Rey. We visited with Kevin and Annie Wylie and were blessed to see their brand new baby girl, Eva, who was only 10 days old! The whole trip was fun, busy, and relaxing and refreshing all at the same time. Many thanks to all who housed us and let us stop by and many, many thanks to my mom and dad who kept Kyla and Avery so Pete and I could have a little honeymoon in the midst of our crazy moving experience!