after going nonstop this weekend and waking up at 4:45 this morning, la time, you'd think i'd be looking for any free time to nap, however--i have too much to share to not blog at least a little bit before my head hits the pillows! so, what was all this excitement over the weekend, you might ask? well, i went with parker to his hometown (denver, co) for a friend's wedding. besides getting to spend time with parker (which i obviously loved), it was so fun to see more from his life growing up, meet some more family and friends, and to explore some of colorado!

instead of boring you with a ton of text, i'll just post several pictures with short captions so you can get a gist of our weekend itinerary! enjoy :)

our first night in CO, we drove up to vail to stay with parker's sisters. molly's boyfriend, jesse, took us jeeping up vail mountain where we had a gorgeous sunset picnic! it was so silent and secluded and wonderful! and we could even see stars! (i love you, la, but i needed this!)





the next day, parks and i rode bikes about 4 miles into vail village. the ride was spectacular--colorado in the summertime is beautiful!




later, we took a gondola with molly and brynna up the mountain to "friday afternoon club," which had breathtaking views of the backside of vail. the weather was perfect and it was such a treat to see real skies and clouds!




on saturday, we spent the day touring around parker's stomping grounds, and having some down time with parker's grandmother and aunt kathy, which was great. that night we went to the wedding, which was up in the woods near denver. it rained all afternoon right up until the ceremony, which was outside, so it ended up being perfect! the bride and groom were lovely, and parker got to see a bunch of high school friends, including chris, who made a special appearance with some fire torches!





our final full day in town, we ate a delicious breakfast with some other family members, and then walked around downtown denver, which i'd never done. here we are at a few of the capital's sites!



making nice with the colorado bear


last but absolutely not least, we took a group dinner trip to the white fence farm-parker's family's restaurant. i was SO excited about this, and yet my expectations were exceeded! the food was amazing (fried chicken, steak, cole slaw, corn fritters, mashed potatoes and gravy, beets and cottage cheese, mmmmm) and the restaurant and grounds were so cute! i have to say my favorite part, though, was this picture of baby parker feeding a cow--tell me this isn't the cutest thing ever!!



us at the farm (for those of you kentuckians, it's similar to patti's at the lake):


the americana barn with live music and a slide for kids!


the barn


and, i can't think of a better way to end this post, or any post really, than with a chicken truck...


it was a perfect weekend, and i can't wait to go back for another visit!!

i just experienced the most beautiful thanksgiving of my life. i have about 500 photos i would love to post here, but i know that's much, so i'll refrain, and just post a few of my favorites. and, i'm going to try to post a couple videos later (courtesy of my flip camera from ellen!) this post may be extensive, so be forewarned! ok, here are the highlights of the trip:

cambria, ca
on thanksgiving day, parker, holland and i drove up the coast to cambria, california. we met up with about 30 people from our church at a hostel, where we had an amazing potluck meal (complete with post-meal food comas), met great new people, walked around the quaint town, and played some rousing rounds of taboo and phase 10.







monterey, ca

after staying the night in cambria, we split from the rest of the group, and the three of us headed farther up the coast on our way to monterey. my cousin, brad, is in air force intelligence training there, so we made it a stopping point on our journey. it was great to see family for the holidays!

the weather couldn't have been more ideal the entire trip. it was sunny and fairly warm each day, and brisk at night. as you'll see, the scenery in northern california is breathtaking. we were so blessed by God's gift of nature. on our way to monterey, we stopped to take pictures at some vista points, and to see the famous elephant seals, which were both incredible and disgusting!! as you'll see below...





we met up with brad for lunch, and then headed to big sur to set up our camp.





big sur

we camped friday night at fernwood in big sur. this region is filled with redwoods, creeks, the beach--it's just gorgeous. we enjoyed our camping, cooking dinner and breakfast on the fire, playing cards, and hiking to a waterfall. holland really got to put her new camera to good use on this trip-all the photos are from her and park's cameras--they're both talented photographers!







south on highway one

we stopped to see the elephant seals, yet again, as we headed back south on saturday. and, we took a tour of the hearst castle, which, again, was stunning! it was william randolph hearst's estate, and it was massive!! kind of like the west coast biltmore estate, if you've ever been there. then, we made the 5-ish hour trip back to la, home sweet home. it was certainly a very full three days. we experienced so much, i feel like. i ended the weekend grateful, tired, and enriched.





i hope you all had equally enjoyable thanksgiving holidays, and i hope you like all the pictures! take care ~lp

the past week has been very busy here in la la land! holland's friend from home, stephy, was in town, so we got to do lots of fun things! we tried a really nice new restaurant in santa monica, went out dancing, and saw a movie, among other things. here are some pictures that holland shot down at the santa monica pier with her new camera. they were too pretty not to post. i'm consistently amazed at how time continues to pass and i still find myself saying "wow, i actually live here."





this was also an exciting weekend for the ole box office! some of you may have heard of the twilight book series. well, the first film came out this weekend, so a bunch of us (readers and non-readers) got all dressed up to go see it. i've read most of the books, and, i liked them, but i'm not obsessed. they're pretty entertaining...but the movie, well i don't want to ruin it for anyone, but i'll just say this: it was hilarious! (unfortunately, not intentionally...). no, but we had a fun time making an evening out of it.

holland, stephy, and me representing our respective twilight characters! (go jacob!)

rivals!

parks had never read the books, but willingly came along! what a sport!

all our twilight shirts. nate (what an amazing artist!) hand-drew his shirt! and there's me, the lone supporter of team jacob cowering away from edward's team.




after twilight on friday, i had a busy saturday, too! park and i went on a sailing lesson! isn't that the best birthday present!? we had fabulous fall weather in marina del rey, but not a ton of wind, so we didn't go out onto the open seas. we both had an amazing time and learned so much. it was the two of us and our instructor, craig, on a 22 foot sailboat. the lesson was so hands on; we both steered, worked the sails, perfected our new skill of knot-tying, and learned the proper vocabulary for the anatomy of the ship. it was really fun, and i can definitely see enjoying sailing as a hobby! the evening was capped off with a gorgeous sunset, that looks almost too beautiful to not be photoshopped--i know it looks like a green screen, but it's real, i promise!!



and, here's me steering the ship through the marina!



well, hope everyone has an excellent thanksgiving week!! eat lots, be grateful :) i'm heading with friends up to cambria, ca, monterey, and big sur for camping...i can guarantee there will be lots of pictures, and perhaps even some video from my new flip camera (courtesy of ellen!)!! check back soon, goodnight all!