Vietnamese Wedding Celebration

We made a last minute decision to go to California for a few days. Andrew served a mission for our church from 

2008-2010 in Anaheim, CA and he spoke VIETNAMESE! (I still can't get over it). He became really close with the 

members in the area because he was in the same area for the entire 2 years! One of Andrew's friends from the area 

was getting married and they had invited us to the wedding months ago but we were still on the fence about 

going because it was right after Christmas and we did not know how the weather was going to be. It was something 

that I knew would take a lot of time and I had so much to do at home (getting my new classroom 

ready with the layout, schedule, & lesson plans, putting Christmas decorations away, cleaning, etc.) so I was kinda 

dreading going. But once we made it it felt so good to be back in a place that Andrew and I love! 

(if you didn't know, I also served my mission in Anaheim, but English speaking)

We got there late at night (there was NO snow in Utah, but there was a snow storm on the Nevada/California border 

and it closed the road. Andrew and I took a L O N G detour that added 3 hours to the trip).

The traditional Vietnamese wedding ceremony was early the next day. I love culture, so I really enjoyed seeing it! 

In the Vietnamese culture it is traditional to wear red Áo dài (pronounced Ow-y-eye) on your wedding day. 

The groom comes to the bride's home with gifts for the bride and they do a tea ceremony which is presented 

to the the family's elders. 

^Gifts for the Bride's Family, and a pig is very traditional^

After the ceremony there was a breakfast, then after the breakfast came more food! 

And that was only the beginning of the endless food. 

The couple were getting sealed in the San Diego temple later in the day. Andrew and I drove down early so we could tour 

the area. We went to the Mormon Battalion site which is a Visitor's Center to learn more about the history. 

About 500 members of the church joined the United States Army in the war against Mexico (while the church was 

currently fleeing to Mexico for religious freedom). The army made it to San Diego and that's why 

there's a Visitor's Center there.

We met up with one of Andrew's old mission companions there and Linda 

(the girl who introduced Andrew and me).

^We panned for "gold"^

We went to the temple and that place is gorgeous! 

The couple got sealed and the temple is just as beautiful on the inside as it is on the outside. 

The rest of the wedding party went and got food, but we stayed at the temple longer. 

When we came out it was dark, and look how beautiful the temple lights up the night.

We drove back to Anaheim and picked up Andrew's "viet mom", got spring rolls, and went to Downtown Disney

 to watch the fireworks. It was such a fun way to end the night. 

The next morning we met my "mission mom" for brunch. It was so good to see her again and it makes me wish 

we lived closer to California so we could go more. 

Went for lunch dessert with our Viet crew.

(Andrew's mission mom & Andrew's mission companion + his 2 brothers)

And of course we went to the beach. Guys, I really need more California in my life. 

That night was the wedding reception and it was gorgeous! 

And there was SO MUCH FOOD! I think the entire thing was at least 7 courses not including the appetizers before. 

There was fried rice, shrimp, lobster, noodles, and so much more. And it was really good. 

Andrew did try an 1000 year old egg. It reminded us of James Cordon's Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts. 

Andrew has tried 3 different things from that show: Balut, Pig's Blood, and now the 1000 Year Old Egg. 

The wedding was a lot of fun. Andrew really enjoyed it because he saw so many members, some who have moved 

away so when we come back to Anaheim, he doesn't see them. 

And the bride had S E V E N dresses! 

1. Her red traditional Áo dài 

2. She wore a white Áo dài to the temple

3. Her temple dress

4. Her white wedding dress after the temple

5. Reception dress #1- Long ball gown

6. Reception dress #2- Shorter white dress

7. Reception dress #3- White going away dress

That wedding spared no cost. My favorite part was the reception food.

Before we left California the next morning we saw some people I love. I saw the Wick's, one of the members in 

the last area I served in. The kids are so old. The youngest just turned 8 when I left now he's almost 13! 

California is always so good to us with the the weather, the experiences, the food, but mainly the people. We love it all so much.

Disneyland with the Fam

Growing up my brother and I were the only cousins that were our age, everyone else was older (by 15-20 years) and my parents did not want to drag us to Thanksgiving where we would sit and be bored. Instead of hosting or attending the traditional Thanksgiving meal, they decided to travel for Thanksgiving instead. It's been so much fun and the tradition keeps on going! 

This year we went to Disneyland and we loved it! Andrew is the Disneyland master and when I first went to Disneyland with Andrew I wanted my family to experience Disneyland with him because he makes Disneyland magical! He knows how to work the Disneyland system; how to get on the most rides, the shows to see, the food to eat, everything!

Four years after that first time with Andrew, my we finally went as a family! And we were finally able to go to Star Wars Land and see the new Pixar Pier!

Thanksgiving day it poured rain the entire day! Just walking to the shuttle to take us the park our shoes got soaked! (we later learned to tie plastic bags around our socks and that trick worked wonders!) But even with the rain, we loved it! It was the day we laughed the most and the day we got on the most rides! 

^In line for the Star Wars ride and the boys thought this was so cool. My mom and I just got in the picture^

We did Splash Mountain twice because we figured we were already wet, so why not get on the wet rides then?
Plus we were poncho prepared which actually did help a lot. 

 ^If you can't tell my mom and I are soaked through!^ 

The next day there was no rain! We went a little slower today to enjoy all the small magic parts of Disneyland.
My family enjoyed looking at all the small details that make Disneyland an escape from reality. One of my
mom's favorites was Turtle Talk. It was so funny and it's good for adults and kids. 

One thing that I love about California is the people that I met while on my mission and it's so fun to see and catch
up with them. We didn't have a lot of opportunities to do that on this trip because we were in Disneyland for all 3 days,
but one of my friends, Shannon was able to stop by! I love her and she taught me so much on my mission.
It was so good to see her and she came on a few rides with us.

 ^Guardians of the Galaxy was one of our favorites^
(we are in the back and middle rows)

 ^One thing that I have wanted my family to see forever was the World of Color show. It's amazing the things
they can do with water, lights, movie projections, and some music. It was incredible and I loved hearing their reactions!^

Our final day in Disneyland started out with only Andrew and me. My parents had some errands to run,
and Blake wanted to sleep in. They did meet up with us later in the afternoon.

 ^Our favorite drink from Cars Land^

^We had asked Shannon what the best food in Disneyland was and she recommended the corn dogs
and I would have to agree + it's filling.^

^Blake really loved Star Wars land. He and my dad went to look around,
and just looking at stuff they were there for 2 hours!^

^Walt's apartment behind us.^

We left the park around 8:30 to get a head start on the drive back to Utah so we would not be doing it all in one day.
Disneyland, we love you. Thanks for the memories and the magic.

Dixie Land

For Fall Break, Andrew and I went down to Dixieland (a.k.a. St. George). 

It has been our list to do since we got married and we finally made it happen! 

For our first night we found a camping spot and then we explored the area. We tried several different hiking trails, 

but it was not meant to happen. One trail we almost got our car stuck in the sand and the other trail was straight up a 

mountain- which we did climb but it did not lead to the destination that it claimed, and climbing back down was 

a little iffy. By that point we were hungry so we called it quits for hiking for the day. 

That night we camped in our tent. We read a "scary story." It was a choose your own adventure and 

Andrew was not into it so he kept picking the path that he thought would end the story the 

story fastest. 😂 We played a game (one of my favorite things) and then Andrew surprised me 

with Toy Story #4. We had not seen it yet, but he bought it for us to watch. It was such a fun surprise!

Everything was fine and dandy until we were woken up by 25 mph winds for 4 hours! It kept us awake 

for most of the night. It was so loud with our tent whipping in the wind. We woke up the next morning 

with dust all over our tent, pillows, and our face. Showering never felt so good!

We went paddle boarding at Sand Hollow State Park. We are really trying to not let summer go. It was a little too 

cold to get into the water but we really enjoyed paddle boarding around the lake and exploring little "islands." 

While we were in St. George we were able to go to the temple. It's closing at the beginning of November for 

reconstruction and we had never been there so we wanted to make sure we went. It was beautiful. 

We are trying to get to all the temples in Utah. We are currently at 9/17 for 53%. 

For the rest of the day we explored St. George. We toured Brigham Young's summer home. 

I love church history sites.

We also went to Dixie Rock which was one of my favorite places on our vacation. It was so much 

fun to explore and to look down at the city. Right next to Dixie Rock was a desert garden that was 

all decorated for Halloween! It was a lot of fun to walk around and see everything. 

We hiked the temple quarry trail. It was a really easy walk and it's where the pioneers went to get rock 

to build the temple. The ending destination was just a bunch of rock. But we had never done the trail before 

so it was fun to do something new. 

St. George was good to us! It was such a fun place to explore and it has so many fun things. 

We are excited to go back and see the things we missed and revisit a few favorites.