Sacramento

Josh had to go to Sacramento for a CDA house of delegates meeting. I was able to get off work so that I could go with him. He was in meetings non-stop the entire weekend so I was flying solo. We had a really nice room at the Marriot in down town right across from the capitol. It had free continental breakfast that was so yummy!! The room had a fridge and stove and was really big and nice so I didn't mind hanging out in it but decided to see some of the sights. I went to The capitol first and did a tour. It was so pretty and really interesting. Then I walked to the Govenors mansion and toured that. The Raegans were the last to live there. I love old houses and it was so fun to see how much things have changed. It was once the tallest building in the city. It was built so the originial owner, a merchant, could see his ships come into the harbour. The next day I went shopping and visited old town sacramento. It felt like you were going back in time with the dirt streets, wooden walk ways and horse and buggies. I was able to go to dinner with josh and the tricounty dental society at a fancy japanese restaurant and then we went out to eat the next night with the LDS dentists since the banquet was a wine tasting event. I had a great time and was so happy that I could go with him.

Josh on the other hand was hard at work. He is very good at being a delegate and he takes the voting very seriously. He actually got up and talked in front of the entire house a couple different times. Once was to present an ammendment that he wrote and it passed!! The other was to overturn an unfair vote and that passed also! He is a pretty big deal and everyone was so impressed with him. He had so many dentists come to introduce themselves and shake his hand. I'm so proud of him and all that he does to enhance his career and to gain experience. He is so professional and intelligent and he cares so much about the dental field and about the community. He is working hard to pave the way for his generation. Keep up the good work Josh! Love you :)

This is a pretty cathedral I saw walking back from old town.

Ships on the River

wooden walkways along the cute little shops.

Horse and buggies. (side story, I got hit on while taking this picture but I was super scared and I just blew him off and it was pretty hilarious looking back, I must have looked like a big dork. oh well, sorry mister, I'm married!)

This sign says old town sacramento and was like a gateway into it but you can't really see it in the picture. sorry!

scaled model of the original govenor's mansion

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The outside of the mansion. Beautiful!

statue in the Captiol building

amazing architecture and detail.

The dome!

Outside of the Capitol

View from our Hotel room

Sunset

The Room

Halloween

Every year my friend and her husband have a big Halloween party. She is amazing at decorating and all the favors and things are so cute. They have a pumpin carving contest and costume contest. We were something silly and last minute last year so this year we were ready. I Had a friend make Josh the clock from Beauty and the beast (coggsworth) and I was belle. I borrowed the dress from my friend who found a wedding dress at the goodwill and just dyed it yellow. she is pretty much amazing. We carved our pumpkin to look like beast and we made a little footstool out of GV. It was super fun and so cute! We had 3 parties to go to so we got some good use out of the costumes. Thanks to all those who made our costumes possible this year :)

LA Zoo

I had the opportunity to go the LA Zoo for the first time with a bunch of ladies whose husbands go to school with Josh. I was going to get in Free with a friend because she had passes but her husband surprised her there! It was ok though because it was fun for them to have their family together. It was beautiful there and you got to be so close to the animals. The gorillas were my favorite. the interacted with us so much and looking into their eyes was almost eerie how similar they are to us. We saw the Zebras trying to procreate and the monkeys were peeing and throwing poop. an Orangatang swung from a rope and came right up to the window straight infront of little Reid. It was so funny! There was also a mama with her new baby. So sweet. A big tree branch fell right after we walked under it as we entered the park so that was also kind of cool. It was cool and cloudy so it made for a pleasant day. It started to drizzle later on but we were all tired and ready to go anyway. I had a blast so thank you to McCall and her cute kiddos for letting me tag along.

The Macklins come to Cali

My family came to So. Cal for their annual vacation and to visit us, of course. They spent the first 3 days in Oceanside. Josh and I drove down to spend the day with them Sunday. We ate yummy fish and chips on the pier then hung out at the beach. We had Brooklyn Boyz pizza for dinner and it was awesome! We played games and had a great time. My little sister and her friend LOVED G.V. and kept him very entertained.

Monday we went to Knotts Berry farm but unfortunately Josh couldn't go. On the drive there I was helping my dad with directions on my iphone and it said to take the 4o5 so we got off and my dad asks " So what are we looking for?" and my mom responds "I just saw a park and ride sign back there so we're probably really close...oh wait, nevermind, I'm a dork!" haha She was thinking theme park and rides not the metro. So funny! we all had a good laugh. She's so stinkin cute! We ate our traditional breakfast at the chicken restaurant there because my grandma loves the free little biscuits that they give you. There was NO ONE in the park and we walked on to every ride. We finished doing everything we wanted to do by 1, had lunch at the same restaurant and then went on more rides. I couldn't keep my eyes open and fell asleep on the train ride. My dad and I sat with my grandma and people watched. Celebrity sighting: We saw CHUCK LIDELL, the famous UFC fighter, there with his wife. at the end of the day they dropped me off at home and headed back to oceanside for a couple more days.

I had a really busy week with work, which I needed, so I only got to play with them monday and friday. Thursday I worked and then Josh's mom and sister came into town and dropped off something out our house and picked something up but they locked their keys inside and couldn't get back in so they ended up staying the night. we had dinner at Red Robins and then I went to stay in anaheim with my family. They headed up to Solvang and Friday we went to Disneyland all day and had a blast. It was super busy, unlike Knott's so we didn't get to do as much. It was nice to spend the day there with them. Josh came over and spent the night friday night. My parents were so sweet and got us our own condo. It was silly because we both left super early for work and only slept there but it was nice to have our own room. Josh would of had to sleep on the couch if they hadn't. Saturday I worked until noon and then went back to anaheim to see them but since it was their last day at Disneyland they decided to stay at the park until close and I can't go on weekends with my pass. Josh volunteered at Care Now LA. They brought in over 70 dental chairs and had volunteer dental professionals work on patients for 4 days straight. People starting lining up on monday to be seen thursday! he had a really amazing experience and got to do a ton of work. He loved it so much he did it again sunday morning.

Saturday night we had a super fun halloween party at my friends house. They have one every year and go all out. They do costume and pumpkin carving contests and have lots of games and treats. We wanted to go all out this year and step our game up because last year we didn't try very hard at all and did something last minute. I had a friend who made a bell costume last year out of an old prom dress she found at the thrift store. She died it yellow and made a sash for the top. It was perfect so I borrowed it and then another friend made Josh an incredible Coggsworth clock costume out of felt. My mom helped me make GV the cutest little footstool costume so we could all go with the Beauty and the beast theme. We didn't win the costume party but we did win the pumpkin carving contest. We carved the Beast. We're pretty much amazing, I know.

Sunday my parents brought my grandma to stay with us and we went to lunch and Josh's aunt, grandma, and cousin came to meet us to pick up some stuff. Josh missed out again because he was volunteering but it was nice to see everyone.

My Grandma stayed with us an extra week and was Josh's patient in the clinic. He got to do some work on her and clean her teeth so that was good for both of them. It was so fun having her here. She spoiled us and fattened us up. We played games and watched movies and spent some good quality time with her. I wanted her to stay longer but we had to take her back. I'm thankful that she was always willing to be "our guinea pig" as she puts it.

It was a crazy couple of weeks but it was so much fun. I loved having so much company and gettting to spend time with our families. We don't get to do that very often so it was a special treat!