Well, believe it or not, I finally found the time (and all the right documents!) to take Savannah to the DMV and get her learner’s permit!  It has been on my list of things to do since the beginning of the summer.  Unbelievable!  Still, I was so glad that she passed the test the first time.  If she hadn’t, I have no idea when I would have pulled things together enough to go back!  I think maybe all those false starts (as in, “Savannah, I’m going to take you to get your learner’s permit.  Are you ready for the test?  Oh, I guess I can’t go today.”), actually helped her cement all that knowledge in her head through repetition.  Heh, heh.  So . . . watch out!  One of these days we might actually get around to taking her out driving, too!

This week was also Savannah’s first cross country meet.  On Thursday was “Pre-region.”  Eight teams from all over the area came to compete on Springville’s course (which is really a nice one as it goes through the woods along the creek and around the baseball fields and through the track).  There was so much energy and so many people.  It brought back nostalgic memories from cross country meets when I was in high school!  Such good times!  Anyhow, Savannah did great.  She actually was her school’s second top runner!  She came in 68th in a field of 170 runners.  She’s doing great for a sophomore!  Her team, on the other hand, is not going to be winning very many meets – at least not this year.  There are a lot of great teams around and a lot of great runners! 

Thursday was also open house for the junior high and high school.  Savannah went over without me before her meet and mapped out her classes.  I can’t believe she’s in high school!  I went with Megan and Sarah to the junior high open house and we walked around to Meg’s classes.  Friday morning Megan got to attend an introductory day just for 7th graders.  It went well for her and I think it helped calm her nerves!

So, it was a good thing all those events took place on Thursday, because Friday morning, Kevin and I left on an airplane for California to attend his father’s wedding!

We had an easy flight and after getting a rental car, we drove up to Pasadena where we were staying in a hotel, and spent the afternoon at the famed Huntington Library.

Which is actually not a library at all, but the previous estate of a super-millionaire from the early 1900s.  This man definitely had more money than the rest of the people in the world – at least most of them.  His grounds have gardens filled with plants from around the world.  So we saw the desert gardens . . .

and the lilly pad, jungle gardens . . .

and the Chinese gardens.

There were more, but I don’t have pictures of them all.  It was a lovely place and the weather was perfect, it being California and all.  It was one of the quietest places I’ve been in California, though!  We also got to tour his home, which is now a gallery to display his impressive art collection of paintings mostly from the 1700s.  Most of the paintings were portraits – many of them head to toe, life-size portraits.  It was like looking back through time to see the people who once inhabited it.  I really liked it.  So did Kevin.  We had a great afternoon.

That night, we went out to eat with all of Kevin’s family.  Grandpa and his bride to be, Maria, were there, as well as her son and his girlfriend and his cousin, as well as Kevin’s siblings:  Todd,  Dena and Jordan, Matt and Lynsey, Jake and Sara, and Michael and Aftyn.  We had a room all to ourselves in the restaurant and had a great time talking and laughing together.  We all had rooms in the same hotel and we all swam a bit that night, too!

The next morning, Kevin and I went on a run through Pasadena and San Marino that was supposed to be six miles, but we got lost, and ended up being eight!  Still, we made it back in time to swim, eat, and get dandified for the wedding!  Here we are waiting for the moment of the wedding to arrive!

 

All Val’s sons stood as groomsmen . . .

. . . as Maria walked down the aisle with her son, Elliot, and later her father.

  It was a fun ceremony and very touching to the new couple and all of us!

Afterwards, we had lunch and dancing and cake.  It was a lot of fun.  It was fun to be with family having fun and being happy together.  It’s really, already, a great memory.

Kevin and I headed back to the airport after that.  We had just enough time to make a quick trip to the beach and dip our feet in the water.

We got home late Saturday night.  Grandma and Grandpa Gazdik took great care of our kids while we were gone, taking them up the canyon to play in the river, eating pizza, watching movies, and buying them snowies (snow cones in a cup!).  I think we all had a great weekend!