road trips and such

well, i managed to survive another week. it has been pretty crazy, but i got through everything and im happy to say im still alive. i finished up with the permanent sub job and took the next day off to relax (thursday), and then brad, hayley (a family friend from his hometown), and i made our way across the boring plains of nevada on a 9 hour drive to nevada city, california for the weekend. we went because brad's little sister, kristin, graduated from the eighth grade, and his little brother, mike, graduated from high school. it was a very short trip, but it was definitely worth the travel time. not to mention the fact that alli was there along with one of our best friends, laurel (who is actually the sister of our good friend, scott), so it became a weekend of girl talk, shopping, and taking silly pictures. the only downfall (besides the fact that we were barely there for 48 hours) was that the majority of the people there got really sick, so not everyone had the greatest of time. brad had some kind of horrible sinus infection, which about 5 others got by sunday, and kristin was up with some kind of stomach bug (which i consequently got yesterday). thank goodness for jello and pepto bismol though...it was the only stuff that kept me alive yesterday! it was really good to see everyone, too. brad's entire family was there except for ryan (my mortal board game nemesis and shannon's husband) and it felt a little off without the bickering and trash talking that ensues when we are under the same roof, but it was fun otherwise. he was definitely missed, and everyone agreed. all of the babies were ADORABLE, and i managed to even get kalijane to play with me some! it was a definite improvement from previous trips.


maci really liked these mints...either that or she was desperate for something fun to do during the VERY long graduation...
the whole family minus ryan (ted, laurel, and i all took pictures)
the beginning of brad's photoshoot with us...he kept counting to 3 and taking picture after picture. the first one with actually very cute and im impressed about how well it came out...
then we started to get creative (all making the same face was totally an accident!)
i had to post this one because i literally collapsed to the ground when i saw alli's face...this will most definitely be printed out and framed as soon as possible.



anyway, im glad to be done with the driving, and i am VERY glad i wasnt hit with that bug until after we got home (even though i rather would have just not been hit with it at all), and im still trying to take it easy from my horrible day yesterday. if im feeling up to it im going to lay out in a bit and then brad and i are going to the mall after his class...yay for birthday shopping! and just in case you are wondering, you have a little less than 1 day and 13 hours of shopping time left until my 22nd birthday! :)