Hawaii or bust- Day 1

October (2009) meant VACATION! We were so thankful that God provided the opportunity for us to attend Julie (Jay's sister's) and Matt's wedding on the Hawaiian Island of Kauai. We had planned this trip for at least five months, and counted down the days as the wedding approached.

Eight of the ten Thomas clan (minus the Bride & Groom) busted out of Calif in early Oct from LAX Airport flying directly into LIH Airport in Lihue, Kauai 6 hours later. It was the longest flight I've been on. Aside from boredom and a headache, I fared well during the flight. After landing, we got our luggage and two rental cars and headed out towards our condo. We stopped at a local burger hut for some delicious food as we were all quite starved. On the road to our condo, we entered the famous tree tunnel which we drove through frequently throughout our trip.

Once we arrived at our condo, we wasted no time settling in and exploring the grounds; making it our "home" for the next 10 nights. We were pleased and blessed with a spectacular ocean front view.

out of town guests

Immediately after our September wedding, my Uncle Jim and Aunt Maureen came out to go on a week's vacation with my parents. A few days before they left with my parents for their trip, we got to spend some time together. My parents and I took them to Balboa Island. We went for breakfast at one of my favorite places on the Island, Wilma's Patio. After we walked around the Island, we headed over to the peninsula via the ferry boat. From there we walked over to Balboa Pier. The water was especially clear and teal-colored that day. We couldn't have timed it better, because we got to see a baby whale. It was awesome, and what a treat for our out of town guests. Later that same evening, the entire family went to Bluewater Grill for some delicious seafood (another favorite eatery) and for those of you goofs out there, NO we didn't' eat the whale! Here's some highlights from our day at Balboa.

Balboa Island
Ferry ride to Balboa Peninsula
Balboa Pier
looking Northbrothers
Mom & Maureen....and a bird.
The spot in the middle close to shore is the whale. Click to enlarge:
Leaving my footprints in the sand...

Temecula and Fallbrook

As Fall approached, so did wedding season for us. September meant the marriage of my high school friend Brianne and her hubby Joey for their Fallbrook wedding. I had the honor of being one of her bridesmaids.

I decided to leave early and stay with my long time friends in Temecula, while preparations and festivities took place for the weekend wedding. I had a GREAT time hanging out with Tom & Debbie. Many of you may remember our families lodging together at family camp in Catalina during the summers as I grew up. Debbie and I explored Old Town Temecula and spent many mornings sharing stories and discussing our favorite books. My time of fellowship with them, was such an added blessing to the already exciting wedding weekend, however, I can't believe I never took any pictures.

What made this wedding particularly fun, was that ALL of us bridesmaids went to high school together. We had so much fun while we got ready together at the Pala Casino Spa Resort, and the limo ride to the estate. We laughed SO much. Jay joined me for the wedding located at the beautiful Grand Tradition Estate (GT) and we enjoyed celebrating with the newlyweds. Here's some highlights of the wedding from our collection as unfortunately I wasn't able to upload the "professional" pictures.

Some of the bridesmaids getting ready at the Pala
Limo ride to the GT
Beautiful Bride Brianne!
Show Time
The GT has some gorgeous grounds. Although this swan is beautiful, he was hungry! He tried to eat everyone's feet while we were taking pictures by the water.

First Dance (First time I've seen one choreographed. It was SO cute, and so much like this fun couple)

Congratulation to the now Mr. & Mrs!

August Endings

As I recall the end of August it seemed to be all about celebration. After a day of commemorating my dad's 35 years (as noted in the previous post), the following day we celebrated my mother in-law's birthday by all going out to dinner at a local favorite Mexican restaurant.

The next day, we spent celebrating Christina's 22nd birthday at our local beach. We enjoyed meeting many of Christina's family and munching on delicious foods.

Christina & her father
Bryan playing volleyball with Christina's friends & family
The weekend ended celebrating and supporting adoption. My friends Brian and Lanisa came down to help put on an adoption awareness concert (as they have now adopted two children from China) in honor of our mutual friends, who are in the process of adoption. Lanisa is a beautifully gifted singer who shared not only her talent, but her adoption journey. As always, it was great to see Lanisa and family, and support our friends in their adoption as well.