i have kept pretty busy this summer with work which has been good (and certainly helpful in financial terms as well :)) but this past month, i got to take a little time off for some fun adventures.
{Birthdays!}
we went down south a couple times during the month to celebrate my grandparents' birthdays (actually, my grandpa's bday is in august, but i'm adding him to this july post :)) i made a delicious key lime pie for my grandma's birthday dessert if i do say so myself, and libby made a lovely apple torte for grandpa's. it has been really fun seeing my extended family throughout the summer (hopefully we'll see my north-west extended family soon too!!)
{Mammoth!!}
my family and i have been so blessed with getting to travel to lots of places together. each of those trips has been filled with so much laughter and memories that we still talk about years later. mammoth was no exception: we had a wonderful time hiking, jacuzzing, resting, reading, walking, and laughing (lots & lots of it). the trip started off a little sadly since we watched the US lose to japan in the world cup final :( kelsey has been VERY into the world cup both last summer and this summer and has gotten our whole family really into it.
and although my soccer skills are terrible, i really enjoyed watching it last summer and this summer...particularly abby wambach. even if you are not a soccer fan you need to watch some of her goals - they were incredible. but after recovering from the loss, we enjoyed the rest of our vacation :) mammoth was absolutely GORGEOUS. no exaggeration there.
[hiking through the snow...libs and i spent some time on our bums during this part of the hike :)]
the mountains were still covered in snow which made some of our hikes a bit tricker as well as more adventurous :) i had fun leading the way through some of the trails which were hard to track since they were covered by a lot of snow. besides hiking, we took a ride up to the top of the mountain using a ski lift, enjoyed baked goods at the famous shatt's bakery, and enjoyed watching movies and playing card games.
[at the top of the mountain - SUPER windy!!]
on our way home from mammoth we visited the location of a japanese internment camp called manzanar. i wasn't super excited to get out of the car and walk through a museum, but this stop was definitely worth it. it is sad to me how these internment camps are not as widely discussed as other human rights violations that occurred during the war. while this internment camp certainly did not treat its occupants like the concentration camps in europe, the many hardships physically, emotionally, and spiritually, that these japanese American citizens experienced is truly heartbreaking and saddening. if you are ever in that area, definitely stop by the museum - it will challenge the way you think about how governments treats minority citizens and how easy it is to resort to rascist policies when there is panic from violence and war.
{Katie visits!}
after we got back from mammoth, my friend katie visited from arkansas! i met katie the summer before our freshman year of high school and we became friends quickly (how could we not with two sisters the same ages?) she moved to arkansas with her family after we graduated high school so unfortunately we haven't been able to see each other too often, but it was very fun to have her out west :)
we took advantage of my grandparents' pool, visited balboa island, shopped & ate out in santa barbara, saw a play in solvang one evening, and went to LA as well!
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