Family Reunion!

Oh man. Last weekend was a whirlwind. (If you wanna see pictures, there are some on my Facebook account, a link to which is to the right of this blog.) Here are the highlights:

On the road: Thursday late afternoon: I got attacked by an almost angry Alicia (is Alicia capable of becoming really angry? I don't think so.) who thought I was keeping a secret that was really just a rumor about me dating someone. I am not dating anyone. OK. Moving on.

We stopped in Vegas to get gas. Being a new 21, Alicia was pretty excited that she was allowed in the gambling room at the gas station. We had to document the moment. The room was very stinky, and I think one of the attendants at the station was concerned (considering that even though she is 21, she looks about 12...), so we moved on.

We headed for Los Angeles, where we were to rendezvous with the family! We found beds made for us in the LA Temple Apartments (thanks to Mom for booking the room, and David and Britney getting the beds ready for us). We did an endowment session at the temple Friday morning with as many of the Heywood's as could be there. Awesome.

Then we hit the beach. (Santa Monica Pier)

Well, it wasn't quite that simple, but I'll spare you the details. Quick version: traffic sucks. Marie, Jana, and I found a place to park, walked down to the beach and put our feet in the beautiful Pacific Ocean for a while. The weather was lovely, the water was cool, the sand was warm... *sigh* And then trudged back to the car. (Like my hair? It was windy!)

We met up with our Lindsey and Ashley friends for dinner at the China Bistro in the Marketplace, which Jana referred to as the Teenage Orgy. Seriously, there were so many children there dressed in their punk outfits or half naked, or as half-naked punkers, and hormones were flying in all directions. It was a little like being at a BYU freshman's dance party... only there was more skin. But I digress. 'Twas wonderful to see our dear, dear friends, the Huffaker sisters. (I accidently typed "twas" so I just went with it.) I miss those girls so much! It was great to sit and talk with them. What I love most about meeting up with Lindsey and Ashley is that after months and month of not talking to each other (except for Facebook), it's as if no time has gone by. We get right back into stride.

Saturday: fun times at the park. We played a game of baseball, and (believe it or not) I went to bat. Twice. I even hit the ball both times! There are little things in life that are completely satisfying. The crack when the bat hits the ball is definitely one of them. (Here's Alicia taking a swing, Ty pitching, Mom catching.)

We played a water war game, we played on the playground equipment, we played guitars, we played cards... it was an afternoon spent playing stuff. And showing off our talents. (Click here to see a video of the Dave Heywood clan singing our own arrangement of "Big Rock Candy Mountain.") Grandma and Grandpa even lead the family in a sing-a-long of some of the songs they used to sing on their family road trips.

Saturday night some of us were able to go to Tyler's gig at Jerry's Pizza. (See links to videos in my last blog.) He did such a great job! I'm only sad that we didn't have time for a private session. He's got a lot of songs up his sleeves and he plays/sings them so well. I'm proud!

Sunday morning was spent taking family pictures and in church--and half of the testimonies shared came from the Heywood family. It was nice to be there together, to hear some of our family members share their testimonies.

We had dinner (pasta bar) and ate the cake Mom made to celebrate Grandma and Grandpa's 60th wedding anniversary. (60 years, people. That's a really freakin' long time!) Marie, Jana, Alicia, and I missed the rest of the fun--I think there was going to be a kind of "tribute to the Grandparents" thing after dinner--because we had to get back on the road. Work and school and all that. We filled up the car, grabbed some Dr. Pepper, and headed out of Wasco.

I have only one thing left to say: This billboard, which is on the I-15 all the way thru Vegas in both directions, about every mile or so, is awesomely retarded. I love and hate it at the same time. My sisters and I can't help but laugh and kind of cringe every time we see it. So, naturally, I had to take a picture. We stopped at Carl's Jr to get some dinner, and as I walked back to the car I looked up... lo and behold! There was my (least) favorite billboard of all time staring at me. I grabbed my camera and took a few shots. Road trip complete.

P.S. Thanks to Marie for the awesome (as usual) 10.5 hour playlist and use of her car. And Jana for not only driving thru the total insanity and ridiculousness that is LA traffic, but also driving the last leg of the trip into the wee small hours of the morning. And thanks to the Movie Game and "I'm going on a trip and I'm taking..." game, without which I think Jana would have fallen asleep and we would have died. And Alicia for the stories. I love your stories.