The Golden State

I'm becoming a huge fan of weekend getaways. Mitch and I hopped on a plane and it definitely fed my adventurous soul. If only I had money to do these kinds of things more often.

Off we went to HEMET, CALIFORNIA. Hometown of Mitch. It is in Southern California just about 90 minutes north of San Diego and is in a valley so it is HOT.

It was a jam-packed weekend full of family and fun. Mitch's brother came home from his mission, serving in the Kentucky Louisville Mission. He returned with a cowboy hat and boots to match.

I realized as I'm writing this post that I didn't take any pictures the whole weekend. Such a bummer! Now the only thing I have to remember the trip are just my words.

We went to visit his grandparents who live around the corner. They are the sweetest. Old people are the best. The two greatest features of the house were the tree closet and the candy closet. Not even kidding, they have a closet that is big enough to fit an e n t i r e Christmas Tree plus the train tracks. That way they never have to take it down during the year, it just slides right into the closet. So. Cool.

The candy closet was just a bigger version of my grandma's candy counter. Just full size candy bars and every other candy you can imagine all in boxes. By the door are plastic baggies where all visitors are invited to grab a bag and fill it with whatever candy they want. Let's just say we were set for the trip home.

We spent the afternoon in the pool, playing water basketball, talking, dunking people, diving, and trying to warm up in the hot tub.

That evening we got the house/outside ready for the new Stars Wars movie viewing. Just a big screen in the backyard complete with all the movie treats you could imagine. It was the perfect summer night!

Before the movie, Mitch took me up to the roof of the house to watch the sunset.

I'm kind of a sucker for pretty sunsets, rooftops, and handsome boys.

I'm also a fan of California.

There's just something about sunshine and palm trees that gets me.

Sunday was the homecoming and family dinner. I was very impressed at church by all the people that absolutely raved about Mitch. It was so fun for me to see where he came from and how he was raised and to see how much people appreciate and love him! I mean, we hadn't been dating that long, but it definitely helped convince me that he's a good guy ;)

This is Hudson. He's the cutest 4 year old you'll ever meet. Everything that comes out of his mouth is hilarious.
When he first walked in the house and said hi, he asked me where my lamb was haha! His dad has quite the sense of humor...

We spent any spare time touring the city. Going to his dad's office, driving by the high school, their old house, going to the grocery store, the Ramona bowl, playing piano duets with his mom, and talking to lots of extended family that were there to see Andrew.

On Sunday night, we drove down the street to see the bats. There are thousands of bats that sleep under this bridge during the day and then each night they all fly out from under the bridge. It was SO COOL but also kinda creepy.