Apple Hill

Last Saturday Brad and I drove into Placerville, CA to explore the very popular Apple Hill Orchards. Apple Hill has over 50 ranches, full of pumpkin patches, christmas tree farms, wineries, u-pick fruit farms, and of course all things APPLE: apple juice, apple cider, apple pies, apple turnovers, caramel apples, etc. The apples were the best I've ever eaten, the juice was the best, and so was the caramel apple... and, well, it was just one yummy treat after another!

It was the perfect time to visit, all the leaves were turning and colors were so pretty!

One of the pretty wineries

I was loving this vintage car

Brad was loving his caramel apple. (PS- Ask for it sliced. Makes eating it 10x more enjoyable!) This place had every type of caramel apple you could ever imagine- and some you would never think of- but let's be honest, traditional caramel and nuts is the best!

Our last stop of the day. They had the best Golden Delicious Apples and the prettiest flowers!

We are so lucky to live where we do! Although California certainly has it's downsides (traffic, state budget crisis, cost of living) it is such a beautiful place to live and we love it!

'Double Double' Toil and Trouble...

Hope you all had a great Halloween! We sure did!

Fleet Week & The Blue Angels... kind of

Last Saturday Brad and I ventured into San Francisco to check out Fleet Week. There are so many activities during it, but our main goal for the day was to watch the air shows- which conclude with the Blue Angels.

We took BART into the city and walked around Union Square, North Beach, and of course China Town. You can't walk around San Francisco with Brad Hardcastle and not go to China Town.


After the excitement of China Town, we made our way down to Aquatic Park where we snagged free cans of Cherry Dr. Pepper (wohoo for Brad!) and In N Out for lunch (wohoo for us both!). We found a great little pier where we watched the air shows for a couple hours.

Alcatraz Island (which acts as a center point for the air shows) in the background

It was a little chilly near the water, like it always is in San Fran, but it was a beautiful day. That is, until 3:00 when the Angels were supposed to fly. That's when the fog rolled in, and apparently Blue Angels can't fly when fog settles below 1,500 feet. So all we got were 3 'fly-bys' of the Angels before they cut the show and headed out. I wasn't too disappointed because they were sooo loud and my neck was hurting after 2+ hours of looking into the sky. (I soon realized that many of the people we were next to didn't take the news quite as well!)

Their precision is incredible! And I couldn't believe how close to the ground they fly. Wow!

It would have been nice to see the whole show, but there's always next year! We would love to watch the Parade of Ships next time too. Overall it was a great day with my hubby, and would have been a great day for Flat Luke if we hadn't already mailed him back ;) Darn!

Does this make me your favorite sister?

A couple weeks ago I got a call from Luke, my 7 year old brother. He had just read the book Flat Stanley in class and wanted to send his own "Flat Luke" out to explore beautiful Walnut Creek.

(Who knew, but Flat Stanley is a story about a boy named Stanley who gets squished flat as a pancake and gets to explore the world through the mail.)

Luke was so cute on the phone. He said we could take him to the park, to the Golden Gate Bridge, to San Francisco, etc. I had to laugh because in the 1+ year we have lived here, I've only visited the GG Bridge once-- and that was with my family last Thanksgiving! It's not exactly a frequented stop on our weekly agenda.

After much persuasion, I was able to get Brad to take Flat Luke with him into the city. He got a picture of Flat Luke with the Bay Bridge behind him.

Can you tell how *thrilled* Brad was to ask a coworker to take this pic?

When we called Luke to tell him about where we took Flat Luke (is this getting confusing to anyone else?) he said, "No Brad, that's not the right one! You need to take him to the red bridge." It was pretty cute.

Well, Flat Luke never made it to the "red bridge", but we did take him on a few other adventures before we mailed him back, which included:

Hiking Castle Rock

Hiding in secret caves

Exploring Lafayette Reservoir

Thanks for sending us Flat Luke, Luke! He was the easiest house guest we've had yet! ;)

Another year older!

In celebration of our recent birthdays (Aug 24 & 29) we decided to get a new picture for the house. We went to the church bookstore and looked around. Brad fell in love with a 5 ft x 3 ft picture of Christ. It was a stunning picture, but since our entire place is only a few feet bigger than the picture... it wasn't going to work. (Well that, and it cost about as much as my yearly salary.)

So we settled on my first choice: a picture of the San Diego temple, where we were sealed almost 3 years ago. I love it and it is perfect!

The picture is antiqued and has the dedication day written at the top.

Last weekend we also finally finished the wall behind our bed/headboard. It only took 1 year to decide what I wanted, but I really like how it turned out.

Labor Day Trip

Brad and I were able to go to Utah for Labor Day weekend to visit family, friends, celebrate birthdays, and (in Brad's case) get one last fishing trip in before summer was over.

Friday we spent the morning at BYU where I was able to have 'lunch' with my freshman roommate Nicki. I hadn't seen her in about a year (since we moved) and I had never met her husband. We had a great time catching up, and meeting in the CougarEat (where we used to meet for weekly lunch dates) just added to the memories!


Brad joined us for the first 45 minutes, but then decided he had had enough "girl talk". He called up a couple of his old Priests who were just wrapping up their first week at BYU and he met them for lunch. After hitting up the bookstore for a few essentials (alumni license plate and BYU sweatshirt) and stopping by Wells Fargo to see Brad's old boss, we were on our way.

Walking on campus for the first time since graduation brought back so many memories. I loved my 4 years at BYU, and would love it if future school opportunities (MBA) took us back.

My second lunch date for the day was with Janelle, my gal pal from high school and old roommate. We met at Cafe Rio, which I have been craving for a year and she was sweet enough to agree to ;) For some reason we didn't get a picture, so this gem from high school will have to do.

Friday night we had a BBQ with a few of Brad's high school buds. It was so fun seeing Ryan/Laurie, Brandon, Marcus/Brittany/Jolie, and catch up with how everyone is doing. I mostly spent the time doting over Jolie, who is quite possibly the cutest little baby ever. If only we could convince them all to move to San Francisco for law school/dental school/work, we'd be good to go!

Saturday was fishing day for the boys. They left waaaay early in the morning, and although it wasn't the most successful trip they've had, from what I hear they still had a good time. But hey, if you had this beautiful face to look at during the drive, how could you not have a good time?

(Love ya Spencer!)

Ron and his catch of the day

While they fished, Susie was kind enough to give me an extreme makeover. Okay, not really.... but after 5 months without a cut/color, it kind of felt like it. I went dark and I'm liking it! Then she took Angie and I to Rod Works, a fun home decor shop in Draper. It was a good thing that I flew in and had minimal travel room, because otherwise I would have bought the whole store!

Saturday night Brad and I went to Alpine for my cousin's wedding open house. My mom had flown in to help with it, so I got to see her and my aunt and cousins (again, no pictures...grrrr). While I helped serve food, Brad watched the BYU/Oklahoma football game. By the second quarter, just about every guy between 18-30 at the open house was watching the game too. If you haven't heard by now, BYU pulled off the upset and it was a GREAT game.


The rest of the trip was kind of a blur. We laid low and had some good ol' fashioned family time. Brad's grandma passed away rather unexpectedly Sunday morning, and we were really grateful that we could be with everyone during that time.

In more than one way, it was a very timely visit.

Look at those crazy boys... at least the girls look cute ;)

After heading back this past weekend for the funeral, we are now trying to get back into the swing of things... slowly but surely we'll get there.

And, as if you had any question of what we're doing this weekend: chaperoning a youth activity, of course! ;)

Let's go rolling on the river...

Brad and I both have callings in the youth program in our ward- he works with the Priests and I work with the Beehives. We absolutely love it! This summer we have had the opportunity to join them on quite a few activities, one of which was the annual Float Trip on the American River. Although the American River is known for its rapids, this trip didn't involve any white water rafting... but that doesn't mean it didn't include unexpected excitement.

While we were waiting at the raft launch, before we had even gotten into the water, a 14 year old boy jumped from a bridge into the river. Lots of kids were doing the same, and no one really thought much of it at first. He wasn't from our group and so we weren't really watching him. Luckily for the boy, Brad and another guy from our group happened to look over and see that he was struggling to stay above water. Just a second later, he went under and didn't come back up. Brad and the other guy jumped into the river to help him. The boy was under for a good minute before his body literally ran into Brad's legs. He was wearing a black shirt and if he hadn't hit Brad, there was a good chance the men in the water (there was 4 at that time) would have missed him.

In the meantime, I was frantically trying to find a cell phone to call 911. Do you know how many people bring their cell phones on a river trip? Pretty much no one! Luckily for us, there was one man who had. I called 911 and explained our situation to the operator and tried to explain our location (can you believe she didn't know where the "raft launch" was? haha.)

When Brad pulled the boy out he was unconscious. Luckily two of the men that had jumped in were US Coast Guard and they were able to give him CPR and resuscitate him. The paramedics finally showed up and they life flighted the boy to the hospital and as far as we know, he was okay.

Word to the wise: Don't jump directly into the current of a shoulder-deep river, fully clothed-- especially if you aren't a strong swimmer!

What an adventure, and our trip hadn't even started yet! Brad was pretty shaken up for the next little bit, and for good reason- if he hadn't found the boy when he did, he would have been gone. Luckily that didn't happen and the story had a happy ending.

It took us about 3 hours to float down the river, which was basically a 3 hour water fight. People had super soakers, buckets, water balloons, etc. I don't know how it happened, but I ended up on the raft with the deacons and beehives. What was I thinking? Of course our raft was the one that the other 4 ganged up on, and we got absolutely drenched! At one point I was holding 3 oars and a super soaker (protecting them from the madness that was ensuing) and was pulled backwards head first into the water. Brad got an entire can of soda poured on his face, which I later learned was payback because he had done it first... way to set the example babe! We even had the water let out of our raft and got close to sinking a few times, but we made it through. Everyone was bruised, scratched, and sunburnt by the end, but it was an awesome adventure!

It's a good thing we love working (read: playing) with the youth as much as we do, because Saturday Brad will be celebrating his 25th birthday with them as we go down to Sunset Beach for an end-of-summer beach trip. Should be fun!

New York!

My cousin Jordan and his new wife Jessica got married on August 1 in the Palmyra Temple, and it just so happened that my work schedule allowed me to be there! Besides my mom and me, his parents and siblings were the only other family at the wedding, so it was nice to be there and support him.

While we were in New York, we had a little time to do some sightseeing, and we started with Niagara Falls in Buffalo, NY. The falls were absolutely breathtaking!

My mom and I in front of Horseshoe Falls (the one that crazy people barrel over)

The Maid of the Mist boat. It takes you right next to the falls... and yes, you get soaked!

This is the Cave of the Winds, basically another excuse to get wet!

A good view of all 3 falls: American, Bridal Veil, and Horseshoe

The Rainbow Bridge that connects the USA to Canada. We didn't have our passports, to we didn't venture across. Maybe next time.

The next day we drove to Palmyra and spent the afternoon exploring some Church History sights. Jordan and Jessica sure picked a great time of year to get married, because the weather was perfect and everything was SO green!

My cousin Vanessa and I at the Hill Cumorah. She's headed to BYU-I in a few weeks to start her freshman year!

The flowers were gorgeous- the hill is just behind them.

Sacred Grove. Yes I was really there... and I have the mosquito bites to prove it.


Smith Family Cabin. It was built in 1998 after 20 years of research to make sure it was as close to the original as possible.

Saturday was wedding day! We had been worried about the forecasted thunder storms, but the rain held off until we were cleaning up from the reception. It turned out to be a beautifully bright (and hot) day.

The Hymas Family (minus bride & groom)

The whole wedding party. I really liked her colors (probably because they reminded me of my own!)

Can you tell it was really bright?

Nick, Jordan's best friend from Texas and my good friend from BYU, and his wife Elyssa came from DC for the wedding. It was great to see them... and to officially meet her

Me and Jordie! Love you cuz!

One crazy month!

July was such a whirlwind month! There was so much going on in such a short amount of time! I took a grand total of 2 1/2 weeks off of work for our trips that consisted of: Lake Tahoe (July 2-5), adult leader at Girls Camp (July 13-18), Beach Week in San Diego (July 18-25), and quick trip to New York for my cousin's wedding (July 29-Aug 3). There was a lot of fun and family packed into the trips, but it is nice to be home with my hubby, and in my own bed! Not so nice to be back to work, but that's life!

So without further adieu, here's my attempt to blog about one crazy month!

I'll spare you the pictures and details about Girls Camp, except to say that is was great being at Rucker Lake with such amazing girls. I was the leader for the 11-12 year old girls and I wasn't quite sure how it would go. Let's be honest here, I look 12 years old myself so I didn't know how the girls would accept me as their "leader". And you better believe at least once a day I was mistaken for a girl and not a leader... I even got in trouble once for walking without a buddy! Also, being new to the stake I don't know many people from other wards, so I was nervous about getting to know all these new people. Silly, right? Well, everything turned out better than I expected! It wasn't that long ago that I was at camp myself, and to see how mature and strong in the gospel these girls are was amazing. And not only that, but I survived the week with only 1 mosquito bite! Woohoo!

Our next adventure for the month was Beach Week. For those of you who don't know, this is an annual tradition for my family and about 15-20 other families from our ward. We go to San Elijo State Beach for a week and... you guessed it: enjoy the beautiful beach! My family hasn't been able to go for 2 years due to strategically-placed mission calls and unexpected hospital stays... but this year we went and the Hardcastle's came down from Utah to join us. It was a lot of fun and just what I needed after a week of 20 preteen girls ;)

Believe it or not, my first time boogie boarding.

Taryn- oh how I wish I could tan like her...

The only extra rash guard we had was about 5 sizes too small... but that didn't stop Brad from wearing it all week!

They each tried their luck with surfing. I think Spencer stayed up the longest? It was fun watching them learn!

Our crazy mama's fed us yummy food all week!

Making woofums! (Refrigerated biscuits that you cook like a marshmallow, then fill up with delicious goodies like whipped cream, chocolate, etc!)

Enjoying a woofum

Us Hardcastle's took some family pictures at La Jolla Shores one morning. They turned out really cute!

The Urry's tried to get in on the family picture action...and even though we aren't matching (or wearing makeup) it didn't turn out half bad!


It was a wonderfully relaxing week, and great to be with both families. We are so lucky that they get along so well, and like to be around each other! Can't wait until next year!


Coming soon: New York trip of Niagara Falls, Palmyra church history, and wedding pictures!