pen pals.

meet hunter.

a 10 year old competitive and sports loving boy who, last halloween, wanted to send all of his halloween candy to someone serving in the military. [i know- i was impressed, too!]
luckily enough, hunter's mom knew someone that is very involved with a program called "operation santa". that someone was connie, who often sent packages to charlie throughout both of his deployments [bless her heart! so sweet.]
sooo, connie then of course suggested that hunter send his candy to charlie!
another bonus? hunter only lives less than an hour from where charlie is from [and basically where we now live] so it was nice of him to want to send packages to a local marine.
the two of them wrote just a couple times within those months of c's last deployment. [thanks to the snaaaail mail!] but it meant a lot to both of them.

since we have finally settled down into a somewhat normal routine here in oregon, we decided to take the quick trip to visit hunter and his family and meet them in real life. [facebook connected us a few months back.]
and ohhhh boy! was hunter excited to meet his marine pen pal!
i could just see in his eyes how much he looks up to charlie. it was precious.
the both of them played video games, baseball, had a nerf war and had time to toss around the football while we visited yesterday. all while i chatted with hunter's mom and sister. :)
we just love their family!
they are the sweetest, and we just feel so lucky to have been connected with them through this whole thing.

lake tahoe

in pictures.
because, words just don't do this place justice!
[sorry to those of you who follow my instagram. these pictures won't be new to you!]

sand harbor, lake tahoe.

 emerald bay. the most photographed location in all of california. crazy!

fun times with our nephew, rowen.
he thought it was HIL-ARIOUS when he'd put my hair in front of my face and then i blow it off. :)

vaycay

tomorrow morning we'll be on a flight to one of my most favorite places on earth.

if you guessed lake tahoe, you're correct!

i can't wait to see my family, lay out on the dock all day, ride jet skies with my hunk, eat my mom's yummy breakfasts, cuddle with my nephew that i haven't seen for six months, get some quality sibling time in, walk down to "sno-flake" and get some ice cream [a tahoe tradition] and just be with the fambam. 

tahoe is so special to my family. if you've ever gone in the summer time, you'd know why.

i mean look at this!

hellooooo paradise!

this trip marks the last vacation we'll have for a while.

first we had stagecoach.

then our belated honeymoon.

and now this!

all in three months!

we are lucky blessed.

dizzyland

perfect day at disney.

perfect weather.

perfect barely-any-waiting-in-lines crowd.

and perfect company with my main squeeze.

[as if you all haven't seen any pictures of disneyland before...here's about 20 more for ya. :)]

 [we were stuck in disney traffic. hate that. ;)]

you can't go to disneyland without having a sugar overload. it's like a rule.

[fyi: the coca-cola on main street serves THEEE BEST coke EVER. i don't know what they do to it but i swear it'll be the best coke you'll ever have in your life.]

there's just something about disneyland. :)

[belated] honeymoon pt. 2

[missed part 1? here you go. :)]

we signed up for a hike while in port in puerto vallarta.
so glad we did!
[lord knows we needed the extra exercise after indulging waayy too much at those buffets!]
and we were able to see a humble little town and how all the locals really live.
so quaint, laid back and humble.

our tour guide [everyone calls him "tio"] stopped by all the trees and plants that they're proud of, and this leaf came from one of their trees [i totally forgot what it was called] but they believe the leaves from this particular tree are good luck since they're shaped like a cross. and tio gave it to me! he told me to wear it over my heart. :)

 [since it was a very dry winter, nothing is green like it usually is. bummer.]

[sighh..he is so handsome.]

 [the local's version of a sauna. "temazeal"]

wittle baby cacti! so cute.

we got all dolled up & dined at an out-of-this-world-amazing steak house on top of the cruise ship friday evening.

[even though these two pictures are low quality (and took them in the mirror..haha.) i still absolutely LOVE them. 

some of my favorites. ever.]

we laid out some more in the mexican sun.

and we took silly pictures with our towel animals pretending to be them. [we meaning just samantha. haa]

 walter the walrus. 

 umm...not sure what this is. seal? duck? swan?

 gary the gorilla.

 freddy the frog.

 rufus the dog.

confused with this one, too. seal? no. idea.


but overall what we did on our belated honeymoon was spend quality time with each other.
which was much needed.
so thankful for my husband.
and so thankful he chose me as his wife.

[belated] honeymoon pt.1

we've been back from our honeymoon for two days now and i'm still getting used to the fact that there's not any buffets or room service anymore.
and that we're no longer gently rocking side to side.
and that our bed doesn't magically make itself and leave little chocolates with a towel animal for us to come home to.
[crazy how spoiled you get in just seven days.]

so needless to say, we had a great time!

we ordered free room service like it was going out of style.
and enjoyed breakfast on our balcony.

we had fun on the ship's crazy oversized furniture. 

we held hands while watching the sunsets [aww]

we lounged on the most gorgeous beach in cabo. [lover's beach. put it on your bucket list, people!!]

[the last little island of baja california]

and that's only half of it!!