A weekend in Cali

This is it: the moment Jen and I have been waiting for since the beginning of the summer, when we planned a week-long vacation at her home in California.

We got here on Saturday about 2. (Jennifer woke me and Nana, her grandma, up at 4 so we could get an early start. I would have complained more about the hour except I was too excited- and Jen was taking the first driving shift, she being used to getting up at unearthly hours for her job.) In our first few days I met her three brothers Ryan, Brandon and Max, her parents, her cat Jasmine, Auntie Alice, Uncle Aaron, and several other people who were friends and/or related somehow. We went with her family to church.

On Monday, Jen drove me to the Drapers' house, where we were quickly introduced to the newest member of the family, a little white bunny with black around her eyes and spots. Marshmallow. Jennifer stayed with me with them for two days. We gave the family home evening lesson on Monday about things we'd learned going to college. The next days were full of piano playing, game playing, and just hanging out. I stayed until Wednesday. Highlights of that sadly undocumented trip (I forgot about my camera snug in my backpack): playing cards with Lindsay and Tyler, going to Target with Lindsay and Shannon, reading a bedtime story and playing Connect 4 and Battleship with Nathaniel, late-night conversation and cards with Lindsay, and having a "You're the fill-in-the-blank in the galaxy" fight with Matthew.

"You're the funniest in the entire galaxy!"

"You're the cutest in the entire galaxy!"

"No, you're the cutest in the entire galaxy!"

Sometimes Matthew included Jen in the fight too: "You're the most beautiful in the entire galaxy!"

At Target, while we were getting Lindsay school supplies, Shannon skipped down the aisles, we made fun of the overly enthusiastic lady with the high-pitched voice that announced at five-minute intervals that the store was closing. On the way to and from, we sang Taylor Swift and "Call Me Maybe" at the top of our lungs.

I love the Drapers.

Yesterday after meeting Jen and Nana in the parking lot of Tyler's and Nathaniel's piano lessons, Jen and I dropped Nana off at Auntie Alice's, who is her sister, stopped briefly at a taqueria (yummy) and managed to get on the last tour at the Jelly Belly Factory. After that, we went back and talked to Alice and Nana (I actually fell asleep for a few minutes there) and went back to Jen's house, where we all ate dinner before Jen and I went to Jen's friend's Sara's house to watch Hunger Games and talk.

It's been fun and I'll try to check in again before Jen, Nana and I leave to go back to Utah on Sunday. We'll see.