August 2015

August was a big month for our family. Craig's youngest sister, Katie, got married! The wedding was in Santa Barbara, CA, so we all drove out for it. Craig's parents rented a giant Suburban, and all the Utah kids piled in along with all of Katie and Collin's gifts from the showers that were in Utah and THE DRESS. It was a packed car!! It was Noah's first long road trip, and fortunately the rental was brand new and had TV screens in it. We watched a LOT of movies. 

We stopped in Las Vegas for lunch at Steak 'N Shake. This was Noah's first casino experience. Haha 

It's a Knight family tradition to stop in Baker and visit the giant thermometer. It was SO hot. 

We made it to Ventura Beach where we stayed for the night. Noah was so glad to be out of the car! So was I. 

The next morning we traveled just a bit farther north to Santa Barbara where the wedding was held at the Four Season Biltmore. It was GORGEOUS there. 

We had a quick breakfast once we arrived, then it was a full day! The girls got manicures and pedicures, and the boys played at the pool.

That night was the rehearsal dinner at the cutest little restaurant called Stella Mares. The food was delicious, and it was fun getting to know Collin's family. 

 Alli started a new game with Noah. They put on their spy goggles and looked for evidence. It was adorable. 

 Katie and Collin had handkerchiefs made for their parents along with gifting them framed pictures. They were beautiful.

 Doug has an app on his phone that follows every flight so that you can tell when a plane will be passing overhead. Noah loves it, and they spent part of the evening pointing at all the planes. 

The next morning was the ceremony rehearsal/run-through. It was such a gorgeous morning, and we were all excited that the big day was finally here!! Noah obviously got bored quite quickly. He collected leaves to practice like they were flower petals. He was the best little ring bearer!

 HAHA Not sure why Katie made this face, but I love it.

 Collin's younger brother, Ty, and Allison were the witnesses and signed the wedding license.

 After the rehearsal, the girls got to it! We had our hair and makeup done and spent the afternoon together in Katie's honeymoon cottage (AMAZING). We had lunch brought to us, and it was so fun to see each other get all glammed up. Seriously though, I have the world's most gorgeous sisters-in-law. And mother-in-law! Katie got Alli and me cute robes, too. It was a lot of fun.

While we were "getting our hair did" as Nancy loves to say, the boys took a trip to the Santa Barbara zoo. Noah LOVED it. He even got to feed a giraffe.

After getting back to our hotel room, I discovered just how much the boys loved the zoo.

After the quick snooze, we got ready to go. It was time for the ceremony!!

 The cutest ring bearer and flower girl!!

Guys. He is a babe. 

 This guy is undoubtedly one of the most incredible men I've ever met. He is a crazy talented videographer, but even more than that his spirit is so strong. I'm so grateful to have met him and had him film our wedding, and it was so neat to have him at Katie's wedding as well. David Perry is the man.

Once the ceremony was completed, we marched in a second line (SO FUN) right into the dining hall for the reception dinner. The flowers were absolutely stunning, and the food was delicious. 

 We finally got to meet Craig's cute twin cousins, Sarina and Aaliya. They are so adorable, and Noah loved hanging out with them telling them how to climb up trees and such.

We danced and enjoyed every one's company all night long. We crashed and slept like rocks that night for sure. 

The next day we got up, ate some breakfast, and headed to Anaheim (with a quick stop at Katie and Collin's apartment to drop off gifts). We finally got into Disneyland around 4:00 in the afternoon. We started off with California Adventure because we had never seen Cars Land before. It is SO cool, guys. Noah had a real big thing with Cars once upon a time, and his love was reminded when we got there. 

 We grabbed dinner at Fisherman's Wharf. Bread bowls are to die for, I tell ya. Now I'm craving one.

We ended with a ride on the monorail and walked back to the hotel exhausted. After a wonderful night's sleep, we headed back to the parks the next morning!

 We didn't take a million pictures because we were having such a fun day, but if there was a most common sight, it would be this next picture: Noah on Papa's shoulders. He would gently pat Papa's face and just rest his head all day. I'm sure Doug's neck and back killed, but he insisted he loved it. 

 I saw Belle, so my trip was complete.

 And these next two pictures sum up how everyone felt after Disneyland for 1.5 days after two full days of wedding events. 

 But we had an incredible time!! It will be one of those family weekends you remember and talk about the rest of your life. I'm so happy for Katie and Collin! I couldn't have picked a better guy for Katie. Love you guys so much! Thank you for letting us be a part of your big weekend!!

 We made the long car ride back home. Fortunately, road trips are a little easier with boys. Lots of sleeping was involved in every party of that car.

Once we got home from California, we started to prepare for school to start! We began having FHE on Sunday afternoon/evenings because of Craig's work and school schedules. It has been a lot of fun to be able to talk about gospel and life principles with Noah. I love his answers to our questions. 

One of the best parts of the end of August is the beginning of FOOTBALL SEASON! The boys headed down to Provo for the blue and white scrimmage game. 

I also finished up working at This Is The Place. I'm uncertain about how long it will be until I work there again, so it was a little heartbreaking for me. I love that place, A LOT. It is a huge part of the adult I've become, and I hope I will find a way to keep going there to visit or even volunteer. A few of the vignette crew went on a horseback ride after our last day. So fun.

Noah started up his second year of preschool in August! He has loved it so much already, and I see a ton of improvement from last year's work even just barely into the school year. I'm excited to see him succeed and enjoy his year at Challenger.

We've soaked up the last little bit of summer by playing outside and visiting our favorite splash pads a couple more times. Noah loves playing with Lily the boxer, and that takes up a couple of hours of his day, wrestling and being kissed by her.

 We got to celebrate Craig's Papa LD's 80th birthday in August. It was nice seeing everyone and letting LD know how loved he is! Shannon had this cute cake made for the party.

 Capri and Noah always have a good time together.

 Craig and his Papa. 

 We couldn't conclude our summer without a Bees baseball game with the Dials!! I love this family SO much!

Mr LD is getting quite large these days. It's exciting and nerve wracking how close we are getting to his arrival this December!

BYU football is in full swing, and Noah LOVES his "B-U"

I love how Noah doesn't care if he gets dirty. He loves exploring outside, digging in the dirt, and finding bugs. He is such a sweet boy, and we are so lucky to have him in our family!

Feeewwwhhh. That was a long post. Now we are well into September and excited for FALL. August was a great month, though, and we are glad we got so much family time in.