stayed up all night with four of my favorite people to watch this.

oh the sacrifices we make for the romance of the royal wedding..

definitely did not disappoint.

grateful for my perfect little moments

second spring break

my favorite family in the world came to visit us for their spring break. it was nice to pretend i had nothing to do but play with them. have a lot of catching up to do but it was wonderful to relax for a few days. we spent two full days pool side.

day 1 was at the hotel with a heated pool, but masses of people.

day 2 was spent in our backyard with a freezing cold pool and a massive water fight. when i say freezing i mean cant-breathe-the-water-is-so-freaking-cold freezing.

of course the girls got whooped. the boys have no mercy.

we were lucky enough to have jake and travis join us for the day. with good food, sunshine, family, friends, and water. it was the BEST day.

love these people more than words can express.

getting back to normal..

viva las vegas

its been a long time since i had my best friends with me. they were spread out across the continents and have finally returned. it was so nice to escape for a night and just be with each other...

anna had been in ecuador for the past six months..so happy she is back. we had a few weeks before she moved to provo to play and it was the best!

these cute three boys have been on their missions and just got home. travis and macrae went to mexico and got home the same day. jake went to australia and got home in december.

we spent our time shopping, at california pizza kitchen, bowling, and of course laughing. there was lots and lots of laughing.

it was almost a perfect twenty four hours. i got my first ever ticket on the way home. 250 bones. i may or may not have been speeding a little bit...that put a little damper on the situation. but other than that it was exactly what i needed..so happy to have things getting back to normal.

{april.third.twentyeleven}

happy happy 21st birthday to my dear older brother josh!

can't wait to have my best friend back in exactly four months from today!!

our fam just isnt the same without him around..love you and miss you joshy.

eve and day..

{christmas 2010}

christms eve in our new jammies.

had a fun fondue dinner and watched the grinch.

christmas morning for jacob: new rims, wheels, and a tint job from santa. such a man thing to ask for. girls would never want or ask for something like that.

my suprise from santa: my mom got this cedar chest with a homemade quilt in it from her parents the christmas she turned 18. that was 28 years ago. its been moved from home to home but has started to look bad the past few years. i always knew i would be the one to inherit it but i didnt know it would be so soon!

it was filled with dishes, mixing bowls, cookbooks, an apron, fabric for a quilt, and all sorts of grown-up things. i was stoked beyond belief. cant wait to move it into my own home one day.

other highlights of christmas day: talking to josh for 2 hours and knowing that this was the last time we had to do that. being able to talk to ian for five minutes. short but sweet. seeing neighbors and friends in my awesome pajamas.

loved everything about this day.

card..

{merry christmas 2010}

love,
the pedersen family

dland

{merry christmas from mickey}

friday night i got an unexpected text from a friend who lives in laguna inviting me to come stay for the weekend, hit up disneyland and see the christmas decorations, and just play in cali.

of course i wasnt going to pass that up.

so around 8:00 pm, jenny and I were starting our 6 hour drive.

haunted mansion gone nightmare before christmas.

cole may or may not have had an ADD pass to get us in the front of the line of everysingle ride, even in front of the wheelchair people.

at first we felt a little guilty,

but the constant downpour of rain and long lines made that go away real quick.

the world of color.

there are no words.

i would pay 100 dollars just to see it again.

happiest 30 minutes of my life.

it puts bellagio water show to shame.

will post a video of it, it is a must see for all you disney lovers out there.

confession: i cried.

happy tears because it was so unbelievable and so much more than i expected.

sad tears because i wish josh could have experienced it with me, my whole family actually.

even though we were soaked to the bone,

freezing,

and looking like wet rats the whole day,

it was exactly what i needed to get in the christmas spirit.

there really is no better place on earth.

before heading to vegas sunday night, we spent monday in vegas at jennys house,

we made a pit stop to a forbidden apartment. one of my favorite missionaries lives here.

wesley, aka elder eames, had no idea i was even in california so im sure when he got home that night with a christmas present from me on the doorstep it was a little freaky. one of the best things i have ever done, my heart was pounding. but rules are rules, so i didnt see him at all and after realizing they werent home we had some great photo opps. i sent them to him in the mail already. stalker status? kind of.

highlights: seeing disneyland all festive, watching world of color, riding rides til we could hardly walk anymore, being drenched(not the part where my uggs got ruined though), seeing the ocean, christmas shopping, pf changs, bj's pizzeria, pinkberry, playing with best friends, good talks on the long drive, stalking missionaries, and absolutely loving the hustle bustle of the christmas spirit.