I just like the "B" and that's all.: my taylor

Sunday, August 17, 2014

Camp Pendleton 2014

Every year my family camps at Camp Pendleton Marine Base in California for the Galan Family Reunion (my mom's side). This year we went right after the fourth of July. The best part was I got to use some PTO so I got paid to be on the beach. Thank you, doTERRA :). We were really happy to be able to go this year since we're not sure what our next few summers will be looking like with grad school. We camped on the beach, laid out and got some sun, ate yummy food, had camp fires and S'mores, and made an awesome video to recap the week. I won't lie, 2014 has been a really busy, stressful year with lots of big changes, multiple jobs, etc., so having this break was really nice. Working 8-5 inside for the first time in my life, I've really come to appreciate some good Vitamin D and what good it can do for the soul!

We were also able to go to Disneyland for the first time together. It was so fun to go with all of my family!

We recently bought a new car (and said bye to my old car of 7 years :( ) so our ride to California was really nice! Tay still doesn't like driving longer than an hour (thank you, Hawaii), but we had fun the whole ride!

We caravanned with four (yes, four!) other vehicles since my family all left at the same time. It was an interesting adventure. We drove from Provo to Zion's National Park. It was one of my "Utah Bucket List" items to go to a Utah tourist attraction, so I'm glad we did! It was really pretty, and we did some fun hikes! That night we drove to Mesquite, then the next morning we picked up and drove to California to camp!

We had so much fun! My grandparents always put a lot of effort into making this reunion happen, and we are so grateful!

Tay helping my cute grandparents cook one day. We love them lots!

AMERICA.

This year we had a very fun Fourth of July! My family has some set traditions we do every year, but they're still exciting each year. I didn't have to work this year (last year I was working at the MTC and had a shift that day), but luckily it was a paid holiday day off for me! We had family in town as a part of their trek to our Camp Pendleton family reunion. My uncle Paul and his family were able to be in town which was really fun because my uncle is currently in the U.S. Army and is currently stationed in New York. He's been in the Army for quite some time now and has been deployed several times so we're not always able to see his family. They made the drive all the way from New York to come! My uncle is a helicopter pilot and flies Black Hawks. Pretty cool, huh? My grandpa and cousin also served in the Marine, and I have another uncle who just got out of the military. The 4th of July is always special to me because I have seen firsthand the service that our military members give, and I am so grateful for all of them!

We started off the 4th by running a 5k! Tay and I decided to stay by each other the whole way, which was really fun. After, we went to the annual Provo Freedom Festival parade! It's the same every year, but I always enjoy going. Later that afternoon we went to my Grandpa Nielsen's home where we had our annual 4th of July BBQ and water fight. This is my favorite tradition. My grandpa makes the BEST grilled marinaded chicken, and I love just being with our family.

Taylor was so cute and knew that I would enjoy going to the Stadium of Fire since it was our last summer in Provo. He coordinated getting tickets for all of my family in town so that we could all go and sit by each other. It was so much fun to go and see the music and firework show. It was Tay's first time which was fun as well! We had a very busy day, but we had so much fun!