in honor of the pioneers.

Why do i get myself into situations where I am in the middle of nowhere in the mountains, with no cell phone, and no one knows where I am and I am constantly thinking "I am going to die!!"

think back to my horrid rendezvous with Taylor in the mountains....

So last week I went to a Dodger game. shocking, i know.

sidenote--it was on my half birthday, great way to celebrate my half bday!!

Back to my original story...at the game my friends and I started to joke about what we were going to do for Pioneer Day. We couldnt come up with anything substantial, but all agreed to go on a hike the following day. I aint all outdoorsy, but I figured that I can handle a little hike to some waterfalls, and everyone was going so I thought it was going to be fun.

Little did I know that this was the best way to celebrate Pioneer Day.

Words arent even going to be able to describe the treacherous and dangerous terrain I endured on this "hike"

So its not until I get to my friends house that we are told that everything we bring on this hike is going to get wet because we have to cross the lake to get to the other side to finish the hike. Im sorry, WHAT!? i dont like getting my hair wet, and im so not down with this.

Then, its not till we are on the hike that we are informed that its going to take up to 4 hours and it involves, boulder scrambling, hill climbing and creek crossing.

wait, what!?

I think it wasnt until we had to climb around the two locked fences and barbed wiring gates that had multiple "do not enter" signs did I thinking

"what the H did I just get myself into?"

This was the most intense "hike" I have ever been on.

we had to jump across tons of large boulders, wade in thigh high water (filled with crabs, mind you), scale across rocks to avoid the cliff on the other side, and hiked straight up the mountain pushing back the trees and brush.

We often joked that we were taking "the road no one travels" as we were literally forging our own trail.

After hiking and bouldering for about 3 hours we finally came to our destination.

This spot:

Now, you might be asking yourself "well Leigh, it must not been that bad of an excursion as their are little kids pictures here." Mind you it wasnt until after we arrived to this watering hole, that we were informed (by none other than the person that blindly led us here) that our hike is a big circle. That if you go to the right of the fork, after the first 20 mins of the hike, you do what we did--a 3 hour life dangering "hike"

if you go to the left you come across this water source in a little 20 min jaunt.

are you joking me!?

i seriously swore when I found this out.

in the picture do you see that big rock, second one from the right that the guy is climbing up? thats the one we climbed up, coming in from behind.

Once we climbed that we had made it to our destination.

But at that point that only way to get into the water is to jump.

Definitely swore again at that point.

I dont like water.

I dont like getting my hair wet.

I dont do adventurous things.

I dont just jump off cliffs like that!

I dont even jump off my diving board in my pool!

But I figured I freaking just did the hardest hike of my life, something I dont EVER do.

Im freaking going to top it off by jumping in this water.

So I had a little running start, screamed, and jumped for it.

If you really know me, you know I dont ever, ever do things like this.

Although I swore a lot, and complained a bit, it was fun and definitely felt good to accomplish such terrain.

Unfortunately no pictures taken during this pioneer trek since taking photos was the last thing on my mind. So you are just going to have to trust me about how intense it was.

On another note, I have now been home for 2 months. Crazy.

The one thing I was least looking forward to about coming home was going to the single's ward out here since I never thought it was that good before.

But now that I am living the single life here in LA.

(please, dont ever let me date a Hill again, my heart just cant take it)

I figured I am going to have to suck it up, put myself out there and really try hard to make my friends.

And im so glad that I did.

I have already made so many great friends and I love my new ward a ton.

I have been initiated into a great crew out here and it has been so much fun.

I am seriously so grateful to have already made so many great friends.

buddy! buddy!

This past week my sister Kelly and her adorable four children came to visit us in California.

We were non-stop go go go all week long.

and had to endure a heat wave during the whole thing.

I dont think I have lived so much in my swimming suit as i did this past week.

I took A TON of photos. duh.

here's a recap of our week accompanied by my great photog skills.

Our festivities began on Tuesday. Despite the heat my dad and I took Seth and Ella on a hike to Three Trees. I stuck it out with Ella, she was a trooper in the heat, however we didnt make it all the way to the trees. But took a great shortcut that turned out super steep.

Wednesday. To avoid heat exhaustion we went down to Long Beach to go to the Aquarium of the Pacific. This is where my week got interesting. Kelly instituted the "buddy system" so that we could all keep track of the kiddies. Since Drewbie and I were already holding hands we became buddies. We were nearly inseparable for the rest of the week and heard the shouts of "buddy, buddy!!" multiple times. I was so happy and loved having Drewbie by my side. However, this led to some contention. Im a pretty popular person with three year olds. Everything Drewbie did, Chasers wanted to do too. Hence I got fought over. A. Lot. Which I loved, but I became a punching bag, got hit, tickled, indian burns, bum slapped, licked, spit at, zurberts and tackled. Ok, so most of that was from Drew. But still, I had to tear apart these boys all week long as they fought over their buddy. Really cute, but rather tiring as well.

Thursday. Beach day! Really dramatic by all the kids but super fun and great to escape the heat. My favorite part was holding both of the boys hands, who were a tad scared of the water, and running in and out of the ocean with them as we all screamed and laughed together. The babies were super cute and happy and I dug a great hole with Seth and Ella. Oh and then we came home and swam some more.

Friday. Swimming and more swimming. And seeing Despicable Me. Drewbie sat on my lap. And I cried at the end. And then a really dramatic dinner. Lets just say I heard a lot of "buddy buddy!" again and had to run Drew out of the restaurant as to minimize the embarrassment to my family.

Saturday. We swam. And then went bowling! I love bowling, and im a champ at it! But I cant talk about what happened in my 10th frame or I might cry over it. Drew was my picture taking buddy. We both like taking photos.

Sunday. Kelly was suppose to leave Sunday morning, but we all convinced her to stay one more day! The kids swam, ate a great dinner and then played Mexican Train. We were all pretty sad to see them go.

what happens in CA...

ive been out of utah for a month and a half now.

cant believe its been that long.

I didnt leave just Utah behind, but something else too.

this hairstyle.

i am proud to say, surprisingly enough, that "the poof" has not made an appearance since being back to sunny California.

I literally have not poofed my bangs in a month and a half!!

that may seem like no big deal to some, but when I, no joke, poofed my bangs almost everyday, i did not think I would ever see the end of it in my near future.

crazy that my most signature and most perfected look has come to an end.

im the favorite aunt.

i get to see these munchkins...

tomorrow!!

i cant even wait.

no pictures of seth. apparently 8 year old boys dont like taking pictures with their aunt.

i love america!

Although all weekend long I kept forgetting that Independence Day was on Sunday and not on Monday, I got to celebrate on both days.

At church on Sunday I got invited by some friends to go see fireworks. When I met up at the church basically the entire ward (aka all 30 of us) were there. We headed to the nearby

fireworks show, laid out our blankets in the Ralphs parking lot and ate brownies while watching fireworks. It made me so happy!

i love america!

although, not pictures! sorry. but it was super fun.

However, Monday felt like a much better celebration.

I celebrated the 4th in the All American way.

obviously.

I got to leave work early and headed to Dodger Stadium.

Eating a hot dog, at a Dodger game with fireworks to follow.

Best way to celebrate in my opinion.

Although we lost.

Not bad luck.

With the firework show to follow and because we were sitting in the pavilion, we were able to sit in the outfield for the show!

We got to run through the bullpen and lay out our Dodger blankets where Manny hangs.

we were so excited!

my friend kissed the grass, we couldnt stop feeling how soft it felt.

i even took my shoes off so i could feel the grass on my feet.

i know, it sounds really weird. but you would be excited too if you were under the lights in a major league ballpark.

i love me some 4th of july.

All American.

Today is one of my favorite holidays!

(after my birthday and Christmas)

Happy 4th of July!!

I love America.

I love George Washington.

I love the Revolutionary War.

And hence I love this day!

On this special holiday I would like to share a little story. About two years ago my friends came upon the realization that I am an All-American girl. This then turned into an All-American teen. And now I have actually succumbed to the All-American tween. Something I do not dispute and willingly boast about.

I am an All-American Tween because...

Baseball, the All-American sport is my favorite thing. Ever.

Hot Dogs are in my top three favorite foods.

So sometimes wear my hair in pigtail braids.

Im obsessed with the Jonas Brothers and High School Musical and still wish Nsync was getting back together.

George Washington is my hero.

I love America, so Im totally down with relishing in all things American.

And so what If i still wishing I was a tween?

Happy 4th of July!