Anna Marries Handsome Rob

This past weekend, Ben and I went to Queen Creek, Arizona for his cousin Anna's wedding. It was so much fun, and such a nice escape from everyday school and work. It was hot, hot, hot, in Arizona, and for once I was wishing the Texas weather had traveled with us. Despite the hot weather, the wedding was absolutely beautiful.

Waiting for Anna and Rob to come out.
Ben and Jeff hanging out on the temple grounds.

Anna and Rob coming out of the temple!

Ben posing for me at the reception.
Me and Grace taking a picture before the reception started.

It was so wonderful to see all of the Gordons and getting to spend time with Ben's extended family. Ben and I are so thankful to Jeff and Grace for letting us stay at their place during the wedding. As with almost all vacations, it didn't feel long enough!

Summertime

Summer is already going by way too fast. Here's a few things we've been up to:

In May, Andrea and Daniel came to Austin to visit. We took them to our favorite spot at Zilker Park, overlooking the downtown area. It was a perfect day for it.

Andrea just took the LSAT, and should find out her score soon! UT is one of the schools she's applied to, so we are hoping that's where she chooses. We'd love to see her more often.
My brother Grant starred in his high school play, where he got to kiss two girls! He was hilarious, and definitely stole the show. We went to support and snapped this photo of some of the kids.

I drove up to Round Rock to see my friend Allisa and meet her new baby Molly! She's 3 months old, and such a doll. Allisa and I had a great time chatting and catching up since it's been a while since I'd seen her.

Me with Molly.

And finally, Grant got his Eagle Scout! He is now officially an Eagle, and he's only 16! His project was to plant a historical marker. About 45 people from the church and community came out to help him. He finished the project in December, and he had his Eagle Scout ceremony just a few weeks ago:Yay for Grant! Some other fun things we plan to do this summer: go camping, go to Schlitterbahn, spend time with Adrienne (she comes home to visit this week!), swim as much as possible, go to Dallas, and relax. Ben also has scout camp and high adventure for young men's that he will be going to. We're doing well, and enjoying life in Austin as usual. :)

Latest Gillis Happenings

It feels like these last couple of months have gone by so fast! Ben has been super busy with school, and I have been keeping on top of work, school, basketball, etc. I know it's been awhile since I blogged, so here's an update on us. The weekend of April 15th, Ben and I went to Dallas to visit his parents and grandparents. We went to White Rock Lake with Cynthia, which was absolutely gorgeous. I got a tad bit sunburned, but it was worth it for the fantastic view.

Whenever we go to Dallas, we stay at Daniel's house, and Ricey likes to climb to the very top of the kitchen cabinets and observe the action going on down below. Here's a good shot of her just chilling up there:

Daniel and Ben made these wooden cutouts about 15 years ago, and Ben said they would always display them during Christmastime. Daniel, Ben, and I are all huge Calvin and Hobbs fans.

We went to dinner at Uncle Julio's Mexican Restaurant, which I have been dying to go to forever. The food was really really good, and it was super noisy because it was so busy.

On Sunday we went over to Ben's grandparents' house, Millie and Dean Walden, where we played scrabble, ate Easter cake and ice cream, and got to visit. We got to see photos of Millie and Dean's cruise to Hawaii. They are frequent cruise goers. When I can convince Ben to take me on one, I know who to go to for advice on the best cruise! We always have so much fun visiting Dallas and it's so nice to see family and get away for awhile.

Ruth Bowden's 100th Birthday Party

Not many people can say that they know someone who is 100 years old. But we do! Ben and I went to Kerrville this past weekend for his great-grandmother Ruth Bowden's 100th Birthday party! Unfortunately I am not the best at taking pictures, but plenty of other people were, so I didn't feel too much pressure. I'm sure it will be a little while before we get the photo of us with Ruth that the professional photographer took, but here's one from a year a half ago!Heidi and Amber posing for the camera. Those two are so cute!

Little Kyle! I like to think that Ben and I were his favorites at the party. Ben got called "The Baby Whisperer" a few times.

Hanging out in Kerrville with the wild turkeys in the background.

Ben's cousin Jared who looks like he could be his brother, Ben, Aunt Janet, and Ben's cousin Grace. Thanks to everyone! We had such a good time and were so happy to see everyone!

Trip to Oklahoma City, OK

This past weekend we went to Oklahoma City, OK to meet up with my sister Natalie and her husband Trevor:
They were doing their yearly road trip from Caifornia back to Indiana, so we thought we'd have a little family reunion while they stopped in Oklahoma. The trip consisted of some pretty big milestones for the Garcia family. The first one of which, was my little sister Alli getting her ears pierced!

Everyone says we look like twins. Now that her ears are pierced, we're even more similar!

Another big milestone: my sister Adrienne made friends with a gorilla. This gorilla would offer her some celery every once and a while, but Adrienne always refused it. I don't get that girl. Who wouldn't want free food from a gorilla?

And another huge milestone: having our family all together at the Oklahoma City Zoo and loving it! It was a great trip, and Ben and I had such a blast with everyone. We are also very happy for my sister Natalie who is due in October. I will post more pics of the OK trip on facebook, if anyone wants to see more. We're now back in Austin and counting down the days until law school starts!