Celebrate Independence

We had an unusual 4th of July this year. one of rays friends got married - so we had a wedding to attend at 3:30. its a tradition of ours to head to the beach on the 4th so we had our work cut out for us to fit in all of our activities. ray and i woke up early to get to the beach. unfortunately for us - everyone and their mother had the same idea. the line of cars to get into the beach parking lot at 9 am must have been a few miles long. lucky for us locals we have a parking pass and were able to park in a super secret lot just up the street and get down to the beach in time to secure a spot on the sand close to the water.

yes, i realize i match the chair.



here's a shot of the beach. its crowded.


we got to hang at the beach for a couple hours and then had to head home and get ready for the wedding.

Daniel, the groom, and ray have worked together for many years and i have know him and his (new) wife michelle for a few years also. their wedding ceremony was up in burbank - where the temperature was almost unbearable. the ceremony was so beautiful though. i always cry at weddings :) their friend is a pop star in korea and he serenaded the newly weds as they stood at the alter. the pastor officiated a touching ceremony. he is a friend of the couple which was nice because he was able to share a few of his favorite memories of daniel and michelle. we all shared a laugh when he announced the couple as man and wife but forgot to ask daniel to kiss his bride. daniel and michelle looked around, waiting. finally daniel said - you missed the best part!

congratulations daniel and michelle!




finally, on to the last part of our day. we headed back to long beach to watch the fireworks over the water.

Happy Independence Day!