I have been wanting to blog about our sunny Christmas Holiday for a month now! I was going through our pictures from the trip and I just don’t think our adventures can fit into one blog post! We split our time between families in Houston Texas and Los Angeles California. Both were beautiful and warm, which was a huge contrast from the snow covered Utah right now!

Although we go to California quite often, we don’t play “tourist” all too often. This trip was an exception! We spent some time seeing some of the things that makes LA great. The Huntington Library was at the top of that list! Saying this is a “Library” would be a severe understatement! It is more like several great art galleries, a large collection of themed gardens, and museums!

As soon as we got there, we headed to one of the gallery halls for the rare book collections. I think this part might have been Trevor’s favorite. You walk in and almost immediately, front and center is the Gutenberg Bible. It is pretty incredible. Printed in the mid 1400s and one of the first publications of the moveable type printing press.

I was really fascinated by this map. Turns out it is the map that Christopher Columbus used when charting his trip to the New World. I don’t know why the absence of the Americas on this makes me laugh. Maybe it is the irony that it would be soon be severely outdated…..

There were photographs from Andrew Russell. (I didn’t know much about him until our trip here) He was a mid 19th century photographer who captured some famous images of the Civil War and Union Pacific Railroad.

I remember writing an essay on The Canterbury Tales for a humanities class in college….. and now here it is! Check out all this detail! They don’t make ’em like they use to. 

And onto the Rose Gardens. Although Roses weren’t in bloom, the grounds were still stunning. I cannot believe it is January! 

From the Rose Gardens to the Chinese and Japanese Gardens.

I loved these textured pathways. I kept walking around saying “if only I had a Bride and Groom here”. 🙂

I was so EXCITED to find be in the Japanese gardens.  I walked in and recognized it from one of all my ALL TIME FAVORITE SHOWS: PARKS AND RECREATION!  See!

Knowing that I have been in the same place as Amy Pohler makes me really happy! She. Is. Terrific.

We were quickly running out of time, so we had to pass up the Australian Garden, the Tropical Garden, the Herb Garden, etc…. and head to at least one of the art galleries.

From here, we left straight to meet Brianna and Lance for our session! It was beautiful. More picture are coming soon from the Rose Parade and our trip to Texas!