More Beach-y goodness

Shar sent me the best photos from the beach!!

The smell of the ocean, the sound of the waves rolling in, the sun on my skin, & the sand in my toes...

it will always be one of my very favorite places on earth.

My heaven will have a beach.

It was the perfect place to go for my final day in CA.

My CA trip!!!

01.13.11-01.17.11

I had the most amazing trip to CA to visit my parents & Shar, Trav & the girls!

My wonderful hubby stayed in UT with the oldest boys and I got to have a much needed vacation with my sweet little Ryder. It was an incredible weekend for so many reasons.

First- I got to spend the entire weekend with just this little man:

As a third kiddo, he gets attention, but not nearly as much one-on-one time as the other two had at this age. I now know how quickly the time passes, so I do hold him and snuggle him constantly. Oh I love this little baby. It was absolute bliss to be able to hold him, snuggle him, & love him without having to worry about feeding and caring for two other kiddos. I absolutely loved every minute of my Ryder-only time.

He was also SO awesome at the airport and on the plane. I could not have asked for any better! I was beyond glad that he was taking a bottle since I had men sit by me on both flights. (yea, nursing would have been weird in that confined space!) and lucky me, I did get to bring his carseat so he slept fabulously on the flight!

Thursday afternoon we flew into LA and cute Kapria & Shar were there to meet us. It was awesome to get to visit and talk all we wanted on the drive(2+hours of LA traffic, yay). I am in love with Shar & Trav's cute apartment that is literally 5 minutes from the beach. ahhhhh, heaven.

Thursday early evening

The girls loved holding Ryder, especially Mila! She wanted to be holding 'baby' constantly and if she wasn't holding him, she would try to share with him, push him in the swing, etc. I loved spending time with my sweet nieces.

Thursday night I didn't take ANY photos, darn it! But Trav was awesome and let Shar & I go out for a girls night. We shopped (can I just say, I love H&M...although I didn't find anything for me, just these awesome superhero belts for the boys..their trip gift - perfect!) had smoothies, and talked, and talked, and talked. I love my sister.

Friday we walked to the park.

Need I say more? Okay, I will.

We walked to the park - in January.

It was AWE.SOME. Sweat was dripping down my back and I literally felt like there was no way I could ever, ever, EVER go back to freezing cold Utah. I am a WARM state girl at heart. I truly wanted to cry it was so warm & wonderful & absolutely my heaven on earth. Except my main men weren't there. Oh shoot, I guess I really did have to go back to freezing temps. (good thing those guys are worth it;)

Ryder & I both loved the walk, the sunshine, the park, the friends, and having fun with Shar & the girls.

Friday night was another fun night where I forgot my camera! Shar drove me down to Escondido to meet up with Mom for more girls shopping. Lucky me, I had saved my Christmas $ for this trip. Ryder is a little champ & did fabulous the entire time. After our girls shopping & hanging out, Dad met up with us at Acapulco. mmmm. Then Shar drove home and Ryder & I went to Mom & Dad's.

Saturday we hung out with Mom & Dad. I just love being at their house. Since we had traveled so much and would be driving again on Sun. I opted for a day in! We hung out, watched shows, did a fun sewing project (pics coming soon), and then bbq'd for dinner. It was perfect! (and hopefully not too boring for Dad!)

Sunday we went to church. My Dad is the baby whisperer...he took Ryder the whole time and I was able to enjoy the time with my mom & her young women's group. They are so cute & fun. My mom taught the class and she did so great. She's just awesome.
After church we hung out at the house and I packed, boo :(
Then we drove to the beach by Shar & Trav's place since I would be flying out of the L.A. airport. I love love LOVEd the beach. I really could not get enough of it. The sand, the waves, the beautiful sunset. I have more pics coming soon of the beach. Did I mention I LOVED it?!

Sunday night after the beach we went back to Shar & Trav's for some yummy dessert and to hang out. We talked, watched funny shows, ate good food, laughed, and just enjoyed the time together. I love my family. And the beach. And the warmth.

My parents left around 9 pm. It was sad and I hate goodbyes. Especially when I just didn't get nearly enough time with them. (I wanted to extend my trip, but it cost too much, plus Jeff was home with sick kids, yikes!)

Monday went by waaaay too fast. We talked, ate breakfast, played for a little bit, and then packed up and drove to the airport.

Another goodbye.

I absolutley loved my trip. This middle-of-winter vacation to warm and sunny skies was the perfect thing to help me make it through the rest of winter.

Since it was SO fast and there was so much traveling going I just tried to soak in all the time with each person that I could! It was wonderful. I loved every minute of talking, laughing, & just enjoying my family. I miss them. So very much.

Thanks, for the perfect visit!

I love you.

CA Trip, Day 6

June 2nd

Sea World! We just had to take the boys to one of our favorite places! They both love fish and sharks, so it was a hit. We had tons of fun at all of the different shows and seeing all the animals.

Our favorites were:

Shark encounter, the new dolphin/bird show, feeding the sting rays, and getting cotton candy (West's fav.) We're so glad we could go with Nonny & Grandpa! We had tons of fun and the boys still talk about it every day!

CA Trip - Day 5

June 1st

Girl's Day!!!
My mom and I had so much fun going out together. It has literally been years since we've gone out with just the two of us and we loved it!!!! Jeff was awesome and took the boys for most of the day. We had a blast going fabric shopping, hanging out, chatting, and going out to lunch.
I sure love my mom. This made me wish, even more, that we lived closer!


Jeff & my Dad also had some guy time. They went shooting two different times and had fun making their own combat course where they timed themselves running from place to place, shooting with different guns. Since they are guys, we have no pics, but they loved it too.

CA Trip, Day 4

May 31st

For memorial day we went to the Valley Center parade and then had a fun time hanging out with my aunt, Michelle, and her family. West & Tave LOOOVE Ezra & Elijah. It was another nice, relaxing day!

CA Trip - Day 3 (ish)

May 30th

We loved hanging out at my parents and just relaxing outside. We ate popsicles, played in the yard, went on walks, and rode tricycles.
My dad found these awesome Hulk gloves at a garage sale and the boys thought they were great. So boxing with the guys became a daily event. He also brought out some of his big boy toys and Weston pretty much thought that was the greatest. We found a little bow & arrow I had given my brother from Ecuador and also the blow dart gun I brought back for my dad. And of course we had to pull out all of my brothers old toys!!
So between all of the new stuff at Nonny & Grandpa's...the boys were well entertained!

CA Trip, Day 2

May 29th

What is a trip to CA without the beach?!
We LOVED playing in the sand and finding rocks on the beach. Sand castles and wave jumping were in order as well. :)
Tave liked snuggling with Grandpa since he wasn't feeling better yet. (we realized he had canker sores in his mouth, so he wouldn't eat, which meant he didn't sleep great because he was hungry, making him even crankier. poor guy. but things got better after a few days)

We just love the beach!

CA trip Day 1

Our trip to California was absolutely awesome and perfect!

We had SO much fun with my parents and LOVED spending all the time together as a family.

We really enjoyed having Nonny Kare & Grandpa all to ourselves and we definitely felt a little spoiled.

Thanks, mom & dad for taking off so much time for us and making the trip so great. We love and miss you terribley!

On to the details of the trip:

Welllll....the car-ride wasn't great. Tave started the trip with a fever and complaining about his mouth hurting. He was miserable and very fussy. On the up-side. West was an angel. Seriously SO good. But we made it safe and sound and were ready to have fun for the next 10 days!

May 28th

We were pretty exhausted from driving the day before so we just had a relaxing day at the house. My cousin, Curtis, and his wife, Stefanie, were in town also so we enjoyed a visit from them. It was so fun to meet their darling little girl and get to catch up on life. Tave LOVES babies and was completely fascinated with Arianna.