Grandpa

Thanks Dad, for coming to visit . . .

We Love You!

Just a few pictures from the Lake

And Mike and I aren't in any of them . . . hmmm . . .

Steven's Home!

After serving a two year mission in Slovenia for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Mike's brother Steven is finally home! The girls were so excited! But when he actually came into view, they all suddenly got really shy. There was a moment of awkwardness, and then it was over. Everyone started chatting away. What a wonderful moment to be a part of!

I couldn't resist throwing in this picture of Brittany and her baby bump! I love Jared's expression too. Just three more months left!

Yesterday

San Diego Day 4

Our plane was supposed to leave at 1:05, so we left Jim and Amy's at about 10:45 and got to the car rental place by about 11:20. We still had a whole hour and forty-five minutes, so we definitely weren't worried. We should have been.

First it was a missing car rental shuttle, so it took us 30 minutes just to get picked up and taken to the airport. Then Charlie's listing didn't come up on the kiosk so I had to go get in line for some help. Next, it took the counter employee 45 minutes to get through the two people in front of me! And then when it was my turn, she called someone from the baggage check line instead! So I'm absolutely fuming, but what can I do?!? By this point, if I didn't get checked in within about 2 minutes, we couldn't get on the flight no matter how fast we made it through security because of federal regulations. The person with the bags left and I got ready to push my way to the front when the fire emergency lights started going off and a loud voice came over the speakers telling us all to exit the building. The employees all grabbed their purses and left without saying a word to any of us waiting in line. Our flight left while were were standing there wondering what to do.

Everything eventually settled down and we tried to get on the next flight. We met these little birds who live in the San Diego airport . . .


And we waited and waited and waited . . .

And didn't get on the flight because it was full. So my parents picked us up and took us back to Jim and Amy's where we watched Baby Einstein and went swimming again.

And we had a blast.

When you're flying on non-rev benefits you totally expect for flights to fill up and things to go wrong, but this was beyond ridiculus. We ended up taking a early morning flight out of Orange County instead the next day. Since this happened, I've heard more stories about the San Diego airport. If your travels take you to California, I suggest you fly into Orange County . . . or L.A. . . . or San Francisco . . . ;)

San Diego Day 3

We started the day by heading out to the Marine base to watch Jimmy fly his C-130. It was absolutely AMAZING! I can't believe the military trusts my little brother with that type of equipment. ;) Too bad you aren't allowed to take pictures.

We went to Mimi's Cafe for breakfast. If you've never been, you should find one and go. We'd go just for their hot chocolate alone.
That evening, we went out to the beach. My kids had never been before, which is just weird to me. The ocean is such a huge part of my childhood memories. I loved sharing it with them. A week later I'm still finding sand everywhere and I so don't mind. It makes me happy.

Okay, this one just made me laugh.

San Diego Day 2: LEGOLAND

We had a blast at this amusement park. We had never been, and really didn't know what to expect. The kids' favorite part was the splash park. Enjoy the pictures.

And at the end of the day, we attempted to take a picture of the four of us . . . our little family.

In the end, we gave up.