Going Back To Cali

This year for Spring Break we went to California.  We have usually go to Disneyland in the Spring but we always check to see what rides are going to be closed and this year there were way too many that we love that were going to be closed so we decided to go to the beach.  Kyle has never been to the beach so he was very excited.  We decided to go down around San Diego but I have several requirements for the hotels we stay in and have to stay in Hilton hotels so that we can use Don's points from traveling.  We really like the Hampton Inn and Suites and there was only 2 that were suites and having a separate room for Kyle to go to sleep in is one of my requirements.  The other requirement is a free breakfast on site so that we can feed the kids easily.  The Hampton Inn and Suites that was available and not super expensive was in San Clemente.  San Clemente was about 15 minutes from Carlsbad but it had a lovely uncrowded beach and the town itself was not super crowded like Laguna or Calrsbad and had some great restaurants that we tried.  Caleb and Connor did not go with us on this trip because they were working at the fair getting it ready and they were working for Grandpa and Grandma.  It was an interesting trip without the majority of our kids with us but we are getting to that point now where it will just be Cayden and Kyle now.  

This is San Clemente beach.  As soon as we got to San Clemente and checked in to our hotel we had to hurry to the beach!

Kyle had to make sand angels.

We walked out on the pier and Kyle had to look over the edge.  

On Wednesday we headed down to Carlsbad to go to Legoland.  We had to drive through Camp Pendleton Naval Base and this huge ship was out in the water pretty close to the beach.  There were several helicopters hauling huge boxes out to the ship and then coming back and getting another load.  

This is the Legoland entrance.  I didn't take a ton of pictures because Legoland was not that great.  We can say we came, we saw and we won't be going back.  It was very expensive and not worth the money.  We really were only there for about 6 hours and even after 2 hours I was ready to leave.  Cayden had a good time and now we can say that all the kids have been there.  Cayden is our biggest Lego fan so we were happy to get to take him.

It was a little cool at the beach the first day we went which was Thursday but it warmed up nicely.  Cayden found his comfy spot.  

Kyle loved loved loved the sand.  

The beach was very rocky and we found lots of cool rocks and shells.  

The water was pretty cold but Don, Cayden and Kyle braved the waves.  

Our last day at the beach Cayden got everything all cleaned up for us.  

On Friday we went down to San Juan Capistrano to the movies.  We watched the movie Home and it was cute and funny and actually had a really good lesson.  There were also some sad parts that I didn't expect!

Man!  If  I could see this every day!  Unfortunately a 2 bedroom condo is as much as my house!

Kyle was so cute carrying the boogie board.  Little surfer dude!

Funny story-Caleb thought that he could get away with taking the truck out to go get his pay check from Grandma's house.  He forgot that his brother is every where and would feel the need to tell us what Caleb had done.  This is the note that we found when we got home.  Caleb was at a friend's house when we got home and this is what we found.  He really is quite clever and we had a good laugh before we instituted a few of the consequences he thought he deserved.  

This Ain't My First Rodeo

Kyle Smiles

How we eat an ice cream cone-with our whole face! And now we look like a puppy!

Spin again at the library story time.  Kyle loved spinning with the scarves.

One cold morning we took a walk and had to wear hats and coats to stay warm.

Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam!

How we eat Oreo cookies-just the middle and we leave the cookies on the bed.  

Easter 2015

Easter was a fun weekend because of General Conference!  We came in from California the night before and had to unload and unpack so the Easter Bunny was pretty tired.  Cayden got the baskets out and ready for the Easter Bunny but she didn't come until the middle of the first session on Sunday!  It was quite strange!  We didn't have time to dye Easter eggs but we had a good time hunting eggs in the family room when we had FHE that night after conference.  We had a family dinner over at Aunt Dena's and had honey baked ham, cheesy potatoes, green salad and rolls.  

The Easter Bunny came!

Kyle's primary teacher Sister Boren stopped by Sunday morning and brought Kyle a little bag for Easter. It had this tiny Bible and a box of goldfish. We love Sister Boren!

I love this picture of Kyle peeking around the corner. 

Hiking to the Mesa

On Friday, March 27 Don and Cayden went on a hike and camp out with Cayden's deacon's quorum.  They had to hike in to where they were camping so they had to haul in everything that they would need for the night.  They hiked to top of a mesa called Jumpback.  It was about a 2 mile hike in through sand and sagebrush and alot of hiking uphill.  Cayden did so good and carried his pack without complaint and it was quite heavy.  They cooked tinfoil dinners and made campfire that I could see from our neighborhood.  The next morning they had poptarts for breakfast and flew kites off the mesa.  Then they hiked back down to the trucks that were parked at the power line road where they started.  Caleb and Connor have hiked this mesa with their deacon's quorum.  It is a fun hike.  There were lots of lessons that several of the kids learned from this experience.  First that some of them hauled in stuff that was unneccesary like a 5lb bag of M and M's and some learned that they should have packed in more essential stuff like water.  We had several bottles of water that we had in the freezer and I loaded Don and Cayden up with several of them because the weather was quite warm.  One of the boys woke up the next morning and found a baby rattler under his sleeping mat.  Luckily he had a sleeping bag on top of the mat which is probably what protected him from getting bit.  On the way down the path was windey and steep and Don took the picture of one of the boys hanging on to Cayden's pack from behind and Don said that the young man (Luke Barlow) said "I've got you Cayden" as they worked their way down and Luke could see that Cayden was a little wobbly with his heavy pack and in the shifting sand.  Don used several of these lessons and thoughts in his talk that he had to give that next Sunday when we both had to speak for the Easter program.  

21 and still counting

Don and I got to celebrate our 21 anniversary on March 19. Grandma and grandpa kept watch over the boys so Don and I had 2 nights in Vegas to be together. We left on Thursday afternoon and went straight to the temple. I love going to the temple. It strengthens my faith and heals my heart and it is even better with my honey.  For some reason we got to see one of the old old films that was less then 2 hours long. It seemed to go by very very fast and to the point that I thought it was rushed even. I don't know why we saw that old one with Mixhael Ballem as Satan but it was nice to get done a little sooner. We could have made the next session even with sitting in the celestial room for an extra 15 minutes. But we were starving!  

After the temple we went and checked into our room and headed out for dinner. We ate at Outback. I actually ordered and even ate coconut shrimp and then we went to Target for some hotel snacks.

On Friday we slept in a little and then went and wandered around Town Square and did some shopping. We wanted to hurry back to our hotel to sit by the pool because the pool was surrounded by the tall sides of the building and the sun was only over us for a little bit. I think after we got back from shopping and grabbing a 5 Guys burger and changing really quick we only had 45 minutes until the sun went behind the building. That was ok though because then I took a nap and Don watched some basketball.

After our lazy afternoon we got dressed and went to wander the wiles of Vegas. We did a few things I have never done before. We rode the monorail over to Ballys and then got off and walked over to the Aria to eat at a great Mexican place called Javier's. It was my kind of Mexican food even though the salsa was super hot to me. Don could have drank it like soup because his taste buds are immune to anything but lava. After dinner we walked over to the Bellagio and got some items from their yummy bakery and then watched the water show. The Aria had thousands of these paper cranes hanging from the ceiling. It was pretty neat.

Our hotel room looked out over the golf course at The Wynn. That's a $500 a person course right there. It was a lovely view though. 

This is my honey by the pool.  I love him so much and still get butterflies when I see him!  One night while we were laying in bed we played a question and answer game. He was pretty spot on with his answers about me.  I guess he really has paid attention for the last 21 years!  Saturday morning we got up and packed up and then found an IHOP for breakfast.
It was a very lovely two days. We only had one instance of Kyle crying and wanting to calling us. We promised him a present if he would sto crying and he asked for a basketball. We had to hunt for one and ended up getting him a regular sized one because there were no little ones. He was quite happy to see us and we were happy to see all of them!

Green

I forgot to get out the leprechaun mustaches but we did remember to eat our Lucky Charms and shamrock toast and a donut with green sprinkles.