Last week of July

Jeff is just recovering from his trip to Beaver and it's time to pack up again and head out. He had booked a mini convention with New York Life in San Diego. Of course the kids and I tag along to enjoy the hotel.

We stayed at the Inn at Torrey Pines.

We pulled in just as Jeff's meetings started after spending too much time and too much money for McDonalds food for us and the kids for lunch since it was the only fast food close.

It was great, and cooler than Riverside. Ashley looking out our balcony.

Jacob more interested in the Ipad than the view.

Taylor was missing :(  Taylor jumped back into Cross Country camp and after running was still having migraines and feeling sick every morning so he convinced us he would rather feel sick at home. Since we were going to be gone about 24 hours and all he wanted was peace, quiet and rest we let him stay home. (I think after being gone a week at Beaver he didn't want to leave again)

Ashley and I went out and explored the hotel. There was a view of the ocean in the distance but the cliffs made it so you couldn't go to the shore unless you drove a couple of miles down the road. We had a view of golf courses instead.

So we hung out at the pool that afternoon....I got in with them and floated around and had swimming contests in the hotel pool floaties. 

At one point a little girl took all of them and stashed them at her chair. I thought maybe they were hers and she was mad at us for using them....nope they were the hotels she just wanted all of them and then proceeded to float in all 3 of them at once.

Jacob and Ashley hanging out in the kids size chairs :)

After swimming and showering it was time to get ready for the banquet dinner for Jeff and I. Instead of driving somewhere to get the kids food we went to the golf clubhouse and ordered them stuff.

Way better food than McDonalds and actually a better price! Yum!

We set the kids up with a movie and then headed out to eat with our New York Life friends.

The next morning I got up early to have breakfast with Jeff before his meeting for the day while the two kids slept in a bit. We were watching the golfers play...the particular golfers we watched Jeff declared were worse than him...and thats saying a lot ;)

Once I got the kids up and going we thought we'd drive down and check out the Torrey Pines beach.

The air was cooler than Newport (but not bad) but the water seemed warmer. At least Ashley's legs are nice and warm :)

Ashley, always the beach artifact collector, gathered rocks instead of shells.

It amazes me how different each beach we go to is so different, this one had no shells but lots of rocks.

When we first got there Jacob said "How much longer?? Can we go now??" Every couple of minutes. I've learned to basically ignore this and wait it out. After awhile he stopped and we actually made it two hours then we headed back to the hotel and swam in the pool.

Here's Ashley hiding in a towel on her beach chair. (She was cold)

We hurried back to the room to shower and pack up before checkout and then we met up with Jeff and left.

Every time he does one of these overnight things he never gets to enjoy the hotel, the meetings start before he can check in and end after we have to check out...maybe one of these days he'll get to enjoy it.

Before we headed home we went to our favorite spot in La Jolla, the childrens beach. It's covered with seals lying on the beach, this walkway takes us out to where we can see them really well.

This is the view from one side....

And the beach with seals on it on the other. It's crazy because the beach used to be blocked off from swimmers but now they have it open with signs telling you not to get too close to the wildlife.

The wildlife was getting closer and closer to the people. Two seals were playing "king of the beach" and kept scooting closer and closer to some sunbathers laying on their towels. Crazy.

When we got home I think Taylor was very glad to have his family back ( I secretly think he got bored with too much down time ;)

 

The rest of the week quoted from my journal...

Weds – Recovery day, wash, grocery shopping took Ashley to Activity Day pool party/bbq at the Gardner’s. She had fun with friends while I tried to put away wash…etc. That night went to Chilis with Stubbs.

Thurs – Pool party at Mary Ann’s. Picked up pizza on the way and then hung out with Williamsons, Turleys, and Thompsons. Boys got quiet for awhile. They were in the front yard throwing waterballoons at the workers next door! Meanwhile the younger kids were enjoying the pool to themselves! That night the boys went to hang out with Jacob Rosser and Lisa and I went to the Relief Society Birthday dinner. Lots came but I didn’t get into the pool (just took a shower). Talked to sister Gooch for awhile and got to know her better ;)

Fri – Cleaned the house, did some shopping and got Ashley some school clothes (she’s the only who cares right now) then met Steve and Tahna and Bradford family at the Redlands Bowl to eat a picnic dinner and watch Cinderella. Taylor was at Magic Mountain with Dale, Jared and Jarek going on all the biiiiggg rides.



                               ( I think I look like I have some crazy lipstick or something in this picture )

The Redlands Bowl always does a great job with their performances and today was the same they did not disappoint.

Ashley was very happy because I realized that if I gave her the ice chest to sit on during the performance she would be able to see. (This saved me from trying to balance her on my lap the whole time trying get her high enough to see while peeking around her head so I could see). If you look she has a wand that they gave out to all the kids before the performance.

At a certain time in the performance they were supposed to wave the wand and say the magic words and then the carriage lit up. It was a fun night and nice to share it with the Bradfords and Steve and Tahna.

And more from the journal…

Sat – Hang out at home, got trees trimmed, baked for Jeff's home teaching families and party places and got a goodie box together for the Todd family, dropped off cookies to the neighbor. Jeff and I went to a party at Todd and Kristin Thompsons. Had fun hanging out in the hot tub with the other couples reminiscing about teenage days and how we knew each other back then....a little disconcerting that Jeff and I are the oldest couple there... ;)

While the boys are away the rest of the family will play

So this week the big boys were off to Beaver, (Jeff and Taylor). 

Since the girls were up at girls camp as well at the last minute we decided to make goodies to send to the Woodcrest girls and to our nieces.

They are candy grams (they were the big thing when I was going to camp). 

They read....."  _______   Girls camp is "mint" for "jolly" times and lots of "laughs" also for feeling the "fire" of the Holy Ghost to help you "choose" the right this week and all year long. Hop you're having a "sweet" time.

My version was small though and didn't have any large candy bars, sorry girls.

While the big boys were gone I took Jacob and Ashley out to LA to meet up with Angela and Robert and Ian. LA is a good 1/2 way point for both of us so we picked the LA science center (it's for kids, it's a science museum and its free)

The drive out was about 2 hours because of traffic but we ended up getting there just a bit after them.

We explored the exhibits and got to visit with Angela and Robert at the same time.

Some of the stuff we've seen before but there was a whole wing that we hadn't explored before.

There was a sections on biospheres and we never realized they had an aquarium there!

The end of our trip we hung out and ate lunch together.

Ian is getting the cutest chubby cheeks...better to snuggle with.

On the way out Ashley had to stop by to make some slime.

While walking to the car we walked over to this fountain on the way there. Ashley exclaimed "I didn't know there was a water park here!!"

There isn't.

There was just fully clothed children walking around in their jeans in the nasty water.

Tempting as it looked I didn't let my kids get in it. ;)

Our drive home was only an hour and a half.

The next day we went to the beach with friends. More driving but lots of kids to play with.

It was a little overcast but the kids didn't seem to mind.

I don't know what it was but the drive home was super long with lots of sloooowww traffic. We had planned to meet Steve and Tahna at the Jurupa Stake Center to see their Pioneer Play but it looked like we were going to be late!

We quickly got showered and changed and started driving to the Stake Center and we were in luck, it started an hour later than we thought.

We sat in our seats and Steve told me "Be prepared it's a 2 1/2 hour play"

Wow. The kids were already tired...we'll see how this goes.

They did a great job singing and telling the stories of the pioneers but you had to listen hard and there weren't many props or action. Jacob was done by the intermission so I let him sleep in the car but Ashley stuck it out the whole time!

We took them all to McDonald's ice cream after (they liked that part)

I did like the play however because it helped me remember not to complain about ANYTHING in my life. We live in absolute comfort and ease and these people gave up everything to join themselves with the church they believed in, walking in faith amid trials and heartbreaks with their heads held high.  I have many pioneer ancestors on both sides of my family and it helped me to remember them and their sacrifices that were a blessing to our family. 

The next morning we were off for some more driving. This time we went to Palm Springs to hook up with Jenna and the Scotese family.

Jenna was Ashley's best friend and neighbor for years (she said they were like sisters). Since her family moved to Temecula we have to find times to get them together. We both have passes for Soak City so it worked out great.

When the girls saw each other they ran and screamed and gave each other a hug ;)

The kids all had fun hanging out with each other and going on slides together.

The biggest surprise for the day was the cryptic text that I got from Jeff saying that they were coming home from Beaver that day instead of Saturday!

 He had no cell service where he was so every once in awhile he could get a text through or if he was driving somewhere we could talk for 2 or 3 minutes, with the call dropping at every other sentence. Before I contacted mom's I wanted to know for sure if they were coming back. One was in Arizona and needed to know if she needed to drive back early!

So just in case before we left for the water park we had to do some house cleaning (I thought I had another day) and sure enough as we were driving we found out the boys were on their way home.

It's funny I was having Jacob text for me in the car while I was driving so I could let families know. I would tell him what to say and he would text it. At the end of the drive I was having him text Jenna's mom and when he was reading back her response he said "She said she likes your signature"

"What signature??" oooohhhh I remember that the kids put tag lines at the end of their texts as a signature. JACOB what did you put???!!!

"My son is BEAST!!!!!!!!

"How many of my friends did you do that to???!!!"

"Just Kim"

So for the next couple of days I had to erase "My son is BEAST!!!!" when I wanted to send a text until I could get Jacob to take it off!

The next day was Saturday and it was nice to have the big boys back and enjoy the day together. We slept in....watched Harry Potter, did wash and stuff, made an appearance at the 24th of July celebration and then ate at Spaghetti Factory (the boys were tired of hamburgers).  We were glad to be back together as a family.

Eagle Court of Honor and Jeff's birthday

After we got back from the Little People of America Convention we had a couple of days to get Jacob ready for a week at scout camp. 

Before he left we slipped in a quick visit to the Allen kids on the last afternoon before they were back off to Oregon. We haven't seen them in a year so they were happy to be reunited for a bit.

Jacob went for 6 days and went on to earn most of his requirements for 7 merit badges!

While Jacob was gone we decided to go to the beach with friends. Taylor wasn't excited to go so we thought inviting a couple of cousins might help.

He still didn't want to go (much to their dissapointment) but that was OK we had a nice girls day at the beach. Jenae and Jolene were great :)

Jenae getting burried in the sand...well just her foot.

Jolene!

Our friend Maddie (not the dog)

Ashley likes to get buried in the sand...and then when she stands up her legs look like churros.

The girls! (with Mclain in the background)

On the way back to the car I promised to let Ashley swim on the bay side. Jenae just hung out in the lifeguard tower.

Jolene had Ashley float on a boogie board (we borrowed from our beach neighbors) and wanted to go out to touch this sign...whatever warning that was on it couldn't be seen in high tide.

When the other kids came over to our side they all got in on the action :)

Finally I loaded everyone up to go home. As we started driving I found out that the girls had to be home by 7:00, or before would be better.

What? I asked them why since mutual was on Wednesdays.

They said no its been changed to Tuesdays, what time will we be home, my parents are asking.  Ahhhh  we were sitting in gridlock not even on the 91. I did the best I could but we didn't pull up until 7:00 :)

This week we also were getting ready for Taylor's Eagle court of Honor (and Jeff's surprise birthday dinner that he wasn't supposed to know about sssshhhh)

We had a parent committee that split up and took assignments. Mine was to get stuff in the media. So I contact the Press Enterprise and the Latter Day Trumpet....then I didn't hear back from them. Parents started asking when the articles would be out.  Luckily I heard back from the reporter and it was scheduled to be run on the Thursday before the court of honor. After much back and forth with the reporter for information and picture gathering from the parents of the scouts the article finally ran in the paper.  Wheeewww, I was glad I came through on my assignment.

(The Latter Day Trumpet ran the article on their online paper)

All week I was getting together Taylor's book/scrapbook. Tina Bell (one of the parents) sent letters to all sorts of government leaders, presidents, former presidents, church and local leaders telling about our scouts getting their eagles. So now we had a stack of congratulation letters and certificates to put in these books to put on display.

I also scrapbooked some of Taylor's scouting stuff that I had pictures for.

I tried to put pictures that went with the letter...this one was from the school superintendent.

The day of the Court of Honor came and we were busy trying to get ready. Jeff's birthday was going to be on Monday but since he would be driving up to Utah to spend a week with the scouts at scout camp we needed to celebrate before he left. So I figured I could have whatever family was coming down for Taylor's Eagle Court of honor come early for dinner. I didn't want to tell Jeff though because I didn't want him to stress about it at all. So how could I keep Jeff unaware that I was party planning right under his nose??

He went on some errands like getting balloons for our decorations that night...good now I can cut up the fruit stuff...

The funny thing was that he kept bringing stuff into the house to pack for camping and I kept bringing it out to the garage so that the house would be clean for his family coming over.

It didn't help that Jacob got back for his week long scout camp and we had all his dirty clothes and camping stuff to clean up. Ohhh yeah I was trying to do laundry at the same time as trying to hide the laundry mess all day ;)

I was hoping he wouldn't notice anything but he was wondering where all the snacks he had set out on the back counter had gone...when he saw them in the garage he complained some he probably thought I was a little crazy but he never caught on.

In the end he ran out to get gas just as people were scheduled to start coming.

He was so distracted about getting ready for everything he didn't have a clue that I was trying to surprise him. When he got back to the house and some of his family was there he still didn't have a clue. Finally I to tell him what we were doing.

He said "why didn't you tell me??"" Well it was supposed to be a surprise! :)

He was surprised. We had El Pollo Loco and got to hang out a bit before it was time to go down to the church for the court of honor.   The plan was to have the party stuff done before but since some family was walking in the door as we had to walk out we had to wait until after to do cake and ice-cream.

The birthday kids all with within days of each other.

Make a wish...

Now on to the Court of Honor

We were so proud of Taylor and these guys who all got their Eagle.

Celebrating

There were about 250 people or so who came out to see our 7 boys get their awards.

Lots of friends and family were there to celebrate with us.

Each boy had a display table with all their "stuff"

I even put out some of Taylor's cub scout things...I found some cars and other things he made.

Captain Loveland of the fire department was part of this honor guard and they did our flag ceremony with style. The bagpipes and their flag ceremony was a very impressive way to start out the Cour of Honor.

Taylor with Bishop Bagley who was his bishop for 5 years.

Taylor with the representative from the Sherrif's department

and local government

We are so proud of you Taylor!

Now back to the house for some more birthday celebrating. :)