Day 5

Okay, since I am not the most computer literate person, here is what you need to do. Scroll down to "Little getaway to So Cal - Day 1" and start there. This is not in order. I couldn't figure out how to put more than 5 photos in a post, so I did 3 separate. We took about 300 pictures on our trip, so this is really just a small part. Enjoy!

On the 5th day we headed back up the 101 towards La Jolla. We pulled off a couple times just to see the ocean. There where so many pictures to choose from but here are a few of my favorites.

These two, above and below, are at La Jolla Cove. This was one of the prettiest places I have ever seen. We spent sometime just enjoy God's beautiful creation.

AT La Jolla there is another beach called Child's Play Beach. This is where seal give birth and raise their pups. I could have sat here and watched the seals all day too.
When ended our day with a drive up to Hollywood. We saw the sign, the Kodak Theatre, the Chinese Theatre, the stars, and hand prints/footprints. The traffic in Hollywood was terrible. We had fun once we got there, but then had to drive back. That was not so fun.

Now that we are home, this trip seems like a strange dream. I have to keep looking at the pictures to remind myself we really were there.

Day 4

So on day 4 Rob was done with work and we had the day to ourselves. We rented a car and drove to Coronado, Point Loma, Sunset Cliffs and Old San Diego. (Point Loma is the peninsula you see in the distance in the picture below.) I had been to Coronado the day before, but it was so gorgeous I wanted Rob to come back and see it. There is a hotel there called the Hotel Del Coronado. When I walked into it, I felt like I was on the Titanic. It is a very old hotel with amazing wood work and chandeliers. We ended up having dinner at the hotel that night with some people that Rob works with. It was so much fun.

This is from Coronado looking at Point Loma. Look at those waves!!!
On Coronado with the mustang. Did I mention this is my favorite car. I keep telling Rob when both of our kids get married, my gift should be this exact car. Color and everything! We'll see, we have a looooong time before they will get married.
These two pictures, above and below, are at Sunset cliffs. It was so amazing. I had never seen the ocean like this. Normally there is sand and a beach. Not here. Just cliffs straight into the water. And then there where houses on top of the cliffs. Too cool!

This is old San Diego. It was also very neat. Lots of history about San Diego being settled. We saw a very old cemetery, houses, churches, and other buildings.

A getaway to So Cal - Day 1

Thursday morning we left early and drove to Rob's parents house to drop our kids off. (this was an 8 1/2 hour drive. Friday afternoon we left from their hometown to fly to San Diego. We arrived in San Diego Friday night at about 10:30 their time, 1:30am our time. (Thank you all for your prayers. For those of you who don't know, I am terrified of flying. But I could tell people where praying for me. Our flights were next to perfect.) Saturday morning we went whale watching with some of the people Rob works with. This was my favorite part of the trip. I could have gone every morning. The great thing was this is the migrating season, when the whales migrate from Alaska to Mexico to mate and give birth. We saw one whale, and followed for a while. We saw it come up for air three times. It was so awesome to see such an amazing animal in its natural environment. Below are some of our pictures.


Days 2 and 3 Rob was at his food show for work. I hang out with the other wives, but did not take pictures. We went to the San Diego zoo one day and to Coronado island the next day. The zoo was huge. We took a bus tour around part of the zoo, which took about 30 minutes and we still didn't see all the animals. I really think you would need 2 days to see them all.

A "typical" day at our house

I recently had a conversation with my friend, Jenny, about other peoples blogs. We (her more than I) check around on other peoples blogs of people we don't know. Which I am sure a lot of you do. Have you ever read a post and thought, "How in the world do these women have insane amounts of children, sew, home school, do the daily tasks of a mother and still write these amazing posts day after day?" Jenny commented people that don't know me may read my blog and think, "I can't believe she made donuts with her kids." So, this post is to set the record straight. I do love doing fun things with my kids, like making donuts and cookies, but these things happen on rare occasions. I mean, I do try to be intentional with them, but if I make cookies or something, the house isn't getting cleaned, or dinner is going to be McDonald's. While I would love to start sewing, I can guarantee it isn't going to happen very soon. (I do have a sewing machine and have asked my mom to help me, but there it sits on the shelf in the garage. I can count on 1 hand how many times I have used it.) When Broderick was born I decided to start scrap booking with my sister. Let me tell you, Broderick is 4 and I haven't even finished the first year of his book yet. (That was a goal of 2007 that never was achieved.)
Okay, all that babble to tell you all what a normal day at my house is like.
7am- On a good day, the kids wake up. Sometimes it is a little bit earlier.
The kids watch a show and eat breakfast in the living room. If I remember to get something together, we do a bible activity. (Something to go along with the stories we have been reading.) Today, after that, we played a little star wars. (Broderick was the jedi master, teaching me, Luke Skywalker, how to be a jedi. Carys was R2D2, even though she has no idea who that is. Then we got dressed and headed to Target at about 10am. When we got home and were coming inside Broderick decided he was going to eat some salt of the garage floor. Great!! Considering the bag sad "Harmful if swallowed." That of course meant I was calling the doctor and repeatedly asking Broderick why he would eat something off the dirty floor in the garage. He is fine none the less. We ate lunch, then Rowan and Lane came over to play for about 1 hour. Then nap time. My sweet relief in the middle of the day! After naps, we played some more, I made dinner, we ate, played a little, took baths, read stories and now...everyone is in bed!! Hallelujah!!!! I am exhausted! And tomorrow it will all start again around 7am. So, maybe some day I will sew and do all these other amazing things some other moms do, but for now I am surviving. Enjoying it all, but surviving it all too.

A great ending to a great year!

Our Christmas was absolutely wonderful! We went to my Dad's on Christmas eve to celebrate with him. It was a good time. Santa came to visit with the kids, which they of course loved. All except Carys! She was standing in the middle of the living room by her self when Santa opened the door and she turned around and saw him and just started crying. Rob picked her up and she was okay then. She didn't want to sit on his lap though. Here is a picture of Broderick, Carys and Kyler at my Dad's.

Christmas morning is always great at our house. Santa leaves one gift in the kids rooms, that is usually the one thing they really want. This year Broderick asked Santa for RPM #64, (that is a car from the movie "Cars".), and a GeoTrax snow plow. Carys didn't really ask for anything, obviously, so she got a little doll with snap on clothes. Rob and I were the first ones awake at 6:00. I guess you never really grow out of the anticipation of Christmas! Carys was next at 6:30 so we let her go into Broderick's room and wake him up. He was sound asleep. Once he woke up and realized what was going on, he was so excited. He said, "I didn't even hear Santa come into my room." They had a great morning at home.
One of Carys' favorite things was her doll strollers. She got one from Uncle Dave and Aunt Betsy and one from us. She, along with Broderick, love these!
Broderick's gift to Rob was swords. They look at these swords whenever we are out, but we have never bought them. Broderick just couldn't wait to give them to Rob.
After we opened gifts at our house we went to my Grandma's which we have done for as long as I can remember. The crowd seems to get smaller and smaller each year, but it is always fun to see my cousins. After my grandma's we went to my mom's. We usually go over about 2 and lay the kids down for their naps there and we just relax and visit with my mom and Rich. At my Mom's house before we ate we went around the table and each person prayed and thanked God for something. It was very neat to see what everyone was thankful for on that day.
All in all celebrating our Saviors birth was great. The kids enjoyed all aspects of it.