san diego 2014.

When Danie and Dustin moved away to San Diego this past Spring, my heart broke a little.  Call it raging pregnancy hormones or lack of sleep, but I would randomly shed some tears over it for a week straight.  I was convinced we wouldn't see them until they moved back to Utah.  It was a painful thing to say goodbye.  And although Danie and Dustin assured us that there was a queen-sized bed waiting for us to come visit them, I was convinced we wouldn't actually be able to survive a road trip with a 3-month-old baby.

Thank goodness I was wrong!

Despite my apprehensions about making the 11 hour car ride to San Diego, we couldn't turn down a trip to San Diego when Danie reminded us we were supposed to come visit.  I also enjoyed my new found freedom of not having to write sub plans in order to take a vacation day!  

Running on a little faith and prayer that Rylee Girl would enjoy spending so much time in her carseat, we planned a trip to sunny California for the end of August.  After an early departure at 4 o'clock in the morning, we made our way to our first stop to St. George and then onto Vegas to visit with some Kussee family members and let Rylee Girl out to stretch and eat after sleeping for 6 hours in the car- score one for leaving early!

^ ^ ^ mornings are so not my thing ^ ^ ^

^ ^ ^ sleeping baby ^ ^ ^

After calculating that we'd be a tidbit early to San Diego before the Romrell's were off work, we decided to see some of the tourist stops on our way.  One of them was a national cemetery where we walked around and saw numerous gravesides of WWI, WWII, and other war veterans.  Then it was back in the car and onto our last stop!

 ^ ^ ^ first family road trip picture! ^ ^ ^

^ ^ ^ what a grump ^ ^ ^

After just one baby meltdown, a half-eaten bag of licorice, and 12 chapters into listening to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, we heard the faithful GPS on Tyler's phone announce that we had "arrived at our destination."

Suffice it to say, I was quite happy to see Danie and Dustin.  Rylee was pretty stoked to finally meet Aunt "Nanie" and Uncle Dustin while we chowed down on pizza.  Then Dustin surprised us with the offer to go flying with him- an offer we just couldn't turn down.  We kissed Rylee Girl goodbye, left her in Danie's good care, and headed to the airport to ride in a little four-seater plane.  

Before takeoff, Dustin showed us all of the pre-flight checks and quizzed us on the airplane body and parts.  Then we hopped in and got ready for takeoff!  No matter what plane we go on, I always detest take-off.  I'd much rather feel like I weigh more than that I weigh less.  Once we were in the air, we flew up the coast over the San Diego temple and looked down across the bright city lights.  A pretty dang cool way to check out San Diego.  

 ^ ^ attractive man alert ^ ^ 

 ^ ^ ^ first timer excited for her first small plan ride ^ ^ ^ 

 ^ ^ view over San Diego ^ ^

After a safe landing we went home and hit the sack.

We spent the next morning at Coronado beach and introducing Rylee to the beach for the first time!  The seagulls also attacked our unopened bag of Bugels.  Word to the wise- don't trust those darn birds around any food.  Opened or otherwise.

Rylee Girl had the time of her L-I-F-E at the beach!  She loved the feel of the sand and kept getting her father's analytical face on trying to figure out what it was!  Surprisingly enough, she loved the cold Pacific ocean on her feet and would dig her toes into the cold sand when the water rushed up over her toes.  She looked legit in her little sun hat, onesie tank, and flip flops.  She just about killed us with how cute she looked.

Dustin took the pair of us out boogie boarding where I finally tried my hand at it and we got pretty good riding the waves up onto the beach.  It makes me wish we lived a little closer...

 ^ ^ figuring out the sand on her toes ^ ^

^ ^ Mama and Ry-Ry ^ ^

 ^ ^ Danie and Ry-Ry ^ ^

 ^ ^ Aunt Nanie!! ^ ^

 ^ ^ pure joy ^ ^

 ^ ^ family beach picture ^ ^

 ^ ^ first feel of the ocean surf and wet sand! ^ ^

 ^ ^ burying feet in the sand ^ ^

 ^ ^ baby toes ^ ^

^ ^ squishy kisses ^ ^

 ^ ^ baby flip flops ^ ^

^ ^ Mama and Ry-Ry ^ ^

After a full morning at the beach, we grabbed some quick showers and headed to see a lighthouse and grab some burgers in the city and watch the sunset over the ocean.

 ^ ^ looking up into the lighthouse ^ ^

^ ^ baby snuggles ^ ^

^ ^ some statue of a spanish guy who opened up the trade something-or-other and helped establish San Diego ^ ^

 ^ ^ poking at things with straws in the tide pools and trying to catch a crab ^ ^

^ ^ the crab we never caught... ^ ^

Then it was back to the house for Danie's traveling baby shower!  Since she couldn't come to a baby shower in Utah, we brought the baby shower to her!  Thanks to a lot of friends that made it successful and got them off to a small start on getting some of the fun things for a baby!

Sunday was spent eating good food, catching up and talking, and trying to pay attention during church while their body-building-organ-playing-bishop talked.  After a movie, we said our goodbyes and snoozed until leaving the next morning to head back to Utah...

 

^ ^ Daddy dressed little Batgirl for bed after we said goodbye ^ ^ 

an IKEA trip, friends, family, and lots of food.

President's Day Weekend was this past weekend.  Which meant a beautiful 3-Day weekend for us!  We accomplished a lot and spent the entire day together.  What more could anyone ask for?

First off, the landlords brought by our brand spankin' new dishwasher and the cleaning lady finally showed (she was supposed to come 3 weeks ago when we first moved in!) to clean the disgusto shower doors.  The tenants before us definitely didn't know how to clean shower doors.  Now they sparkle and shine and are an easy clean-up with a squeegee.  Happy day!

Next on our To-Do list this weekend was to return some sheets we had originally bought at IKEA last month.  We found a better thread-count for the same price at the Homegoods store so we said bye bye to the IKEA ones and hello to a higher thread count.

The line for returns wasn't too bad, but just long enough for us to get bored enough to snap a picture or two...

Then it was off to the other parts of the store in search of a rug to cover our dark green carpet at our new place, grab some new hand towels and dish towels, and a new lampshade.

Fortunately, I have one of the few husbands that actually likes going to IKEA with their wife.  

On our very first date, we actually had an hour wait at Red Robin before we could be seated.  So we went around a random place in the mall and looked at random bedding, kitchen set-ups, clothing (mainly the ties-we both found out we have a fettish with ties) and everything in between.  Ever since then, we just like to browse and dream about the future and what we might like in what house we buy in the future... 

Though T did find a place to sit for awhile at IKEA.  It was a pretty busy Saturday for IKEA being the big 3-Day Weekend and getting around the crowds was a little tricky.

We ended up finding the perfect rug within our price range and everything else we went for (and maybe a few other things).  Of course, we bought cinnamon rolls.  You can't go to IKEA without buying a cinnamon roll.  Or two.  Or a whole package.

After IKEA we made deeeeelicious BBQ pineapple bacon pizza with fresh mozzarella.  We pretty much always use Jana's thin crust pizza dough recipe when we Tyler makes pizza dough.  It works every time.  

We also made a batch of freezer breakfast english muffins that we make every two weeks, made stuffed broccoli cheese chicken, and made a full pan of cafe rio pulled pork enchiladas with homemade pico de gallo and guacamole.  

Dang, we're awesome.

My grandpa also got checked into the hospital over the weekend for a kidney infection.  My Dad and I went up to the hospital together for a couple of hours on Sunday and spent time just talking with him.  It's always hard to see people you love in the hospital.  BUT, he was joking around with us and requesting his razor so he could shave the moment we walked in the door.  He even let me feed him some of his "too salty turkey" and "not enough flavor" mashed potatoes.  

Apparently hospital food is not very tasty (I agree).  Then I got to just sit on the bed and hold his hand and talk.  We talked about fishing and people that he knows and how the Sunday newspaper forgot to put in the crosswords.  It was a good feeling.  Sitting there, holding his hand while every once in a while he'd squeeze mine tight and stroke it with his thumb.  

He's a pretty amazing man and the best patient-all of the doctors and nurses said so themselves.  He doesn't complain and he entertains himself (any man who could sit out on a boat all day long fishing and not say a word can certainly entertain himself in a hospital bed-though it's not nearly as exciting as fishing).  

My parents are equally amazing for the time they put into taking care of their parents.  My mom is with both sets of grandparents every.  single.  day.  She sorts my grandma's pills and makes sure she can turn on the DVD player, goes shopping with the other grandma, makes weekly fudge for one grandpa, and tries to keep tabs on the other.  She cooks, cleans, and entertains.  Both of my parents fix whatever breaks, tears, stains, etc. and they stay optimistic.  Even when their own Valentines dinner plans (which my mother plans waaay in advance) have to get cancelled to take care of their parents, they stay positive.  I'm proud of what they do and I sure do love them and their example of perfect Christlike service.

 Tuesday night was JaeKaeNae night since Katie came down from Idaho!  Nae is preggers with their baby boy due at the end of June and Katie brought cute little Natalie to visit too.  

It's just a little crazy to think that less than 8 years ago we were all graduating from high school together.  Now Kae has an 14-month old and Nae and I are only months away from having our own kiddos!

Life is certainly treating us well and we're excited for the next phases of our lives.  

Heavenly Father has blessed us far beyond what we had ever hoped and dreamed.

white water and lightning storms.

After getting a call from Kyle and Janae late Thursday night, we decided to be spontaneous and take the extra 2 seats on their rafting trip that they were leaving for the next day.

We grabbed some snacks, Gatorade, water (and more water!), sunscreen, and our camping gear, and then headed out on Friday night to our campsite 3 hours away at Westwater.  Two hours into the drive we ran into some incredible lightning storms.  Rather than pouring rain, they provided some spectacular lightning shows in the sky.  They were all over the nighttime sky and we got to see each individual lightning storm light up the storm.  

Already a successful trip just 2 hours in!

We made it into camp after sundown and set up Kyle and Janae's tent in the dark.  We got a good night's sleep (thank you amazing REI self-inflatable sleeping pads) and woke up to a gorgeous morning!

After packing up camp and eating muffins and bananas for breakfast, we grabbed a few before pictures and then got ready to put in the rafts!

{Janae and Kyle}

{T and J}

And then we took a random picture of the shoes we took to get wet while rafting... they did the job and kept our feet protected!  Next time, we need to get Chaco's and get cool tan lines.

After a safety speech and the "how to get back into the raft after you fall out" talk, we jumped into the rafts and headed down the Colorado River.  Nae and I made a new friend on our raft.  It was pretty awesome how quickly you become friends when you're out rafting and facing close to death situations.

{Nae and Elle}

Then I needed a picture with our new friend.  Taking pictures was a way to waste a little bit of time during the hour or so that it took to hit the first portion of white water.  

{J and Elle}

The men on our raft.  Thank you Alan for being our guide and not getting us killed.

{T, Alan, and Kyle}

T caught a candid shot of me talking about one of my upcoming students that I knew that year that liked putting stickers on her face.  Can you tell that I love talking about my students already?

Besties!  

It was so fun to go on a trip together again.  In high school we always went on orchestra tours, FCCLA trips, and cabin road trips all year long.  We don't get to spend that much time together nearly as much as we'd like.  

AND the fact that Nae is super busy at work during the summer.  She's pretty much rockin' in her career as a project manager.  She's always been so business-oriented and I'm so proud of how hard she works!

I digress.

{Jae and Nae}

Then we put the camera away in our dry bag as we came up on the white water rapids.  The first couple went smoothly and then our raft becamewhat T likes to refer to as the "handicap" raft.  Instead of going around the rocks like we were supposed to, our raft tended to shoot right towards them.  We ran right over the rocks and got stuck right in the middle of some of the rapids.  We were lucky to not overturn and we were pretty quick to react to some of the situations.

One of our oar locks broke going through one of the major rapids and we were a one oar raft until we caught up to the rest of our rafting group.  After comparing all of our oars, we found out that we had all of the spare oars that didn't have the locking mechanism to steady the oar in the oar lock.  We quickly switched out some of our oars with the other rafts spares and had much smoother rafting the rest of the way.  Although, we did have a load of fun and adventure being the "handicap" raft.  I don't know if I would've had it any other way!

Everyone had a great attitude and stayed calm and happy during every complication and every hiccup of the trip.  I usually stress out during those experiences and I was as happy as a clam!  Our guide was calm and collected and Kyle and Tyler were so great at keeping us all safe and happy while being problem solvers.  I'd go on the trip again in a heartbeat!

After the white water stretch, the water settled down and we busted open the coolers and handed out sandwiches, sodas, candy bars, and chips to chow down on.  

Apple Shasta was T's fav.  He burped right in the middle of the picture.  

Kyle requested a double decker man sandwich and got it.  The thing was massive.

{Elle the photo-bomber}

He loved it.

We made it out alive!

On a side note, helloooo hottie husband of mine!  My word how he still gives me butterflies in my stomach when he gives me a wink or big ol' grin from across the raft.  I feel like a little schoolgirl all over again.  

Overall, we loved our whole rafting experience!  I'll admit, I was a little apprehensive about the whole trip to start off with.  Spontaneous is definitely not my middle name and this trip was a blast!  I wouldn't change one thing.  Except for changing the overcast day into one a little warmer to get rid of my awful farmer's tan.  Sigh.  I guess I won't have the nice golden tan I always dream of for Meet the Teacher Night.  Bring on the freckled tan. 

Like always.

Good friends.  Beautiful scenery.  Great company!

We're going to need to do this again.  Maybe I'll just skip out on the first week of school and take off on another vacation.  Summer can't end yet!