Part 6- Del Mar

The kids and I spent last week down in San Diego having a blast. We shopped, played at the beach and the pool, learned how to boogie board/ surf with Grandma, tried out the new neighborhood putting range and playground, did puzzles, went to Grandma's classroom, played music, rode bikes, hit baseballs, and on and on and on. Everyone slept great- especially my exhausted parents who provided non-stop entertainment. Here are a few of my faovrite pictures from the week:
































Mom, and the kids and I also met up with Sarah and her Mom, and Jen and her Mom and kids for a lunch date in dowtown Del Mar. It was fun getting to catch up some. The kids had a blast chasing each other in circles in the outdoor patio afterwards. Thankfully we had our own private little area so we weren't bugging everyone else.







Lance joined us on Friday and boy were we excited to be back with Daddy. He apparently brought the sunshine down with him as Saturday was a perfect beach day. He brought his long board and Kai had fun bouncing back and forth from that and the boogie board. We also had dinner and walked around downtown Del Mar that night.














We had a great time soaking up the nice "cool" weather before heading back to hot Henderson on Sunday. Big thanks to Grandma and Grandpa and Whitney for having and spoiling us!

What a month it has been! We have been in some pretty amazing and drastically different places. We are grateful for these opportunities and memories. Now on to starting some new memories..........

Part 5- LA

We slept in a little on Saturday before doing some more unpacking and a little neighborhood exploring. Then, Sunday morning we were up and out early to make the drive to Los Angeles. Yep, we weren't kidding about the adventure still going.

Lance needed to go to Torrance for 2 weeks for training for his new job. So, for the 1st week the kids and I tagged along and stayed with him at his hotel. My good friend Rebecca from college had connected us with Lance's new job. Her family owns the company he is now working for. So they put us all up in a hotel close to where she lives and got us an extra car to us so the kids and I could play with Rebecca and her 2 daughters all week. We are overwhelmed by how great they have all been to us. I apparently only took pictures of her 2 girls and not any adult pictures- sorry about that.





We went to story time, played in the fountain, went to the beach, played in the pool and in the massive water slide, played at her house, ate lots of yummy food, and generally just enjoyed being back in LA for awhile. We also spent much of the trip hanging out with Rebecca's sister in law and her 2 kids. That was a fabulous added bonus as Kai and Rori love Ella and Dylan. They are just in the process of moving from Las Vegas to Palos Verdes so they are a wealth of Vegas info. for us too.













We did make it up to Malibu to visit our old stomping grounds. It was fun to visit Pepperdine and eat at some of our favorite old spots. We still love Malibu Seafood- yum!!! The Malibu Arts Festival was going on which was fun. My friend Heidi that I worked with at Pepperdine was working it so we found her there and got to see her for a bit which was really fun. We also got to visit with my Diving Coach Nick and his wife Carrie and introduce them to our kids. Living in Malibu seems like 5000 lives ago now in some ways, but the memories are still very dear to us. Heidi also hooked us up with some pool passes for the Pep pool which was awesome! While the boys were walking from the locker room they also ran in to Lance's Volleyball coach. It is a small world family there. We were trying to explain to Kai that lots of hours were spent in that pool and that gym by Lance and I. He loved seeing it all and soaking in our stories about before he was born.















Our old Church in Palisades was having a pancake & smoothie breakfast for Pioneer Day so we dropped in on that and got to have a quick visit with some old friends there. We have very tender memories from there as well. Here is a picture of our kids with Ara and Ella. These girls and their family were very dear to us when they were little. It was fun to see them so grown up and still perfectly lovely.



On the next Sunday we met my parents in Long Beach and handed the kids off to them so Lance and I could go celebrate my friend Sarah (from High School) and Ginger. It was a beautiful outdoor party and so fun to spend some time with Sarah, Gabi, and Jen. Lance headed back to Torrance after the party and Gabi drove me down to San Diego. We had fun laughing and talking just like the old days.

Part 4- SLC Wrap-Up

The kids and I spent Monday-Friday back in SLC wrapping things up there. I was working on preparing things for Kai and Andrew's friend birthday party and getting the house ready for the renters. We were camped out a bit with out air mattress for me, foam pads for Kai, pack n' play for Rori, and paper products for eating. The days were so full of constant motion that we barely even noticed though.

Kai went to his last week of school which involved lots of water activities and culminated in an Olympics themed day. Rori spent most of the mornings with Grandma Utah playing and picking up Kai from school. it was such a huge help!









On Tuesday night Kai and Drew had their joint birthday party. The boys had their first friend party when they were 2 years old so it was pretty neat to see them so grown up. As usual Rochelle made the most amazing space themed birthday cake and they made an amazing spaceship pinata also. Look closely at the pinata pictures and you will see that they blew up a picture of the boys taken at the Planetarium awhile back that worked perfect. The kids played in the water toys, had cake, whacked at the pinata, and opened presents. Kai had a blast and it was fun way to say goodbye with these kids he has grown up with over the last 5 years. I was a bit teary pulling away from Andrew's house. So many sweet memories there of 1st play dates, Rochelle watching Kai while I did some work at the U, co-op preschool days, carpools to bigger kid preschool, and on and on.




















In addition to all of the inside and outside house projects we also tried to get in as much time as possible with family and friends. We did a cousin photo shoot, did a Toy Story 3 Movie Night, celebrated Uncle Dave's Birthday, had lunch with Amy, Amanda, and Matthew, and on and on.

On Friday we went boating in the morning at Jordanelle. The kids had a blast being on the boat for the first time this summer. They especially loved helping grandpa drive the boat and playing in the tube and the water with all of their cousins.











Rori and I left a little early to put the final touches on things back at the house. Kai returned a little later and we said our final goodbyes to the Wilkinsons over some popsicles. Then a few more tears and a quick sweep through to say our goodbyes to our house on Commonwealth. The pure exhaustion combined with tender emotion had set in that point making it all the much harder for me to keep it together. We are so excited and grateful for this new adventure, but it is still hard to leave a place we loved so much.

We drove over to Grandma and Grandpa's for some dinner and birthday present opening for Emme, Kate, Kai, and Rori. Then Grandma and Grandpa took us to the airport for our flight back to Las Vegas.

We were SOOO happy to be reunited with Lance. Rori fell asleep in the car on the way back from the airport, but Kai ran around the new house checking things out. After a good sleep we spent Saturday putting more stuff away, exploring the house, taking naps, and finding old toy treasures all over again.

But we were still weren't done yet.........