Love when I get to take pictures of a family over and over again. This is one of my favorite clients! Even if they bring me out in extreme weather every time. One of these days we'll get a perfect day. Until then, I will continue to brave the cold, the heat, the wind, and rain to get photos like these.
There were too many favorites. It was so hard to just pick a few.
These last two are just so cute that I could eat them! So deliciously adorable!
Our last part of the trip (besides traveling home) was to go Whale Watching.
We set off on an all day excursion. We knew there was a possibility that we would pay all the money, get out on the ocean, and not see any whales. So we prayed as a family that we would be able to see whales on our trip.
Before leaving one of the guides told us that the week before they had seen about 20 whales and that was a lot. They didn't know if our luck would hold out again.
We left and had some rough seas at first. Charlie was feeling a little queezy and Nate and Resa both lost their lunch once. But then it seemed to go well. We saw dolphins come and play up next to the boat and jump and play on the wakes the boat made. We also saw sea lions and other sea life. About 4 1/2 hours into our trip, we hit the jackpot. We were surrounded by about 50 hump back whales that were all surface feeding. The boats crew said they had been doing this for about 20 years and had never seen that many whales in one place. We even got to see 7 blue whales.
It was such an amazing experience. The kids (even before seeing the whales) said, "This is better than Disneyland"!
Friday we headed for Albuquerque, NM. We stayed over night and then made our last leg of the trip home. We stopped and met some friends in Amarillo, TX. We went to Cadilac Ranch (a place where someone planted a bunch of cars in a row and you can go and spray paint or mark on them).
Then we went to lunch at Applebee's. It was great to see friends and have a little break from the car.
Thanks to everyone who helped make our trip amazing. We miss you all already!
We also took a drive up through Ojai to Lake Casitas. It was overcast and cloudy in Oxnard, so once we got up a little into the mountains it was absolutely beautiful. We took pictures with Charlie's family. All the siblings were there and only a few of the cousins were not. It was so good to spend time all together.
While taking this picture, the adults were behind the camera making goofy sounds to get the little ones attention. I couldn't resist turning and snapping this next shot.
This next picture is just funny. One night we went in to check on the kids while they were sleeping. Apparently, Nathan and Joylyn had decided to lay down and fall asleep on the floor. No problem, until some of the air in the air matress (that was propped up against the wall) seaped out and it fell over on top of them. This is what we saw when we checked on them.
Yep, Nathan is only half out from under the mattress and only Joylyn's feet are poking out.
Anyway...on with the show.
Our next adventure was the Santa Barbara Zoo. I LOVE Santa Barbara! Right on the coast and beautiful. Too bad you have to be stinkin' rich to live anywhere near there. We took some of Charlie's family with us and had an amazing time.
The Gorilla was really friendly. He came right up to the window. Posed a couple times and then sat down against the glass. Most kids wouldn't get near the glass. Nathan just walked up and turned around so that we could take pics. Of course, he hates pics so he wouldn't look up. But he could care less that there was a MASSIVE gorilla just a few inches away.
Here are just some of the kidlets.
I can't even post all the pictures I have. There are just too many!
A big reason why we took the trip out to California was to celebrate my Grandfathers birthday. Family was everywhere. Very few people were unable to come. Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and more were there. It was amazing to see family that we haven't seen in years!
This little girl is adorable. She is the daughter of my cousin Brandon. I squatted down to take a picture of her and she squatted down just like me, just long enough to take her picture and then she ran off.
My Aunt Susan and Uncle Joe.
Grandpa Forest Lloyd and Cousin Kacy.
The only cousin my age on either side. It's a good thing I love this guy!
After the party, all my siblings were together so we had to take pictures!
Way too much fun!
San Diego/ La Jolla, California.
To celebrate our 14th anniversary, my parents watched the kids so that Charlie and I could go away for a few days on our own.
We headed for La Jolla. I got a great deal on a 4 star hotel and were able to stay at La Estancia hotel and spa. It was amazing. Monday evening we went kayaking to the La Jolla caves. It was amazing. So much fun!
Then we went back to the hotel, showered and had dinner at the restaurant there in the hotel. We ate on the patio and had amazing food. It was a great start to our trip.
Tuesday we decided to try snorkeling. Neither of us had ever been snorkeling.
Snorkeling in the ocean wasn't the most fun. I only saw one tiger shark and wasn't able to get a picture of it with our underwater camera.
I ended up swimming back into shore and Charlie stayed out a little longer.
After snorkeling we went back to the hotel and got cleaned up and drove into San Diego to go to Balboa Park. I LOVED it there. It was beautiful and the details on all the buildings were AMAZING!
I told Charlie to turn around and look at me for a picture and this is what I got. So now it's a blackmail photo!
I love my man!
We left back for Oxnard on Wednesday after having room service breakfast in bed.
It was an amazing trip. Lots of fun, but the perfect amount of relaxation and destressing! It was an amazing way to celebrate 14 years of marriage!
Flagstaff
Once in Flagstaff, we went to our hotel, checked in and swam the rest of the day. We ordered pizza and watched tv.
Friday, we woke up and went to The Grand Canyon.
Joylyn thought it was hilarious that she was wearing Jillian's glasses.
After fun in the Grand Canyon we headed back to the hotel. The next morning we left for Oxnard.
This summer, we took our regular family vacation. Again, this summer we went to California to visit family.
This will have to be in parts because there is so much I want to update.
We left on Wednesday night around 9pm. We loaded the kids and stuff into the car and headed for Flagstaff.
Just before arriving in Flagstaff we saw a sign for "Petrified Forest National Park" and decided it might be a nice break from the long trip. We stopped at the Visitors Center and let the kids run around and then we watched a short video before getting back in the car.
We stayed on the North end of the park and heard later that we should have gone to the south end. Here are some pics from the Park.
There is a spot along the road with a stretch of the original Route 66. They have an old car there that they kids wanted to go out and see. When it was time to get back in the car, Joylyn decided she didn't want. I love that I caught her in mid jump!
Then we were off to Flagstaff.
This family is so adorable. Just love them to pieces.
Thanks for letting my join you for the afternoon. I had a blast.
I can't decide on my favorites, so I just picked a few.
One of the youth in our ward started horse back riding lessons as a way to make some summer money. We signed Jill and Emi up for a week session. They went every morning and they LOVED it!
After the first day, they got in the car talking about a mile a minute of all the details of what they had done. Jillian said, "It was so much fun. Even the chores were fun." Which Emi then replied, "Even scooping the poop was fun". Horses are now their new favorite animal.
Thursday the parents got to go and watch their progress. Jillie and Emi groomed the horse, cleaned her hooves, and helped put the saddle on. Then Jillie led Selena (the horse) out to the coral and Emi was first to ride. Emi had the biggest smile on her face the whole time. Her poor little legs were too small to really get her loping, but I think it was plenty fast for Emi anyway....
After Emi was Jillie's turn. Jillian is more serious when she rides. I had to keep reminding her to smile. She loved the loping. She learned a lot and went a long way in just a week. I am so proud of both of my girls.
After the girls were done Alex even offered to let me ride. It's been well over 15 years since I've been on a horse. I had forgotten how much I love it! It was so much fun and just what I needed. Of course we had to switch out the saddles cuz there was no way my big bum was going to fit in that little kids saddle.
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