Last week in Cali= Bitter Sweet

So, this is our last week in California, sigh! We have had so much fun here and it will be sad to leave, yet we are very excited to sleep in our own bed! We have made lots of great friends and we can't wait to come back to the awesomest ward in Palmdale (Ana Verde =) ). Trav mentioned that it is too bad we couldn't have just graduated and then we would be here for good. We really do love it out here and enjoy having so many things to do.

Last week was the 4th of July week, but unfortunately I got an ear infection so I was sick pretty much most of the weekend. Thursday we were able to go to the Bash on the Base out at Edwards AFB. It was really fun. They had free carnival rides and water slides and Ethan loved them! We also discovered another thing he enjoys: cotton candy. It was so funny! He absolutely loved it and scarfed it down as quick as he could. The only thing exciting we did on the 4th was eat In'n'Out Burgers. Trav's glasses got broken by Ethan that day so we didn't watch fireworks either. I guess we were kinda party poopers but we all enjoyed each other's company. I love our family!


Monday we finally broke down and went to Dry Town, the water park in Palmdale. It was wonderful! They have a little miners' camp and Ethan absolutely loved it. Josh and I walked the Lazy River most of the time we were there. It was a very relaxing enjoyable afternoon. Next year we will definitely get season passes!


This week we have tried to do one of Ethan's favorite things each day so on Tuesday we went to Apollo Park to feed the ducks and play. I don't know if Ethan got more of the bread or the ducks. He would eat a piece, throw a piece. It was so fun to watch him! Unfortunately the playground was closed because they were seeding grass but we took him to Hull park and then got ice cream after we played. For the most part it was an enjoyable evening. :)


Yesterday, Wednesday, we felt our first earthquake! It was really weird! In Borrego Springs it was a 5.9. We luckily only felt a tremor. I was actually talking to my mother on the phone and all of a sudden just felt everything go up and down. At first I thought I had just had a really bad moment because of my earache, but after calling a friend, found out we had indeed felt a tremor. Ethan just looked over at me with a really perplexed look. I am so glad it wasn't anything bigger!

We move home Saturday and are not looking forward to the drive. California adventures and friends we will miss you but we WILL be back! Wyoming here we come! :)

3rd Anniversary

This past week has flown by! I can't believe that we are down to the last 2 weeks in California. The time has gone so fast. We have made a lot of friends here and we'll be sad to leave them. Good thing we will be coming back in January! :) I am very excited especially since it will be so cold in Wyoming then.

This past weekend we pretty much just hung out, watched soccer, and swam at the pools. It was very relaxing and low-key. Ethan loves the water and is quite good at kicking his feet while we swim around with him. Josh loves to just chill in his floatie device and splash. They are very wonderful boys and we love them so much!

Monday, when we went to take out the trash, Ethan insisted on pushing the umbrella stroller all the way around the building with Josh in it. He did a very good job and is becoming quite the big brother and helper.


Yesterday was Travis and I's 3rd year anniversary. I can't believe I have been married to my best friend that long. I am looking forward to forever! We went out on a date and saw the movie Robin Hood and ate at El Torito. It was a very nice evening. We even got dressed up for the occasion. :) Too bad we had to come back in and change because the wind was so bad my dress was not behaving. Ha ha! Travis got me a beautiful bouquet of roses for our Anniversary. He is so sweet.

We are so truly blessed and love each other so much! We love our life!

Joshua is on the move!

This past week has been a bit quieter since Gramma left, but we have still had some great things happen! Joshua is now on the move (see the video)! He is army crawling everywhere and is quite good at it. One day I was making lunch and set him in the living room, the next thing I know I heard him squawking and he had scooted his way to our bedroom. He is becoming such a big boy! He turned 6 months old today and we are so glad he is part of our family.

On Saturday the whole family went to Toy Story 3. It was very good. We also went cherry picking in the morning. There are tons of cherry farms around and so we decided to venture out. I even got bit.... by Ethan. He absolutely loves cherries and did not want to wait for mom to take the pit out so he began to eat them whole. I tried to stop him and got bit. After that he ended up eating a lot of cherries whole. He was not much help filling the bucket, but he enjoyed his cherries. :)

Sunday was Father's Day and we had a very relaxing day. Well, almost. We had to talk in church, but other than that it was relaxing. We had Trav's favorite breakfast of biscuits and gravy. For lunch we had hot dogs and various chip dips. Dinner was chicken enchiladas and cheesecake. We sure do love Daddy (Travis)!

More Adventures with Gramma

On Sunday we drove to Long Beach to see Travis' Uncle. It was beautiful!!!! They have a condo that overlooks the Queen Mary. It was so gorgeous. We got a little lost getting there so we crossed over the bridges and could see the pier. It was quite an amazing sight to a farm girl! :) We walked around the beach and went to Famous Dave's for dinner. It was very good. Ethan ate almost every bite of his dinner and then a lot of the onion rings and corn on the cob. I don't think we had ever seen him eat so much. It was a very wonderful day.

Monday we decided to go check out a town called Tehachapi. It is north of the base and we heard it would be a good place to raise a family. It is a lot less hot and actually has 4 seasons. There are beautiful apple orchards out there. It is pretty but very rural. It does not even have a Walmart. Okay, so I totally grew up without ond but I totally have been spoiled since I have been an adult and had to shop. There is an Albertsons and a K-Mart but thats just not the same. Also, there seems to be a LOT more to do in Palmdale than Tehachapi but I guess it is an option.

Monday night we had an adventure trying to find Apollo Park. Once we got there it was very enjoyable and peaceful. On our way we found the musical highway Strip. When you drive over it going the speed limit it plays a song. It was pretty cool. Since we got lost we actually got to go over it twice. Apollo Park has duck ponds and several play areas. It was a gorgeous evening and Eth got to play lots. It was a very peaceful ending to a wonderful day.

This morning we had to bid farewell to Gramma and take her to the Shuttle stop. We absolutely enjoyed having her here and can't wait 'til we get to see her again. It was a very fun week. Now back to the grind. Hopefully we don't get too bored without her around! ;)

Below is a pic of the famous person... If you recognize her let us know who it is! :)

Adventures in Cali

This past week we were very fortunate to have Trav's mom visit. We had a blast and were very sad to see her go. Since we had such a filled week with her I am going to make 2 posts. This week and last week. :)

The first day we played with Grandma we took Ethan to Story Time in Lancaster. We got to play a lot and read a story about the ocean. Ethan got to make a starfish and had tons of fun playing. That same night I was able to go to a Relief Society activity while the rest of the family hung out. It was a great night out and was one of the best Relief Society activities I have ever been to. We learned about water color painting and book writing. It was very fun.

On Thursday we hit the beach at Santa Monica. Gramma took Ethan on his first carnival ride and all four of us (Tina, Eth, Josh, and me) rode on the Carousel. We shared an absolutely amazing fruit cup and played in the sand. We also went to the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium. It was great and they even had touch tanks so Ethan got to touch some star fish and sea cucumbers. We got a lot of sun and had a lot of fun!

Friday we met Travis on base for lunch and then went to the airplane museum. There were some really cool planes. We also went to a baseball game and In'n'Out Burger. It was a very nice evening out. The burgers were fabulous as well as the shakes and the game was good too. Ethan played on the bouncy toys for the first hour and by 9 was very worn out. Both of the kids fell asleep during the fireworks and stayed asleep 'til we put them in the car. We were amazed they slept through the noise.

Saturday was a day for adventure. We saw the Hollywood sign and ventured down Hollywood Boulevard. We even saw someone famous. We were not sure who it was but everyone was taking pictures. We have decieed to go back but without the kids. They were a little restless. We stopped at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory to validate our parking pass and got a Snickers Caramel Apple. It was delicious. We then meandered down to Santa Monica Beach again (you'd think we liked it there, ;) ). We played on the beach and ate a picnic lunch then headed back towards Palmdale. On our way we stopped off at the LA temple and took some pictures. It was right off Santa Monica Boulevard so it wasn't too hard to find. That night Tina let Trav and I go out for a date and we went and played arcade games and saw The Last Song. It was a wonderful day.

A little funny side note to end the week: When we told Ethan that Gramma was coming he got excited and said "Michael". Poor Gramma got called "Michael" the entire time she was here. For some reason "Michael" = Gramma. We tried all week but failed. "Michael" is probly the word he knows best in his vocabulary. :)

SNAKE!!!!

So I was thinking to myself yesterday that I should post something on the blog but then I got to thinking I should wait 'til something exciting happens. Well, it happened! Today I went to Target and when I got back I looked out the window and my upstairs neighbor was taking pics of something by my door. She then took off and I was trying to figure out if I dropped something or if something was going on so I decided to open the door. I opened it to a HUGE snake. The maintenance guys said it was about 3 feet and it was a Gopher Snake. It looks a lot like a Rattler Snake just doesn't have the poisonous venom. Anyway, it was way creepy! I was a little freaked out and was very glad I was not the one to discover it. I think I would have had a heart attack. I am sooo glad Ethan didn't see it either and decide to poke it. Below is a picture.

Also, Trav and I got our pottery back and he sent me a pic of his which I have included. It was a very fun date. This past weekend we went to Prince of Persia and Olive Garden. Good movie, Good food, Great company!

Hopefully nothing else like the snake happens that I need to write about. Tina comes this week though so we will post pics of our adventures next week. :)

Memorial Day Weekend

This past weekend was quite eventful for us! It started out with car trip to the Vineland Drive-in Theater. We got started a little bit late but were very excited to get out of the house! On our way there, we were hit by a golf ball (not super sure) and it totally did our windshield in as you can tell from the picture on the left. We continued on and watched Iron Man 2 at the Drive-in since we were a little late.

Saturday we were up fairly early and got the windshield fixed. Somewhere between the mall and getting the windshield fixed I lost my phone. We looked everywhere and finally gave in and replaced it. Thank goodness for insurance!

Saturday was also good for us though! Trav and I got to go on our first date in like 3 weeks. We usually go every week so this was a much desired outing. We didn't really know what we were gonna do becaues there are a lot of options here so we began to wander. We went to the mall where there is a store called Paint A Dream. At this place you paint a pottery project. Trav painted me a froggy piggy bank and I painted him a jet. It was very fun and it was nice to do something other than a movie. Pics are to come of the art projects when we get them back.

Sunday we went to church and then headed out to see my Uncle Joe and Aunt Fina in Corona. We got to meet Tracy and her kids (James and Michael) and we also got to see Norma and Rosie. It was a very pleasant visit and we will definitely be visiting them again. We even made plans with Norma to go to Disneyland. We are very excited. The picture to the left is Joshua and his Great Great Uncle Joe. He was amazing with Josh!

Monday we decided to explore and have some more fun so we went to the Devil's Punch Bowl. Supposedly a short little one mile hike. The way down was great and the scenery was beautiful. Ethan even hiked most of the way down. Once we got to the bottom we played in the water and then decided to go back up. Haha! So Eth was very tired at this point so I took Joshua in the carrier and Trav helped/carried Ethan. Everyone passing us was asking us weird questions like "Are you guys trying out for the Olympics?" and one lady told her kids, "Quit complaining, they are carrying babies and you don't hear them complain." If only she had heard the thoughts in my head. I kept thinking I was gonna pass out or something. It was pretty rough. When we got to the top we heard some people talking and another lady also told us that we were brave to take the hard way with kids. Hard way!?!?!?!!!!!! Apparently there is an easy way back up but we, not knowing the area, had taken the hard way back carrying the kiddos. I just laughed and drug myself to the car. It was a beautiful hike, but if we ever do it again carrying kids we are going the other way! :)

All in all, it was a great weekend. We are looking forward to Mama (thats how Eth says Gramma) Waters visiting for a week on June 8th and will post more later.