Visitors!

We LOVE when people come to Utah to visit us! Last weekend we had GGMA, GGPA, and Aunt Jackie here. It was such a great time! Brilee loved having them here, and things aren't the same at Grandma's without them! We miss you! These pictures are out of order, and I can't fix them... but enjoy!

We took a walk by Ice Cave Peak, and it was a little chilly. This is the smallest jacket we had, but she sure looks cute!
Brilee loves swinging, and she suckered GGMA, GGPA, and Aunt Jackie into pushing her many times!

Group photo on our walk.

GGMA and Brilee snuggling!

Brilee loves the splash park, and I love this picture!

Brilee loves riding the horse Uncle Elmer made me when I was little. She is pretty scary on it though, and when she starts doing her trick riding (standing up) most people have to leave the room.

YUM YUM!

My girl loves the Rhion and 4 wheeler.
Big stuff!

Another UBIC weekend!

Tessa has connections to the Lamplighter Hotel in Vernal, and so she invited us to go swim at the hotel's pool. Brilee had a blast. This is Brilee and Linzie hanging out in the pool chair. This is the first time they sat still all day!

Emily came with her cute lil' boy Jackson, and he was so cute in the water! It is so fun being able to introduce your kids to your best friends' kids!

Not one of the kids is looking at the camera in either pictures.

Jake, Stac, and I made plans with some BLM folk to attend the 10:30-12:30 waterslide session. We had a HARD time staying up until 10:30, but we made it. We went to the waterslide to find out the motor had broken on the slide. So, we told everyone to meet us at Steinaker for a little lake swim. We went to the lake, but we decided we didn't feel like swimming, and so we left. 

Brilee and I waiting for the UBIC Parade.

The boys wrestling before the parade.

Sweet Elena packed Brilee around all day!

Aunt Pam's parade corner.

Brilee loved the parade.

She was a quite the candy gatherer. 

Heading into UBIC

Brilee LOVED the concert. Not for the music, but for the giant hill that she spent her whole night running down. When it got dark Jake and I spent a lot of time chasing her down the hill. She obviously wore herself out... here it is 1100 and she is still asleep!

I was glad to have good baby-sitters.

Brilee and Marley showed off their dancing skills all night! Patty Loveless was great, and the whole night was a blast.

The World is Good!

Look what I found on my door step this evening:

The world is good!

So here are the California pictures I promised... I don't have very many because of some camera malfunctions, but I want to share what I have.

We parked in the Diamond X parking lot and were shuttled by them to the airport... anyone traveling out of SLC I would highly recommend this! It is so easy. 

Brilee went a little crazy in the airport, but it was funny!

The hippo's were super cool to see. Brilee was starting to get tired about this time!

I loved the Panda exhibit.

We did a character sketch of Brilee riding a Panda. It's funny!

She was a tired baby by the end of the zoo!

Walking to breakfast in downtown San Diego.

We got to check out the Midway ship, and next time we are in San Diego I promised Jake we could take the tour of the ship. We were there as the ROTC group was practicing their march, and doing some chants. "We aren't the Army... we know how to work hard. We aren't the Air Force... the low flying air force. We aren't the Marines... they don't even look mean. We are the Navy!" 

Brilee enjoyed chasing pigeons. 

This was the beautiful view off our hotel balcony!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Yesterday was my Grandma's eightieth birthday. My Grandma is an amazing person and we love her so much! Here are 80 reasons she is so special to us! (In no particular order.)

1. My Grandma makes the BEST apple pie ever!
2. She always has the PRETTIEST Christmas tree.
3. She has had the same perfume since I was little and I LOVE it!
4. She still loves Del, Grandpa, and I even after the magic show at the fancy restaurant!
5. Little Cottage In the Woods...
6. She has an awesome piggy bank collection.
7. Christmas is her favorite holiday.
8. She always plans a dessert with dinner.
9. Her finger nails are always pretty.
10. When I was in third grade she took me to Yellowstone and taught me my multiplication tables. We practiced so much on that trip! When I got home I was the best in my class (except for that math freak Daniel Baker!!!!)
11. As a little girl I always looked forward to spending the week ALONE with Grandma and Grandpa! And she never failed to make it memorable.
12. She loves collections, and thanks to her I have an incredible Barbie collection.
13. Twenty Froggies Went to School.
14. She is the BEST shopper in the West!
15. She loves antique stores.
16. She used to set up their bucket seat truck with a pillow in the middle so one of us grand kids could always ride with her and Grandpa.
17. She loves her coffee!
18. She makes a lot of donations to people of need.
19. She is VERY involved in politics.
20. She loves the Olympics... especially the winter Olympics.
21. She tells the BEST stories!
22. She is always right (in a good way).
23. She would come to Vernal twice during the school year while I was growing up and she would ALWAYS take me to Bitter Creek Book to buy my class a story. After much thought and deliberation we would buy the book, and then she would come read it to my class.
24. She has a delicious Spinach Salad recipe!
25. Santa's Village is FULL of great memories with Grandma!
26. Her licensee plate.
27. She loves her doggy kisses.
28. I will never forget riding the bombardier into Yellowstone with everyone! It was so exciting.
29. She is always fair.
30. She makes some GREAT fried chicken, but I hear she learned from the best!
31. She loves to see wild animals.
32. She has nice curly hair (I think Brilee got it from her!).
33. Her left index finger has a cool scar/bubble thing under her nails.
34. She gives good back tickles.
35. She shops for Christmas ALL YEAR LONG! By January 1 she is asking us what we want the following year!
36. She loves to follow ice skating.
37. We're going on a bear... Can't go over it... Can't go under it... HAVE TO GO THROUGH IT!
38. She used to always get paper bags at Stater's and my Mom always got plastic... I never understood why they didn't get the same.
39. She always finds the prettiest Christmas ornaments and gives us one every year.
40. While we were walking into the zoo Saturday I learned a lot about myself. Grandma and I walk with the same speed while we are trying to get through crowds (fast and assertive). We are both pretty good at it too!
41. She loves to travel.
42. She is always very supportive and encouraging.
43. Her Christmas nails are the best.
44. She is a great singer. Brilee loves it too!
45. She always is working on a crossword puzzle.
46. I have never met someone who loves to take baths as much as her... AJ is close, but not there!
47. When I was 11 they took me to Yosemite to cross country ski. There was no snow so we did a lot of hiking. I loved it. She felt bad though, and so the next year she sent Stac, Mom, and I to Yellowstone for some guaranteed Cross country skiing.
48. She buys See's Candy for everyone she knows at Christmas time.
49. She never gets ripped off.
50. She is VERY competitive.
51. Cherry Cheesecake.
52. Our day after Christmas shopping trips are SO FUN! Stacia and I look forward to them yearly.
53. It is so fun to go to the Village and feed the ducks with her.
54. Walking the Sewer Pond walk sounds gross, but it is always a good time.
55. Her advents are always the coolest. (Just ask Brilee!!)
56. When I was 12 I stayed in Lake Arrowhead for a week without my parents. Amy flew out to hang out with us too. The day before she came I told my Grandma and Jackie about Amy's new toy, the Tomagchi. They bought me one. I raised the little thing up until Amy came. We had so much fun with our toys. Two days later we went to Santa's Village. My poor Tomagchi fell out of my pocket on the Bobsled Roller coaster. I didn't want to tell anyone I lost it, and so Amy and I pretended the rest of the week hers was both of ours. It was hard, but we managed.
57. I hear she was a VERY IMPRESSIVE water skier.
58. She taught me how to swim, and I love swimming so here is a big shout out for that!
59. She is the baby of her family. Five brothers and two sisters!
60. She knows of a great waffle house in the Village, and always takes us there.
61. She LOVES to read. All my life I have watched her and Mom trade books (mostly Grandma giving Mom books) and I think that is one of the main reasons I love to read.
62. She has made hundreds Christmas stockings.
63. She loves watching bike races.
64. Some of my favorite memories are fishing with Grandma at Calder's. She is a very patient fisher, and I am a very impatient fisher.
65. She makes a beautiful baby afghan.
66. She used to win a lot in Mesquite, and all her winnings came right to us Grandkids
67. Unlike Stacia, she NEVER cheated in Sorry!
68. Her sugar cookies and sandies are the best things ever!
69. She taught me, and most of Lake Arrowhead how to read.
70. I was always so jealous of her water bed... BEST NAPS ever!
71. She hates when her dogs bark in the backyard. Every time we go to Cali. she has a new trick on how to get them to stop.
72. She was a die hard Dodger fan. Billy Russell's #1 fan!
73. When dinner is made and on the table Grandma's job is to make sure everyone has their drink.
74. When my Mom was preoccupied with Stac (she was a week old) Grandma taught me to ride my bike. (I think I owe her credit for my triathlon success.)
75. She takes NO CRAP from the ref's during football games. She yells at the TV just like the ref is standing right there.
76. She keeps the girls in our family outfitted with the finest jewelry.
77. She always order Orange Peel Chicken at the Chinese Restaurant in Blue Jay.
78. She introduced us to the best caramel apples out there!
79. She has a huge heart, and would give anybody the shirt off her back.
80. She is a great hostess, and her house is always so homey.
WE LOVE YOU GRANDMA! Happy Birthday!

California

Thursday evening Jake, Brilee, and I flew into San Diego. Brilee was an awesome baby on the plane, she fell asleep right as we were taking off. She didn't wake up until we were landing... it was amazing! Uncle Del picked us up and took us to his house. We had a delicious dinner and went to bed. Early Friday morning Jackie, my parents, and my grandparents showed up. Jake, Brilee, GGMA, Grandma, and I all headed for the zoo. I LOVE the San Diego zoo, and so did Brilee! The animals were all active and the new exhibits were amazing. Brilee loved the monkeys, I loved the polar bear, and Jake loved the HUGE brown bear. Brilee fell asleep while we were in line for the sky coaster and stayed asleep while GGMA, Jake, and I rode the zoo bus. Brilee came out of the zoo with a new zoo sweater and a panda bear leash (love it)! We headed back to Del and Ann's and went swimming. The water and air were a little to cold for Bri and she started turning blue so we had to get her out of the water. She was mad! She threw a fit for about forty minutes. After another delicious dinner we headed to our hotel. My Dad went to check us in and after a twenty minute wait my Mom headed in. After waiting another twenty minutes I sent Jake in. He came back and told me there were issues with the reservations. My Dad did our reservations on priceline and he accidentally put it in for three nights instead of two. When we didn't check in the first night they resold our rooms (even though we had already paid them for the rooms). Luckily, there was one room available and one room coming available at 10:30 pm. Saturday we woke up and headed to Pacific Beach. Jake, my Dad, and I body surfed and had a blast! At one point we noticed Jake's arms were blue and so we got out. We left the beach, got ready for my Grandma's 80th b-day party, and headed to Del and Ann's! The party was great! It was fun to see everyone. Brilee loved the birthday cake, of course! After the party we headed back to the hotel. Jake, my Dad, and I decided to do a little more swimming. Then we went to bed exhausted. Unfortunately, in our room, Brilee woke up at 12:00. She was thirsty and the only thing we had was code red mtn. dew. So, Jake filled up her sippy cup. She went to town on it! Then she was awake for the next three hours! We finally unhooked all the phones and just let her run wild. We aren't really sure what she did from 2:00-3:00. Sunday we headed back to Pacific Beach for Del to teach us to surf! We loved it and both got up, and caught a lot of waves. After the beach it was time to head home. As we were boarding the plane I asked the flight attendant where to put my stroller and she pointed out a spot for me. I left it there and we got on the plane with an exhausted baby who screamed the WHOLE flight. It was rough! The people in front of us were rude and laid their seats ALL the way back. We had NO room, it was awful!!!!!! We were the last ones off the plane and my stroller wasn't there. The pilot went outside to look for it and came back and told me it must be at baggage claim. Well, it wasn't. They called San Diego who didn't have it either. My camera was in the stroller (SAD!!!!) and so there are no pictures with this post. If I ever get it back I will add the pictures. It was a quick trip, but a lot of fun!