More 2014 Catch up - August San Diego trip

Writing about our most recent trip to San Diego made me realize I haven't even posted about our last trip to San Diego from August 2014! I am a little over 6 months behind!  We went to San Diego and stayed with Andrew's grandparents one night which was a lot of fun, they had fun toys for the girls and we enjoyed spending time with his grandparents. Then we drove to Carlsbad and stayed for free in Andrew's parents timeshare condo in Carlsbad.  Our friends, the Johnsons came and spent about 3 days with us. We went to the beach, the San Diego Safari Park, swan in the hotel pool, and went to La Jolla beach where the adults took turns sea kayaking.  We tried to find dolphins and show the Johnsons because we tend to see dolphins almost every time we go to La Jolla, but no luck. We did end up seeing dolphins at Carlsbad and from Oceanside pier later that week after the Johnsons had already left, darn!  We also introduced them to Ruby's Diner, on the Oceanside Pier.  We all had a lot of fun together! Jenna was a little apprehensive of the ocean at first, but she and I started playing a game where we chase the water as it goes on, and then run away from it as the waves crash on the beach.  When she was feeling more comfortable with the water we walked in up to about her shins, and then we held hands and jumped over the waves as they crashed. It was a lot of fun! The adults also boogie boarded, and Andrew surfed. Good times!

On Wednesday or Thursday of that week, the Johnsons headed north to go to Sea World and then head home and Andrew's sisters all came to stay at the condo with us.  Because Sara was coming home from her mission!  We met her at the airport and spent the rest of the week together.  We went to Ruby's again, played more at the beach, shopped and just hung out and enjoyed having Sara with us.  We attended her homecoming talk that Sunday, enjoyed a lunch with the Willardsons and then drove back to Utah. We love our San Diego trips!

On our way back home, we stoppeed at Zion's national park and went on a couple of hikes.  It was beautiful and a lot of fun! Jenna LOVES hiking. She is like a little mountain goat.  Ivy did great in her carrier and took a nap on me while we hiked. :)

We often stay at the Merkleys house in Vegas on the way to San Diego, the kids love spending time with their cousins.

 Safari Park

Ruby's Diner

Carlsbad Beach

Ivy saying "Ta-daa!"

Zion's National Park

March 2015 and trip to San Diego

     We have had a VERY busy last couple of months.  We packed up our house in Taylorsville, found renters, moved to Riverton, and will be unpacking for quite a while here. It felt a lot busier than it sounds.  Our family is growing, I am pregnant with baby number 3, and we felt like it was the right time to move on and find a more permanent home for our family that has more space.  We LOVE our home in Riverton.  It just kind of felt good when we saw it and had most things that both Andrew and I both wanted (most of the houses we saw either had what he wanted OR what I wanted).  We have a large yard and a lot of bedrooms to grow into.  We feel very blessed.
     It has been pretty exerting trying to pack/unpack/find renters/do tons of logistic paperwork stuff/ etc.  and try to take good care of the kids and give them the attention they desire and deserve.  So, we decided that we would take a trip to San Diego 2 weeks after we move, just to kind of get awat from all of the busy and spend time focusing on the kids and having a lot of fun together.  Mission accomplished!  Andrew was pretty stressed on the drive down there because he had a lot going on at work and just couldn't get into vacation mode.  Then, a few hours after arriving in San Diego, we were walking on the Oceanside Pier towards one of our favorite places to eat, Ruby's Diner, and Jenna was just soaking in the scene, enjoying seeing pelicans, fisherman, the ocean, and was super excited about going to Ruby's.  And she stretched out her arms and said "This is the best day of my life!"  Andrew and I both looked at her with adoration and then Andrew said "that makes it all worth it".  And from that point on, he was able to relax, have fun, and enjoy the vacation. :)
     We enjoyed eating on the pier at Ruby's, and then watching a movie together while eating popcorn in the hotel.  The next day we went to the beach and played in the ocean for a couple of hours. Jenna LOVES the beach! She wasn't apprehensive of the water at all.  And she repeated claimed "This is the best day of my life".  Ivy enjoyed the sand but wasn't too sure about the water.  On Sunday, we went to church in El Cajon and spent a few hours at Andrew's grandparents house and spent some good quality time with them.  Then we went to Andrew's aunt Jen's house for a dinner to celebrate Andrew's Grandma's 80th Birthday!  We had such a wonderful vacation! We had a lot of fun telling jokes on the way down.  Like "why shouldn't you give Elsa a balloon? Because she'll let it go!"  Jenna loved telling jokes and Ivy even seemed to have fun with it too. :)

 Jenna took this pic of a pelican that was sitting on the pier that we were walking on towards Ruby's. We got pretty close to it, it was pretty cool!


                                                                     
                                                                                                                                                                       We love Ruby's!

 Popcorn/movie night!    

At the beach! Jenna stylin' her awesome beach wear.

Daddy and the girls playing in the ocean

Jenna and I with sand mermaid tails covering our legs. Ivy didn't get her legs buried but had fun playing with the sand.

Jenna LOVES the beach!

  Ivy playing

Running towards the ocean

Fun sand

Matching hats

Asleep on the ride home to Utah, too cute not to take a pic. :)

My Favorite Thing

My favorite thing in the whole world is feeling trusted and loved by my children.  The other day, Ivy was in her car-seat, rear facing, and I was in the driver's seat.  It had snowed quite a bit the week before so Andrew and I thought it would be wise to get the car washed, since it had so much salt on it from the city trying to melt the snow on the roads.  Ivy had never been in the car during a car wash that she would remember.  During the beginning on the car wash, I told her the car was getting a bath, and made it sound really fun.  She was amused and seemed to be really enjoying it.  But after a couple of minutes, a new phase of the car wash began, and it was loud.  It got kind of dark in the car as well because of the machine's rags and soap covering the car.  Ivy let out a frightened cry.  I reached my hand back to her and I said "it's ok, Mommy's here, it's ok.  She grabbed my hand and immediately stopped crying.  I was struck by how quickly and easily she was comforted.  Just by hearing my voice and touching my hand.  It made me feel so special.  What an incredible gift I am blessed to have to be a Mommy, and to be so trusted.  I love my children, and I love my very special role in their lives. :)

December 2014

We had such a fun Christmas season! We decorated gingerbread houses while listening to the First Presidency Devotional for FHE one Monday night. Jenna was a great listener. She kept pointing out words that she recognized during the talks. Ivy didn't decorate but she helped us eat the candy while we decorated. :) We went to see the lights at Temple Square which was really fun! We sang Christmas songs the whole ride up there.  At one point, Andrew turned on the radio but Jenna told him to turn it off because she was enjoying our caroling session.  We saw the lights and many Nativities representing different cultures.  On the way back. Andrew pushed the empty stroller while I carried Ivy in one arm, and held Jenna's hand with the other and we skipped and laughed our to the van.  :)  It was one of those times when you look at your present situation from outside yourself and can't help but smile.  I don't know if that makes sense.  They were precious moments. :) We had FHE at our house one Sunday with the Blacks, Daltons, Sara and some of her friends.  We did a White Elephant gift exchange and dessert.  During November and December we filmed the kids answering gospel related questions and Sara spent hours editing it all and made an awesome "Out of the Mouths of Babes" video for Andrew's parents.  It will forever be a family treasure.
One night, Andrew went to the gym and the girls and I went to Seagull book, bought a bunch of awesome Christmas books for a crazy bargain, and then went to see the "Tree of Life" in Draper.  It is a huge tree filled with lights that glimmer and shine.  Once we were close to the tree it was kind of hard to look at because it was so bright!
We were able to get a great deal on Ice skating tickets to the Gallivan Center.  Jenna liked it but the ice skates bothered her.  Ivy wasn't even walking yet, but she LOVED ice skating!  Every time we tried to take a short break and pick her up, she would kick her little legs with ice skates on them until we put her down to ice skate again. :)
During the week leading up to Christmas, we stayed at my parents' house for a few days.  my sewing machine broke and I needed to use my mom's to finish making my parents' stockings, my Dad and Wendy had both recently added dogs to the Hughes household and visiting was getting a little difficult, so I wanted to stay at the house for a few days so the girls could get used to the dogs and not be afraid of them.  Mission accomplished!  And I had just been around my dad a few moments here and there and I wanted to spend some good quality time with him.  I wanted to see him still being himself since all of this stuff with Parkinson's has happened.  It was really kind of healing for me.  We have had a very warm December.  No snow in sight!  But on Christmas morning, lo and behold, we woke up to a white christmas! It has been snowy and cold ever since. :) On Christmas Eve we had prime rib, which has become a tradition for my side of the family over the last couple of years. It is such a delicious tradition!  We also made cookies for Santa and left them with a note on the fireplace. On Christmas morning, we woke the girls up at 8 am and went upstairs to enjoy opening presents! It was a really fun Christmas.  We talked with Jenna a lot about how Christ is in the word Christmas and Christmas is about Him.  We also taught her that the reason we give gifts is because we are celebrating the greatest gift ever given, which was Heavenly Father sending Jesus to us, and all of the gifts Jesus gave us through the atonement and His resurrection.  She totally gets it. :)  It is very easy for her to understand the true meaning of Christmas. She is a sweetheart. :)
I am so grateful for my little family and my big families and the time we are able to spend together doing fun things!

Tree of Life in Draper

Ice skating family date

Sirloin!

Shopping with Grandma

Prime Rib Christmas eve dinner. Mmmm

Christmas eve

Drews!

Stockings I made

Baby Alive from Santa

Jenna dressed up for her dance recital

Slide Ivy got from Santa

Anniversary Trip - August 2014

     Andrew and I celebrated our 7th anniversary this year.  It  is crazy that we've been married that long! We're old. ;)  Andrew has really been wanting us to have a getaway with just the two of us for a while.  So, I finally agreed and we let the kids stay with Becca, and then with my Mom while we went to Midway. We were away for 3 nights.  The first night, Sunday night, we stayed at The Homestead Resort.  On Monday we went mountain biking at Dutch Hollow.  It was so fun!  We are certainly not pro mountain bikers or anything, but we both enjoy it, and haven't been in several years. It felt great to hop on our bikes and hit the trail!  There were some pretty awesome views from the top!
     We were planning to stay at Johnson's Mill the second night, so after mountain biking we went to check in.  It was an awesome place.  There was a pond at the Mill that we took a canoe ride on, and tons of land to explore, so we hiked around for a while.  It was a bed and breakfast, and their breakfast was delicious!  I had never been to a bad & breakfast before, and had always wanted to.  It was a lot of fun.  Tuesday, after breakfast, we drove to the Park City Outlets, did some shopping, then headed to Salt Lake and saw 'Wicked' at the Capitol Theater.  It was SOOO good!  I LOVED it! Andrew thought it was ok, but I was blown away by how awesome it was!  However, I was really missing the girls by this point.  They were in Orem and the musical ended at a late hour, so we slept at out house, and I picked the girls up from my parents house Wednesday morning.  We had a really fun little get away!  It was fun to eat a lot of food, watch a lot of our favorite shows, just relax, and hang out together.  I'm happy I'm married to this guy. :)