California Vacation Days 5-9

Tuesday, December 30th is when people started to get sick and drop like flies.  We had a fun morning with David and Kristene though.  There's this place called LOL Kids Club and it's this fun indoor play place.  There's a huge ball pit, slides, a maze to climb through, places to shoot balls at each other and a smaller baby play area.  It's half off on Tuesdays and one adult is free, so it was definitely a good day to go.  We stayed for about two hours, but Kylie didn't have a nap beforehand so she wouldn't have lasted much longer anyway.

The ball pit was Kylie's favorite part.

Even Andrew got in on the fun.

We were planning on going to Costco (to shop for the New Year's Eve party) and then to Riverside, but we heard that everyone there was sick.  Brita's kids were sick from the beginning and then it just got passed around.  Dean, then Becky, then Nadine (who got it the worst out of everyone) got sick.  So, we decided to cancel the party (which I was a little bummed about because I had some fun things planned) and stay away from them until they're feeling better.  After the kids club, we had plans to go eat at Panda Inn which is the original Panda Express restaurant, but Scott had to take Andrew to Riverside anyway for a rehab appointment.  On the drive home, they ran into some heavy traffic and it started to snow!  I couldn't believe the weather while we were there.  We were hoping to get away from the cold and snow in Utah.  It turned out to be like 70-80 degrees the next week.  Seriously?! Anyway, Scott got back and we watched Guardians of the Galaxy.

Even though our big party plans fell through for new years eve, it turned out to be an okay night.  Kristene got sick the night before so she wasn't feeling well at all that day.  Scott, Andrew, Kylie and I headed down to Riverside to spend the day there.  On the way to the house we stopped and got some Rite-Aid ice cream.  Scott used to get their Thrifty's ice cream all the time when he lived there and has to make a stop each time we go to California.  He always gets the rainbow sherbert in a cone and Kylie loved participating in his tradition.  Then we got some doughnut holes from a doughnut shop next door and they were delicious!  Scott and I are sad that we don't have a real doughnut shop close to our house in West Jordan.  We spent the day hanging out, playing games and shopping for food for that night.  We had a huge food menu planned, but since everyone got sick we had to scale it back quite a bit.  We ended up having fried ravioli, 7-layer dip, garlic bread and chili (which Dean made).  For dessert, we used the chocolate fountain we got from the gift exchange.  We dipped marshmallows, strawberries and bananas.  We played a few games as well.  The first one we did was playing songs with over a million hits on YouTube and trying to guess the song or artist.  Then we played a question and answer game where you write down a what-if question and answer another one.  Then you go around the circle reading your question with the person next to you answering it with the answer to their question.  It turned out to have some funny results.  After that we played a round of charades and then played Bang! until midnight.  Poor Scott started really not feeling well after dinner so the midnight celebration wasn't that exciting.  Since it was late, Kylie was asleep and Scott was not feeling well, we stayed the night.  I had a hard time sleeping and didn't really sleep until about 3am.  I was able to get a little more rest in the morning so that was nice.  Even though our party didn't exactly work out, we still had a good time so that was nice.

Thursday January 1st, we were able to go see the movie Into the Woods.  I have never seen the play before so I didn't know a lot about the plot and not sure what to expect.  The stories were definitely more based off the Grimm fairytale version.  There were some good scenes and the music was okay, but overall it wasn't a favorite.  After the movie, we played a few more games and then headed back to David and Kristene's.

It was Friday the 2nd and we were leaving on Sunday, the 4th.  I thought I was going to get away without getting sick, but alas I ended up getting sick on Friday.  Scott was still feeling sick and Kylie even threw up twice during the night.  We had plans to see the Rose Parade floats, but canceled because no one was really feeling well.  Kristene was feeling better and was still going to see the floats.  I wasn't feeling too sick at this point and Kylie was happy so we decided to join them.  I started feeling more nauseous on the drive down and just wanted to throw up the whole time at the floats.  We met up with Brianna, Kyle and Kyle's parents and they took care of Kylie until we parted ways.  I didn't want to deal with the hassle of the stroller so I carried Kylie, but my stomach got so sensitive that I couldn't carry her anymore.  There were a few times that she wanted me to hold her and when I couldn't, she started to whimper and cry.  It was the saddest thing ever!  I made it home without throwing up and went straight to sleep.  I threw up twice that day and that was the extent of my sickness.

Kyle put Kylie to sleep within 3 minutes of holding her. He's a sleep whisperer.

Saturday the 3rd was a busier day.  Luckily we were all feeling better because we had plans to hang out with our friends Heather and Skylar.  We packed all of our stuff as we were going to stay in Riverside that night since we were taking Becky back to Vegas the next day.  We left David and Kristene's around 11 and headed to an alumni soccer game at Scott's old high school.  He didn't bring his soccer stuff, but was able to borrow a pair of cleats and play.  Scott saw one of his friends, Andrew Kiser, and he had a good time playing soccer.  Bonus is that the old alumni team (4 years +) won against the newer alumni team (only the past 2 or 3 years)!

I stole this picture off someone's Facebook since the one I took was from far away.

After soccer, we headed down to Irvine to hang out with Heather and Skylar.  They were kind enough to make us lunch and we just sat and talked the whole time.  We were there for 2 hours and weren't even done talking to them!  It's nice that we are still good friends with them and are so glad that we had time to see them and have them meet Kylie.  We drove back to Riverside for dinner and played games until it was time for bed.  Scott and I stayed out in their trailer and I guess the heat wasn't working and it was freezing!  We were able to stay warm though and sleep through the night.  We left the next morning at about 9:30am.

Even though this was not the ideal vacation, it still had some good moments and we only went out because of the sealing of Abrie to David and Kristene.  Since we were able to witness that, that's all that matters.  Anything else we did was just bonus.  Although I do hope that the next time we go to California, no one gets sick. :)

California Vacation Days 1-4

This vacation was definitely one that we were not expecting and not in a good way.  Sickness abounded and took everyone out.  It sure was a bummer, but we were still able to do something every day.

We left for California Friday December 26th at 9am.  It was snowing in Utah, but it wasn't too bad until Beaver and we had to slow down a bit.  When we got to St. George it was nice and sunny.  It's crazy how there can be a difference in weather within a few hours.  Our car got insanely dirty from all the snow though.  We stopped for lunch in St. George and to see if the clothing store Down East had a bigger size of a jacket that Scott got me for Christmas.  They didn't have one, so I might just have to return it which is too bad because it was super cute.  We stopped in Barstow to eat, but also because Kylie had thrown up in the car.  We're not sure if it was from what she ate, the motion of the car, if she was getting sick or if she was teething.  Either way, she was perfectly happy after and even played in the McDonald's play place.  We arrived at David and Kristene's at about 8pm.  Kylie went to bed and the rest of us talked for a little bit before heading to bed as well.

Car is packed and we're ready to go!

Reading her new Frozen books!

Saturday the 27th was sealing day!  Kylie woke up at 7 and woke up at that time pretty consistently the whole vacation.  We ate breakfast, hung out and got ready to leave for San Diego.  We stopped in Escondido and dropped Kylie off with Kyle, Brianna and my mom.  The sealing was short and sweet and Abrie was adorable.  It's amazing how I've learned something new each sealing I've attended.  We are happy for David and Kristene.  We took pictures quickly outside because it was cold and windy.  We picked Kylie up, but got lost on the way to Kyle's house so it got frustrating that it took twice as long to get there.  After we picked up Kylie, we headed to the pizza place in Escondido where everyone else was.  We were planning on playing games with everyone at Kyle's house, but Kylie fell asleep in the car within 2 minutes so we just headed back.  We did try to watch X-Men Days of Future Past with David and Kristene, but we were all so tired that we went to bed early.

Monday the 28th was second Christmas.  We arrived in Riverside at 10 and we had a yummy breakfast of cinnamon rolls.  Usually Scott's family has orange rolls for breakfast at Christmas, but there was orange flavored frosting on the cinnamon rolls.  We lined up from youngest to oldest and walked into the living room.  Everyone got embroidered towels and then gifts were passed out.  It got a little chaotic trying to pass out and open gifts at a normal pace as we tried to watch everyone open a gift, but it started to take forever.  Kylie received a Bambi toy, a Frozen bag with stickers and a toy car!  Kylie got the toy car later since it was in the garage and the grandparents sort of forgot about it.  Once it was pulled out though, all the kids wanted to play with it.  After opening presents with everyone, we put on a movie for the kids and did the adult white elephant exchange.  We ended up with a chocolate fountain, a towel and a CD of the primary children's songs.  Yeah, I don't think we made out too bad for white elephant gifts!  After that, we spent the rest of the afternoon playing games.  We had ham and potatoes for lunch/dinner and continued playing games into the evening.  We bought Lane and Brita the game Bang! and that was the most played/enjoyed game.  It was a fun day.

Playing in the tunnel that Abrie got for Christmas.

Playing horseshoes! Nikki, Becky, Scott

Toy car! What a fun gift.

Sunday the 28th was a busy day for David and Kristene.  They threw an open house for their sealing that night at their house and there was about 40+ people who showed up!  It was sure crowded and crazy.  We did go to church in the morning at 11 and stayed for only sacrament. We played some ping pong when we got home and helped get some things ready for their open house.  The party was from 6-8 and it was quite loud.  There were a ton of kids there who were screaming and shouting and running around like crazy.  It was a sight to see for sure.  After the party, we played a few games and then headed to bed.

December Goals

This is way overdue, but I still have to write about it.  December was a busy and fun month.  I was able to complete a lot of my goals and many activities happened as well.  I don't think I'll be doing the monthly goals this year as I have some other ones in mind, but I sure did like doing it this year.  It really helped me prioritize things in my life and figure out what's most important.  I think my favorite part was trying to think of weekly family activities.  I made myself search what there is to do in Utah besides the norm and I was able to find some fun (and free) things to do!  I might actually try to keep doing that this new year since there's no point in stopping.  Anyway, onto the goals!

I was able to complete all of my monthly goals except having our friend get together.  We've already planned one for January and I'm glad that I'm not the only one who enjoys these dinners.  I was the one who started them so it's nice to know that I'm not forcing people to hang out, if that makes sense.  My house project was to decorate the house for Christmas and that was completed the weekend after Thanksgiving.  My goal for Kylie was to make her a church picture book.  I almost didn't get this completed, but I was able to get it done last minute before Christmas and I put it in her stocking.  I just saved and printed out the pictures from this website and put them in a small photo album.  The album didn't have enough for spaces and the letters y and z are in a pocket in the back.  I think it turned out cute and it works to keep Kylie quiet for a little bit during church.  I didn't really plan out a date night, but I'm going to count driving around and seeing Christmas lights as a little date.  We were able to see a soccer game and I did a few crafts.  Kylie is a little too young to be doing very many crafts, so I didn't do as many as I had planned on and that's okay.

I made this jar lid ornament for Aunt Kathy.

A lot of the activities we did in December have already been written about since they were ones with more pictures.  The first week of December, we saw the lights at temple square, went to Scott's work party and I went to the festival of trees with Kylie.  The second week was the zoo lights and Gardner Village.  The third week of December, Kylie and I visited Scott at work and had some delicious waffles from the waffle love truck.  It's a mobile waffle truck!  Scott's work gave him a voucher and I've always wanted to try them, but they don't travel to West Jordan often.  The waffles were yummy, but a little too pricey.  Kylie especially loved the nutella, banana waffle the best.  That week we also drove around looking at Christmas lights, had our ward Christmas breakfast and had pizza and played mini-golf with family.  The fourth week, we went to city creek and the temple lights again with family and went to the Omer family get together.  The last week of December was spent in California.

At Scott's work party at pizza pie cafe.

Waffle love truck!

At the ward breakfast.  Couldn't get Kylie to look over and smile.

Seeing the temple lights again!

Macy's department store's awesome candy window displays.

Listening to some music on the street.

We showed up right when the fountain show was starting at city creek.

December this year was so much fun!! I loved all the activities we did and just the spirit of Christmas that was felt.  December was a great month to end off a fantastic year.  I can't wait to see what 2015 brings!