California Trip - Day 2

We didn't really have anything planned other than going to the beach. We went down to Mission Beach, which is where I spent most of my California summers, and then travelled up to La Jolla.

While we were in La Jolla, we Googled attractions in the area and found that there is Scripps Aquarium. It was a neat place that is ran by the local university. Since it was during the week and outside of the busy summer time, it wasn't too busy and we got to spend quite a bit of time visiting with some of the volunteers there. They told us all of the fun tide pools to go visit, which is definitely on our to do list!

California Trip - Day 1

It's been a while since we posted, but this trip is too good not to share. Brett and I have been wanting to go on a trip for a while now. We originally wanted to go to Hawaii or Cancun, but we aren't at the point where we could really afford that yet. We saved for quite a while and decided on a week vacation in California.

We started our trip off with a stop in Las Vegas. We have two good friends that live there, Chad and McKennan, and decided that this would be a great opportunity to stop and visit them for a night. We spent the night hanging out at the Red Rock Casino, where Chad works. We went to dinner and then spent a couple of hours in the casino. It was a gorgeous hotel!

The next day, we decided to stop at Bass Pro Shop on our way out of town. It has been a few years since we had been there and it is one of my favorite stores. I love all of the mounts that they have, plus the aquarium with mermaids is always fun.

                      

We did hit traffic on the way down, so we didn't get to spend much time at the beach, but at least we made it!

Valentines Day

I have the absolute sweetest husband in the entire world. He surprised me today with flowers and chocolates from my favorite candy store....well the only real candy store here in Manti. Flowers, Chocolate covered strawberries, and Caramel Turtles before dinner at our favorite (the only one again) Mexican restaurant. He sure knows the way to my heart.

                           

Babies Galore!

It is that time in my life when all of my friends are starting to have kids. My best friend from elementary school, Heather, recently had her second baby - a little boy. One of my other best friends, Meili, is going to be having a little girl. Most of my best group of friends were able to get together for Meili's baby shower. It was good to catch up with everyone and celebrate such an important time in our friend's life!

Sheena, me, Meili, Heather, and Sharla. We are missing Lora!

New Years

This year we were able to spend New Years Eve with our friends. We met CJ and Lacie out to Brooke and Curt's house, had dinner and sat around to visit. It was a pretty mild night, but still great to get together with good friends.

The next day, we got to go with CJ and Lacie up Cedar Mountain to play in the snow. We went tubing, riding on snow mobiles, and built a fire. Lacie did try to kill me by throwing me off the snowmobile.

Christmas 2015

Christmas is always a fun time of year for us. We have our traditions of gingerbread houses, bowling, and the Christmas eve party. We even managed to go see the Christmas lights at Temple Square.

This year was extra special too, because Brett's brother, Casey, and his wife, Tayler, had their new baby! Little miss Hayden is so beautiful. And Brett voluntarily asked to hold her! I didn't get to hold her, because I got a cold from the mandatory flu shot :(

Surgery

My dad and I finally scheduled to have our back surgeries done. We both had them done on the same day by the same doctor. And my sneaky dad who told me to wait to have surgery snuck in and had his done right before mine! The surgeries went well and my sweet husband slept on the horrible pull out coach all night and even pulled it closer to my hospital bed. He had to leave a few days after my surgery, but he took such good care of me while he was here.

Since Brett had to leave after I had the surgery, it was not practical to go back home to Manti to try and take care of myself. I ended up staying at my parents house during my whole recovery. It was really nice, because my dad could keep me company and I could keep my eye on him. He doesn't like to follow doctor's orders. We went on daily walks and it reminded me of how blessed I was to grow up on this beautiful property.