Happy Birthday

So far 33 is treating me quite well!  I've had a good day.  The best part was early this morning, we got to go pick up Annie!  So happy she's back with the fam.

And I have to post two of my birthday wishes on Facebook.  They made me laugh and smile all day long.  Thank you, thank you to Vince and Christy!

BIG running party in the morning.  Can't wait!

Merry Christmas 2013

We have had a wonderful past couple of days.  Lots of family parties, good food and just time spent together.  The children had a wonderful Christmas and were spoiled rotten by their grandparents.  They woke up at FIVE in the morning, which was lame, but what can you do?  We had French Toast for breakfast.  We opened our little family presents.  A few hours later, Nate's parents came over with their gifts.  Then we headed down to Sandy to see my family.  We relaxed, ate yummy Mexican food and the kids enjoyed their cousins.  After we got home, I snuck out this evening for a little run, which felt so good.  Busy, but fun day!

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

Nate made me a rack to hang my race medals on!  I LOVE it!  And I gave him that shirt, haha!

Cute little face begging me to open her treats.

Allie has not put down this pirate telescope ALL day.

I think Nate had more fun with the remote control car than Cam did!

Haha, Gary did not want his picture taken!  We love you, Grandpa!

Gifts from Grandma and Grandpa!

BEST PICTURE EVER right here!  Cam has been waiting for this Lego set for over a year.  His face!!!!  Hilarious.

I've been wanting this JMC shirt for a long time.  John Mayer's website had a 60% off sale on Cyber Monday, so I snatched it up and told my mom to give it to me.  ;)  Nate got a JM shirt, too.

San Diego Getaway

Nate, Cam and I had such a great time in San Diego!  Usually after a vacation, I am ready to head home and get back to my routine, but not this time.  I wanted to stay for forever!

We left on really early on Friday morning and flew to LAX, then a quick flight to San Diego.  It was fun being with Cam and watching him experience his first flight (that he can remember).  He loved it!  He got to meet the pilot, too, which was a fun little treat!.

Bill picked us up at the airport and took us on a little driving tour of San Diego.  We saw the Naval base and the bay.

Then we drove over to a marina, where we rented a boat.  Bill knows how to sail, so he taught us so much.  It was really cool.  We learned all of the terminology, and when it came time to turn the boat, Nate and I had to help move the sails.  It was a gorgeous day with perfect wind.

After that, we were pretty exhausted, so we went to Bill's place and let Cam play with his cousins.  They just got a new puppy, and I'm usually not a fan of little lap dogs, but Lilly was CUTE!

Then we took the kids swimming.

Then Nate and I headed out to Thai Food for dinner.  Delicious!  THEN we headed over to the Sleep Train Amphitheater for John freaking Mayer.  I was so excited!!  It's impossible to describe such an amazing concert in words, so I won't try, but just know that I was a very happy girl.  John sounded SO GOOD!  We had pretty good seats, we were in the very front row of the 2nd section.  Nothing like being 2nd row 6 years ago, but I'll take what I can get!

(We were so fried from being outside all day!)

"You look fine, fine, fine.  Put your feet up next to mine!"  -Wildfire

I didn't want it to end.  EVER.  "Born & Raised" and "If I Ever Get Around to Living" were my favorites.  He also played some of his old stuff.  Oh that John!!

The next morning we relaxed a little and listened to some of General Conference.  Then we headed over to Coronado Beach.  It was a gorgeous day, and I could have sat on that beach all day long and been completely content.  The waves were perfect, Nate had a blast jumping in them!  I did too, but he was a lot braver than I was!  This was also some good visiting time with Bill and Whitney.

After the beach, Whitney, Hunter, Aspen and I went to dinner at In n Out (my first time!), and then we headed back to the Sleep Train for the Kelly Clarkson and Maroon 5 concert!  We had lawn seats, and I was SO exhausted by this point, so I listened a lot more than I stood up and watched.  It was certainly no JM, but still really fun.  It was fun to visit with the girls and get to know them better, too!

Sunday we just relaxed and watched more Conference.  Then we headed to Old Town to the Mormon Battalion site.  I LOVE learning more about our Church history!  The story of these 500 Mormon soldiers who walked hundreds of miles to San Diego was just amazing.  So many miracles.  The tour was really fun and interactive for the kids, too.  They ended it with panning for gold and getting to go to a lookout tower.

On Sunday evening, I got to meet my mom's cousin, Sandra Dibble.  She came over for dinner (Whitney made delicious Afghan food), and it was so great to visit with her.  We went on a walk after, too.  It's great getting to know new relatives!

On Monday morning, Bill took us on a little trail run.  He's speedy, I couldn't keep up very well!  Good run, though!  Then we headed an hour north to LegoLand.  I opted not to go, since it's SO expensive, so I decided to spend the day with my sweet blogging friend, Casey.  She lives about 10 minutes from LL, so she just picked me up from there.  It was SO GREAT to meet her and her cute kids!  We have been online friends for about 5 years now, it's funny how women do that!  But I have really met so many of my closest friends online (not sure what that says about me...??).  I am shy though, so I do have a hard time being super friendly when I first meet someone.  So maybe online I feel like I can chat and connect with people easier, and then when we meet, it's already like we've known each other for years?  I'm not sure.  But anyway, I absolutely adore Casey!  She took me to Lainey's school ("That's my friend, Miss Becca!")  and we got some ice cream and hung out at her adorable house.  I also to got to meet her husband, and her sons, Jack and Carter, and the cat, Finn.  But Lainey just melted me.  Oh that girl.  I am in love!!  It was a fun day.  I admire so much about Casey and her family.

Cam and Nate had fun at LegoLand.  Since I'm the one writing, I don't have much details from it, but I know Cam loved the roller coaster, and he also got to drive these little cars around.  I'm so glad we brought him.  He was such a good boy on the trip, and I hope it made him feel special and loved!

Seriously creepy mom and baby Lego display!

Casey has the cutest house ever.  I wish she could come decorate mine, I have NO skills at that!

We flew out early Tuesday morning.  Boo!  I was so sad to be going home already.  I missed Roo and Claire, but I could have stayed a few more days!  I hope to make it back soon!  One of my new favorite places, by far!

We flew through Denver on the way home, so we flew right over the Grand Canyon.  Cool!

And that's a wrap!  Back to the cold weather and daily routine we go!