Week 2 in Encinitas

So, now we'll let you know what we did the 2nd week in Encinitas. This is the beach we went to pretty much everyday. It was called Stonesteps Beach.

And here's why it's called stonesteps beach....here's the view from the beach looking up to the road!

And here's the view looking down to the beach! There are 127 steps total...what a workout!

Went to Balboa Park one day to go to the IMAX theater. Here is a cool building in Balboa Park.

The IMAX theater is housed in the Reuben J. Fleet Science Center and after the movie "Born to be Wild", we explored all the fun, interactive exhibits.

Mari and Maya were "torturing"...oops, I mean helping Lea with a cool aging exhibit.

Maya checking out an exhibit.

As we would be out on our back deck, we would always see flocks of pelicans fly overhead....and sometimes, they would be rather close overhead.

Just couldn't get enough of these astounding sunsets--just gorgeous!

Kirk and I also made the drive to Newport Beach to go to the temple with our good friend Justine. (San Diego had just closed for their 2 week cleaning)

Our good friend from San Francisco, Mary Katharine flew down to play with us for a couple of days.

Here's the girls playing in the surf.

Here's Kirk and me with a good friend we met while Kirk and her husband (ex-husband now) were getting treatment in Loma Linda. It was fun to reconnect with her.
Stay tuned for week 3 of being a nomad! (Ok, I"ll give you a hint...it's VERY HOT where we are now!)

San Diego Fun

We've been loving our stay here in sunny southern California! Who can come to San Diego and not visit Old Town! We ALWAYS go to Old Town to eat great Mexican food. We met up with Teralyn to have a wonderful lunch in Old Town at a very local place called Old Town Mexican Cafe. It was authentic and delicious! Here's the gals making handmade tortillas that get delivered to your table hot with butter! Yum.

We also went and visited the Mormon Battalion Visitor's Center here in Old Town in San Diego. We've taken the kids there several years ago, but they recently renovated the visitor's center and it is GORGEOUS and very "disney-ish". There was a lot of money put into this renovation!

I got Star and SKy to jump in the covered wagon for a quick photo.

At the end of the "journey" in the Visitor's Center, you can have your photo taken and it comes out looking old-timey and you can then get a photo right then and there and also you can email a picture to yourself.

We also discovered the U.S. Open Sandcastle Competition was going on at Imperial Beach here in San Diego. We went on a Saturday where it was the beginning of the competition. There was a street fair going on and also a children's competition. The BIG competition didn't begin until Sunday, but here was a guy working on a welcoming piece for the competition.

Here's a picture of Imperial Beach on a Saturday...crazy, huh?

And yes, this is the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico. No, we don't dare go to Mexico, but there is a great outlet mall on the border called Las Americas Premium Outlet that we have been to before and the girls wanted to revisit.

...and the adventure continues...

We are having a BLAST here at the beach. Here's Mari and Lea enjoying some sun.

Here is our "entertainment" while we are at the beach. We watch all the kids in junior lifeguard camps run up and down the beach. They've got different age groups and the little junior lifeguard kids are a lot of fun to watch.

We also went to the San Diego Temple or the "ice castle" as it is commonly known by the locals here in San Diego.




We also visited the San Diego Botanical Park here in Encinitas. Since it was a bit inland, it was rather hot and we couldn't wait to get back to the ocean.

The Adventure Begins...

Our month long adventure has begun! We got the TV working in "Black Sabbath" so the girls were able to watch movies and play the Wii. This kept them entertained for the long car ride. From Jackson, we drove to Utah and saw both newlyweds and Grandma and Grandpa. Then the next day we headed to Las Vegas and stayed in "old" Vegas down on Fremont Street. It was fun to people watch. Then the next day, we headed to California where we had rented a beach house in Encinitas.


We arrived at the beach house only to find out it was a condo. After spending days cleaning our house in Jackson to a certain standard the girls were appalled at the state of the condo. It was gross. Maya just couldn't help herself as I found her wiping the fridge down! And yes, we called the company and they sent over cleaners to clean!
Here's the view from our condo--on the beach!

We've been B*U*S*Y....!!!!!

YES...we've been VERY busy cleaning out our closets for our upcoming month rental! Not only have we been cleaning out our personal belongings, but we've also been cleaning up a storm. I'm glad we have all these girls, because they are some really good workers and they know how to clean. It's been all consuming this week and it's only Wednesday!

We've also been packing for our month long vacation. This has been interesting, just trying to figure out what you'll need when you don't really know what you'll be doing? Two things are making it into the suitcase for sure...church clothes and swimsuits.

Everything else gets packed into a box and labeled and put away in the basement. It's been good to go through EVERYTHING and purge...some people are better than others at this task!

And SOME people ( we won't name names...) are not even fazed in the least and go about doing whatever pleases them--like her i-phone and her laptop!

Recovery

We've been recovering from the recent rash of weddings in our family by enjoying our beautiful yard. It is just relaxing to sit outside and enjoy the surroundings.


We've also had a few "uninvited guests" come and visit as well.

He's married !!!

June 30th was the BIG day for these two in the Rexburg, Idaho Temple.

SO happy and adorable, don't u think?

there was no shortage of sisters to join in the celebration outside the Rexburg Temple

Ty is all smiles...with his beautiful bride by his side!

She's married!!!!!

Kara and Taylor were sealed on June 17th in the Salt Lake Temple. It was a beautiful day and everything was just wonderful. Here's the happy couple emerging from the temple.

Kara and all her sisters as bridesmaids! Aren't they darling?

the beautiful bride!

June is gonna be....WONDERFUL and CRAZY

Yes, by now you all know that we have TWO weddings happening in our family in June....Kara and Taylor on June 17th and Sloane and Ty on June 30th. We are just THRILLED to be adding another daughter AND another son (Kirk and Ty won't be in the minority around here!).

But I must admit some days I feel like this! Completely overwhelmed!!! Thanks to wonderful family and good friends, my burden is light!

IT'S A GO.......

Prom 2011

Prom was on Saturday night and a couple of girlies from here got to attend. The first contestant was Star and her date Stephan. They both returned from a track meet at 6 pm and I brought them back to the house to get ready. Our house was full of a bunch of girls getting ready in Maya's room. It was a lot of fun. Then Star's room was full of girls getting ready too.

Contestant #2--Sky...alas...she could not go to prom because either you or your date have to be either a junior of a senior and she and her "friend" are only sophomores. And yes...they just got back from the track meet by the looks of them. But don't fret contestant #2--next year you'll be a junior!

Contestant #3...Maya and her date Lucas. She doesn't participate in track and had ALL day to primp and get ready with her gal pals.

Contestant #3 and her posse get a group picture before the rain tumbles from on high.

daddy-daughter picture....ahhhh

our little discus thrower...

Star and Sky participating in track this spring. It is an interesting concept. They aren't runners. Somehow Sky is throwing discus. I know...funny thought...since she is a featherweight compared to all the other girls! Anyway, sorry you have to see her "through a net" but believe me after watching a few girls throw....you want as much protection from them as possible!

Ahhhhh.......

Lea with "Silverwings"....so cute...need I say more?