November 30, 2024

We wrapped up our vacation today and it didn’t take long to get out of vacation mode. 

Cali things to remember:

Little Ceasars pizza for the girls in the back of the car

Birthday burrito

Delish birthday pastries 

Girls walking along the wharf

China town Gundam store experience

Starfish

Sitting on the tiny rocks for beach and relaxing

Purple, dried up sea urchins

Darren eating crab leg stick things at the Airbnb 

Sea lions jumping and playing

Ocean sunset

Jellies

Seeing seal, sea birds, and sea otter 

Birthday condor

“Paul O’Neill will hit a home run just for me?”

Evening ice cream

My Annelise birthday buddy

Coconut cream pie from Sandee 

Blue skies in Valley of Fire with the best picnic

Geo riding for the 4 girls

Girls singing Descendants in the back seat

Hotels with doors facing the outside

Such a relaxing vacation

November 29, 2024

Such an enjoyable day. Valley of Fire couple of hours playing and having a picnic. I love picnics in cool places. Sandee brought the best lunch and it made me so happy. Seeing things through 4 year old eyes was fun. Watching the 4 girls (Cam, Sadie, Laynee, Kendyl) have so much fun together was also fun. We had pie round two.

November 28, 2024

Happy Thanksgiving. Family and Jesus Christ tops my thankful for list. But throughout this year I’ve tried to leave off the “for” and just be thankful. “I’m thankful.” I like that switch and it changes my mindset. 

An odd thanksgiving that ended up being quite enjoyable. Hanging with the Biblers and Clayton and Sandee was so nice and my birthday buddy (Annelise) was so fun. Plus Sandee had pie homemade pie for all of us. Mmm - coconut cream. 

November 27, 2024

Drove away from California. Thankful for good memories and hanging out with these two in Cali. 

November 26, 2024

Today Darren and I crossed off another national park going to Pinnacles. I set my expectations at level -3. Pinnacles exceeded that. We did a fantastic hike - Bear Gulch/High Peaks. We only passed four people before getting to the other side. One of them pointed out a condor just chilling on a rock. Super cool. We were going the opposite way and would have missed it had we not crossed paths at that time. We also got some new birds including an Acorn Woodpecker that you could easily identify by sound. 

Back to the Airbnb where the girls had gotten back from the beach and we went to find dinner. Nightly routine here of a movie and ice cream where I’m pretty much the only one who actually watches the movie. 

November 25, 2024

Aquarium day. Cool stuff, especially the jellies and the kelp forest. In the actual ocean we saw seal, sea birds, sea otter. 

November 24, 2024

Morning beach walk spotting sea lions and listening to the waves. Sigh. 

Monastery Beach was cool. Tiny tiny rocks for the beach and then Darren found a starfish!  Sat on the beach and relaxed for quite some time. So lovely. 

We walked back to the beach by the house for sunset. It was amazing. The sunset was great but watching the sea lions jump and surf was so cool. Like super cool! 

So many good things today - starfish, beaches, sunset, gulls, and sea lions. 

November 23, 2024

Driving in to San Fran we saw a rainbow over all the colored houses on the hills. Kinda cool. 

We walked all around the piers spotting gulls, pigeons, and posing sea lions. We found Cam some sushi, Sadie some cheese bread, and D and I some clam chowder in a bread bowl. 

We walked a bit to Chinatown to find Sadie’s Gundum store.  That was something. 

A day at fishermen’s wharf and we came away with zero broken windows. Wahoo! 

November 22, 2024

Happy Darren’s birthday! It was a birthday spent in the airport. We kept repeating that it’s not just the birthday but the birthday experience. Mostly we kept repeating that we will never - I mean never - again fly Frontier. 

We landed safely and drove around San Fran in the pouring rain with the girls eating Little Ceasars pizza in the back while we found a birthday burrito for Darren. 

Near the burrito place was Paris Baguette. We stopped for birthday dessert of a piece of strawberry cream cake and some cream puffs. Delicious.  

November 17, 2024

That peace may abide in our hearts and our homes, that we may radiate sunshine and cheer wherever we may go, that we may prove to the world that we do know that God lives, by the lives we lead. - George Albert Smith

Sunday evening at the Randalls with Olive Garden night. Good food and good entertainment watching K T C S play Mario Kart.

November 16, 2024

Today was a good day and a frustrating day.  So excited to get a Wave permit and then it ended up being such a quick trip out and back.  Some people were really struggling to hike and it limited our time to what we could see.  But being at the Wave again was cool, especially as it snowed a little on us.  Magical!  And cold.

November 15, 2024

Picked up our Wave permit and then hiked around the east side of Zion.  We did the Stave Spring to East Mesa trailhead with a side trip to Observation Point.  It was cold and windy and 9 miles.  I have never taken a great photo from OP.  The girl who we asked to take our photo sure tried as she snapped like 50 pictures of us.  Who does that?  Good thing I know how to delete.  (Wendy made us matching shirts and hats for our trip. We froze for this picture.)

November 14, 2024

Played tourists today at Lower Antelope Canyon.  The colors and textures and formations in the that canyon was beyond what I had imagined.  So much beauty everywhere you looked.  Was it worth $65?  Probably not but the group wanted to go so I went.  Archie, our Navajo guide, gave us a compliment as he told us he was a member of the church and said, "I could tell you are too."

Back at the cabin we found rocks and put on our crafty pants to make some nativitys.  Fun night with that, eating quesadillas, and playing 10s.  Oh, and we may have scored an elusive Wave permit.  And by may have I mean we did.  What?!?!

November 13, 2024

Starting our ladies hiking trip getaway to Zion.  We left early (6:45) and took the long way to Deb's cabin through Torrey with Highway 12.  We stopped at Lower Calf Creek Falls for a hike. As always it was so pretty.  And cold.  Beautiful with just enough fall color left.

Next stop was Bryce Canyon.  I loved playing tour guide there.  Wendy had never been and it was fun to show her around.  The lighting and lack of crowds on the Navajo Loop made things extra awesome.  That short 1/5 mile hike really shows off how beautiful and unique Bryce is.

Back on the road and headed for the cabin we stopped for dinner in Orderville at a food truck.  Archie's Food to Die For.  It was good food.  It was also freezing so we ate in the car.

November 12, 2024

We had a beautiful eastern sunset while I was at work. What a wonderful, brief, nature goodness from God. 

November 11, 2024

Blast from the short years of coaching softball past when I met Kenz at the little bookstore in Lehi and Emma (Peterson) from AF High softball was working there. (April 2015)

November 10, 2024

It was a cold, disappointing week. Hanging with Cam and Sadie at Barnes and Noble, doing a new puzzle, visiting the Randalls, going to church, taking Baylie to the park, playing Marbles and Jokers (girls comeback win), and Cam decorating for Christmas this weekend (with a little assistance from Sade and Ry) helped. 

November 3, 2024

What a good Sunday. Singing the pirate hymn (who’s on the Lord’s side), Sunday school, Odi, big cookies, and seeing these snow pictures from December 2012 and December 2013.

November 1, 2024

November started with a beautiful, colorful sunrise. It faded as Baylie and I walked the cemetery. Then I got to go on a hike. It was just a regular hike. But after having such a good hike on Wednesday with moose, this regular hike felt even more regular. That happens.