Singing (squealing) in the rain

Earlier this week we had a nice break from the sun and got rain. I opened all the shutters and windows and enjoyed my favorite weather. Whitney asked to go outside so I opened the door and let them run free. They were so funny, they loved it so much. There was a lot of running and screaming and squealing.
Look close at this first picture at Whitney's face. She is totally screaming:


Here's Whit skipping:
Here is Lindsey when she first ventured out into the rain. She went slow at first but then had no problems after that.
That's our adventure in the rain!

My Surprisingly Great Birthday (and a long post to talk about it)

So, yesterday was my birthday. I will be honest, part of me was dreading my birthday. (no, not because of age. I'm still young and don't mind getting older right now) I usually love my birthday. It's my special day and I make sure everyone treats me so. But this year, it would be my first time away from my family. Besides missions, it's the first time anyone has been away from home on their birthday. I was so depressed thinking I'd be alone on my birthday. Whitney accidentally spilled the beans on what I was getting from them so that didn't help that there was no anticipation for the day. Well, before my birthday I got a couple packages so that made me excited and I looked forward to opening them. Then I got a couple cards, more things to make me anticipate the day. Well, midnight came and I was in a great mood and decided to enjoy my birthday no matter what!
Ty made me pancakes (of course I put peanut butter on them) before he had to go to school, so that was awesome. Then he left and I started to get ready for the day. I got a surprise knock at the door and got this:
an edible arrangement from my sweet and awesome mom. I was really excited. It just made me feel so special. I was very grateful for everyone's generosity on my day. Ty came home later with flowers and other gifts to spoil me. As much as I hated not having a get together with family, it was still great to be able to open gifts via skype so people could still see me. Here's my loot:
(not pictured are the two airline tickets that my mom paid for for me to come visit in a couple weeks :-)

After gift opening we packed up and headed to the beach. We hadn't been to the beach closest to us so it was so much fun to go and explore. The girls had never been on the sand so that was a new experience for them. Pictures do no justice for how pretty it is. The waves were incredible and people were even surfing, so that was fun to watch. Here are tons of pictures:


After the first tide came in far enough to get her feet wet, she pretty much hated it. But I did get her to venture back out a couple times. She didn't want me to pull up her hair before we left, which I instantly regretted once we got there. I guess I will know better next time.
Lindsey would have run right into the water if I would have let her. She loved picking up rocks and shells and walking everywhere.

It was 70+ degrees and the water was cold, so that felt really good. There was not a cloud to be seen.
Next time I will not wear pants!!!

She is showing off a rock that she picked up:
I love these beach front houses. I would leave my windows open at all hours of the day to hear the waves.
After the beach we went to my annual birthday dinner at Olive Garden. Then we headed back to the beach to watch the sunset. I loved it. I could've stayed out there forever.
Here is the Oceanside Pier. I guess it's the pier that is in Top Gun. Cool factoid for you. :-)

We returned home and I was grateful I could get on face time and talk to my sister, Jen, and her whole fam. Then I skyped with my sister, Wendy, and got to open my gift from her. Luckily my mom has group skype and so I got to talk with my sisters, Wendy and Ash, my brother, Matt, and my parents. Even if I'm looking through the computer screen, I still love being able to talk with my family. Nothing has changed. We still try to talk over one another, laugh a lot, and enjoy the conversation(s). My brother, David, who doesn't have skype (yet) called me earlier and made me laugh during dinner. I'm so grateful for technology and that I can "spend time" with my loved ones, even they aren't here with me.
Of course we finished off the night with Birthday Cake. I know it's huge and we still have about 7/8 of it left. We will probably give most of it away today, or freeze it.
Thanks to everyone for making my birthday absolutely awesome!

Never Enjoy Peace and Quiet...

...Unless you know your children are fast asleep in their beds!!!

On Saturday early afternoon, Ty and I were just relaxing on the couch, watching a movie, enjoying some peace in the house. Until we saw this:
Whitney had emptied out all of Lindsey's clothes from her dresser. She put them all in one of her toy bins. (yes the toys that belong in there were all dumped out) Luckily we were in good moods and had a good laugh.
She is a great helper folding clothes when I'm doing laundry. But I think she got a little carried away this time. At least they were folded when we put them back in the drawers. Sadly, I think she enjoyed putting them back in the drawers so I don't know if she learned not to do it again.
On Sunday, I had gotten Whitney a snack and then once again we were just lounging after church. Then I looked over toward the kitchen and saw this:
Messer #2 had gotten into the snack Whitney had and got it all over her. She is such a stink, but is such a cutie.
She had to get the last scraps out of the container before I put the camera down and took it from her. :-)
No matter what messes we clean up, or how frustrated we sometimes get...Moments like these make you forget:

This is when you can truly enjoy peace and quiet.

Differences

Well, now that we have been here for a little bit of time, I wanted to make a list of the biggest differences between life in Utah and life here in Southern California (remember we have not been here that long, these are mostly observations):
-I've never seen so many luxury cars. They are everywhere. And most of the other cars look nice/clean. I guess that's what happens when there isn't salt on the road for 6+months of the year.
-The weather here is weird. Much too warm, I still can't believe it's January here. But I'm not going to lie, I love wearing flip flops. I definitely like hearing that it snowed in Utah while I have my ceiling fan on and windows open.
-I feel like an individual here. There are so many different kinds of people and nothing to conform to, it's actually very liberating.
-Not having laundry in our apartment is a pain, and expensive. It is a necessity, so hopefully I will get used to it and have a good system.
-It's not so humid that I can't straighten my hair, but my skin is softer and the girls eczema is pretty much non-existent.
-I love the beach, but miss the mountains.
There are so many differences, but these stick out to me the most. We are doing well and already have planned our first trip home to visit family so that gives me something to look forward to. Everyday is different for my emotions. One day I love it here and feel very accomplished, other days I am unmotivated and feel really down. The girls are doing great and growing fast. Hope you all are doing well!

San Diego Zoo

For Christmas my mom got us memberships to the San Diego Zoo. It includes access to the Zoo and the Safari Park. Ty is still looking for a job so he has some extra time. We decided to use that time to hit both places this last week.
First we went to the Zoo in San Diego:
(Don't worry, these aren't real animals, I know you were probably wondering haha)
Look closely at the picture below, you may see that this lion has sprouted an extra knee! :-)

One of Ty's favorite animals is the rhino, so he was excited to see them so close:

This was the main reason I wanted to go to the San Diego Zoo. The Pandas!! The exhibit is cool and the pandas were walking around everywhere!!! I was so excited. It was just about closing time so they were trying to take the pandas inside. I'll make sure we can watch them longer the next time we go. Every time I think of pandas I can't help but think of my sister, Wendy. (And Annie feeding them on their way to school haha, love you Wend)
Seeing a peacock walking around made me feel like I was back at the Hogle Zoo.
One other really cool part at the zoo was the koala exhibit. They look so soft and fluffy! I kept asking Ty if I could take one home, but he wouldn't budge.
This park is a lot more spacious than the zoo. The animals are more spread out. You can take a tram ride through the African animals and many of them are all in one enclosure. It's much more of a natural habitat for them I guess.
I don't know about you, but every time I have ever seen a lion, it has been sleeping. I was so shocked when I walked around the corner and saw this lion standing up, eating. It was so awesome!! Definitely one of the highlights of this zoo.

Here's Lindsey very interested in the animals while we were on the tram:
This park is very spacious and pretty:

Here was my absolute favorite part of the Safari Park, the gorilla exhibit. They have the CUTEST baby gorilla there. The gorillas were very active and walking around. The one in this picture was actually beating his chest!! It was so much fun and I can't go back to watch them longer:


I hope you all are doing well. If you want to come enjoy these zoos, come on down! (I get in for free so I'm willing to go whenever haha) What is your favorite animal to see at the zoo?

The Beach

So I said earlier that my sister came with me to help move us down here. On her last day here we decided to let her out of our apartment so she could see a pretty part of Southern California. I had never seen the Pacific Ocean so I thought we could do that on our way to the airport.
Here are some pics of the gorgeous ocean:



Here's just a cute picture I wanted to include :-)