Random fun in L.A.

Dave and I have been trying to get out more. We live in such an amazing place with lots of fun stuff to do, yet we tend to do the same things all the time. We're making a pact to explore our city and be "young and fun"! So here are our recent attempts at our end of the year resolution:

Last Thursday we decided to utilize our Disneyland season passes and headed over around 6pm. We got free parking at Downtown Disney, rode the monorail into Tomorrowland and rode on Space Mountain. And then we were so excited there was no line when we reached the Matterhorn! Too bad we missed the part about the park closing early to finish decorating for Christmas. Oops! We still had a fun night wandering around the park until they kicked us out. Next time we'll check the schedule before we try to be spontaneous!

On Friday, Dave took me to Hollywood Park to see the horse races. This is something Dave has wanted to do for years but I had been dragging my feet a bit. (It's in Inglewood people!) But we saw an ad in the paper that Friday was the opening night with $1 hotdogs and $1 beers and $2 minimum bets. We know nothing about horse racing but got a quick tutorial from a stranger and then placed a few bets. We had so much fun cheering our horse on and found out that we're pretty good at picking the 2nd place winner! :) All in all a fun and pretty inexpensive night!

We also took a drive out to Palos Verdes to go hiking by the Trump National Golf Course. You can park at the GC and then use the public hiking trails down to the beach. We brought Hannity and had so much fun exploring another part of our beautiful neighborhood.

Here is our attempt at a group shot on our way down to the beach.

It was low tide so all of the rocks were exposed and there were tide pools everywhere!

Hannity jumped right up on the rocks and went exploring.

We were so proud of our little L.A. prissy dog!

Here she is sniffing out those starfish.

In our search for new, fun and inexpensive things to do I found a website that gives away free tv show tickets. (I'm sure this isn't brand new information to anyone, but I was surprised and super excited about it!) I signed up for tickets to watch Faith Hill perform for a tv show special called "Home for the Holidays". We grabbed out good friends Jon & Lacey, left work early and dressed in our most festive attire. We drove up to Hollywood, waited in line and waited in line and waited in line. At the last minute we were allowed into the theater and given second row seats. It was a pretty intimate show (maybe a couple hundred people?) and she sang two songs, did a couple of commercials and chatted with the audience a bit. Dave and I were definitely filmed quite a bit so there is potential that we could be on tv during the special. How cool is that? So if you're interested, watch "Home for the Holidays" on CBS December 23rd at 8pm and look for us!

If you have more fun ideas for us to try, please let us know!

Babies, Babies everywhere

Sadly, this post comes without pictures but I'm hoping to explain some of my travels the past few weeks. My life has been surrounded by great friends who were about to pop with their new arrivals. I've traveled a bit, helped throw a couple of showers and gotten to spend some quality time with my preggo friends. It has been so much fun to learn all about this new stage of life that they are going through.

So the original plan of events was:

1. Baby Shower #1

2. Baby Shower #2

3. Baby #1

4. Baby Shower #3

5. Baby #2

6. Baby #3

This chain of events was supposed to be spread out between September, October, November and December. I had mapped out my fall and was excited to be there for my friends. Items 1. & 2. happened according to schedule. Lots of fun, games, food and baby talk. Then on October 24th I drove up to Modesto to be there when Crista had her baby (baby #1). She was due Monday October 26th and I was so excited to meet her little man. Well, Monday came and went with no baby. Tuesday came and went with no baby. Wednesday came and went with no baby. She was feeling very ready for him to be in this world so we googled "natural ways to induce labor" and she was such a good sport in trying some of those home remedies! We walked laps around the mall, she ate spicy food, she drank raspberry tea, she ate pineapple... she tried almost everything and still no baby.

Meanwhile, I get a text from Becky (baby #3) saying that she went into labor early. I'm in Modesto thinking "this is not the order it's supposed to be happening!!!" Becky's little Kylie ended up jumping the line and came first on October 28th. She's spending her first few weeks of life in the NICU but is thriving and has even earned herself a nickname from the nurses there: "Sassy"! I came back to RB in time to visit Matt & Becky in the hospital and help them move into their beautiful house in Torrance. About 16 people from our church came out early Saturday the 31st to pack up their apartment in El Segundo and move them into the new house in Torrance. It was such a great and tangible way to help them in the chaotic week they had had.

I hopped back into the car and drove back up to Modesto to see Crista again. (Still no baby!) After a couple of crazy days, little Jackson finally came into the world on Thursday November 5th! He is beautiful and perfect and I got to spend some time with him in the hospital on his first and second days of life. I'm such a proud "auntie"!

I drove back to RB just in time for Becky's baby shower on Saturday. All this driving made me a little tired, but it was really neat to be at a shower for someone whose baby was already here! Even though I haven't gotten to meet Kylie in person yet, we've seen lots of great pictures of her and we were able to picture her in every little present Becky was given. How fun is that?

Then Jasmine had her little Cadence (baby #2) on November 13th. We were also able to visit her in the hospital on Sunday after church. She is beautiful with a ton of dark hair (I told Jasmine she needed some bows!!!) and looks just like her mommy. :)

So the actual chain of events?

1.

2.

6.

3.

4.

5.

I think this is just a great reminder of how even when we think we have something planned out, we actually have little control. As a planner, this thought sometimes terrifies me but I try to remember that God never gives us more than we can handle and He gives us the tools to work through situations with the help of friends and family. It has been so amazing to watch all these new little families grow and learn and I feel so special to have been included in any small way in the births of these three amazing little people. I can't wait to see what God has in store in their futures!

Baby Shower #3

This post is actually a little out of order, but I'll explain that whole story later... :)

My third baby shower in three months was for my good friend Becky. I forgot to bring my camera, unfortunately, but I was able to "borrow" some of these pictures from my good blogging friends! (Thanks Jen and Becky!) Becky's shower was thrown by two of my great friends Jen and Sheri. They hosted us at 26 Beach Cafe in Venice and it was the best baby shower I've ever been to! Thanks for a great time ladies!

Matt & Becky named their baby girl Kylie Joy. This is a banner that the girls made for the shower. They carried the pink & brown bird theme from the invitations to the banner to the papers that we used for the games...it was so beautiful and creative.

Here is Jen and Becky together. I'm posting this picture mostly to show my family how extremely talented Jen is. She hand makes these special quilts for all of her expecting friends. I have seen quite a few over the years and I never cease to be amazed at how much time and love goes into these presents. They are so beautiful and she always seems to really "get" each person that she is making them for. Love it!

Here is the group from JOF! We know all of these girls from the Outlet (our Sunday school class) but some have moved on in life to other groups and other cities. It was really great to have this group together!

Shower #3 is it for me for a while. It has been a very exciting few months and so special to be a part of the celebrations for such great friends. I just have to say thanks to Sheri and Jen one more time, Great Job Ladies!!!

Baby Shower #2

This past Saturday I was able to help out at the baby shower of yet another preggo friend! I'm enjoying the time I get to spend planning parties for these great girls and utilizing years of hostess training from my mom, the Queen of parties. I'm so grateful for her serving heart and all of the years she spent hosting events for friends and family at our house. Thanks mom! :)

Here we are! Lacey, Mom-to-be Jasmine, Meredith and Me!

Here is Jasmine opening some of her great gifts.

Baby girl clothes are so much fun and got lots of ooohs and aaahs!

The dessert buffet was amazing! Meredith proved to be quite the cupcake aficionado with three types of homemade cupcakes. They were delicious!

I made the semi-homemade cookies with homemade frosting and sprinkles.

I'm getting good at making party favors! It was filled with four types of yummy chocolates.

And here is the spread! Let's just say that we ate really well.

Thanks to Lacey for opening your home for another great party. I think it was another SUCCESS! :) Can't wait to meet baby Cadence...

Baby shower #1

I spent this last weekend in Modesto to celebrate my very best friend in the whole world! Crista and Mike are expecting a baby boy next month and we got to celebrate her before little Jackson came into the world. Crista's sister and mom helped me throw a baby shower in my mom's backyard and it was a success, if I do say so myself!

We spent the weeks leading up to the shower praying for cooler weather and we were blessed/cursed with a windy morning. As everything continued to fall of tables and blow over we reminded ourselves that wind was better than 100 degree heat!

Here is Crista's sister and mom (Carrie & Carrol), Crista, Me and my mom. We used to live two houses apart, and now Carrie is married with two little girls of her own, Carrol and Jerry have moved to another house, Crista is ready to start her own little family, and I'm living in Redondo Beach! It's nice to know that even though life can change so drastically we will always have good friends.

Here is the mommy and daddy to be: Crista & Mike.

She got lots of fun stuff!

Two of Crista's good friends made this cake for her. It was fantastic!

It was such a fun day of celebrating the new little life they're bringing into this world. We can't wait to meet you baby Jackson! And this post is labeled "Baby Shower #1" because we know quite a few pregnant women and will have the chance to celebrate each of them in the next few months. Yay!

A Homecoming & A Farewell

I haven't had much luck gathering more vacation pictures, so I figured I would just move on and show some other things that have been happening around here recently...

Adam and Angela were two of the first people we met at our church when we first arrived in town. We've had a lot of fun with them over the years and learned a lot too! Adam was recently shipped to Iraq for his third tour of duty and we all took it upon ourselves to entertain his lovely wife while he was away. We had lots of fun nights at Taco Tuesdays, a breakfast party to send Adam some video greetings and we even got a glimpse of Adam's dancing skills at the Outlet's comedy night via video. Thankfully, his six months have come to an end and he's home now! Here are some of the pictures from the night we picked him up from the airport.

Here I am with Angela and Lacey, eagerly awaiting Adam's arrival.

Here is Adam and Angela. A bit overwhelmed, I'm sure,

with all of the commotion and excitement!

We sure did miss you and are so glad you're home safe! What a special night to be apart of.

I have never been apart of an airport greeting like this and it was truly touching.

We had flags to wave and signs to hold and lots of smiles and hugs and relief when we

got to see Adam again. Thanks for your service Capt B!

Adam and Angela were home for about two weeks before they left for their next home: Denver! We got to have a going away party for them and even had a couple of dinners before they left. We're so sad to see them leave, but are excited for a new place to visit. We'll be coming soon!

Vacation Teaser

Dave and I took some time off in the end of July for a little "vacation" to Northern California to visit our families and some great friends. We usually do a marathon weekend trip where we try to cram as many things into a 48 hour period, so it was nice to spread it out and spend some quality time with more people! Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera, so I'm a little short on pictures at the moment. As my friends and family post them elsewhere I will borrow them and tell some stories.

In the meantime, here's a little teaser of what Dave accomplished on his time off:

That's Half Dome in Yosemite! My sister Sarah convinced Dave to chaperone a trip to the mountain with her best friends with only four hours notice. Good thing he's in great shape! They had a few hiccups along the way but made it to the top with a total round trip time of about 11 hours. Here is a picture of Sarah, our cousin Bradley, Dave, and Sarah's best friend Natalie preparing to climb up the cables to the top of Half Dome. Way to go you guys!!!

The was the most thrilling part of the the Norcal vacation. The rest of it was filled with great food, hot days by the swimming pool, the Stanislaus County Fair, a quick trip to Redwood Christian Park, Santa Cruz beach day, three year old wedding cake tasting, catching up with great friends and lots and lots of laughs.

I promise more pictures from our adventures soon... just waiting on Sarah's return from Australia with her handy little camera.