Monday, September 10, 2012

Costa Mesa

We flew to LAX on Sept 5th.  We rented a car through Advantage and drove to Costa Mesa, staying at the Best Western Newport Mesa Inn, near the O.C. Fairgrounds.  We have stayed there once before, with Ryan.  After we got to the hotel,  Dad and I went to the South Coast Plaza to get them a wedding gift.  We went to Crate and Barrel.  Dad bought them some salt and pepper shakers and I bought them a pancake/ waffle spatula, a cheese grater, 4 cutting mats, and a whisk.  We went back to the hotel and unpacked.  Then we went to Von's to get groceries.  After we put the groceries in the room, we went to the Crab Cooker with Ryan and Sara. We gave them our gifts.




On Thursday, We ate breakfast at the hotel.  We spent the whole day at Disney's California Adventure from 10:30 am until 5:30 pm.  We hadn't been there since 2003.  We had to park 2 miles away and take the bus to the park.  We started out in the Condor Flats, going on Soarin' Over California.  Mom has to shut her eyes to go on this ride.  We went over to the Grizzly Peak and went on the Grizzly River Run, which we got soaked on.  We walked over to Paradise Pier and went on the Littler Mermaid- Ariel's Undersea Adventure, which is like the ride, Finding Nemo at Epcot.  Dad and I went on the Golden Zephyr, which is a spinning ride that made me nauseous.  Dad went on Goofy's Sky School which is like the Wild Mouse at Lagoon.  While Dad went on the Silly Symphony Swings, Mom and I got Icee's.  We then all went on Mickey's fun wheel, the Ferris wheel, choosing to go on the side that doesn't spin.  We ate lunch at the Pacific Wharf Cafe, which had clam chowder in sourdough bread bowls.  We walked over to Hollywood Land to see Disney's Aladdin-a Musical Spectacular at the Hyperion theatre, which was a 40 minute show and really good.  We rode on Monsters, Inc: Mike and Sully to the Rescue, which has taxis as the vehicles.  We walked around the shops, while Dad went on the The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.  We walked back to a Bug's Land and saw It's Tough to be a Bug.  Then we walked through the shops, while Dad went on the Radiator Springs Racers in Cars Land.  We saw the Pixar Play Parade.  Mom bought some Caramel corn, before we exited the park.  We had dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory at Blackie's.  On our way back to the hotel, we went to Grower's Direct and got some fruit.  When we went back to the hotel and logged onto Facebook,  we found out my Dad's uncle Calvin had passed away the previous Saturday.









On Friday,  I ate raspberries for breakfast. I finished reading, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.  We drove up to Los Angeles, parking at Hollywood and Highland, walking around the stars and the shops.  We drove around Beverly Hills and Melrose Avenue, passing the CBS and Paramount Studios.  We had lunch at the food court at Anaheim Plaza  I read on my ipad and Dad went to Newport Beach while Mom took her nap.   At 7 pm, We went to the rehearsal dinner at Sara's house in Sunset Beach, hosted by my parents. We had Greek food from George's Greek, which included Greek Salad, Fruit, Veggies, Chicken Kabobs, Beef Kabobs, Pita Bread with Hummus, and Cheesecake for dessert.  It was good, getting to know Sara's family.  At 11 pm, we drove back to the hotel.








On Saturday,  I ate raspberries for breakfast. We went to the OC Swap Meet, where I bought some books and Mom and Dad bought some strawberries and some Caramel corn.  We ran into my Aunt Elaine and Uncle Les.  We got to the Newport Beach Temple at 2:45 PM, because our GPS wouldn't let us put in the exact address to the temple.  The ceremony was at 3 pm.   After the ceremony, we took pictures on the front steps. Sara and her mom made her wedding dress, her two sisters' dresses, and dresses for her nieces.   I wore my blue dress with a black sweater, Mom wore her grey dress. Dad and Ryan wore blue suits with rust colored ties.  After the pictures, we went to the car and we started pulling away, when I noticed Dad's flowers squished in our parking space.  They must have fallen off his jacket when he put his jacket in the back of the car and he ran over them with the tires.  We drove around the Pacific Coast Highway before going to the reception.












The reception was at Sherman Gardens and Library in Corona Del Mar.  We had appetizers such as Shrimp wrapped in Bacon, Tuna on Polenta, and Onion Tarts, with Lemonade to drink.  When we were seated inside at the U shaped table, I was seated between Dad and Aunt Elaine. Sara and her mom made the rust table runners, the grey napkins, and soapboxes for name plates.   Sara's dad conducted the dinner and made introductions of the family.  Ryan and Sara had their first dance to the song, I Will by the Beatles.  The first course was Mozzarella, Lettuce, and Tomatoes.  The fathers of both the Bride and Groom gave speeches on Ryan and Sara.  The second course was Asparagus and Arugula with an orange colored dressing.  The main entree was Halibut, Risotto, and Carrots.  The best man, Rich, and the Matron of Honor, Laura gave speeches.  Ryan and Sara then cut their cake, which was Pineapple and Coconut with Butter cream frosting.  Sara in her speech, had 9 other people including me, give one reason why she loved Ryan.  I had to talk about how he honors his Priesthood and does what is right, with Sara giving the number one reason.  Ryan then talked about how much he loves Sara and got teary-eyed.  We then ate the cake, which was delicious.  Then it was time for us single ladies to gather at the back of the room as Sara threw the bouquet.  Their friend, Sara B. caught it.  Then we gathered out in the courtyard with poppers of confetti to pop when Ryan and Sara ran past, sending them off.  After they left,  we said goodbye to everyone and drove to our hotel. Mom and Dad gave them money for their honeymoon to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.










On Sunday,  I finished reading, Matched by Ally Condie and I watched some episodes of the Office (UK) on my ipad.   Dad went to Sacrament Meeting at the stake center next to the Temple, with my aunt Elaine and uncle Les.  After Dad came back from church, we drove up to Knott's Berry Farm and had chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy, and rolls with boysenberry jam for lunch.  After we ate, we walked around the shops.  After our nap, we decided to drive past Blackie's.  It was too crowded to walk on the pier.  So we went to Downtown Disney.  They had closed the book store, which was sad.  Mom bought the Indiana Jones playset and some cookies.  We had dinner at El Torito.  We drove back to the hotel and watched the movie, Date Night.





















Sunday, August 26, 2012

Marsh Lake

On Thursday morning, we drove up to Marsh Lake, which is next to Bridger Lake, in the Uintas. We stopped at McDonald's in Evanston for lunch and ate our food in the trailer.  We got to the lake at 1 PM, and we stayed in spot 9 on the East side.  When we got into the trailer, I opened the fridge, and saw the milk container's lid had come off and there was milk all over the fridge.  Dad went fishing at the lake and didn't catch anything. We had hamburgers, Macaroni and Shrimp Salad, and chips for dinner.  Dad went to pour ketchup on his burger and the ketchup came out really fast and squirted all over the table.   Mom was walking down the stairs and twisted her left ankle.  We played Bean Bag Toss outside.  Daisy jumped in back of the couch and couldn't get out, waking me up, meowing.  I had to move my bed and the couch to get her out.

On Friday,  Dad made us pancakes, eggs, and bacon for breakfast.   After breakfast, I went for a walk down by the lake.  When I got back, we watched the movie, Water for Elephants.  Dad went fishing at Bridger lake and caught 4 fish for dinner.  He also made us Dutch oven potatoes and Blueberry cobbler.  After dinner, I walked around the East campground.  We played Dominoes and Scrabble before bedtime.

On Saturday, Dad made Cinnamon rolls for breakfast.  We watched the movie, The Lion King, while Dad was out fishing at Marsh and didn't catch anything.  When he came back,  we drove home.  As we were leaving the campground, it started raining.  We stopped at Wendy's in Evanston for lunch.  We ate in the trailer and the cats hid under the bed, so we had to wait for Shadow to come out, so we could get back in the truck and finish the drive.  













Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Dresses, Doctors, and a Tragedy

On Sunday morning, we couldn't find Shadow anywhere after he went out to the backyard.  Mom found him under our deck, which has boards around the two side entrance and rocks to block the front entrance. Daisy was on the deck, covered in hay and webs, so he must have followed Daisy under the rocks and then couldn't get out.  I went down to the basement and got a chair, putting it up against the window and opened the window.  Shadow came running over to the window's edge and I grabbed Shadow's paws and pulled him towards me, through the window, after I took the screen corner off.

Daisy and Shadow like to sit on my television together.




Sunday, August 12, 2012

City Creek Center

We went to the City Creek Center and ate dinner at the Cheesecake Factory to celebrate Mom's birthday.  




























Sunday, August 5, 2012

Television Standoff

Shadow and Daisy have been fighting this week over who gets to sit on my television and who gets to sit on the end table in the front room.



Sunday, July 29, 2012

Crystal Hot Springs

On Friday, we drove up to Honeyville, Utah, with the RV and stayed at Crystal Hot Springs.  One the way up, the cats actually wanted to be in the same Pet Taxi, which was weird because they like to wrestle with each other.  We had hot dogs for dinner.  The cats kept us up most of the night, meowing to go outside.  Since we were camping, we missed the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics in London.  





On Saturday,  we took a drive into Brigham City and saw the new temple and got a peach shake at Peach City.  











On Sunday morning, we drove home.







Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Pioneer Day


On Wednesday, I took the cats outside to get the mail.  Shadow went and hid in our garden.  Daisy went and hid under the truck.  I grabbed Shadow and put him back in the house and shut the door.  When I went to find Daisy, she was in our neighbor's yard.  Good thing their big dog wasn't out.






Sunday, July 15, 2012

Station Park

Mom and I went to Station Park and had lunch.