Last Tuesday

A week ago I returned home from a week long trip to California. Miranda had gone 2 weeks before me to stay with my {sister} Christine who just had baby #5. Miranda was thrilled with her job as a junior nanny and had a great time holding, helping, playing, cooking and keeping up with some of her homeschool studies at the same time. But once I joined her it was pretty much all play. I really had a great time in California from the first day to the last. Here is a recap of my week.

Tuesday- Flew in to LAX and got to hug my girl that I missed terribly, hold new baby Derek for pretty much the rest of the day and hang out with Christine and her beautiful family. Oh and I made a new five minute friend on the plane. His name is Mike and he is contemplating a move from Perris, CA to his grandparent's farm near Cavalier, ND. I hope everything works out well for him.

Wednesday- Lots of visiting and holding the baby. Christine and I took my camera in to the Cannon store and then had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. It was seriously delicious. My turtle chocolate cheesecake was for sure the best cheesecake that I have ever had. That evening Aaron, Leah and Julia visited. It was fun to see them again. Julia is a doll.

Thursday-We spent the morning hanging out and visiting and then went to the beach in the afternoon with Leah and Julia. It was a perfect beach day. Christine made a sand castle with her boys, Miranda turned Julia into a mermaid, Leslie and Miranda boogie boarded and we even spotted dolphins not too far from shore. I love going to the beach when we visit California. That evening Christine and I left all of the kids with Ryan and Miranda and we headed to the Newport Beach Temple. I love it there....it is so peaceful and beautiful.

Friday- Miranda and I had a great time at Disneyland. This was the first time since she has had sisters that we have spent this much time alone together. One of her favorite parts was seeing the robot Asimo in the Innoventions building. She also loved the Indiana Jones ride, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Fantasmic. She DID NOT like getting soaked on Splash Mountain. We were both disappointed that Pirates of the Caribbean was closed. All in all a (very long) fantastic day.

Saturday-Miranda stayed home and watched General Conference with Auntie Christine, Uncle Ryan and the kids while I went to breakfast with girlfriends from 7th, 8th and 9th grade. It was a wonderful mini reunion. I loved seeing Pam, Christine, Jill, Tammy, Andrea and a friend that came into the picture later, Tonyalynn. Saturday afternoon Darci (a friend from EHS) came to Christine's to have dinner with us and visit. It was so nice to see her again.

I went running with Ryan Saturday evening and was so nice to be out after dark with no mosquitoes and perfect weather.

Sunday- This was the only day that I didn't get dressed or do my hair and make up. We had an awesome breakfast that Ryan made for us and then watched two fabulous sessions of General Conference. I also got lots of baby holding time in and had fun playing with Leslie, Shane, Conner and Trent as well.

Monday- This was a super busy day. We started out by driving to the Los Angelos County records office by 8am so that I could get a copy of my birth certificate. It is much easier to do that in peson than from half a country away. Then I met up with Ryan at the LB police academy and ran 5.5 miles in the park. I was able to have a tour of the academy afterwards and then to In & Out burger for an early lunch and to pick up a T-shirt for Derek. Back at the house I packed quick and then we headed out to a beautiful park for a LeBaron family photo shoot. The shoot went better than I had expected (they are a family of 7 after all!) and we were able to get some great photos. I'm pretty sure that Christine loved the results. That evening Aaron and Leah took me out to dinner. We ate at Kobuki, an oh-so-yummy sushi place. Aaron ordered way too much but we managed to pack it all away. It was just too wonderful to not eat it all! I even ate sea urchin and salmon eggs......I made Aaron proud. We ended the evening with a visit to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for a sweet treat. Miranda and I knew we had to get up before 4am the next morning so we kept that evening's visiting to a minimum.

It was hard to say goodbye, but always good to get back home to my sweet hubby and lovable, missable, huggable, kissable little girls. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to visit for an entire week. We packed so much in to that one week and the memories will last a lifetime.