We Love the Beach

Each year my parents get a two bedroom condo right on the beach in Oceanside for the whole month of September. It is amazing and I hope they never stop doing this. They stay for the whole month. Remember I grew up in Huntington Beach, and my mom and dad have only been in AZ for 6 years. My mom misses the beach terribly and CANNOT STAND the heat. So this is her getaway. Each of us 5 daughters and our families get to choose days during the month to go and visit, and last week was our turn. We left early Tuesday morning and arrived at lunchtime. It was a beautiful day and so began our NO PLANS, NO ITINERARY, NOTHING TO DO 5 days at the beach. My kids love the water and Josh is thrilled that they get in the water and boogie board with his and jump the waves. Me...I love to watch them and stay on the sand in my chair keeping track of Kruz and talking with my mom, just me, one on one. This is how everyday was. The patio furniture sits right at the edge of this grass and the kids love to just play out there on the strip of grass. When we are ready to go to the water, we just hop this little wall and climb down a few rocks and waaalaaa. We are there.

The early mornings were spent searching for sea shells and chasing birds

and the rest of the day was spent in the water, in the sand and taking naps.

On Thursday we drove into San Clemente to visit my grandparents. We don't get to see them as much anymore, so we always make sure to visit them. My girls know them well and love spending time with grandma and grandpa great. I know they won't be around forever and I love that my girls and even Kruz love them and are so tender with them. I am grateful that they love them unconditionally. It was wonderful to spend time with them.
My parents were kind enough to put the kids to bed for us Thursday night so that we could go to the temple. Josh and I were married in the San Diego Temple 9 1/2 years ago. It is terrible to say, but we haven't been back inside since. Well I take that back, we have been there for my sisters weddings, but that was still 7 and 8 years ago, and we have never done a session there together . We were able to attend the 7:30 session with 14 other people. It was a fast session and it was amazing. Things are set up a bit different than the AZ temple that I am so used to. As we sat in the Celestial Room we noticed a door that we recognized. We asked a worker about it and we were able to go through it to the Atrium that took us to the Sealing Rooms. We asked the worker on that floor what room was the largest, and he took us to Room 8. (Funny how I didn't remember that #.) We immediately felt the Spirit so strong as we walked into the room that we haven't been in for over 9 years. We nearly had 65 people in our standing room only ALL WHITE Wedding and what an amazing memory. It brought tears to my eyes to stand in that room and remember what a life changing day that was for me. I am so glad we were able to be there that evening. On Friday my friend Shauna and her husband came to the beach with their 4 kids. I have known Shauna forever. I only get to see her maybe once a year, but we always seem to have a good time. They live about 30 minutes from Oceanside but make a point each year to come and spend an afternoon with us. Two of her daughters are Kylee and Kobi's age and then she has an older daughter and a son that is a few months older than Kruz. It is fun to watch them all play together and to have these new friends. They spent the afternoon with us into the evening and then headed back home. Here are some cute pictures of the afternoon. (Shauna look how cute the one is at the pool, how did yours turn out?)
We ate at the Fish and Chips in the harbor one night, we walked to the end of the pier for shakes one afternoon, stayed up late talking and reading and then our time was coming to an end. We weren't quite ready to go, but what choice did we have? The kids had already missed a week of school and we didn't want them to get too far behind.

So we loaded up Sunday morning at 9:15 and said good-bye. We drove to Shauna's house to see their new house and where they live and we visited with them until 11:15. I think we might have made them late for church, but we hope it was ok. We enjoyed seeing them again and getting more time to visit. We arrived home to the heat of Arizona at 6:oo with no major issues along the way, and quickly got the kids some dinner and plopped them in bed. We had a great vacation and cannot wait to go back again next year. Thank you MOM and DAD.

These were my favorite MUG shots fo the kids.

Kylee 7 1/2 years old

Kobi 5 years old.Kruz 2 1/2 years old.