Newport Beach Part 1 of 2

Growing up, my family traveled to Newport Beach every year with friends and extended family. We always had such a great time and so I was thrilled to go back and relive some of my favorite memories with my husband and kids.
After eating lunch at the Pipeline in Newport, we took a stroll down the boardwalk to Balboa Pier. I love that walk with the ocean, sand and fabulous beachfront homes to look at.
Roman having so much fun with his daddy. Check out the blue tongue-he was loving the salt water taffy!
Mommy and Capri:We then jumped on the ferry to head over to Balboa Island (Capri fast asleep-a rough day when you only had an hour nap):
Tucker and I on Balboa Island:My cute mom and I admiring just one of the darling homes on this quaint little island:The twins excited to be out of the stroller and exploring every little alley:This is my cute matching family on the Balboa Peninsula. We had come back that evening and ate at the best place called Bay Burger.My parents were the best to come with and we even met up with my little brother Jon.Us again?! Not quite the picture I wanted, but oh well!

Doesn't Get Much Better Than This...

Despite the occasional hit or shove, they really do love each other!

Erika's Baby Shower

Last post of Utah, I promise. Please scroll down to see what other fun things we did with the Nielson and Curtis families while in Salt Lake.

The main reason we planned this trip was Erika's shower. That may seem extreme, but my girlfriends are just that important! When I got married first, Nicole's mom Janette did a special tea party for us and our moms. Thus, the mother/daughter showers started and have continued for all bridal and baby showers and we absolutely love them. It was great to catch up with everyone and so fun to just be together with each other.

We didn't get a picture of everyone (gasp!) but here are some of us at the end:

Erika and her sister Jennifer and her mom Anne:

Just a cute picture of my mom and Capri-thanks mom for all your help!

Cheri's Birthday/Jon's Going Away Party

We decided to get together to celebrate Cheri's birthday and Jon going away to college. It was a great barbecue headed up by Cody but included all of my family, the Overtons and the Brooks. Of course we had to take pictures of the fam...

Who are these babes?

Jon and his best friend/roommate Spencer-Good Luck boys!

Separation Anxiety

This is a phrase we are all too familiar with here in the Nielson household. However, this past week was a bit different than the typical situation of Capri screaming as soon as I leave her sight. Now even us adults are experiencing a bit of sadness as me and my siblings have had to split up. Richard is back in Salt Lake to finish up school and find someone to marry, and Jon is in Cedar City attending SUU for his first year of college. It was so nice to have everyone together in Utah for a week, but hard to leave everyone including my sister and Robert and Jesse's family. We have always been so close (we all moved within 100 feet of each other!) and so it is difficult to be states away.

Here are some pictures of our last couple of days together:

Grammy's toys...

Roman has a new little buddy Luke, a cousin actually, that he loved to follow and imitate. I am excited for them to be good friends as they get older. Here they are, two boys in a bright pink and purple Barbie jeep. They absolutely loved the thing even though they weren't going anywhere. I can only imagine what they will be up to the next time they get together!

I don't know what I would have done all week without this stroller. Capri absolutely loved it and would push it around all day everyday. I had told my mom that I was going to buy one for Christmas, but now that I see her at Grammy's with this one, I will have to get one immediately!

Park City

I forgot how much I loved being up in the mountains. Growing up with Mt. Olympus in my backyard, there were plenty of opportunities to enjoy the beauty and recreation of the great outdoors. With one of my best friends Jessica by my side, I was encouraged to spend as much time as possible hiking, biking and just enjoying what the mountains had to offer. Thanks Jessica!

Because there aren't anything even resembling mountains here in San Diego, I was excited to head back to Utah and have a fun night out up in Park City. We were with Tucker's family and after a delicious meal at Red Rock, we went to ride the Alpine Coaster-I know it's not really the outdoor experience but seriously so much fun! We knew we had to stop by for an apple pie carmel apple at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Company-delicious-and then headed home. Funny thing about our drive, just as we got to the top of Parleys, we noticed that I-80 Westbound was closed. Shoot. Tucker and I were up for an adventure so we decided to take Guardsman's Pass rather than circle all the way around and out Provo Canyon. It was absolutely beautiful and the lightning show we got at the top was spectacular. Good Times!

We had such a great time weekend with the entire Nielson Family-Thank you everyone for such a great trip!

At Red Rock Plaza after dinner:

On the twin's first Carousel Ride-Capri not so much a fan!Roman was a fan, until the end where we all got a bit sick!

Hello Neumann

Sorry it has been so long since our last post. Things have been crazy with company and now we are in Utah. I wanted to create this post on our evening with the our friends the Neumans, but didn't have my camera with me. So what do I do, just grab them from their blog and use them for mine, brilliant. Oh, and I stole my post title from their blog title, but it was just too good to pass up.

Brett and Jen have been the greatest of friends since our U of U days. Though we don't get to see them nearly enough, we have kept in touch and were lucky to have them here in San Diego. They had a sweet beach house near Crystal Pier and so we decided to meet them for the evening. Later that week the clan including their darling and oh so well-behaved kids Leah and Benjamin, came to stay with us and we didn't go to bed before 1:00am while they were here. That always seems to happen with these guys!

Here are just a few of my stolen pics from the pier:

The twins strapped in but happy with their "l-i-c."

Me, Tucker and my new best friend, my hat-for all those "aaaahhhhrrrgggg" days:The Neumanns-you will never stop laughing with these guys! We miss you already!

Old Point Loma Lighthouse

These pictures are actually a few weeks old, but I wanted to make sure they made the blog. When my aunt Julie and her kids came into town we headed to Point Loma for a bit of a field trip. It was absolutely beautiful as you can see!
This was the old lighthouse found right on the tip of the peninsula. Within the lighthouse is the home of the caretakers. Every room has been restored to show life in the 1880's and we decided it wasn't the life for us!

Just Read...

I just finished a fabulous book that I would recommend to anyone called The Book Thief. It is one of the most creatively written books I've read which captivates you from the beginning. The book takes place during WWII but before you say you are done reading such stories, know that this takes on a totally different perspective. I know Breaking Dawn is coming out tomorrow, in which I seriously can't wait, but give this one a try once you finish (which will probably be this Sunday).