Saying Goodbye.

One of the hardest things about moving is leaving friends. 

One of the best things about moving is the excuse to get together with friends.

Double Date with Corey and Mark.

The moms and kids of our playgroup.

The ladies I work with at church.  

We had a few other going away get togethers, unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures. 

It doesn't mean I like them any less.

I have made so many fabulous lifelong friends here- both in Tijuana and San Diego.

I will miss you, but you will always be in my heart.

Changes and houseplants.

I have a lot that I need to do.  However, I just came home from having a root canal, and don't feel like doing much.  I was looking at pictures and marveling at the changes our family has gone through, particularly Thomas.  When we arrived, he was still a baby.  Now he is an energetic toddler.

We have all changed a lot.  Some of our changes are quite obvious, and some we keep inside.

Thomas grew from this:

To this:

Jack grew from this:

To this:

We all went from:

To:

My heart is sad as we prepare to move.  We have met incredible people, and it is hard to leave.  

However, I have come to find that the people I love are a part of me forever, and I take them along with me.  In both my thoughts and my prayers.

Now the houseplant portion of the post.

I don't have the traditional "roots" that a lot of people speak of, but I don't want to be left out of the botanical metaphor.  Therefore, I have decided that I am a houseplant.  I have roots, but I take them wherever I go.  Everyone I have met has become a part of who I am, and who I will become.  Maybe this doesn't work for everyone.  So far, it has worked for me.  

Another thing about being a houseplant- there is potential to plant it in the ground to become a permanent feature.  

Who knows, maybe someday.  

Today, I am hoping that it will be in San Diego. 

Not only for the amazing people, but for the perfect weather.  

Nothing says Christmas Eve like a snowball fight in 60 degree weather.

I had Christmas Eve planned out.  We were going to spend the day listening to Christmas music, and I was going to cook a scrumptious feast.  

We changed our plans when we were told about a church activity in the afternoon.  Then, the church thing was cancelled, and Ben was looking forward to a non-feast sort of day.

So we went to Sea World.

They have a special Christmas Celebration, including Snow World.

We went and threw snow balls, (although after we did the loud speaker came on announcing that throwing snowballs was prohibited) built a mini snow man, and frolicked in the white stuff.

Warm weather + snow =  a life long dream come true.

Happy Christmas Eve.

Little Things.

On our way to church this morning, we discovered our car tire had a bolt in it.  We had a choice, go before/during church to get the tire fixed, or wait until after church to fix it.  I told Ben that we needed to go to church, and we could fix it after.

That is what we did.

After church it took us awhile to find a tire store that was open and didn't have a three hour wait.  We ended up finding a little place that could fix the car immediately, and it only took 20 minutes to fix.  The best part, they didn't charge us to fix it.  It was our shining miracle of the day.  We got to go to church, and we didn't have to pay to have our tire fixed.  Life is good.

Happy Birthday Take Two or an Evening of Elegance.

We continued Ben's birthday celebration this week with a fancy dinner with some friends.  

It was a wonderful night.  We got dressed up, took some pictures, and went to dinner. 

We went to Ruth's Chris Steak House, and the food was AMAZING!  My favorite part (besides my hot husband) was dessert.  The Creme Brulee was to die for.  Seriously. Amazing.  I think the serving size was made to share, but I ate the entire thing. (Insert oink sound here.)

Thanks friends for an amazing evening.

The Ladies.

America's Pastime.

It was Mormon Day at the Padres today, and since we could get discount tickets we decided to go!  We knew going into it, that the boys would not last long, but we felt that since we got a discount, it might be a good opportunity for us to experience a baseball game as a family.  It started out great, we all got Padres beach towels because we were one of the first 25,000 fans!  Then, when they were throwing t-shirts into the stands, we got one!

We had hot dogs, nachos, and cotton candy!  The boys made it to the sixth inning, which was more than we expected.  

All-in-all it was a great way to spend time as a family.

The boys walking to Petco Stadium

The San Diego Mormon Choir singing the National Anthem.

Ben bringing us the best food baseball games  offer.

Jack shows us how to eat cotton candy.

It is a multi-step process.

Step 1:  Check it out.

Step 2:  Try out the texture.

Step 3:  Take a big bite.

Step 4:  Show off a blue tongue.

Step 5:  Repeat until it gets EVERYWHERE!

Safari Park.

We went to the Safari Zoo Park, and we had a great time!  It is a bit of a drive, but totally worth it.  The park is much bigger than the traditional San Diego Zoo, but has more of a natural habitat feel. 

Thomas' favorite part was lunch, and Jack's favorite part was the foot massage chair.  He really lucked out when some kids put a quarter in, but had to leave with their group, so he got a free massage.  It made his day.

We ended the day with feeding some birds. Jack loved it, however, he had a hard time leaving because he didn't get to have a bird on his arm.  Oh well, next time.

 Some pictures of animals. 

The giraffes because they are my favorite.  The vulture because Jack acted as photographer on our safari tour, and this was the best one he took.

I know that I am totally biased, but Jack and Thomas are seriously cute. They are amazing boys, and they are so much fun. I am completely grateful for these two little guys.