One last California post

Alright, this is the last one...I promise. The day before we flew out we decided make the most of it. We went down to Coronado Island (why they call it an island, I don't know because it's actually a peninsula. Whatever.) Anyway, after a quick stop at Panera for some lunch (yum), we went over to this spot right by Hotel del Coronado to rent a 4 wheeled bike. Is that what they're called? I know it's not a "4-wheeler". My sister called it a surrey but for some reason I don't think that's right either. I thought a surrey was that cart in the musical Oklahoma? ANYWAY...I'm gonna call it a 4 wheeled bike because that's basically what it is. So it was my mom, my sister and her 2 kids, and then me, Ryan and Ella.

We first got on the bike all excited to go up and down the boardwalk and all around but quickly realized that the pedaling was a lot more difficult than it looked. We were so confused. We saw all these "older people" cruising along like it was no big deal. What was our problem? I mean, none of us claim to be in the best shape of our lives, but were we THAT out of shape? So we do a little rearranging and when my sister switched to the back and Ryan took the driver's seat, we quickly learned that it was MUCH easier to pedal when you take the parking brake off. Thanks Linds. My thighs still shake a little when I think about what you put them through.

This is my mom helping Ella with her "hat"

Carson and Ella had their very own spot up in the front

All of us (Carson was not a huge fan of the helmet. Can you tell?)

Ky-Ky's Birthday Party!

A couple days before we left San Diego to come back to Oklahoma, it was my youngest cousin, Kylie's, sixth birthday and what better place for a girl to celebrate this momentous occasion than the one and only Chuck E. Cheese's!  The food was not the best but the company made up for it!

Ella and the Birthday Girl

This was Ella's first experience at the Cheese's and boy did she LOVE it! Plain cheese pizza, sugary birthday cake, and all the games she could sucker her Grandma Karen into paying for!

La Jolla

One of our most favorite places to take a walk and enjoy some beautiful nature is in La Jolla. Seems like no matter what time of year, we always make time to head out to La Jolla shores and breathe some fresh ocean air.  This time we went we my sister and her family and my brother too. 

This is Kaitlyn (my sister's little girl) and Ella.  They're almost exactly the same age difference as my sister and me.

Ella loves Kaitlyn

And Kaitlyn loves Ella

My little monkey

Ryan and Ella with Owen and Kaitlyn

Raking leaves with Grandpa Jim

One afternoon, we were hanging out with my dad and my sister's family.  My dad had just finished raking some leaves and the grandkids just couldn't resist undoing what he just did.

My dad has this bucket for mopping the floor and Carson wouldn't let it out of his hands!

Hike at Torrey Pines

One of the days that we were in San Diego, we went with my mom and Dave to a really cool hiking trail that was on the cliffs over looking the ocean in Torrey Pines.  It was kind of an overcast day but we still had a great time enjoying some great views.

Rose Parade Floats

On New Year's Day, we went with my mom and Dave up to Pasadena to go view the rose parade floats.  We're never ambitious enough to spend the night on the sidewalk to see the actually parade (a fact that I think Ryan is very grateful for) but they park the floats after the parade and people can walk around and see them up close.  We actually timed it just right this year and got there about 10 minutes before the gates opened.  Last year we learned that if you wait and go later in the afternoon, you're going to have to deal with half of southern California trying to see the floats also.

We had to take a family shot in front of this float.  It was done by the city of Huntington Beach--our old stomping grounds last year.  

Look at how HUGE those gerber daisies are! Gorgeous!

This picture is a little shout out to our Alaska friends--the city of Anchorage did this one.

Our Omaha Family

Another fun thing we were able to do while we were in Utah was to catch up with some of our friends that we made while we were in Omaha for Ryan to go to dental school. Even though we all live in different cities now, I still cherish the friendships we made and love to take any opportunity we can to see these guys.

Our friends, the Wyatts, live in Idaho and were only able to be down in Utah for a short visit to go to a family Christmas party. The only time we all could coordinate to be with each other was for breakfast on a Saturday morning. Because of all of our kids (okay mostly just Ella), it wasn't the most peaceful meal but fun nonetheless!

Cammie effortlessly entertains all of the kids. Logan is a lucky boy to have such a great mommy!

Pratts, Wyatts, Harbertsons

About a week later, we had a little get together with some more friends from dental school. I had so much fun chatting the night away with everyone that I totally forgot to take some more pictures!

Ella + Snow = Happiness

This year we were blessed with a very white Christmas! We were in Utah for two weeks and while we were there, it snowed and snowed and snowed some more.  It doesn't really snow here in Oklahoma and I'm beginning to think that Ella wishes it did.  She loved looking out the windows at the "snow pie" (I have no clue why she can't just say "snow"--it was always "snow pie" for some reason.) 

This is Ella taking Pete for a walk...or Pete taking Ella for a walk.

Ryan just LOVED taking Ella outside to play in the snow. Not really, but he was a good sport to do it anyway...especially when she wanted to go out and then back inside and then back outside etc...

Ella's cute cousin (and new BFF) Claire