Memorial Weekend: Cali 2012

California was WONDERFUL! We initially went for Neal (Nephi's brother) graduation but ended up being able to see my family as well. It was such a blessing to see them and we enjoyed every second of the weekend!

I, of course, didn't take as many pictures as I should have. Looking at the pictures I took, I realized I don't even have any with Neal & Angie and Connie & Boyd! Dang. I need to be a better picture taker, but, here is the trip broken down into sections...

We flew into LAX and started being tourists right away. We went to this yummy bratwurst place in downtown LA for lunch and loved it! The fries were to die for and the atmosphere was so retro. We got lost getting there but it was totally worth it :) Luckily, it was right down the street from China Town! Nephi loves China Town and has been wanting me to see if forever and we finally got to go! I didn't get any knock off purses--just some amazingly cheap fruit! A bag of cherries was $2.00! It was totally worth it and it didn't smell that bad... 

Neal graduated from Optometry school! We thought it was going to rain and the moment a slight sprinkle came down, every body put their umbrellas up. HA! Good thing it didn't last long. It was a great ceremony and really, really made me want to go to grad school...BUT, it also made me excited for Nephi to go to PA school. Neal and Angie made great friends there and it was fun to meet everyone. Afterwards we went to The Cheesecake Factory and gorged ourselves. SO good and SO worth every bite! We are so proud of Neal and are excited from him and Angie to move to Washington so we can visit them there!

Did you know Downtown Disney is free!?! I didn't even know that! Bah, where have I been? We went to check it out and it was so cool! There were a lot of people but it was fun to see all the shops and of course get a churro. Who goes to Disneyland without getting a churro? It was delicious. 

We went to the beach all day Saturday and got really burnt! This was the first time I have been to the beach in 2 years! The last time I went was right when I got home from my mission...I can't believe it's been that long! It was perfect. It was overcast that morning but by the time we got there the sun was beating down and we got plenty of sunshine! We even went in the water! Of course the Guymon men took the plunge first and then Angie and I went in later. We got used to it pretty quickly and it was way fun. 

And of course...the highlight of my trip was this baby! We call her "Ava Babah". She is the sweets thing ever! She has grown so much since we saw her last month. I got to hold and cuddle her a lot and I can just smell her thinking about her...I miss that baby smell! It was great seeing my family. We hung out with them at the beach all day and then Nephi and I went back with them that night to my cousins house and had dinner and watched some movies. That little baby is going to grow too fast! But she really is so sweet and super cuddly. Not too squeamish and she does well with others. She isn't attached to her parents and I love that about her. She better not be because she has people fighting over her left and right! I really do love that baby and we got a lot of reminding of how she wants a cousin soon...hmmmm...

California was great and EXACTLY what we needed. We drove home all the way on Sunday and went to the Guymon BBQ on Monday. It was so nice spending so much time with Nephi. Now we just got to get him through the rest of this semester...