From Sand to Snow

We returned from our Californian vacation just before 2:00 Tuesday morning. We came from beautiful, warm, sunny weather to huge snowflakes as we drove home. The three of us had a wonderful time.

We left shortly before 6:00am on Friday and arrived in Oceanside, CA around 5:30pm. I quickly fell in love with California's beauty when I saw just how green it was there. There were beautiful hills with long, flowing green grasses and trees all over the place. It was great!

We ate dinner at a restaurant Jon remembered from his mission called, "Islands". They were mostly a burger place but served several other things too. We both enjoyed our food and we decided to really go all out by ordering a dessert afterwards too. We shared a brownie sundae and were so pleased that the brownie was fresh and hot! It was really tasty. It especially tasted more delicious when we found out we got it for free! Yummm. Koen did ok during dinner, he was a little fussy. A little girl at a table next to us thought Koen was a lot of fun to watch and would narrate his every move and emotion to her family. I found it entertaining. haha

After dinner, even though it was then dark, we drove around and Jon tried remembering how to get to several places from his mission, where he served the second half (Vista). It was so fun listening to him tell me about all sorts of fun memories he had with his fellow missionaries as he pointed out the places they were created.

Saturday, we headed over to the famous "In and Out" restaurant for lunch. It was my first experience there, so I was looking forward to trying out this place that I've heard a lot about. Utah recently opened up a couple of stores in the valley and the lines I've heard they have sound ridiculous! So I figured with lines like they've had, it must be some good stuff. I was surprised to see the simplicity of their menu. I liked the toasted bun, the fries were normal fries, and I thought the burger was a normal burger too. It was good, but I wouldn't say AMAZING. I did try their spread, which I guess is a lot of what they're known for, but I didn't care for it. This could be why I thought it was just a normal burger.

We then checked out Jon's first area from his mission, Lake Forest. It was a beautiful area with beautiful homes and neighborhoods. Again... I loved the greenery! I got to see where Jon and several members lived. He showed me the church building, which overall looked like a normal church building but had spanish roofing. It was really neat to see Jon's first area as he told me stories from his mission.

We weren't far from the famous Laguna Beach so we thought we would check it out that afternoon too. It took a while to get there because many other people seemed to have the same idea as us, causing quite the traffic. We didn't realize that Laguna Beach was more than a beach and also a town until we got there. I thought their main street looked fun to walk down with all of the many cute, but I'm sure expensive, shops lining the way. We tried finding free parking, but learned there was none. And then we saw that it was 25 cents for 15 mins at a parking meter and decided we would pass. It was definitely a busy place full of a lot of people and activity. Maybe we will stop there another time.

We spent Saturday evening at Carlsbad Beach, which wasn't too far from where we were staying. It was beautiful there. We were excited about playing in the water until we felt how cold it was. I think we'll go more in the hot afternoon next time. So we decided to walk down the beach instead and search for shells along the way. I think we found some really good shells too. We also came across a dead and partly eaten lobster and crab. We had Koen in a stroller at first, which he seemed pretty bored in, but once we took him out and held him, he was having a blast! He seemed to find it so much fun being out there. Jon and I were really hoping to get a nice sunset photo while we were there, but unfortunately, it was much too cloudy and the sun was hidden from us while it went down. So we missed out. I guess we'll just have to go back to the beautiful Californian beach another time. What a shame. hahaha

We went to church in Lake Forest on Sunday hoping to see a family there that Jon helped teach their nine year old daughter. But we found out that they had moved away. Jon was sad that he didn't get to see them. We learned that the wards had changed quite a bit since Jon served there six years ago. Thankfully, he still got to see a few people that he recognized and remembered from then.

After church, we headed towards the Carlsbad Flower Fields. But, we didn't want to pay to go inside and unfortunately, couldn't see them too well from outside the gate because they closed an entrance that is normally open during the summer time. So we had to make due with what we could see as we drove by and a beautiful post card. haha We'll have to try to stop by there another time as well.

We then went to see the San Diego Temple. I was really excited to see it because I have heard so much about it and many people have told me that it is their favorite temple. When I could first see the temple I thought it looked huge. But when we got right up to it, I then didn't feel like it was nearly as big as I thought it was. It really is a beautiful temple though. I was sad to see that they were doing construction on it, but I guess it needs to be done. I hope that the next time we head to southern California, Jon and I can go inside and see much more of it.

A nice sister invited us for dinner Sunday evening as well. Jon stayed with their family for a short while on his mission. We were a bit nervous about what to expect for dinner because Brother Summers is a vegetarian and Jon and I are picky eaters. Thankfully, the rest of the Summers family enjoys tasty chicken and rice, so it turned out well. We had a wonderful time visiting with the family. Sister Summers was so kind and sent us home with quite a bit of things for Koen too, which included books, toys, an outfit, and a playpen! It was really sweet and thoughtful of her. Now I just need to find a place for some of those things.

We had to head home Monday morning. We would have really liked to stay at least one other day, but responsibility called back home. haha We first stopped by the church building that Jon went to in the second area of his mission so I could get a picture. That building is much different than any other LDS church building I think I've seen. It was beautiful too.

We stopped by the Hoover Dam on our way home as our last vacation adventure. I don't believe I had ever seen it before. It was really neat to see, but I wish that we could have had time to take a tour. I hope that we will have that opportunity again in the future. They were also building a beautiful, big bridge near the dam. It was also cool to see.

So, that was our trip! We had so much fun and really enjoyed our time there. I really look forward to the day when we can go again, and hopefully for a longer period of time. Family vacations are a blast!

Totally different side note... THANK YOU JON FOR FIXING OUR WATER PRESSURE!!!!

We've almost always had poor water pressure, and taking a shower at our place the last couple of months was almost like a trickle of water falling on your head. This is not an exaggeration. We seriously had no water pressure. I could turn our shower head to the side, and the water would still fall straight down. If I turned it upside down, the water would not shoot up AT ALL, it would just fill up the maybe 1/4" deep area of the shower head and look like it was just bubbling. It took a while to get my hair fully wet and then of course to rinse it out. It was always exciting to us when we got to use a shower in a motel or at our family's and enjoy a shower with pressure! I finally told Jon yesterday that I think we need to say something to our landlords because it horrible. Then this morning when I woke up, Jon asked me, "Do you want to thank me now, or later?" I was completely confused. I thanked him, then asked what he did and he told me he was able to fix the water pressure problem. It may sound disgusting, but we had a lot of dirt built up inside the shower pipe and Jon was able to get it out. So now, we have NORMAL WATER PRESSURE!!!!!! Oh thank goodness! THANK YOU JON!

(It's not the greatest of quality. Any better seemed to be too big of a file to upload.)