vacation catch up, part 5: yosemite, death valley, las vegas

After leaving San Francisco we drove through fruit orchards and nut orchards to Yosemite and the house that we rented for the night. We checked in, fell in love with the place & our own private pool, then drove through Yosemite to check out the 'valley' (Bridal Veil Falls, Half Dome, etc.). It was much hotter in Yosemite than in San Fran so it felt great to play in the water when ever we got the chance. On our way back through the park we stopped at a store & bought (at ridiculous prices) stuff to make for dinner. It was a lot of fun to just cook our own meal (one gets tired of eating out on vacation), swim in our own pool and watch a movie late into the night with 21 bodies laying every which way. Sarah slept under the coffee table next to Megan & all the older cousins. Emma & Morgan slept with Gene and I in our room.

The next day we toured Yosemite some more and then drove to Bishop, CA and stayed in a tiny motel and ate at a hole-in-the-wall-yet-divine-mexican-restaurant for dinner. Yummy! Seriously, if you are ever in Bishop, California you must eat at Taqueria Las Palmas! On our second to last day, we drove to Las Vegas and enjoyed the sights later in the evening (thank goodness, cuz it was HOT), like the Belagio Fountains. That night we stayed in Mesquite and then drove straight home in the morning. I was so glad to be home because my toe hurt and honestly, it made me sad to end such a lovely trip w/ the last two days of ugly desert. But I will forget about that part and thank God for the safety of our loved-ones & reliability of our van we were able to enjoy on the vacation!

Our room in the house outside Yosemite. Gene's brother's family got the master suit

w/ a four-post bed and huge bathroom.

The back of the house w/ our own private pool (Emma, Morgan & Sarah)

My niece, Jennifer, swimming w/ Mark walking to the hot tub.

Emma in the pool.

Brandon w/ Brent having a 'chicken fight' w/ Gene & Morgan. Morgan was cracking up while Brent was pretending to let her beat him.

After a long day touring Yosemite we made spaghetti, salad & garlic bread for dinner...

...and then played in the pool late into the night.

Megan jumping into the pool. It was soooo nice to have our own house to share! I highly recommend traveling that way w/ family!

Sarah, Emma & Megan at the base of Bridal Veil Falls in Yosemite.

Yosemite cliffs...

...and rocks...

...and mountains.

The next day we stopped by the river and had fun jumping off rocks into the cold water.

Gene w/ the kids hiking granite rocks in Yosemite!

Nathan, Sarah & Megan in Yosemite w/ Half Dome in the distance.

Our family in Yosemite w/ Half Dome over Sarah's head. Gene looks pregnant w/ the shadow casting that way, hehehe.

Sadly, there is just no pretty way to get from California back to Utah. Nevada has to be THE ugliest state in the nation! Instead of heading back the same way, we crossed through Death Valley on our way to Las Vegas.

Our van rolled over to 100,000 miles in Death Valley and that was the most exciting part of that stretch of road!

In Las Vegas we hit the Freemont Street experience w/ the laser light show...

...and freaky Elvis impersonators. We had fried Twinkies and listened to music then headed over to the Belagio Fountains for a few shows & walked along the Las Vegas strip for a while. Then we stopped in Mesquite for the night and drove home the next morning! Phew!

vacation catch up, part 4: redwoods, stinson beach

Summer time is busy with fun & trips, but then Fall starts and doesn't let up with the beginning of school, field trips, harvesting and canning. I have five posts in my draft box that I want to get published, so I'm just gonna crank out these last couple vacation posts.

The day we went to Muir Woods and Stinson Beach was probably one of my favorite simply because I love dark forests, fog and the drive up the Pacific Coast highway was breath taking! The beach was much colder than Lake Tahoe, but fun in spite of the fact that everyone was growing hungry. We drove about 20 miles up the coast & inland a bit, to a gas station and then stopped for pizza. That was a fun break & the kids all watched the Avatar cartoons in their dinning hall and Morgan finally went poo for the first time since we left home! She was a happy camper for the rest of the trip. After dinner we made our way back over the foggy Golden Gate Bridge to our hotel for our last night's stay in San Francisco.

I don't have a picture of my favorite memory, which is: as we drove North, away from Stinson Beach (hoping to get to the Point Reye's lighthouse before the fog hit) we drove past a lagoon with a white house on the opposite side of the lagoon facing us. Immediately behind the house were steep Pine covered hills--shading the house and lagoon in the setting sun--with the most ominous looking fog rolling over the top of the hills. And, like milky-white bony fingers, the fog laced it's way through the trees, slowly creeping it's way to the house, seemingly in orchestration with the darkness to overcome the house all at once. For what seemed the longest time I just stared at the house, with it's accompanying fog, and wished that I could live there, for just a week or so to be able to experience this daily routine of the fog rolling in, like the reliable visit from an old friend, and to schedule my life around the fog.....but before I knew it the house was out of sight and I'd wished I would have thought to stop the entire caravan so that I could've taken just one picture, but alas.

Our family at the entrance of Muir Woods Redwood Forest S.P.

Gene w/ Morgan in front of a giant Redwood tree (the Redwood's are tall, the Sequoia's are fat).

A cross section of an old Redwood that was born in 909 A.D. and fell in 1930!

Walking through Muir Wood's and taking tons of photos of all the beauty...

A view through the tree tops...

I love the perspective of this shot!

The flora & the fauna (look closely in the middle of the photo and you'll see the deer).

So incredibly amazing! I loved Muir Woods!!!

Gianna, Sarah, Nathan & Emma inside a Redwood log.

Morgan, Emma & Sarah inside a giant Redwood living tree.

Then we drove to Stinson Beach. And Brandon & Gene were the only ones brave enough to get DEEP in the water without wet-suits! It was COLD!

Sarah getting her toes wet in the Pacific Ocean.

Me, getting my toes wet in Pacific foam.

Gene found a crab walking along the coast.

Emma chasing the Seagulls (getting in the salty ocean hurt her eczema).

There were so many seagulls hovering, I started snapping away. I like this one.

Looking northward up the coast. That long 'cloud' to the left is the famous San Francisco fog rolling in...it reached us a couple hours later.

christmas time

Merry Christmas! I just wanted to quickly post some of the photos from our Christmas Eve and Christmas day festivities. Also to let you know that, even though I was super lame this year and didn't send out any Christmas cards, I really appreciated hearing from all of you and love you all very much!!! Lastly, I want you to know that I have a testimony of the Savior--His birth, His mission, His gospel and the atonement--that it's real, it's true and He lives!

The Nativity scene on temple square

Christmas Eve we had Jeff & Felicia's family over for dinner, movies and...

...to celebrate this cute guy's birthday! My nephew, Dean, turned 22.

Our dinner table setting (per usual I set down the camera when we start eating).

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CHRISTMAS MORNING

Emma, Morgan and Sarah anxious with anticipation.

SARAH

Santa brought Sarah a Nintendo DS. Can you tell that she's excited? (My children have a tendency to have "psycho" eyes when they're excited.)

Sarah opening her Bakugan sphere (she also got mini Bakugans)

Sarah with her third most requested thing: books! (She also got games, webkinz, crafts & science stuff)

EMMA

Santa brought Emma the one thing she asked for: a Fur Real Kitty. She LOVES that thing! Named it Lisa.

I love this pic--her expression. We got her a V-tech Cyber pocket and it was completely unexpected. She LOVES that thing! Plays non-stop.

Emma opening her "Perfection" game. (She also got pet shop, books, pixos and moonsand, webkinz & games)

MORGAN

Santa brought Morgan that Cinderella barbie behind her. She also got a baby Fur Real kitten w/ a bottle, so that she and Emma can play "mommy/baby cat".

Morgan opening up her Candyland game. She also got Elefun.

Morgan with another cinderella doll (she also got cinderella shoes, tea set, snow white doll, leap pad books, magna doodle, play-doh & books).

Morgan & Sarah with their loot!

Gene (aka Santa) got me these real gold earrings! Love them! Also...

...this Estee Lauder perfume set (love it)...

...and this portable Ipod stereo. Love it. (Also a New Moon game, back massager, etc.)

I (Santa's little helper) got Gene these noise-cancelling headphones, per request (also 4 2-way radios, lap top cooler, ski "tickets" & a Ken barbie-somebody has to be the boy!)

Behold! the carnage!

I hope everyone had as wonderful a Christmas/holiday/Hanukkah as we did!