California Dreamin'!

(BTW there will be another give away from my craft blog when we hit 50 followers, I'll love you forever if you become a follower and spread the word to your friends:))

They say you can't go home again . . . and I guess to some extent that is true. But in a lot of ways that is SO wrong! It had been almost a year since I had been to California. I grew up in the OC and unlike my two closest friends, I never wanted to leave. It's funny to think that my two friends are still there with no plans of ever settling anywhere else and I will most likely never again call California home. It's not that I don't want too, its just that it most likely isn't in the cards for us.
Thank Goodness We have a Grandma and Grandpa who are willing to let us stay with them and completely take over their little house!
I can't tell you in words that would describe enough how wonderful it was to be with my family again. Not just my mom and dad, but my grandmas and aunts and uncles and cousins and of course my brothers and new SIL and nieces! (we miss Chris and Sarah and wish they were there too) When I am home I just feel loved and accepted. Not that I don't in my desert home, because I do. It's just different.
It's like the theme song from cheers, "Sometimes you wanna go where every body knows your name, and there always glad you came."

You don't have to explain yourself or where you've been, you just get to be. Does anyone else know what I am talking about or am I just rambling??? It's happened once or twice:)

So this is the first of a series of California posts (which reminds me I never finished my Hawaii posts- which will always be the second place I think of when I think of home).

It all started out as a weekend trip for the Young Men in our Ward. Kai is the Young Men's President and always takes the boys on the coolest outings. I decided that me and the kids needed to tag along and that we needed to stay a little longer than the boys:)

We left early Thursday morning and followed the Mormon trail:)

We had quite the motley crew! 11 boys, 4 couples, 1 bishop and 6 kids.

We stopped in Barstow at the Harvey House.
We love that musical and so we love this train museum too.


This is so typical of the young men's theories about life.

i love this picture of Kiera because I wanted her to look at me and smile and she said, "Mom, I don't always want to do what people expect me to do."

Okay Kiera, Don't look:) smile at the door:)

In a moment you will see why Raia is captivated by her brother and sisters.

We had quite the rousing game of "back seat noogies" going on:)

Before the boys all got to heir host homes (brave members of the ward I grew up in) we stopped in my aunt and uncles house in Pomona to swim and have a delicious pulled pork sandwich lunch. Kai also arranged for our ol' buddy Mike Rieben give a talk about being both a college athlete and a missionary and why it was possible and worth doing both things.

I wish I had pictures to show you of the crazy dives and tricks that occurred off of the diving board and the bumps and scrapes that happened afterword but I have sworn an oath never to put the picture on the Internet in anyway shape or form that they could be viewed by others but those involved:)

A big thank you to my Aunt Wendy and Mike Rieben for being so wonderful!
447