Too Short, but oh so Sweet.

We met some amazing people while living in Hawaii and one couple in particular that will be forever friends, Josh and Hayley Wilbur. Its been over a year since we've seen them, when they came to AZ to visit us; the ball was in our court to go visit them. So we finally made the trek out to Temecula, CA. It was a short trip, but well worth it!

Saturday January 21.

We rented a car and made our way there. We left super early (well super early for us lucky ones that have a toddler likes to sleep in) around 6am on Saturday morning. It just so happened that of course on this particular weekend a cold front moved in so when we got there we spent most of the day inside their apartment chatting and catching up on each others lives. Although we would have loved to seen more Temecula, it was time well spent. That evening they showed us the cute little city they live in. We went to downtown Temecula and walked the main street. And enjoyed a little time at the Sweet Shop, a candy store filled with lots of sugar. :) We headed back to their place for a dance party while fixing dinner. And the rest of the night spent playing games, laughing and talking.

Catching a breath during the dance party.

Sunday January 22.

We shouldn't admit to it, but we took into account our 'vacation rules' and skipped out on church on Sunday.

But....

...it was their stake conference.

We decided to spend the day in San Diego. It's only an hour way and Jason hasnt spent much time there. We went to the Mormon Battalion and enjoyed the interactive tour.

Afterward, we headed to Coronado Island. We had to get our toes in the sand and in the water, its been way too long since we've been to the beach! It was Deacons first time at the beach and he was amazed at how the sand felt and loved playing in it. His first step down on the beach he paused and was very curious what he had stepped on.

We headed out before it got too dark so we could stop by the San Diego Temple. I was kind of insistent on going because Jason had never been to it. That temple really is incredible. It is so beautiful! We walked around the grounds for a little bit then headed back up to Temecula for dinner. While the kids went to bed, we stayed up pretty late again, I think because none of us wanted that short vacation to end.

Poor Jason got talked into helping, acting as a soldier in the Mormon Battalion.

What a trooper.

No pun intended.

They have a great outside area for kids to learn what it was like on the trail.

Panning for Gold!

Riding horses.

A water pump. Deacon was fascinated about how the water came out.

Coronado Island.

They were lovin' the sand.

We were busy taking pictures of each other that when we turned around we saw the boys running full speed for the life guard tower.

"A Slide!"

"I'll get 'em"

Chasing the seagulls.

Enjoying the sand between his toes.

There was a man on the beach that built this incredible detailed sand castle....

Deacon was insistant on building one of his own.

He wouldn't leave the beach until Daddy helped him make one.

Monday January 23.

We wish we could have stayed another several days, but we had to return back to AZ to get back to 'real life'.

Yep, thats clear evidence of cheetos.

I took his picture....

And then he insisted on taking mine.... "cheese mom"

....and then about 100 more.

Not just of me. But Everything.

Seriously. Everything.

Thank you Wilburs for an amazing weekend!

Now the ball's back in your court to come visit us.

:)

Mr. Fashionista

There have been several times over this past year, when Deacon didn't like what we picked out for him to wear and decided that he wanted to pick his own outfit out.

Like his 'aloha' shirt that was about 6 months too small (I hadn't taken out of his drawer) yet, he insisted on wearing it.

And he couldn't decide on which tie to wear to church, so he wore 2.

And the numerous times he wanted to pick a shirt to wear. So he emptied his whole drawer to find the perfect one. It would sometimes make us late, but he was happy.

And on this particular day, he decided he couldn't leave the house without his tie.

Oh I love this little man.

On a side note...we went to feed the ducks at the ASU research park down the street. And those ducks are psycho. And the geese are freaky. They are huge and in your face. I thought they were going to eat me. I got a little freaked out and honestly, they were scaring me. My reaction made Deacon scared. Oops. We had to reassure him that he was safe and not to be scared. Hopefully I didn't scar him of being afraid of ducks...

However, I did remain standing the whole time.

Happy New Year!

For the past 4 years we've gotten to bring on the new year with some of our great friends, the Danielson's & the Baker's. (We missed the Jensens this year.)

We celebrated at the Danielsons with games, food, fireworks and fun.

A huge Thank you to them for hosting New Years Eve 2011!

We played multiple rousing games of "Around the World"....

Followed by sheer entertainment from Justin and Jason playing Kinect.

Jason jumping for the high jump.

Then, they tested their skills with the long jump.

He gets a little intense when he plays. ....{we got a new point and shot camera for Christmas, so we're still figuring out the settings}

Then we headed outside for some sparklers and fireworks.

The Ladies.

The Gents.

Happy 2012!