California Vacation

We had a great trip to LA a few weeks ago. Richard, Eric and I flew to LA to spend time with my sisters. It was the first time that all of us siblings have been together in several years. We had such a magnificent time!! We spent most of our time laughing.

One of the activities of the weekend was to go to LA Rising, which is a concert series that included Rise Against, Muse and Rage Against the Machine. The energy at the concert increased in intensity as the night wore on; at one point I got a little frightened, but we had a really fun time.

Pics from my iPhone:

Other pictures from the night of the concert are found here.

We spent Sunday at the beach at Six Man - which is a volley ball tournament. There were some seriously hot bodies all around...and the volleyball was really fun to watch.

We also went to the water and played in the sand and enjoyed the sound of the waves. It was really fun to watch Sandy and April get into a sand fight....And at one point, Richard came back from playing the water and April threw sand on him. He kind of chuckled and commented on the fact that he was wet and now covered in sand. He headed back to the water to rinse off and when he came back, Sandy threw sand on him. We all got such a laugh out of the fun, playful times of being back together.

Here are some of the pics from that day. There are MANY more found here.





Eric enjoying the water:
Elida and April:
My favorite picture of the five of us:

Friday in Morro Bay

The day after Thanksgiving, Eric and I joined Sandy, April and Elida on a little road trip to Morro Bay (north of Santa Barbara). It was a beautiful drive through some wine country where all the grape vines were the various shades of fall. (I didn't get any picture, which is a shame.)
It was cold and windy in Morro Bay, but it was beautiful. We went to a wonderful restaurant - the food was so fantastic, I had to get pictures:

After we enjoyed a magnificent meal, we enjoyed the cold sites of Morro Bay.
First, we crammed into Sandy's car to decide where to start our site seeing. This is one of the only pictures I have of Eric. Beautiful Morro Bay:
Sandy and I having some fun: I definitely recommend the journey to Morro Bay if you find yourself even remotely close by.

Thanksgiving in LA

Eric and I were so happy to fly to LA for our Thanksgiving holiday. We left SLC on Monday morning and spent the week in 70 degree weather. Yay!

On Wednesday Eric and I went to Elida's house and made pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving. We also made some empanadas for dinner and took them back to Sandy and April's that evening. They were delicious, if I say so myself.

Thanksgiving Day was a beautiful sunny day...it was a wonderful contrast to what we are used to in SLC. Loved it! April made a perfect turkey - I mean PERFECT! We were happy to find that we had plenty of potatoes and gravy (LOL!).

Here are my favorite pictures through Thanksgiving:
Making the pumpkin pie filling: Me and Sandy: April preps the turkey: The table is set: Damon carves the turkey: Elida and Mason await the food. Mason has mastered the Lisonbee blank stare: The table is almost ready for the eating to begin. Mmmm, rolls: Did I mention that the turkey was really tasty? Cuz it was: Of course, after all that food comes the turkey stupor: Sandy and Elida: We ended the evening with some Phase 10...and we were begging to be put out of our misery by about Phase 6..but we made it all the way through. (note to self: Sandy is picking up a yellow two. That's a 'yellow two') Thanksgiving rocked! We just might have to do it again next year.

A Day Full of Activity

Eric and I are in California for Thanksgiving this year. Eric's mom is our house/dog sitter and the dogs love her. Yay, Kathy! Thank you. After a panic moment of realizing we hadn't given Kathy the keys, and she rushed back to the airport so that we could get them to her, Eric and I rushed to catch our flight. We were literally the LAST people on the plane. Yikes!~

We've never been away for the holidays before (both of our families are in Utah). My sisters live in LA and we wanted to spend Thanksgiving with them. We are being gracious hosts.

We flew out of SLC on Monday morning. It snowed the night before, so it was cold and beautiful in the morning light. Here are a couple of pics I took from the airplane window:
Elida and Mason picked us up from Long Beach Airport. We flew our favorite airline: Jet Blue. I think we beat the rush of Thanksgiving because there was an empty seat next to us. But it was a pretty full flight, just the same.

Elida and Mason took us to the Aquarium of the Pacific. It was really nice and it was a wonderful sunny, warm day. Such a contrast to what we left in Utah.
Here are some of the pictures I captured:
Mason watching the fish Eric and Mason watch the fish swim by: I don't know what made him laugh, but I'm glad I got it: Elida being...Elida. LOL! Mason mesmerized by the sea lions: Elida and Mason: In the evening we took the dogs for a walk to the beach - yup! my sisters live TWO blocks from the beach. We got there just in time for an incredible sunset.

Happy Birthday to April!

Last weekend I flew to LA to wish April a happy birthday - this being the last year in her 20s (rough, eh?).

It was very nice to be away from the weather here in SLC, but more than that I really wanted to be there for her b-day. We had an eventful weekend.

Saturday: I flew in early. Sandy had made some really great pistachio cupcakes for April's bday party. She really wanted to put Butter Cream frosting on them (with a hint of rose essence). Sounded good to me.

We jumped right in to making it according to the directions.... and... well, it didn't work out very well. So we went for round two. And....well....it also didn't work very well. So while April and I ran to the store, Sandy made a frosting of whipped cream and frosting.....it was so good. (didn't look pretty, but was yummilicous)

We headed to the beach for what promised to be a fun afternoon turned evening around the fire. Well...that didn't work out too well. The wind had other plans... and we were sandblasted in our faces. OUCH!

So after waiting for about an hour and half (holding out hope for the wind to subside), we headed over to April's friend's house. Miles was gracious enough to allow us to intrude on his house on very short notice.

He has cats, and my allergies responded immediately...so I popped a benadryl and went on loopy mode through the rest of the party....but it was really fun. A bit hazy, but fun.

I hope April had a good bday (despite the various changes in plans).

Sunday, we drove up the coast. It was a wonderful day - sunny and bright - and the ocean beckoned sight seers and photographers and surfers and swimmers and you name it. The beaches were covered with people enjoying the perfectness of the day.

All too soon, I was back at the airport heading home. I'll have to go for a longer period next time.

As usual, I took galores of pictures. Here are my faves:

Mason

Mason
Jenny and Finley