The Spelling scam!

Avery was one of the finishers in her 3rd grade spelling bee. This means that she was able to participate in the school spelling bee. Avery lives for things like this. She brought the words home and we even studied! She was set. We were both a little bit crushed when she got out the first round! It was a total jip though! The word was "mine" and she thought it was "mind." So technically she spelled it right, but it was not the right word! I should have told her to ask the person to use the word in a sentence, blast! After she spelled the word, and the bell was rung for a mispelled word, you could just see Avery's body go in shock. It was sad! But you know what, this was a good learning experience. And sometimes its OK to fail! Its healthy! Also, some other parents and I were making wagers and bets on who would win the whole thing. It was nail biting! Oh, and I only took video of this event, no pictures!

Rendezvous

We left SLO one day early to have a rendezvous with some of our favorite people in San Diego. We met up with the Johnson's and the Dyers. The Dyers live in San Diego now since Will is in the Navy. We had 12 kids, 2 dogs and 6 adults in about an 1800 square foot house. You would think it would be maddening, but it was actually really functional! I think we were all just used to the crammed townhouses that we used to live in and we made it work! We were only there for 2 nights and 1 full day, but it was really fun! 

The nights with our friends are sort of magical. The kids are in bed and we just chat, eat really yummy treats and play games. Sometimes my stomach hurts from laughing so much! This is pretty much what our typical weekends were when we lived in Kansas City... also I think I lost a solid 5 pounds after leaving, we would seriously always have treats at night!

The one full day that we spent there, we went to Cornado bay and we beached it up! My kids loved hunting for sand dollars and jumping the waves. I'm pretty sure Leo loved eating the sand. Jana knows how to live life and made me get in the frigid water. I did, and it was worth it! We also did some cartwheels. I sure love that gal, she makes me feel like a kid again! Will and Anie are just hilarious and make us all laugh. I just love when you have connections with people and no matter the distance, there is always that connection! Till next time friends!

I'm dreaming of a beachy Christmas

Since Travis got me a new van, why not take it on a road trip? Break it right in! Alright, we already had the road trip planned, but who knew we were gonna ride in such luxury? We were going to the beach to see the whole Charles family. We love going to San Luis Obispo (SLO). I say that SLO is California's best kept secret. Its beautiful, not crowded like Southern California, and also has a country vibe to it, mixed with some California hippiness as well.
We left sometime in the afternoon on Christmas and stopped somewhere in the middle of the desert at a hotel to sleep. My favorite part of the trip at that time was that moment Travis was testing the bladder of our new van. He didn't fill her up before we hit the huge isolated desert part of the trip. It was pretty intense when I looked over at the gas light in the car, the flashing light telling us that we had 40 miles till the gas runs out, and looking at the GPS seeing the the closest gas station was 45 miles away. The part where we started to climb a huge hill towards the end of that fright was just thrilling, also, it was midnight. Travis sure likes to keep us on our toes! Also, those gas meters lie, they err on the conservative side, which is good for daredevils like Travis. We made it to the gas station, maybe with a few more wrinkles though!

We got to SLO the next day and the rest of the trip was just cousins, beaches, family and fun!

The first day

Grandpa gave everybody BYU hats for Christmas!

Going to Morro Bay Sand Dunes is by far one of my favorite places on earth to visit. The kids running up and down the sand hills, the sunset, the ocean. I hope Heaven is sort of like this!

One day, we headed up north to Cambria, we stopped first at this cute tiny town called Harmony and walked around. They had the best time out chair ever!

 We made it to Cambria and had a picnic lunch

 Isla slept like that for an hour

 Then we headed to the beach

Another night, we drove onto Pismo beach at night and played capture the flag and had a campfire. This is the life!

Another day, we had a pool day at the hotel

And then of course, just hanging out at Kevin's house is great! Their property is majestic along with Kimberly's cooking!

 We had such a great time! SLO has our hearts!