Julie and Jace Visit Us Twice

Since Sheldon, Julie and Jace moved to Orem for the second rotation of optometry school, Steve and I have had the opportunity to have Julie and Jace visit twice within a short amount of time. Both visits we sat down early in the week and planned something kid friendly for us to do for a few hours each day after I got home from school. We had lots of fun, but we had an especially fun time celebrating Halloween a few weeks before the actual holiday. I have always served soup for dinner on Halloween evening. I stuck with that less-than-original idea this year as well. After a nice warm bowl of homemade soup, we played a lot of fun games. We all dressed in costume and enjoyed the festivities and games as well. We played Bingo using Halloween pics. We also played musical chairs and carved pumpkins. We tied donuts on a string, and everyone had to bite their donut off the string in order to enjoy dessert. Around the chairs for dinner, I tied either an orange or black huge balloon. The kids were in heaven, and I would say that our holiday party was a huge success.

SLC for Labor Day Weekend

We just returned from a fun three-day trip to Salt Lake City. Julie, Sheldon, and Jace arrived ahead of us on Friday afternoon. We met them at the Hilton Hotel in downtown SLC. The hotel was within walking distance to Temple Square. We arrived in SLC quite late as we didn't leave Las Vegas until after school ended on Friday. We haven't been in SLC for about four years, so it was really great to spend some time revisiting familiar places. We managed to spend an entire afternoon walking around the temple, tabernacle, visitors' center, and the Joseph Smith Building. We ate at the Lion House and then wandered through the Distribution Center and new Deseret Book store. Temple Square was beautiful as always. The flowers were so pretty and the weather was just perfect. The day was complete with a swim in the indoor pool at the hotel later that evening.

On Sunday we drove up Little Cottonwood Canyon and went on a small hike to Lisa Falls and had a "Subway" picnic. The beautiful mountains were covered with trees and bushes. The waterfall was small, but we all had fun especially Jace playing in the water and feeling the mist spray on our faces. It felt like we were surrounded by granite rock which reminded us of the SLC temple that we had visited the day before. Later that afternoon we went to Liberty Park and went to the bird aviary. We saw a bird show and enjoyed looking at all the different birds especially the ones from South America which were so colorful. The hotel was really nice, and again at the end of the day we found ourselves enjoying another swim.

Monday morning we spent a few hours in the pool and then went to a great restaurant called Paradise Bakery for lunch. It's very similar to Panera Bread only better. As we said our good-byes, we decided to go see where Sheldon is doing his second optometry rotation in SLC. It was just a couple of miles from the restaurant. It looked nice, and Sheldon says he is really enjoying this rotation. They will leave for Honolulu which will be rotation three on November 11th.

Our Santa Cruz Vacation

This is the back patio of Pam and Jay's beach house. From where I am standing to take this picture, there is a flight of stairs leading to big black boulders and then the ocean. Jay told us that in the last two years they have had a beach below their property, but because it is El Nino this year, the water level is too high for them to have a beach.

This is the inside view of their kitchen and part of their living room. Every morning it was really foggy and you couldn't see much of the ocean out of those big windows. However, by noon the fog had usually cleared and the view was breathtaking of the blue ocean. We often saw surfers, sailboats, and even dolphins in the water. The kids also loved watching the pelicans fly by and swim close to the water. Sitting on the patio was very entertaining.
Another view of the kitchen and living room


We went to Pam's house for a swim, visit, and lunch. The water was 90 degrees thanks to solar heating. It was much warmer than the cool ocean water we had been swimming in!


Jace liked the dog although I'm not so sure that the dog liked Jace especially when Jace tried to sit on him.

Julie and Sheldon surprised me with a chocolate birthday cake on their night for cooking dinner. Yummy! I love birthdays that just seem to keep going and going......


It was really quite cold on the beach a few of the days while we were there. As you can see, we are bundled up, and we are not really too anxious to even put on swimsuits. The cool weather didn't keep us from enjoying the beach though!



Natalie and Thomas have a tent for the beach. The kids took cover when it got really windy. We used our towels like they were blankets to help us keep warm.

We watched a group of surfers build this huge castle with multiple rooms and levels. When they left, we took over and enjoyed adding to it and playing with their creation.

The kids were excited as was Grandpa to check out the sand work. It was pretty amazing to watch the surfers make this castle. They definitely knew about team work.

We went on a hike after we went to the Mystery Spot. We were close to some very beautiful redwood trees which we had seen earlier in the week when we went on a train ride.

In the picture, I look shorter. This is at the Mystery Spot. They claim everything is level and that no one can really explain all of the science irregularities. Come to find out through the Internet, it's all a matter of optical illusions!

Here Cali appears to be standing on a ledge but at an angle. Once again it's an optical illusion but they sure tricked me into believing that there is something really mysterious about this spot in the mountains.

Sheldon also appears to be standing at an angle on a ledge. Defying gravity?????
Is that possible?

A group shot of the entrance into the "Mystery Spot"

Natalie and Ashton on the patio of Pam and Jay's beautiful beach home. His green bandaid on his forehead is a result of falling on a rocky sidewalk when we went on an adventure to find a lighthouse.

I had lots of fun playing with my grandkids on the beach although it was a bit cool.
They were all so cute and well behaved. It was great to spend so much time together.

This is a skeleton of a whale. We went on a tour of a discovery museum which faced the Monterey Bay. Ashton was quite interested in getting up close and personal with the whale, I think.

Jace was interested in the fish tanks at the discovery museum

This large skeleton is that of a blue whale which affectionately has been called Ms. Blue; these whales are supposed to be the largest animals ever to exist on the earth; bigger than dinosaurs, they say.

Near the lighthouse; it was a foggy, foggy morning

The lighthouse now is a surfer's museum; it's on Cliff Drive near the Natural Bridges State Park.

Cali was so happy to finally ride the carousel at the boardwalk; she talked about doing it for days and her mommy promised her she could ride it over and over.

The boardwalk was very close to the beach house. We went one evening and were actually surprised at how many rides they had; Steve and I took the little boys home early and everyone else stayed until closing to enjoy more fun.

The beach near the house; we had fun building a sandcastle

The water was too cold for me, but I enjoyed strolling along on the wet sand. I got wet from the waist down a time or two when the waves came crashing in on me.

Natalie and Thomas enjoying the beach

Julie and Sheldon enjoying the beach as well; Thomas and Sheldon did a lot of skin boarding and body boarding. They were brave souls disregarding the temperature of the ocean.

I bought matching swimming outfits for the boys; they looked so cute.

We built a fire several times on the patio of the beach house. We enjoyed smores and a hot dog roast one night.

These are the big black boulders below the beach house. We walked down a flight of stairs and then played a little game called "Find the Biggest Wave." We laughed and laughed as the waves came and some crashed very close to us. It was the biggest wave if the spray went over us and hit the sea wall and sand behind us.

We went on a train ride from the Santa Cruz boardwalk. It took us up to a grove of redwood trees. It was a lot of fun and the kids were enthralled by the whole experience.

Jace, Ashton, and Cali sitting on a redwood tree that had fallen down

Cali ran back to me and said, "Grandma, do you want to take a picture of me?" She doesn't usually want me to take a picture, but this time she had spotted a "4." That's how old she is and that made picture taking a must for her. How cute!

Ashton was very interested in how tall the trees were. He was so cute. He kept looking up and pointing and saying "Ohhhhh."

Julie, Sheldon, and Jace enjoying a stop by a big redwood tree

Natalie, Thomas, Cali, and Ashton

Steve and me

Jace, Sheldon, and Julie at the beginning of our hike around the redwood trees

Gayle's Bakery in Capitola, CA----I wonder why I would want to go there?

We loved sitting on the back patio of the beach house in front of a nice warm fire watching the waves roll in.

Another day at the beach making sandcastles and burying Cali so she looked like she was Ariel with a tail.

Dirty and wet; but loving one of the few warm sunny days at the beach

Aren't we cute????? This beach is very close to Pam and Jay's beach house; it's in the far, far background.

Julie and Sheldon soaking up the rays on one of the few warm days we enjoyed while in Santa Cruz

We love the beach

Aren't these the cutest little boys in their little matching outfits? I bought the outfits in Oklahoma this summer. I should get an "A" for effort and planning ahead!

Natalie and Thomas on the back patio

Sheldon and Jace below the back patio heading for the water, but I think he can't find any more stepping stones.

Every afternoon the fog cleared and the ocean was so blue and beautiful; this is the back patio again of the beach house

Dad went to Little Caesars and we all enjoyed pizza for lunch; we loved to eat outside. The view is spectacular!

This is Pam and Jay's beach house; front view

To sum it all up, we spent a week in Northern California at Pam and Jay's beach house which literally has as its back yard the Pacific Ocean. It was a great week and a fabulous way to end the summer as school starts for me on Wednesday. Julie, Sheldon, and Jace flew from SLC into San Jose and spent the week with us as well. Natalie, Thomas, Cali, and Ashton drove from LV to Santa Cruz to join in on the fun too. The only thing that would have made it better is if the rest of our girls and their families could have been with us. Thanks Pam and Jay for making this week possible; we love you!