a visit from people we love

January 14–17, 2011

Nicole and Ryder came to visit us for a few days. They came from snowy weather and enjoyed some of our warm sun. Back in October when Nicole found an awesome deal on airfare, we thought January would be the perfect time for her to visit. We didn't realize that all of us would end up spending the holidays together in Utah, nor that our visit there would last so long. So it turned out that she came to visit less than two weeks after we said goodbye. But you know what?

I can't get enough of hanging out with my siblings!
So it was an awesome few days.

On Thursday we picked them up from the airport. It took a looong time to get home because we were stuck in LA traffic. But we have no problem filling our time with talking, so yay for traffic! (That may be the only time I ever say that.)

Thursday night Trav treated us to a girls night. Nic and I wandered around the mall and went to The Cheesecake Factory for dessert. It was so much fun! But of course we forgot to take a picture.


On Friday we took our time getting ready, then walked to the park (and it was so hot that we were sweating when we arrived!).

 
Friday afternoon I drove Nicole to Escondido so that she could spend the night at Mom and Dad's. We went shopping for a bit with Mom, then Dad met us for dinner at Acapulco.

On Sunday Mom and Dad drove back up with Nicole and we met at the beach.

Ryder loved feeling the sand with his feet. Mila was terrified of it. (And has been every time we go.) She refuses to touch it and stays on the blanket the entire time (see above picture). The only way she'll move off the blanket is if we carry her around. If she wants something that's off the blanket (like, say, a bag of doritos on a chair), she'll walk to the very edge and reach as far as she can without falling over. Such a funny girl!

Kapria had so much fun finding rocks and shells. The water was too dirty for us to go in (because of the recent storm, it was contaminated), but she didn't even mind for all the digging and running around she did.

Sunday they spent the night at our house again. The girls loved playing with Ryder and wanted to hold him constantly. Mila kept saying "Baby. Hold." Monday morning was fun for them - the girls get so excited when they wake up and see that people are still at our house. And they adore Aunt Nicole. While Mila is really shy around a lot of people, she is never shy around Nic.

We drove Nic and Ryder to the airport after spending the morning playing and talking. The weekend went too fast! And, as usual, it was hard to say goodbye. Thank goodness for the hour drive to LAX - more chatting time! Living far from my siblings reminds me how much I want to be near them. Can't we all just find one state to live in together? Maybe one day?

We miss you and can't wait to see you again soon!

PS. Did you notice the bruise on Mila's cheek? She fell one day and hit the corner of something, I can't remember what. That bruise lasted for nearly a month. Poor baby!

visitors

Dad and Kimball came to visit during spring break. As is Kimball's luck, he broke his toe the week before spring break. So he couldn't put a lot of weight on his foot. Dad helped Trav complete a whole bunch of projects on the house, including: painting the entire outside, tearing out the shed under the carport, scraping and painting the front porch cement, adding vinyl siding around the front door, fixing the doorway from the kitchen to the office, and repainting the kitchen. I might be missing a few things. But they worked so hard and got a lot done on the house. House photos are coming soon.

Despite the foot, Kimball played a lot with the girls and helped watch them several times for us. Kapria adores him and wanted Kimball to play with her all day every day. He was a good sport, and even let her put a headband on his head. Mila warmed up to Papa pretty quickly and loved touching his beard (or "fur" according to Kapria).

The time went by too quickly, as usual, and we were so sad to say goodbye. We miss you all so much! Thanks for all the help with the house, Dad. And thanks for helping so much with the girls, Kimball. We love you!