diva Morgan strikes again

Morgan got a couple of new hats.  She LOVES dressing up and creating her own personal style.  This was her latest...

I love seeing what she comes up with.  She has told me that she wants to be a fashion designer.  Well Morgan, you are definitely a fashionista to be reckoned with!

It's a "Purse-onal" Day

Our stake did the cutest Stake Girl's Activity Day!  It was all based on having a "purse-onal" day.  The decorations were all purses and girly cute stuff.  The invitations were amazing!  A lot of time and effort went in to making these girls (about 300 from ages 8-11) feel special.  They had a class on what goes in your purse.  They pulled out an over-sized lipgloss and talked about the words that should come out of our mouths.  They had a class where they sang a Primary song that was professionally recorded.  Each group sang a different song and the girls will receive a CD containing all the songs that were sung.  They decorated their own big purses (tote bags).  Then they had a class on inner beauty.  Then they sat down to the most beautifully decorated luncheon and had a class on manners while they were eating lunch and cupcakes.

 Please excuse the blurry pictures - they were all taken with my cell phone.

 My sweet Morgan felt SO pampered!  I am so glad I got to share this special day with her!

15TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY in San Diego (Day Five)

Time to head back to reality!  We actually missed our kids so much!  We talked with them every day.  It's really hard to be away and not sink my lips into their cheeks every night (and multiple times through the day).  It let Mark and I enjoy just being the two of us for a few days, but man were we excited to get back to our four little rascals.

Before heading out of town we stopped for brunch at a hole-in-the-wall seafood place Mark's brother, Brad, had seen on Food Network.  It was called Blue Water Seafood Market and Grill .  Absolutely amazing!  Thanks for the heads up, Brad!  We had a fabulous five days!

15TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY in San Diego (Day Four)

Today was Sunday.  We found a great ward to attend for church.  Afterward we went to lunch at a little place in the Gas Lamp Quarter called Osteria Panevino, a great little Italian place.  We don't usually like to spend money on the sabbath, but ya gotta eat, right?

After that we went out to Torrey Pines Beach to walk.  What a beautiful day! 

 There were so many great surfers out doin' their thing!

We went up to where the para gliders take off at this cliff way above the ocean.  There wasn't a lot of wind so we didn't get to see any take off, but the view was amazing! 

That night we had reservations at a place called Prado Restaurant at Balboa Park.  We decided we were still so full from lunch that we would skip it and go straight for dessert!  We headed to our favorite ice cream place out on Coronado Island, Mootime Creamery.  Ice cream for dinner - heaven for me!  What a fabulous day!

15TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY in San Diego (Day Three)

On this day we were able to go out with one of Mark's coworkers and her husband on their yacht!  They took us on a 4 hour tour of the San Diego Harbor.  It was so much fun!

 We got to see all the different military ships that were docked in the harbor.  Our amazing hosts knew all about each one.

On the top deck of this ship, a little to the left side of it, you may notice a person standing there. He actually had some kind of artillery aimed at each boat that passed (including us).  No wrong moves from us...

 That's the bridge going over to Coronodo Island in the background.

 Their labradoodle, Abby.

 The Star of India

 A seal we saw pretending to be a shark (a lot of these seals would lay sideways in the water like that).

The inside of this boat was so amazing!  It had 2 bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen, and living area, with a nice little deck out back.  We stayed up above for most of the trip so we could see everything.  Our hosts were so sweet!  They brought lunch along and we had so much fun chatting and getting to know them better.  They knew so much about San Diego (they come stay on their boat every other weekend).  They invited us to do it again the next time we come with the kids.  I know our kids would flip!

 The beautiful Hotel Del Coronado

 The name of their boat was Comfortably Numb.  Before we left they gave us visors with the name embroidered on them.  So cute!


After leaving the boat, we went to walk around at the Seaport Village.  After being out in the sun all day we were exhausted, so we went back and had a nice nap at the hotel before getting ready for dinner.

Dinner was at Bertrand at Mister A's.  Yet another amazing meal with a spectacular view!  The restaurant sits on the 12th floor up on a hill overlooking all of San Diego and the bay.

 They brought this out to us at the end of our meal.

 We took these pictures on the restaurant terrace as the sun was setting.

 You could see the pilot as the planes flew by!

After that we drove out to Coronado Island to walk on the beach in the moonlight - very romantic!  I love these pictures we got on the Coronado side of the harbor looking back at downtown San Diego.

 

I love the way the moon was reflecting off the ocean in this photo - with the sailboats and the Coronado bridge in the background.

15TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY! WOO HOO! (Day One & Two)

Mark and I have been planning this trip all year.  We love San Diego.  Since we were married in the San Diego Temple, it just seemed natural to go there for a big milestone anniversary such as our 15th.  We haven't left our kids for more than 24 hours to go anywhere, just for fun, since we first had Bryan.  We went house hunting before we moved here, but that was all business.  We decided it was time to take a trip together, just us.

Mark teases me that it was a culinary tour - I enjoy finding fun places to eat with great food.  I researched where we would eat on the web and made reservations a couple weeks ahead of time.

We left our kids with my mom and my sister Jamie trading off helping.  We drove out on a Thursday, checked in to the hotel and ate somewhere close by.  

The fun started the next day with going to La Jolla for a fun Kayaking and Snorkeling Tour with Daniel Woods from Beach Shoot San Diego.  He was so much fun!  He is a professional photographer and took lots of great shots while we were on our tour (even while we were snorkeling - he uses an underwater housing for his camera). We got to see loads of leopard sharks (considered harmless) and bright orange fish.  There were even seals and sea lions within arms reach of us while we were snorkeling - zipping all around us.  Very cold (even with a wet suit) but so much fun!

 Those are two leopard sharks in the front of the picture!!

Daniel took us into the La Jolla sea caves (very reminiscent of Pirates of the Carribean) both in the kayaks and again while snorkeling.

 See all the sea lions on the rocks behind us?  We snorkeled right up to them and them diving off the rocks and swimming around us!

He also planned something cool for Mark with me.  I sent Daniel a letter for Mark, which Daniel printed in a cool font, burned the edges, and stuck in an old bottle with a cork in the top.  During kayaking, while Mark wasn't looking, he tossed it in the water for Mark to find.  So fun!

 See the green bottle in the water off to the right?

 

See the leopard shark right in front of our kayak?!

After we got back to shore, Daniel had Mark and I go out in separate kayaks to get some fun shots.  On the way back in to shore he had us catch a big wave (we couldn't see how big because it was behind us).  We apparently caught it at the wrong time because it lifted us both in the air and flipped us!  Good thing the bottom of the shore was sandy and not rocky - we both ate some dirt on that one.

 Yes, we are pointing at yet another shark!

 See the shark in the wave just to the left of the picture?  See the noses of our kayak starting to dip under the water?  We are about to be in the water with that shark!

Yes, my husband is laughing at me...but he's next!!

That's a Harbor Seal in the wave.

After our awesome trip with Daniel, we went about a block away to eat at one of our favorite San Diego restaurants, Georges At the Cove.  We had the best seats, right next to the railing, overlooking the ocean.  The food was yummy as always.

After going back to the hotel to shower and get ready, we headed to the San Diego Temple to do a session.  We hadn't been back inside that particular temple since we were married.  It is so amazingly beautiful!  What a great way to remember our anniversary.

After that we went to eat dinner at another amazing restaurant, The Marine Room.  The staff there was so friendly.  Our waiter had worked there for nearly 30 years!  He said the people who work there are like family.  

We had fantastic seating, right up against the window where the surf kept splashing up against it.

Mark bought me their cookbook with two really sweet inscriptions inside - one from him and one from the chefs!  Anyone who knows me knows I love to cook.  I love trying new recipes and have collected over 100 different cookbooks.  Mark teases me because I will peruse them in bed at night.  He'll ask if they are cliff hangers.  You can see my cooking blog here.