California Top Ten

Just a note before I get to California. This is post number 30 of the GBE!!  Whew! 

I have really gotten into the spirit of blogging again, and plan to keep posting a few times a week.  I bet you can't wait!  ;)

It has been cold here!  Its like Indian Summer just skipped right on by, and we are into full-fledged fall, which as you know, is my favorite time of year, but I really love a good Indian Summer to make the transition between seasons.  Oh well.  In honor of warmer weather, I thought I'd reminisce a little about California.  In true California style, these are casually random!  Laid back, baby!!

The hole in the wall where we ate yummy, greasy hamburgers,  and hot, tasty french fries.  I just had to turn off the part of my brain that wondered about the fat content!  I still block that thought out!!  Our plan was to eat there with Shannon and Steven, but they couldn't find a parking place at all, and ended up going inland to eat because they were getting "Hangry!"  I know the feeling!!  We later met up with them at a park and had a nice wind down chat before we headed to the airport.

The condo we stayed in was right across the street from Disneyland, and although we didn't actually go to the park, we spent part of the afternoon at Downtown Disney.  There you will find the most awesome Lego store.  Here are two of my lovebirds in front of Belle and the Beast - MADE OUT OF LEGOS!!  Amazing!

We spent a couple of afternoons at the beach.  Thanks to the kindness of strangers, Trev got to try his hand (belly) at boogie boarding.  No surprise - he picked it right up.  The beach was a lovely place.  He didn't realize it, but at one point, a seal was swimming in a wave very close to him.  There were also dolphin sightings, and of course, the requisite seagulls were all around!!

Grandma enjoyed shell seeking.  She, herself, is a California girl and told us a few tales of her life when she lived here.

Taking advantage of a little down time to catch up on some reading, and catching a few rays.

A very nice man offered to take our picture, and as I am rarely on this side of the camera, I jumped at the chance to be in the family picture.

We had a nice, cool lunch at Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney.  You can't beat the atmosphere there!!

Ryan's dad treated us to a California Angels baseball game.  Trev wore Ken's hat in hopes that it would bring the team some good luck.  It was a valiant effort!  :)  Two crazy things - Mike Trout hit a homerun that night which made it the second year in a row that he has done that and when Trev walked down to get closer for this picture, someone yelled out something (positive) about BYU!  Cougar Fans are everywhere!!

We walked to the end of the (very stinky) Newport Pier.  Lots of fishermen, and lots of fishy smell!  We were there on Sunday afternoon, and there were so many people!!  We were so glad we had gone to the beach on less busy days and we were really ready to get back to a quiet park and just relax!!

Finally, we couldn't leave town without a few pictures of the beautiful Newport Beach Temple.  We stopped to snap some pictures after Sacrament Meeting at the building right across from the temple.  It is unique and we love how it fits in with its surroundings.  It is a stunning building, and if you would like to know a little of its history, click here, although that link won't tell you how the members increased their tithing donations to pay for the temple.  It is gorgeous and knowing the back story makes it more meaningful! 

California was a great place to witness and celebrate Allison and Ryan's wedding.  I think our family agrees it is a fun place to visit, but we don't want to live there.  We are just country mice!  ;) Its good for us to see how the other half live!