Spring Break!!!! (Finally!)

Well, I'm finally posting about our fabulous Spring Break trip! Last week, we packed up and drove to Southern California for a week of sun and fun. We left on Monday and drove to San Diego with a few stops along the way. We stopped at San Juan Capistrano Beach for some fun sand play. That was incredible for me because when I was a teenager, my parents rented a beach house right on that very beach three different summers. I haven't been back there for many years (I won't say how many because it makes me sound old!!!:) We walked down the beach until I found the right one. It was such a beautiful day, and the kids had lots of fun playing in the water and sand.
We then continued South until we came to the San Diego Temple. WOW! It is so beautiful! The grounds should have been closed because it was Monday, but there was a lone security guard there and he let us in. We were able to walk around and enjoy the beauty of that place for about half an hour. When we left, he locked up and it was closed.
Tuesday dawned bright and sunny (different than what the forecast called for!) We spent the day at Sea World! It was such an amazing day! We got to see the Dolphin Discovery show, The Shamu Show Believe, Pets Rule show, and at night we saw Shamu Rocks! It was awesome! We sat in the "soak zone" for each show, but we didn't get wet! Oh well. We also saw all the exhibits and went on all the rides.

For lunch, we had tickets for the Dine With Shamu meal which was amazing! We ate right around the whales pool, and they came right up to where we sat. We got to ask questions and talk to the trainers. The food was pretty good, too! All in all, our favorite part of the day was Shamu!!! We think he rocks!!!!

On Wednesday, we headed on over to the fabulous San Diego Zoo. We started the day off with the bus tour of the whole park. That gave us the scope of the place, and helped us figure out what places we wanted to see again. We got plenty of exercise walking around this gigantic zoo! We loved taking the tram that went over the park, and we loved seeing the baby cheetahs. By 3:00 we had seen just about everything and we were wiped out! We headed back to the hotel and rested up and then swam in the pool. It felt great!

On Thursday, we spent the day at the Wild Animal Park. That is an amazing place! We also took the guided bus tour and were able to see the animals in their natural habitat, without cages. My favorite were the huge lions that were very close, and the cheetahs. We felt like we were in Africa on a safari. We also saw two shows - Frequent Flyers which high-lighted some of the park's amazing birds, and Animal Encounters that showed a variety of different animals with their trainers. One of the highlights of our day was the Butterfly Jungle. This is a big enclosure filled with all kinds of beautiful butterflies - large and small - with every color! As you walked around they would land on you, coming and going quietly. It was amazing! We all got at least one butterfly on us, but Rachel got two that would not leave her - one on her hat, and one on her back. She walked around for quite awhile with these two. Finally one of the workers had to remove them for her so we could leave. We all loved it!

On Friday, we went back to Sea World and did all our favorites again! This time for Shamu's show, we sat in the soak zone where we knew we would get wet! This time we weren't disappointed! We got a really good splash! We also saw the Sea Lions show which was fun, and went on the Sea World Sky Tower. After doing some shopping and getting our souvenirs, we headed out of town around 3:00. We left for home and arrived around 10:30 at night. We were tired and happy to be home after a very full, exciting week!

We loved this vacation for many reasons! Of course, being together for an entire week without the stress and busyness of everyday life was great! But we were also reminded of the endless creations that we have been blessed with on this earth! Not only the numerous animals, but also flowers and plants throughout the parks that were varied and beautiful! We are so grateful to Heavenly Father for allowing us to experience so many of His creations in such a beautiful place! This was definitely a memorable trip!!!

Mini Vacation!

Last week, we took a little trip up north. We spent three days in Fairfield, California for some appointments. We had a great time together! We stayed in a hotel with a "heated" pool (yea, right!) I was the only smart one in the bunch who decided to sit it out and stay warm!

We also visited the Jelly Belly Factory! That is a cool place! It is candy heaven! They have lots of other candy they make there...not just jelly beans. We loved the Volkswagen Bug with jelly beans all over it! We escaped with bags of candy!

We also had the great opportunity to stop over in Petaluma and see the hospital where Rachel was born. This really meant a lot to her, knowing that her birth mother was there at some point. She has strong feelings about connecting with her past, and this helped a little being able to see where she was born.

We also visited some very special people in our lives. Mark and Sharon Spaulding, who were Rachel's foster parents for the first three months of her life. These dear people took such good care of her as a baby, and we are so grateful for their love! The last time we saw them was when we adopted Rachel ten years ago. What an amazing experience it was to see these people again and remember that exciting time in our lives when we became parents. Rachel has always felt very strongly about them, even though she didn't know them. They made a special scrapbook for Rachel of her first three months of life, which we are so grateful for. Rachel has looked at that book numerous times throughout her life, and was so excited to be able to see these dear people again. We wouldn't have any pictures of Rachel as a newborn if not for them.

They took us out to dinner at a favorite pizza place, which we all enjoyed! It was like sitting with dear friends. We feel like we have known these people all of our lives!

This trip brought our family closer together in many ways, and we truly saw the Lord's hand in our family's life. There are so many people that come and go in our lives. Impressions are always made, whether good or bad, and I am so grateful for all the deep impressions left in my heart of so many wonderful friends who have always been there for me!