New Years

For New Years, my little brother and sister (Nathan and Whitney) got to come visit.  We enjoyed exploring the Getty Museum.  Apparently the dress code was to wear pink and stripes:) 

We picked citrus fruit in Ian's Grandparent's orchard.

We had breakfast at the Santa Anita Race Track and watched the horses warm up for their races.

We had a pizza party at Larry and Lisa's house with their pizza oven.

My mother-in-law, Margaret, helped us get in special to see the Rose Parade floats.  

They had their first experience throwing marshmallows at cars on New Years Eve on the Rose Parade route. 

We then went back in the morning to watch the Rose Parade.  I am always blown away with the incredible floats.

Some Spartan fans getting excited about the game.

Ian's favorite part is always the fly over to start the parade.

Ian still has four living grandparents who both came to the parade.  It was fun to also spend time with them over Christmas and New Years.  

At one point a float broke down and we had to wait a while for the parade to start moving again.  Luckily, the Harlem Globe Trotters were stopped in front of us so we were able to get a picture.

We drove down the coast and had breakfast at Las Brisas with my cousin Taylor and his wife Brooke.   

Afterwards, the boys did a little surfing and the girls got to relax on the beach.  

We sure enjoyed Whitney and Nathan's visit.  Come back soon!

Christmas 2013

This year we stayed home for Christmas in California with Ian's family.  We enjoyed a fun-filled week filled with activities to celebrate the season.  We went down to the Los Angeles temple to hear Brad (Ian's dad) sing in a Christmas concert.  We also took time to walk around the grounds and see the lights.

We enjoy attending the Brush Family Christmas party every year.  The Finlay's neighbor is a food stylist and always puts on an incredible display of food.  This year there were over 30 different types of desserts.    

We took a trip to look at the holiday lights at the Balian Mansion with the whole family.  It is a famous stop here in California to look at lights.

The women in the Finlay family always go to breakfast on Christmas Eve morning at Mimi's Cafe.  It was fun to be with everyone.

There was a big crew for Christmas Eve dinner this year.  

As always, the food was delicious.

We enjoyed singing Christmas carols together.

This year for the first time, we acted out the Christmas story.

This year Ian and I woke up early and celebrated Christmas morning together.

We then headed over to Larry and Lisa's home for a big Christmas breakfast.

The guys.

The Christmas gift exchange is always a big chaotic but fun.  

A Visit From Nate

My brother Nate came to CA for a visit last week.  It was a whirlwind trip but we fit a lot of fun things in.  Nate learned how to boogie board.  He was a natural- catching on really quickly. 

Monday we went to Six Flags Magic Mountain.  It's probably been over ten years since I was at a park like this and rode roller coasters.  Admittedly, I was a little timid to go on some of the roller coasters, but I still went.  This was one of the worst scariest rides and I screamed the entire ride!  It might be another ten years before I do this again.

Isn't my brother so cute?  It was so fun to hang out with him for a few days.  Come back soon!

Three Years

We celebrated our third wedding anniversary this week!  Ian had an extra two days off of work which meant we got to spend three days together!  With work, travel, school, and other responsibilities

this was a welcomed treat.  With so many fun things to do in Los Angeles, we decided to have a staycation and explore the city.  Here are some highlights from the week....

Monday we went to the beach with the Finlay family.  Ian had a great time with Steve and Evan playing in the waves.

The Getty Museum.  Very impressive art collection.  I especially enjoyed the garden and an exhibit on the building and expansion of Los Angeles.  The views of the city from the museum are always great too. 

The Hollywood Walk of Fame.  I couldn't stand more than about 10 minutes there because it was so dirty, but we did get a picture in front of the famous Chinese theatre and found a few famous stars' names.

Lunch at Umami burger.  Two big thumbs up for this restaurant.  Their truffle fries were delish.       

The Griffith Observatory.  We watched a show in the planetarium and toured the museum.  

We took a hike in the hills nearby.  More great views from the top of Mt. Hollywood.

From the Griffith Observatory there is a great view of the Hollywood sign.  We ate our picnic dinner out on the lawn and watched the sun set.  The Hollywood sign is the small white blob in the backgound. 

 

Once dark, we got to see Saturn through their telescope.  

 

On our actual anniversary we went to the Newport Beach Temple.  The grounds were so beautiful. 

Ian surprised me and we got pedicures.  I had to document that Ian got one as well.  

We finished off the night with a nice dinner at Roy's.  They even had gluten free dessert that was heavenly!  

Happy third anniversary!