A few more happy memories from the rest of our trip...

 We went to this little town called Orange that was not too far from where we were staying.  It had lots of antique stores and reminded me of Logan...but not that big.  It was fun to look at all the antiques.  Camille is pretty good at bartering with people to get a good price.  She worked a deal for some neat lamps for Kate's house.  

 I thought Candice would appreciate this old book.

 We went down to Corona del mar for the afternoon.  There was a neat beach and little park area where we took these pictures.

We went to Kate's church on Sunday.  It was a real good meeting.  It was good to see how much Katie is loved by the people in her ward.

We hung out at Kate's house quite a bit.  She has fixed her place up really cute! 

 I'm not sure how he did this, but we turned around and found Sam had gotten out of one side of his shirt.  Ha!  He is such a busy boy!   So sweet and happy though!

 Liv and Bolt

We went to the swap meet for a few hours on Saturday.  This was a great new addition!  A big bouncy play land for the kids! 

Chris was in California for a few days too and had picked up Emily and was headed back to Las Vegas.  We wanted to see them so we met them at the swap meet.  Emily's new little baby was so cute.  It was good to get to visit with them...wish we didn't live so far apart. 

Man it was hard leave Kate and Camille and her family.  We hung out together at the airport for as long as we could, then had to say good bye.  The 4 days flew by and were so much fun.  Sure am grateful we were able to spend this time together and make some wonderful memories.

Disneyland part 2

Friday was Disneyland day! 

Camille had been doing her homework and found a place where we could get tickets for Disneyland and California adventure by buying it from a "business" that buys a 4 day pass, then sells each day to different people.   It sounded a little sketchy, but  several of her friends had used it before and it worked out ok, so we went for it. 

We got there bright and early and got the kids all situated.  Camille had borrowed a double stroller and it worked out  really well.  I had been thinking Olivia could just walk, but that place is soooooo big, there is no way she would have made it.  I think we probably walked 10 miles that day!Sam had been up since about 6 so by the time we got there, he was ready for his nap! 

 How cute are they?  They were so good all day long.  They gave Olivia a neat button to wear because it was her birthday.

 Liv had her face painted like a butterfly...so cute!

 We haven't been to Disney land since KC was about 5 so a lot has changed.  The small world and the tea cups ride were about the only things that looked the same.

Kellen had done his homework too and found out about getting a "fast pass"  As soon as we got there he ran to get one for us for some of the rides that have really long lines.  That way, we could go in a different line that went right up to the front!  It was awesome!  He could get one each hour so that really made it nice! 

 Olivia did not like the rides that were scary or dark or loud....So after going on thunder mountain, she was pretty wary of any other rides.  We found plenty of other rides that were just her speed though, so the day flew by.  She especially loved meeting with the princesses.  They gave her a cute little tiera and really made her feel special. 

Since it was close to Halloween, they were having a Halloween party that night.  People started showing up in their costumes about 5 and it was fun just people watching!  We headed over to California Adventure for the evening.

 They had some fun things over there.  A lot of it was shut down because they are redoing it for 2012, but we found some fun rides that were just right for Olivia.  There was also an amazing roller coaster.  Definitely the best one I've ever been on.  Luckily, Kellen had gotten a fast pass for it so we ran right up to the front of the extremely long line.  It was so fun, we had to go again!

 I think Liv liked the carousel just about as good as anything.  Sam did too!

Several people had told me about this show called "World of Color" that they put on over this lake.  We had planned on staying for it even though it didn't start till about 9:30.  The kids had about had it, but when the show started, they loved it.  It was really neat how they showed different parts of favorite Disney movies on a mist of water and had music and lights and water spraying all over to the music.

As we walked from the park, the fireworks started.  Nice end to a great day.

 We are not huge Disneyland fans...but I have to say, they really have it set up to where you can have a wonderful day there.  Even though there are a zillion other people there,   ( yes we went on uea weekend!) everything runs along so smoothly and everyone is so nice and helpful there, it really was a lot of fun! 

The very best part of it was watching Olivia.  She is just a sweet little soul, who is happy with whatever happens.  Never complained or whined about the long lines or being tired.

 And Sam...well you just couldn't ask for a better little guy.  He was happy all day long. 

 I'm a lucky grandma...want to wrap up this day and keep it in a special place in my heart so when I am missing them so much, I can take it out and remember what a fun day we had.

Disneyland

Well the day finally arrived!  We had promised Olivia that we would take her to Disney land for her birthday earlier in the summer so it seemed like forever till the day finally arrived that we had planned to go!  We were so excited...hadn't seen Camille and her family since the middle of August! 

We flew out Thursday morning and met up with Camille and Kellen at the airport.  They had already picked up the rental car so we were ready to go!  We went over to Fashion Island and had lunch there.  Then walked around a bit. 

Then we went down to Newport Pier.  Got donuts and watched the bubble man.

 We had to stop off at the seashell store.  Liv picked some pretty shells to take home.

 We walked out on the pier and there was a seal just swimming right there below us.

Liv and I took off our shoes and went down in the sand to chase the birds.

Pretty  much perfect day!

Katie came home this weekend for Morgan's wedding.

We all went out to her reception at this fancy country club in American Fork.  Morgan's dad is the golf pro there.  Come to find out the guy Morgan married is the son of one of the guys that own the mortuary that took care of mum in Logan.  Really nice people.

 Candice and Kate busting a move with MJ

 Candice Kate and I went out to the nail shop and got pedicures.   Very nice and relaxing!

 Sunday after church, we went over to visit grampa.  He said if we wanted to, we could go through the rest of Maxine's clothes and take what ever we wanted.

I can't really believe how many clothes she had.   That was like her job...shop shop shop!  She would have people from the stores call her and tell her when a blouse or some pants she had been looking at had gone on sale.  She was on first name basis with all the ladies at Nordstom and the Pendelton store.  She was a smart shopper, and would wait it out and keep going back till she got the best deal.  She had very expensive taste and only bought the best.

Grampa would follow her around and carry her bags.  The bazaars at the malls were the best!  She would have loads of neat hand made goods for him to carry...quilts, booties, aprons, slippers.  He would end up just finding a good bench and making himself comfortable, then she would come and drop off her finds on his bench, then go back for more. 

She would shop all day...usually changing into her slippers about 1:00.  I don't know how she did it.  I went with her several times, but gave out after a few hours.  Kate inherited the shopping gene from grandma.  They spent many happy hours together at the mall when she was growing up.  Maxine had a special place in her heart for Kate...they are so much alike.

A trip to the mall would include a little bag of toffee or those little chocolate stars, and usually something cute to wear.  She always kept the girls in pretty black patent leather shoes too...something we could have never afforded.

 Trying on some fun things they found. 

That fur coat holds a whole lot of happy dress up memories for all the kids.

 We made some fabulous raspberry ice cream Sunday afternoon....probably the best ever.

 So good to have Kate here for a few days. It still wrenches my heart every time we have to drop her off at the airport.  This hasn't been an easy time for her...this was the friend she has been living with for the past 3 years.  I'd give about anything if she could find someone to share her life with.   It's a righteous desire...I can't keep from asking...why?