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Thursday, December 31, 2009

HAPPY 2010!!!!

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Well today is the last day of 2009 and I thought I would tell you what we did this year that we hadn't posted about yet. We will TRY to post pictures of everything soon.


In May, Robin, Jason and I took our Mom to the Aquarium of the Pacific. AofP is a HUGE aquarium about the largest ocean in the world. The aquarium in located in Long Beach, across the bay from the Queen Mary. We had a great time seeing the more then 12,500 animals including many varieties of sharks, rays, fish, seals, sea lions and otters (Robins favorite). We got to feed nectar to Lorikeets, pet some sharks and rays. We also saw a laser and light show about Blue Whales.


In September, my cousin Derek married Betsy in Ohio. Grandpa, Dad, Jason, Robin and I flew out for the wedding to join with the ENTIRE Meyerson clan. It was so wonderful to have the entire family together again. It has been YEARS since we have all been together. We were all busy getting ready for the wedding and going to all the social gatherings.


When we weren't busy, we spent time together enjoying each others company. We had a BLAST playing with Lexi, Ashlin, Tayley and Lucy!!!! We also spent a lot of time with the rest of the Meyersons.

One day while we were in Ohio, a group of us went to Kirkland to visit the historical sites. We visited the Kirkland Temple, which now belongs to the Community of Christ Church, and the Whitney Store. Although the temple was BEAUTIFUL, the spirit was defiantly missing. I felt so bad for all the hard work and sacrifice the early Saints put into it and all of it is for naught :( Thank goodness the spirit was amazingly strong at Whitney's Store. I gained a deep love and testimony for Joseph and Emma Smith. I also felt a deep love for the Whitney's and the love, service, sacrifice and friendship they had for the Smiths and to all who were in Kirkland.


In October, Dad, Louise, Grandpa, Jason, Robin and I took a 2 week cross country train trip. We went from Los Angeles to Oakland, Oakland to Chicago and Chicago to Alexandria Virgina. We spent 3 days in Alexandria and then took trains from Washington DC to Chicago and Chicago to Seattle. We then took a 4 hour bus ride from Seattle to Vancouver Canada where we spent 3 more days. We then went back to Seattle to take a train back to Los Angeles.


We went through many different types of scenery from oceans to mountains to farm fields to following winding rivers. All the scenery was beautiful in its own way. Louise, Robin and I took well over 1,000 pictures. We were shutter bugs, especially Louise and Robin. We spent all our time on the train in the viewing car. The viewing car has HUGE windows and the seats face the windows. Besides looking at the scenery and taking pictures, Dad, Louise, Robin and I played board and card games.


While we were in Alexandria Virgina, it rained the ENTIRE 3 days we were there. Although it was raining, we spent a lot of time away from the hotel. We took several walks around town and went to Christs Church where George Washington and Robert E. Lee went to church. We also spent a day in Washington DC where we went to the Lincoln Memorial (something I have been wanting to do since I was in Kindergarten) and The Smithsonian Institute. It was a GREAT DAY!!!!


We had a 4 hour layover in Chicago before we had to catch the next train so Dad and Louise took Jason, Robin and I to The Willis Towers (formally known as The Sears Towers). We took an elevator 103 floors up in 60 seconds and saw was on top of the world!!!! The sky was partly cloudy but we were able to see far. On a clear day, people are able to see 5 different states and into Canada. We walked out onto 4 Plexiglas balconies that hang out over the ledge. All that was between our feet and 103 floors down was clear plexiglas. It was a little nerve wracking but so fun!!!!


My favorite part of the trip was Vancouver Canada. We stayed right in Downtown VC and was walking distance of MANY sites. We all did A LOT of walking around town looking at the interesting buildings and beautiful scenery. Robin and I spent HOURS walking around and shopping in historic Gas Town. We also visited the Vancouver Aquarium. Although it was not even close to being as big as Aquarium of the Pacific, it was still very interesting. I CAN NOT WAIT until the Winter Olympics start in February so I can see the beautiful city again.


Starting in the middle of November, we had most of the ceilings in our house replaced. The earthquakes we had earlier this year, created large cracks in the seams. While we got the ceilings replaced we decided we would repaint most of the bedrooms too. Grandpa painted his room a pretty color of light green. In Jason's room, we painted over the sun and rainbow that has been there since before we moved in. His room is now a nice shade of tan. Also, since Jason wanted a Disney themed room, he got the Matterhorn drawn on one wall and his (and Walt's) favorite Disney train on another wall.

For Robin and my room, we got clouds painted on the ceiling with countless glow in the dark stars. The ceiling is beautiful at night with all the stars. It feels like we are outside away from the city lights. Our old bedroom also got a makeover. The wall that has the closet in now the same color green as Grandpa's room. The large main wall is blue with sun, moon, clouds and stars. The window wall is now a pastel purple and the wall with the shelves is 2 shades of pink. The shelves are blue, pink, green and purple. On the bottom half of the walls (except for the wall with the shelves) has white Wyans Coating (wood paneling). All the rooms are GREAT!!!


We had a wonderful Thanksgiving over at Dad and Louises apartment. It was the 1st time in their 17 years of marriage that they have invited us over for a cooked meal. They invited us over 2 other times but that was for cold cut sandwiches and cinnamon rolls. We watched 2 movies while we were over there and we had a wonderful dinner. Louise said she enjoyed having us over so much that she will invite over again soon. We will have to see if that ever happens.


December was filled with many Christmas activities and parties. A group of us from our YSA ward went to the Los Angeles Temple to put up Christmas lights. We spent over 4 hours putting up lights on the LONG front wall and a tree next to the front lawn. It took a long time to untangle the strands of lights. I spent over 45 minutes untangling 1 strand of lights. I was SOOOO proud when I finally got the strand untangled (one group of people worked on the same tangle for only about 10 minutes and gave up). I couldn't wait to show everybody the work I did to make sure the stand of lights was worthy of being on temple grounds.


Several weeks a go, Grandpa, Jason, Robin and I went to see the lights at the temple lights at night time. The first lights we saw as we were driving towards the temple was the lights on the front wall (the ones I spent SOOO LONG untangling). They were SOOOO BEAUTIFUL!!!! The white lights were so bright, they took every ones breath away. We spent an hour walking around the grounds seeing all the lights. I was able to show everyone the strand of lights I worked on. I also showed them the tree I worked on too. I was disappointed when we got to the tree to see that not a single light was on. All the other trees were were blazed with lights, but not the tree I worked on. I really wanted to see the tree all lit up because we had to put over 30 BOXES of lights and hanging icicles. It was suppose to be a 'burning bush'.


Aunt Bonnie, Uncle Mike, their dog Dodger and my cousin Jodi came down from Utah for Christmas and spent a week with us. It was great having them here!!!! We have missed not spending Christmas with them for the past 10 years. While they were here, we went shopping, saw Christmas lights and saw a movie among other things. We got to also spend time with Jodi's boyfriend Chris who was also visiting his family in Huntington Beach. (Jodi, Chris is a keeper!!!! :) We are so glad they came for Christmas. We wished they could spend longer. Hopefully they will come for another visit soon. I also hope that the rest of the Meyerson clan visits us soon too.


We hope you all have a WONDERFUL and safe 2010!!!!! We promise to update this blog more often, even if we have nothing to blog about. We love and miss you all!!!!!!

Thursday, August 13, 2009

What an AMAZING couple of months!!!!

Sorry for the long time without updateing. We have had extremely busy, but fun couple of months!!!!! We will update with more posts and pictures within the next 2 weeks. PLEASE keep checking back and PLEASE post comments!!! We all love and miss you!!!
On Friday Aug. 7th, we went to an Angels Baseball game. It was the 15th Annual Mormon Night at Angels Stadium. They played against the Texas Rangers. Although the Angels lost (9 to 3) it was still a GREAT night!!!!!



On Saturday morning Aug, 8th Robin and I had to wake up really early so we could get to the All California State YSA Conference by 9 AM. The Conference was held near each of the 7 Temples in California and was attended by 12,000 Young Single Adults. Robin and I went to the Newport Beach location where 1,800 people attended. The day was filled with 4 workshops, a service project (tying 150 quilts), different recreational activities, food and a dance that lasted until 11:30 PM.


On Sunday morning Aug. 9th, we arrived at the Conference early again because our ward and another ward sang during the Sacrament Meeting portion of the Conference. We sang a medley of 3 hymns (Where Can I Turn for Peace/Be Still My Soul/Our Saviors Love) which overwhelmingly brought the spirit to the meeting. We had several speakers including the area 70 and his wife Elder and Sister Dalton whom we have known our entire lives. Our final speaker to end the AMAZING fireside was a broadcast from Elder and Sister Perry.


This Conference was a historic event and was closely watched by the General Authorities of the church to see if it would succeed in all of the goals they set. BOY DID IT SUCCEED!!!! The General Authorities goals included 10,000 YSA attend the conference and 10,000 temple ordinances performed in 3 months. Almost 12,000 YSA attended the conference and 69,612 temple ordinances were performed in the 12 weeks before the conference (thats almost 7 times the amount the goal that was set for). All the temples in California were FLOODED with YSA, and we were told the temple workers were "frazzled" trying to keep up with us. The temple work portion of the Conference was such a success that all the Temples in California will have the 8 PM session Tues-Fri reserved just for the YSA. I hope the temple workers during those session will be just as frazzled as they were for the past 12 weeks.


I KNOW that this Conference will spread country and world wide!!!! We felt so honored to be apart of this life changing event!!! This Conference and 12 weeks leading up to it, was designed to strengthen our personal relationship with Christ, gain a deep testimony for missionary and fellowship work and to make personal life improvements.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

A VERY Special Day!!!!!




On July 1st, a VERY Special event occurred in our family. To celebrate what would have been their 59th wedding anniversary, Grandpa, Grandma, Dad and Bonnie were sealed for Time and All Eternity in the Los Angeles Temple.



Before the Sealing, we did Grandma's Temple Work. Amber did her Initiatory and was her Proxy while Dad and Bonnie were Sealed to Gandma and Grandpa. I was able to do her Endowment. Bonnie was Grandma's Proxy while she was Sealed to Grandpa. It was an AMAZING expierience to be a Proxy to someone who you knew and loved.




There were many people who came to help us celebrate this special occasion: Aunt Bonnie (of course) Uncle Mike and Chad came from Utah; Aunt Elaine (Grandma's sister) came from Chula Vista (near San Diego); and there were MANY friends from the Yorba Linda 5 Ward.




After the Sealing, we all went out for lunch at a restraunt called "Juniors".

It was a WONDERFUL day.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

HAPPY 81ST BIRTHDAY GRANDPA!!!!!!!!!


It was 81 years a go today when a 3rd child, and 1st son, joined the Thornton Family in Idaho Falls, Idaho. The boy is tiny when he is born because he wasn't due until September (3 months early). But then the boy grew, married and had a family and became the Stanley Levi Thornton we all know and love!!!! HAPPY 81ST BIRTHDAY GRANDPA!!!!! We hope you have a FUNTASTIC day!!!!!! Thank-you for ALL that you have done for us!!!!! Thank-you for all the love and laughter you gave for all these years!!!! You are THE BEST GRANDPA (and dad) IN HISTORY!!!!! WE LOVE YOU and are SO GLAD you are in our lives!!!!!!!

Monday, May 18, 2009

A Historic California YSA Conference



On August 8th and 9th, 10,000 YSA's from all over the state of California will gather at each of the 7 temples for a historic state wide conference. They are expecting 1,800 YSA to be at the Newport Beach Temple. Last night we had a Conference kick-off fireside to explain what will happen in the next 12 weeks leading up to the conference and the actual conference. In two weeks, we all will be divided into companionships and be set apart for a 10 week mini mission. We will spend the next 10 weeks focusing on finding, activating and inviting the less-active to this conference. We also be focusing on missionary work. All the YSA state wide are encouraged to do temple ordinances at least 3 times before August 8th.

We have State goals, Ward goals and Personal goals that we will be focusing on also. These goals are designed to improve us physically as well as spiritually. The State goals include: To have 80% of all YSA's attend the Conference. Have 30% of all YSA's bring a friend or a less active to the Conference. Have 10,000 Ordinances performed by August 8th. The Ward Goals include: Identify and visit every less active YSA in the ward. Challenge every less active to attend the Conference. Be Temple Worthy and perform at least 3 ordinances by August 8th.



On Saturday August 8th, we will all gather at the nearest temple (for us it is the Newport Beach Temple) at 5 in the morning to do sessions, sealings, inititories, baptisms and confirmations. After spending several hours in the temple, we will have several workshops to attend. In the afternoon, we will have a service project where we will be making 1,000 quilts (yes even the guys will be doing it too) state wide in 2 1/2 hours. The quilts will be donated to families in need. In the evening, we will have a dance.



On Sunday August 9th, we will gather for a special fireside where we will take the sacrament and have Elder L. Tom Perry as a special speaker. Robin and I are SO EXCITED for this conference. It will be an AMAZING experience!!!!

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Fun with the Meyersons!!!! Now with pictures

On Monday Grandpa, Jason and I had the amazing privilege of watching Ashlin and Tayley!!!!!! Chad, Meagan and the girls flew down from Salt Lake to Los Angeles to watch the Lakers eliminate the Jazz . When we got to the hotel Chad and Meagan were staying in, we walked in the room and Tayley was crawling all over the room. I went to pick her up and she smiled at me. She had no problem with me holding her. I took her over to Grandpa so he could see her, but she began to cry (poor Grandpa). Ashlin came running up to Grandpa Jason and I and gave us lots of hugs and kisses!!!!!





Everyone but Grandpa got ready to swim in the hotel pool before Chad and Meagan had to leave for the game. We spent about an hour swimming and having a goodtime. Tayley was just chilling in her float ring while Ashlin was a real fish swimming all around the pool. Ashlin and I had fun racing each other and playing tag. Tayley was mesmerized by me. She just stared at me and when I swam by her she smiled. I think she liked me.



After we got out, Grandpa and Chad went across the street to Taco Bell to get dinner. As we were eating and Chad and Meagan were getting ready for the game, Tayley was crawling all around the room again and had no desire to eat. I finally picked her up and fed her some rice. She enjoyed sitting on my lap and I got her to eat some dinner.





It was then time for Tayley to go to bed and Chad and Meagan to leave for the game. Grandpa and Jason watched TV while I played with Ashlin. I had a WONDERFUL time playing Princesses with Ashlin. I was Belle and she was Cinderella. We pretended that the evil queen was after us so we had to keep running from one side of the room to the other. When we were on one side of the room we would play with some magnetic cutouts and play sets of the Princesses at a ball. We had to dance with each other so we would be ready to dance with the princes. As we were dancing it reminded me of the chorus of a song by Steven Curtis Chapman called Cinderella. "I will dance with Cinderella while she is here in my arms. Cause I know something the prince never knew. I'll dance with Cinderella. I don't want to miss even one song. Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight and she'll be gone."





When we were on the other side we watched the planes fly into LAX. As we were watching the planes, Ashlin and I had to call Wonder Pets to see if they could help us get away from the evil queen. The Wonder Pets would say they were too busy so we had to get help form the planes.




Ashlin had such a large imagination!!!! I was privileged to take part in it!!!!! I had so much fun playing with Ashlin and Tayley and enjoyed every moment I spent with them. I was so sad when I had to put Ashlin to bed. I can't wait to see them again.





Me with Ashlin and Tayley






Ashlin with Grandpa





Chad, Meagan, Ashlin and Tayley

Chad throwing Ashlin in the air




Meagan and Tayley enjoying the water


Ashlin and Tayley


Grandpa catching an Ashlin fish



Grandpa and Tayley


Jason with Ashlin


I thought Robin needed to have a picture too, so this is the bruise she got when she fell during one of the earthquakes last week.

Friday, April 24, 2009

EarthShake, Rattle and Roll!!!!!

Yorba Linda was really shaking, rattling and rolling yesterday!!!! Just before 5 PM 2 strong jolts hit Yorba Linda (about 8 months a go we also had a 5.8 jolt). Robin and I were out and about and was stopped at a red light when our car began shaking. I thought it was the car behind us bumping into us. After a few moments we realized it was an earthquake. We immediately called home and Grandpa answered with "WOW, that was a jolt!!!" He told us that it sounded like an entire army shot of rifles in the house. It was 2 extremely strong and loud bangs. Jason was walking when it hit and it knocked him off his feet. When Robin and I got home we looked it up on the computer and saw that the quake was 3.8, 3 miles deep (most quakes are at least 10 miles deep) and centered 2 miles from our house. We pin-pointed the spot where it happened and found out that Robin and I was 1 block away from the epicenter. Thank goodness only a few things fell down and nothing broke. The pets were sure scared the rest of the day, especially Ripley, Kodi and Koda. Cali didn't seem to be scared.
At 8:30 PM we were hit with an even bigger quake. Robin was taking a bath, Jason was upstairs watching t.v. and Grandpa and I were watching the Lakers and Jazz game. All of the sudden there was another HUGE jolt. Robin was stepping out of the tub when it hit and it made her fall down. She has a huge knot and bruise on her leg. 1 minute after the jolt there was another big jolt. The biggest of the jolts measured 4.0, was 1 FOOT (right on the surface) and was 1 mile from the house. The 2nd jolt was only 2.6 and was 2 miles deep. Once again just a few things fell but some of them broke.
Grandpa thought it would be safer for us to sleep in the motor home in case we got more quakes. We wouldn't have to worry about anything falling on us and the metal frame of the motor home wouldn't shake as bad as the wood frame of our house. We had 3 smaller quakes (measuring 2.5-1.8) though out the rest of the night but we barely felt them. I think Yorba Linda got its fill of earthquakes for quite awhile. Hopefully we won't have any more jolts.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

A Day in LA


Dad needed to go to the Los Angeles Union Train Station to fix something for our train trip in October. Grandpa, Jason, Robin and I decided to tag along. We arrived at the Fullerton station at 9:30 in the morning to catch an Amtrak train for the 30 minute trip to the LA station. After Dad got everything fixed, we decided to go across the street to historic Olvera Street.

Olvera Street is the oldest street in Los Angeles (it is known as the birthplace of Los Angeles). It was first settled in 1781 by 44 Mexican settlers. Olvera Street is one block long filled with many shops selling handcrafted souvenirs and clothing and 27 historic buildings. There were also many authentic Mexican Restaurants. We had lunch at restaurant that opened in 1924. The food was SOOOOOO GOOD!!! The weather was also very nice. For the past 3 days it has been 103-105 but today it had cooled down to 72. It was perfect weather to spend the day outside and walk around the old street.


As we were waiting for the train to go back to Fullerton, we had time to walk around the Union Station. The Los Angeles Union Station opened on May 7, 1939 (it will celebrate it's 70th birthday in a few weeks). The interior of the Station was breathtaking!!!! The ceilings were 50 high with beautiful wood carvings. The 30 old ticket booths also had intricate wood carvings. Grandpa told us that in the 1940's and 50's the station was always busy!!! Many celebraties could be found walking around and getting on and off trains. The Station is HUGE with more then 20 tracks coming into it. We all had a wonderful time!!!! We are planning to go to Chinatown (also by train) which is about a block away from Olvera Street.




This is the Fullerton Train Station, about 10 miles from our house

This is the Los Angeles Union Train Station.
A flower cart announcing you are on Olvera Street

A view of Olvera Street


Another view of Olvera Street


The 4 of us eating lunch
a view inside the LA Union Station


another view inside the station

the last view inside the station

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA


You have been gone now for 15 months. We wanted to do something special for your birthday. Since you are not here we couldn't make or buy you anything. There was only one thing that we could think of that you would want more then anything. We finally decided to set a date to get your temple work done and for you and Grandpa, Dad and Bonnie to be sealed for time and all eternity!!!! The date we have chosen is July 1st 2009, which would have been your 59th Wedding Anniversary. We are going to have it done in the Los Angeles Temple, which is a special temple for you and Grandpa. We are going to invite many family and friends for this much waited for event. We are counting down the days until we are all truly an eternal family!!!!

Friday, March 20, 2009

Our St. Patrick's Day!!!!

Sunday, February 15, 2009

We've been Busy!!!!!

Sorry for the long wait for an update. PICS WILL BE COMING SOON (Amber and I are planning on going through them tomorrow)!!!!!!!!! Here is whats been going on in our family since the last update.

On January 11th, Chad and his family were in town from Utah due to a JetBlue meeting. The goup had tickets to a Clippers Basketball game. Since they had extra tickets, Grandpa, Jason, and I were able to go with them (Amber couldnt go because she had to teach the Relief Society lesson that day). It was alot of fun (but I hope, someday, to go to a Lakers game)

The month of February has been busy so far:

Amber and I had a birthday earlier this month, so there has been alot of parties (and cake)!!!!!!!

The fist party was 2 days before our birthday. It was put on by our friend, Leanne.There were quite a few people who showed up. We had a GAME NIGHT. We played a fun game called APPLES TO APPLES and DISNEY SCEEN IT. After everyone left, Amber and I spent about 2 hours just talking to Leanne. It was GREAT!!!!!

The next night Grandpa took us out to eat at TONY ROMA'S!!!!! They have are famous for their ribs. They are EXCELLENT (and messy).

Later that night, we went to a party for a friend who was moving. Since she LOVES pie, instead of it being a good-bye party, it was a good- PIE party. Everyone brought pies. It was alot of fun.

Since Amber and I were going to Disneyland for our birthday the next day, Amber and I opened our presents: Amber gave me a book ONE SINGLE VOICE (it was written by Elder Oaks wife. Its about how to find joy and contentment in being single in a family oriented church), and 2 CD's. One CD is called A CHILD'S PRAYER. It is the CD that Travis and Jenny used as the soundtrack to Jake's memorial dvd (We LOVE and miss you Jake). The other CD is about women and the important role they play.

I got her a Buxton bag (the ones you see on tv), the same CD I got her A CHILD'S PRAYER, and a painting called I WILL NOT FAIL THEE. It shows a girl kneeling against the lap of Jesus (you don't see his face). Amber calls it HER picture. She calls it her picture because the phrase I WILL NOT FAIL THEE is in her Pat. Blessing.

Since Amber and I LOVE to read, grandpa bought us each a Sony e-book reader. Its a electronic device that you can download HUNDREDS of e-books onto. This allows us to read LOTS of books without lugging around all thoes books. We LOVE them!!!!! They get LOTS of use!!!!

The next day was our birthday. Amber, our mom and I spent the day at Disneyland. This year at the Disney Parks, you can get in free on your birthday. But since Amber and I have Annual Passes that let us in free evveryday, we got a gift card worth $69 (the price of a one day ticket) to use toward purchases. I used my gift card to buy a blanket of IT'S A SMALL WORLD and a shirt. Amber used hers to buy 2 figures.

Friday night Grandpa made a cake and we had Dad and Louise and Mom over.

Tomorrow night Amber and I are going over to our friends house. She is going to make us a birthday dinner. That will be last birthday party.

In other news.... We got a new garage door. We couldnt open or close our other garage door due to our new roof. When they put on our new roof, they put the shingles down too far.

Earlier this week I had to get a new laptop because my old one quit working. The guy said that it would cost at least $200 to fix. Grandpa said that we could get a brand new one for a little bit more money. So.....Hello New Laptop!!!!!!!

Last night, Grandpa, Dad, Louise, Jason, Amber and I went to go see the HARLEM GLOBE TROTTERS!!!! It was a WONDERFUL show. It was AMAZING to see all the tricks they could do with a basketball.

It was also REALY funny to see the tricks they pulled on eachother, their opponents THE GENERALS, and on the audience.

In a few weeks Grandpa goes in to have surgery. Because he has REALLY bad knee pain, he is having a pain pump put in. Hopefully this will relieve his pain.

There has also been news of 2 new members joining the family, and the 16th marks 2 years of when we had to say goodbye, for now, to one. First the new additions:

In May Travis, Jenny, Lexi and Jake will be adding Lucy to the family. Welcome Little Lucy!!!!! We can't WAIT to see you!!!!!!

Today we learned that my cousin Derek and his long time girlfriend, Betsy, are engaged. Welcome to the crazy family Betsy. I hope that we will be able to get to know eachother better.

Two years ago,on the 16th, we lost a very special member of the family: Jake. Jake was born with a birth defect called Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH). CDH is a devestating birth defect where the diaphragm fails to close all the way. This allows the organs that are suppose to be in the abdomin, to escape into the chest cavity. This prevents the lungs and heart to be underdeveloped due to lack of room. He fought for 5 months and 25 days. He spent his ENTIRE life in the NICU. Even though we didnt get a chace to see you, know that we will ALWAYS LOVE and MISS you. We were planning on seeing you after you got out of the hospital, but, sadly, that didnt happen. We LOVE You OUR LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD!!!!!!!

Thursday, January 1, 2009

The past 3 months. Pics will come in the next post.

Once again we are so sorry for the delay in posts. A lot has happened in the past 3 months. Stay tuned for the next post to see picturs of all our activities. First off in October Grandpa, Jason, Robin, Dad and Louise and I went on a 16 day road trip to visit Northern California and family in Idaho and Utah. We spent one week driving through the redwoods. It was AMAZING to see the GIANT trees, I now know how ants feel when they are by us. These trees are more then 5,000 years old and over 300 feet high and each tree drinks more then 200 gallons of water a day (I'm glad I don't have to pay that water bill. HAHAHA). We really enjoyed walking around them and seeing all the touristy things along the way including The Skunk Train.


We also really enjoyed all the family we got to see. In Utah we got to see my Aunt Bonnie, Uncle Mike, my cousins Chad, his wife Meagan and their 2 daughters Ashlin (3) and Tayley (4 months) and my other cousin Jodi. We also visited one on my Grandmas brothers family. We did a lot of fun things including the Heber Creeper and the Kennecott Copper Mine. We also visited a wild mustang and burro ranch, went to Gardners Village and went to one of Ashlins dance recital (she did such a great job). We spent 2 days visiting my Grandpa's family in Idaho. We saw more then 75 relatives living in and around Rigby. It was SO nice to see everyone again.


4 days into our trip, our outside water main pipe broke, allowing water to get into our living room and dining room. It was a HUGE mess. Luckily we had neighbors and members of our ward who cleaned up the mess which allowed us to continue on our vacation. They vacuumed up the water, moved all the furniture, pulled up the carpets and had high powered fans going.

When we got back, we spent the next 6 weeks getting the house back together. We had to repaint the walls, get new carpet and move the furniture out of the family room and kitchen back to where they belonged. Thank goodness the same people who helped clean up the mess while we were gone, helped us get the house back together.

On November 15th, 4 devastating wildfires swept through Southern California, including Yorba Linda. Robin and I were out to lunch at Disneyland with one of our church friends for her birthday. When we first arrived at Disneyland, ash began to fall like snow. After lunch not only was the ground covered in ash, but the sky was the overcast with dark brown smoke. We immediatly left and went home. We learned that there was a fire in Brea (about 8 miles away) and there was another fire at the Yorba Linda/Corona border (3 miles away).

Roads were shut down except for emergency vehicles and 100,000's of people were evacuated, including us. Dad and Louise took our 2 cats and 2 birds while we spent the night in a hotel. While we were leaving our neighborhood we saw flames coming over the hills that was 1/2 mile away from our house. The hotel was filled to capacity with fire evacuees and their pets. We spent the entire night watching the news, seeing streets we know engulfed in flames.


Our house and all the houses in our neighborhood withstood the fire (even though when we got back home live emberes were still in our yard). 118 families in Yorba Linda were not that lucky, including a bishop in our stake. The rest of Yorba Linda are doing all we can to help and support those who lost everything.

The radio station Robin and I listen to was having a private Christmas party at Disneyland on the 20th. For the entire month of December Robin and I had tried everyday trying to get tickets for the party. We went several places where they were holding raffles to win tickets. Finally at the last raffle holding (which was held the day before the party) I was the first name that was pulled and won 4 tickets to the party. Robin and I surprised Jason with the tickets. Robin, Jason, Mom and I had a wonderful time playing at Disneyland from 9 PM-1AM. We can't wait to do it next year.


On Nov. 22, Jason turned 30. We had a family get together with cake and ice cream. We all chipped in to buy Jason an i-Pod. Robin and I put about 50 songs on it for him and a Mickey Mouse skin for it. We taught Jason how to put songs on it and now he has over 100 songs on it. He really likes his i-Pod. He also got some games for his gaming systems.


Robin and I went to our 1st concert (I know... we are almost 29 years old and going to our 1st concert. How sad!). We went to see Celine Dion. We had a WONDERFUL time!!! We thought Celine Dion was great on the radio but she is even more AMAZING in person.


We had a great Christmas!!!! As usual, Dad and Louise came over Christmas Eve and had dinner. After dinner, Robin and I read stories that share the true spirit of Christmas. We also read a poem we found on the internet entitled "Christmas In Heaven". We dedicated it to all the family members we have lost especially Jacob and Grandma. Then we spent several hours unwrapping presents.


We also had a great new year so far. Dad and Louise invited us over to their house (the 1st time they have ever invited us over to their house in 16 years). G-pa, Robin and I (Jason was at work) got there around 9:30 so we could watch the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl. We had hot chocolate and Cinnamon rolls YUMMY!!!! There were BEAUTIFUL floats (as always) this year and USC won the bowl game.

The 2nd is Grandmas 1 year anniversary since she died. It has been a year full of ups and downs with out her but we know that once we get her temple work done (which will probably be in the summer) we will be together with her again. Grandpa has been stuggleing with is knee pain a lot more then usual. The pain is not only in his knees but in his entire legs and hips. He can barely walk without using a walker now. His pain wears him out and spends days on the couch because he cant walk or is too dizzy to move. He has had several testings for a pain pump to be inserted in his spine which will give a contestant flow of heavy pain medication into his spine. All the kinks have been ironed out for him to receive the pain pump on Feb. 27th. Please keep him in your prayers that the pain pump will work and he will be able to enjoy life again.