The Redwoods

The final day of our trip was spent in the car once again. We did manage to get out a few times and enjoy the wonders of the world as we trekked through parts of the Redwood Forest. This was one of the oldest trees in the forest being over 1500 years old. We couldn't even see the top of the tree because of all the branches from other trees. There was actually another tree growing right out of the side of the trunk.

I loved how the trees would kind of split their trunks so that it looked like two trees were growing. Sometimes there was more than one tree growing so closely together they looked like one, but you could see three separate trunks. Other times it started as one trunk and then split into two or more branches that for all purposes were separate trees.

This is one of those trees that started as one and then split.

All the kids, especially Griffyn, were happy to get out and walk around in a wet green area.  It felt more like home.

The rest of the trip was uneventful, except for that incident at Rice Hill where we were forced to eat Ice Cream.  It's Tradition!

There is NO PLACE LIKE HOME!

Temple Wedding

Today was the culmination of our trip to California. This was the driving force that gave us a reason to come. Since we were going to be here for the wedding, we decided we might as well go to Disneyland.

Anyway, today my nephew, Scott Locken married Tristin at the Newport Beach Temple for Time and All Eternity! Somehow we got messed up on the time of the sealing. Both Steve and I heard Kris tell us on Sunday night that the sealing was going to be at 10:30 on Wednesday morning so, we were at the Temple at 10 to be 1/2 hour early. Turns out the sealing was at 10 and we almost missed it. They had already closed the doors, but then the Matron found out we were family and said she was sure President Monson would approve if she opened the door to let us in.  So we were able to attend the sealing after all.

After the sealing, Scotty and Tristin looked in the double mirrors and the sealer talked about all their ancestors. He said some were probably there to share in their day. I felt my mom and dad there. I think they were finally able to "participate" in a family temple sealing. We had them sealed together over a year ago.

After the Temple we got to attend a big family luncheon for the wedding party. We had a lot of fun visiting with family and eating the delicious lunch. Laila got to meet her cousin Layla, daughter of Brian and Wendy Locken. She also met her older cousin Katie, also Brian's daughter. Both Laila's hit it off great and spent as much time together as they could.

After the lunch we went to the beach so the girls could play in the water and dig for sea shells. They got some real beauties. Sorry, no pictures. We left the camera in the car.

We still had a couple hours before the reception so the girls and I went in the hot tub at the motel. Boy, that felt so wonderful. My poor body was pretty stiff and sore from all the walking at Disneyland. The high heals didn't help much today either.

The reception was lots of fun, too. Steve and I even danced a few times. :-)

Well, we are heading to the Redwoods tomorrow. Good night!

Disneyland

On Monday and Tuesday, Cousin Tim and a couple of his friends got us into Disneyland. He works at the Blue Bayou Restaurant in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. The weather was perfect even though they predicted rain. The first ride we went on was Pirates of the Caribbean. Kinzley and Audrey didn't like it, but the rest of us loved it. We stayed together most of Monday and went on lots of rides that all the kids could do. Some rides were Autopia, It's a Small World, Carousel, and Haunted Mansion.

Then we split up and Douhet and Kylee took Laila and Alyson on Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain while Grandma and Grandpa took the younger kids on Dumbo, Storybook Boat and the Circus Train. It being Thanksgiving week there were LOTS of people there. I'm not sure I have ever seen it so crowded. We used the Fast Pass whenever we could, but still found ourselves standing in long lines. We got a Fast Pass in the afternoon for Indiana Jones and our time was set to 10 PM. Those pases are sure nice, because you can jump toward the front of the line when your time comes up. It was pretty cool. We took turns doing that ride because we wanted to go on it, too and someone had to sit out with the little ones. We got to watch the Fantasmic Water and Light show while Douhet and Kylee went on the ride.

Tuesday found us thereonce again. We ended up splitting up almost from the beginning. Once again Douhet and Kylee took the big girls and Grandma and Grandpa kept the little ones. We had fun visiting the Princess Fantasy Faire and listening to sleeping beauty tell her story. We all repeated several of the same rides we did on Monday. We also got to watch the fantastic Disneyland Christmas Parade. What an awesome event. Even Griffyn loved that!

When the days ended I could hardly walk. Needless to say we slept very well.

California vacation 2010

We started our trip on Saturday around 3pm. This was a surprise for Douhet's kids. We met them at a rest stop just past Salem to tell them where we were going.
Douhet gave each girl a map so they could track their progress. We planned on driving through the night and arriving in Huntington Beach on Sunday morning, but Mother Nature had other ideas. Actually the roads seemed just fine; however, they closed the roads when we got to Yreka so we had to find a motel for the night. We stopped about midnight and tried got on the road again about 7 am. Needless to say that put a damper on our plans for dinner with the family on Sunday. We finally got to Uncle Kris's house by 7:30 pm. It was fun to see everyone, well almost everyone. Douhet and Kylee stayed at the motel, because the kids were spent from being in the car all that time. Steve and I were exhausted so we only stayed about an hour. It was still a great visit.

We had arrived.