Thanksgiving with the family

The weekend after Thanksgiving was perfect beach weather Regan braiding "mermaid's hair" for Noelle. I'm pretty sure Noelle packed it in her suitcase to take home:)

I just love it

Leah with her little Luke who was busy eating sand

Amelie going for a ride

Just because I like to highlight why the back is my favorite part...my husband's hot:)

Noelle showing me her sandcrab. I always get nervous for the sandcrabs

The kids watching intently. It's one of my favorite things to watch a little learning face

My sweet sisters and I. It was so fun to hang out

Cute Luke and his sand eating

I actually got a picture of Carson looking at the camera. This deserves an award. I was trying everything and I think he thought I was crazy so he gave in

Leah with Ami, her little twinner. My mom has been working on putting all our pictures on a zip drive for Christmas and it was so fun seeing pics of Leah that looked just like Amelie. Like I said, Ryan and Leah's love child. Wouldn't that make for a good novella:)

So many projects going on. Ps, I discovered the best way to dig a hole at the beach so it constantly filters water in. It's completely self sufficient. I was proud.

Ollie and Noelle hanging with Grandpa

Ollie and Noelle trying to torure Grandpa.

Steve and Ryan playing Tiger Woods golf. Fortunately this is one of the few times a year my husband plays video games. So grateful for that.

Friends forever

And of course my little preschooler in his Thanksgiving getup. I forgot to put his painted paper bag on but use your imagination. Either way this is one cute kid.

A visit with the Bloods!

Martha and Ted!

Kristen's baby boys- Jude and Owen

Tim and Monica's little guy Jacob with Ami. Blondies to the max.

Ollie discovered a new pal James. They had fun terrorizing the giant blow up Turkey Martha bought for the front room:)

Kristen and Ted with little Jude

Over Thanksgiving break, one of our favorite families rolled into Orange County and we got to hang out with them for the night. Some of Ryan's and especially my best memories from high school took place at the Blood home. Martha always had something baking, and it was always such a warm, fun environment for us to kids to hang out. When I walked in Ted said, "here's my fourth daughter!". That pretty much sums it up since I basically lived at their house in high school. We love them so much and it's so fun to see their family grow, especially with the addition of Kristen and Donovans baby boy twins!!! I almost died when I saw them, so adorable. I wish they lived closer, we love them.

Chelsea!

Chelsea came for a visit this past weekend and we had so much fun seeing her and hanging out with her. Chelsea is one of my favorite people, always up for a good time and easy to talk to. I love that I get to re-live some of the college drama through her and am flattered that she calls me for advice. She is one great gal. All my sisters are. The Kelley girls are one of a kind:)

Tiffany's shower

I just have to say that I LOVE this girl. Tiffany is one of those people you meet and you just hope that she likes you and will want to be your friend. She is having a sweet baby girl next month and we cannot wait to see her cute face. Brooke and I got to throw her a baby shower and it was so fun to celebrate with everyone and hang out in true girly fashion. Have I mentioned how much I love the friends I've made here? It's the truth.

The Zoo with Nana

Today we got to spend the day with Nana at the L.A. Zoo. It was a perfect day for the zoo. I wasn't sweating bullets which is something that always comes to mind with a zoo trip. Oliver had one thing on the mind today...seeing the tigers. He could not rest until we saw them. I, of course, had to see the elephants. The new exhibit was soo big for the elephants though that it was hard to get a look at them. I am glad they finally have a nicer, bigger space than they used to (Elephants really should never be in captivity). One of the biggest hits for the kids were the little mice that were hiding in the bushes surrounding the exhibits. They were fascinated with them. We probably could have gone to the zoo and fed mice crackers the whole day:) It was so fun to spend time with Nana and get up to La Canada to hang out for a bit. Everytime I get there it seems something new has changed. I also realized driving back from LA that heading south just feels like home. It's surprising how quickly a place can feel like home when you spent so much time somewhere else. What can I say, this is a special place.

Birthday/Halloween Extravaganza!

Our hunky cowboy, with his trick-or-treaters

And his foxy Native American Princess with her cherubs

Sweet little "Halle bear" living up to her nick name

Our ward trunk-or-treat

Spiderman showing off his moves

Ryan started a little mantra with the kids. He would yell "hip hip" and the kids would all yell "hooray". This is one of those moments caught on camera. LOVE

My parents went out of town so they let Mary and Ryan and the kids stay at their place. We decided to crash there as well to maximize hangout time. We got to see quite a few of these gorgeous sunsets

With a little moon action in the corner

Trick or treat time!

Amelie and Marley loading up on loot

Tinkerbell and her cowboy

Sweet little Mara snuggling her Dad to keep warm:)

The gang. Tinkerbell, the Pirates, Spiderman, Harry Potter, and Hermione. I love these kids

The last day of the Johnson's visit we spent at treasure island beach and had a perfect day. We felt like we were on our own little island, it was awesome. Here's Mary with little Halle.

Ami checking out the ducks. Check out Laguna, could it be any more picturesque? I'll take one of those houses on the hill please:)

The Johnson brigade in full force. I still don't know how they do three kids so amazingly well. We might need to take a few tips from them

Cash and Ollie being rascalions as usual. These boys were both in tears when we had to say goodbye. SO sweet

At the top of their to-do list was fishing. It kept them busy for at least 2 hours.

Back in the day when this spot was still trailer homes, our family used to stay at treasure island for weeks at a time. Those are some of my best memories. We used to wait for the tide to cross these rocks and walk around the point to where the lighthouse is. And if your a Kelley, you know about the initiation spot. I still remember the panic attack I had when I was peer pressured to jump into the reef. Good times. My family is the best.

Their own little cave

Me and my sweets. Seriously, what would life be without this guy. He took such good care of me on my bday. Love him

Wet diaper, sand wedgie. It doesn't get much worse than that:)

"Donde esta tu nariz?" These days Amelie is speaking as much Spanish as English, maybe more. I literally have to address her in Spanish sometimes to get her to listen to what I'm saying. If I say certain things in English, she looks at me like I'm crazy. That girl is crazy smart.

The boys climbing the rocks (and Ami).

So Ryan Johnson and my Ryan had been scheming this bday/halloween surprise for a few months. I had NO idea the Johnson's were coming for a visit. We were actually headed down to the beach on my bday because Ryan took a half day. He was acting a little bit weird and was texting on his phone a lot which is not Ryan at all. So I started suspecting something. I am very hard to surprise. I didn't push the issue too much cause I didn't want to ruin his surprise. I thought maybe my parents were taking the kids for the night while we went away. I had a moment when I thought,what if the Johnson's were coming because 2 years before they had surprised me then, but I was like no way. I didn't actually think they would come! But sure enough, as I'm laying on my towel reading a book, Mary's face pops in front of me. I was SO excited. I seriously love those guys. They are always so sweet to come visit us. Next year it's our turn for sure. It was so fun to see the kids hang out and even more fun to put them to bed and hang out together at night. My sweet hubby always thinks of the best way to surprise me and does everything he can to make it a special day for me. I am one lucky girl. We also went out to dinner with some good friends on my birthday and it was so fun to be surrounded by all these people we have grown to love so much. It was an epic birthday and Halloween weekend!

G&G Smart visit

What?! Two posts in two days. I must be on a roll or maybe it's the new goal I've made for myself to return to the world of blogging. I have no idea where I've been but I'm back. This last Saturday we drove out to Riverside to hang out with G&G Smart and of course Nana, Papa, Jon, Jill, Dane, Quincy, and Ryan's cousin Stephanie. Ryan's uncle is the mission president out there and they went away for a bit on a trip so G&G came to watch Stephanie while they were gone. I actually brought my camera and remembered to take some pics.

It was a fun visit and it's always special to treasure these moments we have with our "greats". We had a yummy lunch, Nana had crafts for the kids, and we shared our favorite moments from conference.

My Grandpa Coats also came down last week but I didn't take any pictures. We had some fun chatting with him about his 30 years in Hawaii with my grandma and his time serving as the bishop there. He has such a funny sense of humor, I really get a kick out of grandpa.

I AM A CHILD OF GOD

I forgot to post this little beauty when we got back from our trip to Utah. We went for a visit at Temple Square and decided to step in the Tabernacle so Ollie and Amelie could see it. I told Ollie he should sing us a song and then pulled my camera out. He got quite a few comments of how well he did in his song. He is a pretty fearless kid when singing and talking in front of crowds. Definitely not his mama's boy in that aspect; I was always deathly scared of public speaking. We sing this song every night before bed. We sang it every night for bed while Ami was in my tummy. It is a theme around these parts that not only are we children of God, but so is everyone around us.

"I am a child of God, and he has sent me here. Has given me an earthly home, with parents kind and dear. Lead me. Guide me. Walk beside me. Help me find the way. Teach me all that I must do to live with him someday."