California Trip

A little over a year ago, my brother Ryan participated in the choir for the "Lamb of God" in Utah. It had such a powerful impact on him that he decided he needed to bring the "Lamb of God" to his town of Thousand Oaks, California.  It was a HUGE undertaking for him and his wife, and they worked tirelessly to pull it all off.

My parents of course planned to fly out to CA to attend those weekend performances.  So did my 3 siblings who all live out west.  I knew it'd be neat to be there as well, but never gave it a second thought since we couldn't afford tickets.  But my parents knew how special it'd be to have all us kids there together to support Ryan, so they offered to pay for me to fly with them.  I was appreciative of the offer, but very hesitant to accept, since it'd mean being away from David, Eli, and Clara for 5 days (David for sure couldn't come because it was in the middle of his busy season).  But we made the arrangements for the kids to stay with their grandparents, and knew they'd be in very good hands.

We flew out at the crack of dawn Thursday, March 10th, and waited at the airport a bit to pick up Becky from her Utah flight.  We had some time that afternoon, so we stayed a while in LA.  I've been to California a couple times before, but I'd never been to LA before, and I really wanted to see the temple.  We didn't have time to do a session, but we got to walk around the temple grounds.  They were so lush and expansive!  It's been several years since I've been around a large temple, and it was so neat to see how massive the temple was, and all the unique trees and foliage surrounding it.  We also went in to briefly explore the visitor's center, which was very impressive.

View of the city from the temple.

It felt like we spent forever in the car when trying to get around.  LA traffic is crazy!

After the temple we headed for a stroll on the beach!  The last time I flew and the last time I was by the ocean was November 2012 (a trip to San Francisco).  Been too long! Sure wish my kiddos could have visited the beach, too!  I collected a few rocks in the sand to bring home to Eli, my big rock collector.

25 weeks pregnant here.  I was grateful I wasn't further along on this trip.  My feet were pretty swollen from the flight!

Such beautiful weather in LA that day!  I loved seeing the mountains up against the ocean.  Very picturesque!  

We headed over to Ryan and Jeri's house in Thousand Oaks for dinner and hanging out.  They have the perfect setting for their house.  Not in neighborhood, just a quiet, private street with maybe 5 houses.  The most beautiful trees lined the streets,  They had an awesome yard, too, with lots of different things to do outdoors.

It was definitely challenging to stay awake that first day, after getting up at 3:00 am for our flight, and being on a 3-hr time change.  A few family members stayed at Ryan's house, and we were fortunate to be able to stay at some old friends of my parent's who lived just a few minutes away.  They had 3 spare rooms for Mom and Dad, Rebecca, and me.

Friday Rebecca and I were able to sleep in, then we went back to Ryan's to help put together the programs for the concert.  Em and Pooch's family arrived that afternoon, and Beth and Adam in the early evening.  Ryan asked my sisters Rebecca and Beth and brother-in-law Adam to sing in the choir.  They all had a dress rehearsal Friday night.

Saturday we all went to watch Zach play in his baseball game.  It was another beautiful day, and a nice day for sitting outside.  There was a matinee performance of "Lamb of God" on Saturday.  Everyone went to that, and I stayed at Ryan's house with the littles, Tori, Noah, and Kate.  They were really fun and sweet and played well.  I then went to the evening performance, and Pooch and Emily watched the kids.

They placed Kate in this crate, put toys on top of her, and dragged her around.  She loved it!

Tori and Noah

Ryan's friend, Jason; Ryan, Beth, Adam, and Becky

The "Lamb of God" performance was truly magnificent!  All of the singers/soloists were outstanding and also showed powerful emotion as they sang their tender words and songs.  I was very touched by the whole event, and was teary-eyed during some moments.  I was so proud of Ryan for putting it all together, and doing so successfully.  I felt so grateful that I had been blessed to be in attendance at that special program. It really was neat that we could all be there to witness and support the amazing experience.  I definitely would not want to have missed it!

Even though it was late, we had a surprise celebration for Ryan and Jeri back at their house afterwards.

Sunday morning we all went to church.  That afternoon we had a little party for my dad and Ryan's birthdays, and also spent some time discussing family reunion plans for next summer.  Poor Noah got sick with the stomach flu, throwing up quite a bit and being so miserable.  :(  They headed back home that afternoon, and the rest of us left early Monday morning.

Eli and Clara stayed at David's parents while I was gone, and boy did they have a blast!  They kept very busy with trips to Chuck-e-cheese, the fire station, Great Grandma Laura's house, riding on Grandpa's bus routes, the county fairgrounds for AG Day; and much more!  I missed them (and David) so much, but I knew they were doing well, as they were very brief on our phone chats so they could get back to the fun!  Carol brought them back to our house Sunday evening so she could take Eli to school on Monday.  Once I knew they were back home I was REALLY anxious to be there, too.  I made it home around 6:30 Monday evening, and it was a great reunion!  Clara was a bit under the weather and just wanted to go to bed, but I was so happy to be home again.  David had brought me home a beautiful bouquet and  made me a "Welcome Home" card.  :)

I'm so glad it was a positive experience for all!