Kyra turns 3 [part 2]...

I may have already posted about Kyra's birthday, but I failed to mention a few mishaps that took place during her party. Lucky for me [jk] one of the grand moments was caught on tape. The first happening was while everyone was still arriving, I opened the basement door for kids to go downstairs and play if they wanted. I'm not sure if Kyra was super excited or what but she took an extra big step to go downstairs and missed it completely causing her to roll from top to bottom in a few short seconds. When I ran over to see who it was I never expected to see Kyra crying at the bottom of the stairs. I felt horrible. 

The second happening occurred while hitting the pinata. All the kids were anxiously waiting for the candy to drop to the ground, so they could fill their baggies. We had gone through two or three rounds with each kid hitting the pinata before it was requested that an adult should hit the thing down, and I was the chosen one. Everyone cleared out and I started to whack at the rainbow. Kyra must have seen a piece of candy explode because she all of a sudden bolted toward me, which caused me to knick her in the forehead with the end of the stick, or maybe a flying piece of candy [not sure]. I AGAIN felt horrible as Kyra burst in tears. My brother-in-law happened to get the whole thing on tape, so I thought I would post it. Until next year, do we dare buy another pinata???

Kyra turns 3...

I can't believe three years ago I gave birth to my sweet Kyra. Life is so enjoyable with her in it. She has a personality that shines EVERYWHERE she goes. Lately Kyra has been obsessed with rainbows, every time it rains she patiently waits by the sliding glass door asking when the rainbows will appear. This year we decided to have a rainbow themed birthday party. Kyra loved helping mommy prepare for her birthday party by stuffing the pinata with yummy candies, sneaking pieces of fruit that were supposed to go on the fruit kabobs, and picking out a birthday outfit for her special day [pink cupcake tutu dress with pink cowgirl boots]. The party was a success. Once everyone arrived we ate snacks [rainbow fruit kabobs and veggies], chit chatted, and played outside. We then sang happy birthday to Kyra and enjoyed some cake and homemade ice-cream. Afterwards all the kiddos had their chance to whack at the rainbow pinata, it was fun to see their reaction when all the candy fell to the ground. We then opened presents and Kyra loved them ALL, especially her new shopping cart from mommy and daddy. I barely saw Miles the entire party, but when looking on my camera at the pictures I saw that he was well taken care of. We had a wonderful time celebrating with great family and friends. Happy Birthday Kyra, we love you and look forward to celebrating many more birthdays with you.

Miles Ellsworth meets Miles Ellsworth...

My mom, sisters, little Miles and I went to Salt Lake City for a temple trip. This was not any temple trip, it was a special temple trip, one I will never forget. My mom comes from a family where all the kids are members of the LDS church, but her mom and dad were not. Her parents were always supportive of their children's beliefs, but never became members themselves. A year ago in April my grandma passed away, since one year had passed my mom and her siblings were able to get together and do grandma's temple work. It was an amazing experience, one that will remain close to my heart always.

Lots of cousins came too, so it was also a fun reunion with many cousins I have not seen in a long time. One cousin in particular was there, Miles Ellsworth. Miles and I were the best of friends [cousins] growing up when I lived in Michigan. I married Bryce who obviously has the last name Ellsworth too. When we were expecting baby #2 and we found out it was a boy the name Miles stuck with me my entire pregnancy. So now my cousin and my son have the exact same name [first and last]. I of course had to get a picture of the two Miles' together, so cute!







We got to see Brady while we were there too. Miles and I actually stayed with him our first night in town. I love my little brother, it was great talking to him and catching up.





Overall it was a wonderful weekend, and Miles was a fantastic traveling buddy. We went shopping at the new mall, City Creek. This mall is absolutely awesome, and i got to go to H&M, yeah! Saturday night we headed to Tremonton to get past all the Utah cities, so Sunday's trip home would not be as long. My mom treated us to a night stay at the Hampton Inn, it was beautiful. In the morning there was a great breakfast, super tasty. It was also Mother's Day, although it was a different one being away from our husbands we had a great day together. To celebrate we stopped at Chili's for lunch on the way home, oh so good. Thanks mom for making our weekend unforgettable, so happy we were able to share this neat experience with you and your siblings. Thanks for the invite! I love and miss you always grandma!

San Diego 2012...

Bryce and I were able to sneak away and go on a vacation to San Diego. We had an absolute blast exploring this awesome city. We also got to celebrate our five year anniversary, so fun. We packed a lot into each day, therefore we definitely enjoyed our uninterrupted sleep each night.

We left Boise early Sunday morning, and arrived in San Diego with enough time to enjoy a day of fun. After checking into our hotel room, we went for a walk along the beach, it was absolutely beautiful. We then went to the heart of San Diego, Gaslamp District. While walking around we found Hard Rock Cafe and ate dinner. It was so delicious. The experience was great, we took a tour around the restaurant to see all the wall hangings signed by various artists. Afterwards we shared a sweet treat at Ghirardelli Chocolate Shop.



Monday we enjoyed a full day at SeaWorld. There were so many attractions throughout the park that varied from exhibits, shows, and rides. Although we enjoyed everything, we of course had our favorites: Sting Rays, Beluga Whales, Penguins, Turtles/Fish, Shamu, and the Dolphins.































Tuesday we went to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, it was a blast. We did a lot of walking, but it was well worth it. The park covers 1,800 acres, so you can only imagine how much space each animal has to roam and be free. We went on an African Tram Safari ride, we were able to see more animals up close, it was amazing.























Bryce served his mission in Korea, and really grew a liking for Korean food. Bryce has been home 10 years and has not been able to find a restaurant similar to any in Korea. Bryce searched the pages of the hotel phone book to find a Korean restaurant right in Korean Town, who knew? The restaurant was fabulous, we both enjoyed every single bite. So yummy! Afterwards we went to a huge Korean grocery store, and Bryce found a couple items he was excited to try out again.



Wednesday we went to Balboa Park. This park contains multiple museums, gardens, attractions, and venues. Because there was so much to choose from we chose to go to the Botanical Garden Building, Air & Space Museum, and San Diego Zoo. My little brother, Brady was also in San Diego the same time we were for a small part of his college choir tour. They had the San Diego Zoo on their agenda the same day we were going. We met up with Brady and hung out with him the entire afternoon. It was a great day.

On our way to the Botanical Garden Building we saw this neat walkway, and I had to take a couple pictures. Bryce was totally teasing me, but it was fun...







Botanical Garden Building...









Air & Space Museum...













San Diego Zoo...





Funny story... We walked up to see the polar bears and they were totally going at it, it was hilarious. It was so funny to watch other people react, some took video, others were disgusted, and there were kids asking their parents what everyone was laughing at. We were there a good while, at one point they stopped, but immediately started going at again. So funny!





This little monkey cracked us up, he posed for every picture we took. He literally cheesed it big time, it was so cute!





































Have you ever heard of the TV show, Man vs Food? It's on Netflix and Bryce and I have watched a few episodes. Anyways we thought it would be fun to try a restaurant Adam has done a food challenge at in San Diego. We picked Phil's BBQ and it was seriously super tasty. We were NOT disappointed at all.





Thursday morning we went for a walk on the beach to the pier, it was beautiful. It was so fun to watch the surfers ride the waves. It does not matter what time of day it was everyone is always outside playing, so fun. There was a path similar to the greenbelt here in Boise along the ocean. We went for lots of walks, and even got some running in too. Later that day we went to the boardwalk in Downtown San Diego and took random pictures. We ended up at Little Italy not too far away to eat lunch at a very popular pizza parlor, it was delicious. We then went to the USS Midway Museum. We were able to do an audio tour of the entire ship, it was amazing.







Cool pirate ship on the Boardwalk...



Little Italy...





USS Midway Museum...







The statue known as "Unconditional Surrender" is 25 feet tall and dominates the lawn next to the USS Midway Museum. It is based on the famous photograph of a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square at the end of World War II. Everyone takes their picture in front of the statue doing the exact same pose, so of course we had to do it too.



Friday we drove toward La Jolla alongside the ocean by all the houses that are insanely huge and beautiful. We stopped and played on the rocks next to the ocean, it was a blast. Right in La Jolla there is a cove locals say is the best place to snorkel. As we were walking down the steps we saw a seal up on the shore that looked lethargic and sick. We talked to the lifeguard on duty who said they contacted SeaWorld to come out and help him. It was obviously not a priority to get there fast, so you can only hope and pray the seal stays on shore till the help arrives. We decided to go snorkeling with no wet suits, it was definitely cold. I had a hard time getting past the super tall thick seaweed that was literally coming up out of the water everywhere for the first 50 feet. After several attempts of swimming over the thick mass of seaweed, I finally made it past and had a great time. There were so many beautiful fish, at one point two seals were directly under us playing. It was a cool cold experience. By the time we were all done and leaving SeaWorld still had not arrived for that poor seal. I hope he received help that day.







Later that night we went to Old Town. Because it was Cinco de Mayo that weekend, Old Town was crazy busy everywhere. We walked around and shopped at all the little shops. So fun. We enjoyed some great tasting Mexican food at Cafe Cayote. Afterwards even though we were stuffed we got some Italian ice cream [gelato], yummy! We then went to the National Comedy Theatre. If you've ever seen Who's Line is it Anyway's?, it was quite similar. We laughed so hard consistently the entire show. It was a lot of fun.







Saturday we celebrated five years of being married. We started our day going for a walk along the beach, and going to breakfast at a place known by many in the area we were staying. We then went to the San Diego Temple. This temple is absolutely stunning on the inside and outside. We had a great experience together. It was fun to walk the temple grounds afterwards and take pictures.







Later that night we went to a Padre's Major League Baseball game. We had awesome seats super close to the home plate. It was well worth the money we spent on the tickets to be that close. We had a great time. At one point during the game a couple sits down in front of us who was obviously drunk. The girl was so obnoxious, and her boyfriend thought she was the funniest thing on the planet. Anyways the reason we took a picture of this great couple is because the moment this girl sat down she decided to teach herself how to whistle using her fingers. She was horrible at it, but tried consistently the entire game. She honestly never stopped until they got up to leave in the last inning. Super annoying. We still had the best time and enjoyed the game a lot.







Sunday early early in the morning we headed back home to Boise. We had the best time together exploring San Diego for a whole week. Once the travel back home started we could hardly wait to see Kyra and Miles. The reunion was so fun, I could not stop giving them hugs and kisses all day long. They definitely missed us. Kyra kept telling us over and over again how happy she was that we found her. She was quite clear that she did not want us going on another trip without her. That girl cracks me up. I'm so thankful Bryce and I were able to go on a vacation together and make new memories, ones that we will never forget. Happy Anniversary Bryce, I love you!