A Long, Long Time Ago...

We went to San Francisco over our Summer Magic road trip and I would really regret not documenting it.  I LOVE San Francisco.  As we were getting close, I told Michael that I would love to live there for a short little bit because it is such a fun city.  Then as we were driving to the hotel, he gave me this look like 'you want to live here?!' To which I respond that I would like to LIVE here-  not drive or find parking! I guess those more frustrating things are part of the package deal though.

We stayed in the JW Marriott and it is SO nice.  It is right in the middle of everything and Michael (and I) LOVED having access to the concierge lounge where we were treated with hor dourves, breakfast, dessert, and drinks.

We had this beautiful view from our room:

And of course, we loved getting out and seeing the city.  We took a tourist double decker bus around so that we could get to a few more spots than we would have on foot and it was a nice convenience to have while sight seeing with a baby. I LOVE the architecture of the buildings

And of course, my heart leaps for joy at the sight of these iconic buildings...

*Oh how I love Full House*

I was super bummed we didn't get out to Alcatraz this time. But we had a clear view of it. 

Adelaide loves San Francisco too!  She is such a happy baby.

And, of course, we saw and walked across the beautiful Golden Gate.

When we were about to cross, we ran into the Andersons. We were so glad we got to see them.  Talk about incredible timing!

It was short, but our visit to San Fran was sweet.  I cannot wait to go back to the City by the Bay.

Summer Magic

Part II- Food is half the fun.

I don't know what it is, but when on vacation the places we eat are some of the most memorable moments.  This trip was no exception.  We were given the awesome tip of the Yelp App.  Which made us try small, local places that we would never have known about. I loved it!
So here are a few pictures of yummy-ness and a lot of my Mr.  and my Lil Lady.
This Mexican restaurant looked like a grease joint, but the reviews were great and looks can be deceiving.  It was yummy.

One of my favorite finds was on our drive to San Francisco.  We wanted a sandwich shop and when we saw the outside of the Brighter Side we were hesitant.  But man alive, REALLY good sandwiches and fun ambiance.

In San Fran we had some Super Duper burgers.

I somehow didn't take any pictures of our stop at my favorite, Boudin's!  So, so, so, so yummy sourdough! And we met up with Whitney and her darling Evie. It was so fun to be there with her! I'm glad they could make it.

Sadly, not all food stops had a happy ending.  When we were driving down the Pacific Coast Highway we drove past a few cute little towns, but Laila was actually asleep and we weren't too hungry yet.  So we decided to keep driving.  Well, of course, when we were hungry and Laila was waking up, there was nothing for miles.  We drove hungry for so long that we said the next anything with food was where we were stopping. No matter what.  Fortunately for us we found this little darling little Whale Watching Cafe off the side of the road.  Unfortunately for us, despite the cuteness of the actual restaurant it was EXTREMELY overpriced and the food tasted like not completely heated up frozen food.  It was a major bummer.

The next bummer was in Ventura Beach.  Laila's expression told us everything, but we thought she was just being grumpy.  Again, the restaurant's interior was darling, but the food was ucky.  I thought my safe bet penne pesto pasta and chicken with a side salad would be at least edible.  But it was a bust.

Overall, we had LOTS of yummy food even if they weren't all documented.  I highly recommend Yelp when you are wanting to eat somewhere besides the usual places. This post is now making me hungry.  Guess it's Dinner Time!

Summer Magic

As the temperatures continued to climb in AZ, we made a few more escapes! Michael planned a sweet one week road trip to California.  We had a lot of fun, food and photos. So let me break it down...
Part I- Yosemite
We drove up to Fresno so we could visit Yosemite. Laila was pretty good for most of the drive.  Despite her smiles, the car seat got old.

Yosemite was picture perfect.  Literally.  I felt like some of our pictures looked fake.

We enjoyed seeing the giant sequoia's.  Take a look at those cheeks! (The tree is pretty impressive too.)

Yosemite is GINORMOUS.  We spent the whole day there, almost emptied a whole tank of gas and still didn't see all of it.  It was pretty tricky hiking with a baby.  The morning was wonderful. I loved the sequoias.  We saw them just in time.  When we were driving to the next areas we wanted to see, we noticed they had closed off the sequoia area due to large crowds. Half Dome was beautiful.

After Half Dome, it was midday and trying to keep Laila's bald head from being burnt to a crisp became very creative.  Even then we weren't completely successful, but she was a trooper.  Another fun anecdote on how hiking is different with a baby is the fact that I always have a spare outfit in the diaper bag in case of a blow out.  Well, this particular day we took a backpack instead of the diaper bag.  Yep. No spare outfit.  SO at the beginning of the day, Laila had a onsie, pants, and a jacket.  After Half Dome, she blew out on the onsie.  So she was down to jacket and pants.  On our way out of Yosemite, she blew out again! This time on me.  In the car.  Therefore, by the end of the day, she was down to a diaper and a little sunburnt.  Parents of the year...

But a wonderful adventure!

Stay tuned for Summer Magic Part II

Her First White Dress

One Special Day...

On Michael's first Father's Day, he gave our Little Lady a very special Priesthood blessing.

Adelaide wore a very special dress...

And we had a lot of special family and friends there...

(And so many more)

We had some special treats...

Even though we only had our point and shoot so the lighting wasn't that great we had a special photographer... (thanks camilley)

We feel blessed by all the people that came and supported us as we celebrated our Little Lady's big day.  I feel especially blessed that we get this special girl forever!

Next stop...

Brings us to Utah!  After Texas, we flew into Utah by going through Phoenix. That flight was actually cheaper than flying directly to Phoenix (weird, I know) so we decided to head on into Utah. One thing I do not like about traveling home is that it's such a short visit filled with family that I never get to see ALL the people that I want to and traveling with an infant makes it even worse!  Laila is such a sweet baby but by this point of the trip, she was dying to have some kind of normalcy, poor girl.
We had so much fun though!  Laila got to meet Tricia and Keith...

We enjoyed a lovely evening with them.  We had yummy barbecued food and rested as Keith serenaded us with his fancy piano!

Then we enjoyed seeing family.  My dad took us to his elementary school...

Our little Adelaide met Great Grandpa Cook for the first time...

The above is probably my most favorite picture EVER taken.  Little Laila absolutely lit up around her great grandparents. She was so alert and smiley and chatty and my grandma even got her to almost giggle.  Seriously.  The love was so apparent and made forever families that much more real to me.  I just loved every second of it.

Laila also got to meet the handsome, Henry.  You can tell she agrees that he's super cute...

Thank you, Laura for taking that picture, you took the best one.

Laila had a lot of fun catching up with Mom's friends Janna, Kelsy, and, of course, Laura & Henry.

That's a high quality self-timer pic right there, folks.

We also made sure Great-grandpa Ostler was healing well after his knee surgery. Laila again was happy to see him.

It was so nice to be home with family and cool weather! *Ahh, cool weather, I miss you!*  But boy howdy, was Laila VERY glad to be back in her own bed with a semi-regular routine again.  Time keeps flying...