Summer Break: Week 3. . . and 4 and 5

Week three was mostly spent getting ready for weeks 4 and 5 that we spent on vacation.

First stop: Utah to visit these fine folks.

Rachel, Abigail, Josh

While Justin's parents went to a wedding reception we decided to hit up the roof top concert series in Provo. Justin's sister and her family came with us and my sister and her husband made it down from Salt Lake too. It was quite a fun show and well worth it if you are in the area for the next one.

 Our view of the stage

Jamie and Doug 

Enjoying the pre-show show

Next it was on to Idaho Falls for the best fireworks show this side of the Mississippi. . . plus dinner right across the river from the show.

Dessert

Lauren, Jeff, and Ava sporting the patriotic t-shirts

Mama and Papa Delatore, the ones who made it all happen

Marcy and Kelsey

After Idaho we lost no time and headed right out the the beach the very next day. We stayed at a beach house with my sister and her family and some friends of theirs. We had a blast playing on the beach, digging for sand crabs, eating good food, reading books, and playing games after the kiddos went to bed (if we could stay up for it).

Marlee, probably eating an "ogre bar" aka granola bar

Darin

Shannon with the frisbee. Yeah, Darin fed that one to the sharks. The frisbee, not Shannon.

Sand crabs!

And the smallest traveler of the bunch but definitely not the least:

More baby updates are soon to come. Will we need to get a cute little bathing suit or cute little-man trunks? What do you think?

Summer Break: Week 2

Week two included but was not limited to:

• Cold Sores
• Fathers Day

Showing off his two Father's Day presents at my request: 

the tie and the ball

• Shoe shopping
• Some swimming and some walking
• Dodge ball
• A morning lake trip

• Sore muscles
• A temple trip

Redlands, CA Temple

• Some Cafe Rio
• The dentist
• Basketball
• Stake conference

Summer Break: Week 1

So, Justin is now a second year medical student. Well done. And the best news is that we have 8 weeks off together, which is pretty much the last summer break we will have. Ever. Sad. But happy too. You see, next summer Justin will be taking his boards (step one out of two) AND we will be moving to Oregon. Then the summers after that he will be doing rotations, and then there's residency. . .  Fun stuff.

So lets get right down to it.

Among other things (like a movie and a pool party), week one of summer break involved a trip to Newport Beach for a two night getaway to a really fancy hotel. (Thanks for the tip Papa D) The Balboa Bay Yacht Club. It's the kind of place people stay if they own a couple of these:

We headed down early the fist day to meet some friends for a day at the dog beach (one of the couples has a dog) where we got really sun burnt, but had a good time none the less. Justin even got a surfing lesson from one of his friends and fellow medical students. It's quite a funny story, you should ask him about it some time. Alas, I do not have any pictures from this day because I forgot to pull out my camera and snap some. Blast.

The next day (after and amazing breakfast brought to our room) we headed out to enjoy the town. This time I totally planned to take pictures but accidentally left my camera in my other bag. Blast! Blast! So use your imaginations. We took a boat tour of the bay where we got to hear about all the ridiculously expensive houses and lots located on the water along with the famous people who have owned them. We also went out to the open ocean were we saw sea lions, and as an added bonus, rode along with a huge pod of dolphins. (This is the part where I realized I had left my camera.)

The bay from our balcony

That evening we walked across the street to a couple of little shops Justin likes to visit when he's in the neighborhood.

He especially enjoys this one. I just play along in admiration and let the man dream.

After perusing the merchandise, we headed off to Lido Island to pick up Grandma Tilly. She took us out to The Ritz Restaurant, which is probably the nicest restaurant I have ever been to. The food was DIVINE. Fabulous. I mean, there really aren't words. Thanks Grandma Tilly! It was a wonderful evening.

The next morning we again enjoyed another perfect breakfast (at the restaurant this time) with a view of the bay, and then slowly packed up and made our way down to check out. Did I mention this whole deal came with free valet parking? I think the valets were all BYU boys too. It was funny, each time one brought our car around they saw the sticker and gave us a shout out.

Well, here's to the Yacht Club.

We thought this fancy hat was a must to go with our fancy stay.

To wrap up the week we got another little peak at our growing babe. His (or her) heart is still pumping away (we heard it)! Have I mentioned that his estimated day of arrival is December 31st?

Looking a little less like an alien and more like a head and a belly?

Until next time,

Summer Beginnings

Justin and I have 8 weeks off together to enjoy however we see fit. We hope to make the most of them. While I was wrapping up my school year, however, and before Justin finished his last test (and his first year of medical school I might add) a few things happened. Here they are in chronological order.

1. I won a dress. Won. See? It was one of those blog give aways. What are the odds? About 1:163 actually, and I was the lucky winner! I won it from a neat-o blog called Bloom. I think that name is a coincidence in and of itself.

2. The same day I won the dress, my homeroom class won a pizza party for best attendance. Pinky was right, I should have bought a lottery ticket that day.

3. On June 1st, the day of my birth, I got to be excited about another hopeful birth when I saw this little peanut. He (or she) was quite active and his little heart was beating away.

4. I left Justin home to study while I went to visit my sister and her little bundle of joy. You must look at these pictures she took while I was there. So precious.

5. I came home to find that my dress had come in the mail and that my sweet husband had made my favorite birthday cake: Rainbow Chip. And he only messed up on one digit.

That 8 actually started off as a 7. Ha! Love him.

Rewind

Let's back up to May, shall we?

On May 4th, my beloved brother returned home from a 2 year mission for our church in Brazil. When he left, Marlee was still in the womb. ( As you can see there was another one in the womb for his return.)

He left with two suitcases (the same ones I used in Argentina) and, after being moved around a lot, came back with one very tattered piece of luggage.

We ate "nacks" (Marlee's word for snacks) while we waited, thanks to GG, and as we were entertaining ourselves, Zack decided to make his appearance a few minutes early. He was 3/4 of the way down the escalator before anyone noticed him coming! What kind of fan club are we?

Of course my mom was as happy as could be to have her boy back.

Justin couldn't make it to the airport, but he made it to the welcome home party, and I am happy to have this boy back with me every chance I get.

Straight is Great

Occasionally.

(I am now the proud owner of a straightener. There's a first time for everything.)

Sunday Inspiration

Lead, kindly Light, amid th'encircling gloom;
Lead thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home;
Lead thou me on!
Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene--one step enough for me.

I was not ever thus, nor pray'd that thou
Shouldst lead me on.
I loved to choose and see my path; but now,
Lead thou me on!
I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,
Pride ruled my will. Remember not past years.

So long thy pow'r hath blest me, sure it still
Will lead me on
O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till
The night is gone.
And with the morn those angel faces smile,
Which I have loved long since, and lost a while!

Text: John Henry Newman, 1801-1890

SeaWorld Adventure

I've come to the realization that if I don't have any pictures to add to blog posts, I simply won't post. Guess what, I finally took some pictures! And here are some ramblings to go with them.

So remember back in middle school or high school when all of the girls wanted to be marine biologists so they could grow up and train the dolphins? I'm pretty sure I used to be one of those girls. And I'll be honest, our little SeaWorld trip had part of me wishing that I were in the water like these two:

But then I thought about jumping in a cold tank of salt water on a cold, cloudy day and I changed my mind. But you gotta admit, dolphins are cool. 

They're just so fun and playful and energetic.

That is probably the best show SeaWorld has going on right now. The Shamu show is a work in progress since the trainers don't get in the water any more. . . and I don't blame them.

The rest of our visit included but was not limited to:

Some more dolphins. . . up close and personal

Some big turtles

A romantic ride over the bay

And these guys who were cracking me up. This one was waving its flippers and barking so loud in an effort to get a couple of little fish thrown his way. Bless his heart.

And that was SeaWorld. Well, that's all that I have captured in pixels anyway. Until the next time I break out the camera. . . 

Happy New Year

. . . and what a year it has been!

Here are a few highlights somewhat in chronological order for your reminiscing pleasure:

• Justin got in to medical school
• We celebrated our one year anniversary
• We read the Fablehaven series 1-4 (we have yet to get a hold of book 5)
• We moved to California
• We found out we were expecting
• We read/listened to Harry Potter 1-4 (Justin read though 6 but I only made it part way before school started)
• Justin did an intensive summer anatomy program
• I got a job teaching with my mom
• Justin got called to the Young Men's Presidency
• The boys love him and affectionately call him Brother Dr. Delatore, or just Brother Dr. D.
• I was called to the primary presidency
• We completed a 2000 piece puzzle of da Vinci's "The Last Supper"
• We moved again (to the building next door) for an extra bedroom
• I carried our baby for approximately 4 months
• Justin finished his first semester of school and did well
• We are both healthy
• We exercised 12 days in December (if you count New Years Day). It was a goal I set. (Justin actually did more. . . he always has to one-up me like that)
• Two of my "workouts" were snowboarding in Big Bear
• We bought a Christmas tree (fake, to be used for many years to come)
• We had a wonderful, relaxing Christmas break
• We chaperoned the youth New Year's Eve dance (I'm not sure if that was a highlight or not, but it definitely was a feat to stay out so late. We are old.)

Gramma Gramma's Family

Here's to 2011

For an inspirational thought on the new year and moving forward click here.

'Tis the Season

One more day of school until 

Christmas break.

What a blessed, blessed holiday season!

Go here if you need help getting into the 

Christmas Spirit.