ATTITUDE

I just have to make a quick post about Jocelyn.  She is really starting to show some more personality.  She is getting some attitude.  She has this little high pitched scream when ever I take away something she shouldn't play with or move her away from the stairs or other things she shouldn't be doing.  It's kinda cute but also annoying and it feels like she is heading straight for the temper tantrum stage.

It's crazy how quickly they change. I know EVERYONE tells you have fast they grow up but it's different actually witnessing it first hand.  She really is this tiny adorable little PERSON.  Though she is showing some attitude, she is still so sweet and incredibly cute.

Giants and Planes and Babies, OH MY!

We had a very fun filled weekend. So here we go.

Giants: We went to a San Francisco Giants game on Friday night.  We drove down with Mitch and Christa in their new Prius.  That's a fancy car.  We met up with Matt and Meagan, Jeff and Kelly, and Jensen and Erika.  Dave went to school with all the boys so it was fun to catch up with them.  We were on the second highest row and at such an angle that we couldn't see the Jumbotron and we lost but we still had a good time.  After the game we went to Jensen and Erika's place and ate donuts. They were delicious and they have an amazing view.  They live on the 24th floor in the middle of downtown and one side of their apartment is all windows.  It was so cool.  We left late and got home at 2 am.  We had left Jocelyn with Grandpa and her uncles and so we stayed the night there too.

Welcome.

 I zoomed in.

Proof that we were actually there.



Planes: The next morning we took it slow since we were so tired but eventually made our way home and brought Mike with us.  We freshened up since neither Dave and I had remembered a change of clothes or even a toothbrush for the night before.  Then we headed to the California Capital Airshow.  It was hot and loud (for Jocelyn).  We just strolled around and walked in some big planes.  Dave and Mike even got to sit in a smaller plane but then got kicked out but not before we got some pictures.  First of all, other people were climbing in it, and a lady told us we could get in and it wasn't roped off like every other plane so I blame the airshow. :)  Anyway, we watched some fly shows and then headed back to our house for some refreshing smoothies.  Then we went to El Dorado Hills and watched the BYU football game.  Sadly, we lost.

Future pilot?  Probably not. 

This is how much Jocelyn loved it.



Babies: And just because I can, here are some cute pictures of Jocelyn and what she's been up to.

 She loves to climb.

We don't have a gate up yet so we just put the carseat in front of the gap but Jocelyn found a way around that.  Smarty pants.

Life Lately

So besides all of the trips we've taken lately, we've moved into our new apartment.  Dave actually got to move in all by himself while Jocelyn and I were in Utah.  Lucky guy.  We are now in a 2 bedroom apartment and 1 1/2 bath.  We are in the same complex and it's a townhouse style.  I love it.  There is so much more room.  I've loved putting rooms together and decorating.  Here is a picture of the half bath.  I love polka dots and I was really in an orange mood.  Luckily the polka dots helped to simmer down the bright orange. You can't see the bright orange rug or toilet seat cover and there are more towels behind the door.  I'll post more pictures when I finish more rooms.

Jocelyn is getting more curious and mischievious.  She found the candy dish and decided she wanted to try some Riesens.  Luckily I caught her before she got through the wrapper.

Jocelyn is also becoming quite the little faker.  The picture below shows the face she makes when she is fake crying or whining.  I think it is so funny.  She didn't like when I laughed at her.  She just made this face even more.

Monterey Labor Day Weekend

We headed to Monterey this past weekend to visit our friends, Jordan and Sunshine.  They blessed their baby Ames on Sunday so we went to be a part of their special day.  We headed down on Saturday and spent the day at their place just hanging out and talking with Jordan's family.  That night we went to the beach and had a bonfire and roasted hot dogs and ate s'mores.

 

Jocelyn fell asleep in the car on the way home.  She looked so cute and ganster in her hoodie.

On Sunday, we went to church and Dave got to be a part of the blessing circle.  Jordan did a great job.  After church, Dave, Jocelyn, and I went down to our favorite wharf that is usually full of sea lions.  They did not disappoint.  It was smellier than we remembered but we still really enjoyed it.  And on our way back we saw a huge pelican just chillng on the fence.

Remember in Jurassic Park 3 when the Pteradactyl turns to look at the people, well this picture reminds me of that.  I feel like it is going to attack us any second.  Have I mentioned that Jurassic Park is my favorite movie?

After the wharf we headed back to Jordan and Sunshine's and ate a wonderful meal.  The tri-tip was delicious.  Then we decided to head home and miss the holiday traffic.  It was a great weekend!

Utah, This Is The Place

This is the place I call home.  Just a couple days after we got back from Hawaii, Jocelyn and I flew to Utah for two weeks. Jocelyn was a great little traveler.  The weekend after we arrived we headed up to Farmington to Lagoon.  As long as I can remember, we've gone to Lagoon when we come to Utah.  We went to the water park first and then on to the amusement park.  My brother and his family were in Utah as well as my sister-in-law and her kids that have been in Japan for a couple of years.  It was so fun to get to see all of them.  Here are some pictures of Lagoon.

This is for you Brad.

Jocelyn and her cousin Joshua.  People thought they were twins.  They're about 3 months apart.

On our way back home, Jocelyn fell asleep with her mouth on the caterpillar's antennae.  It made me laugh.

Once back at my parent's house, in good ol' Enoch, we just played with cousins and friends.  We went to Cedar's new aquatic center which Jocelyn loved.  She played in the bubbles for most of the time.

She loved the warm water.

We had FHE while we were there and learned the song, "Once There Was A Flower," sung to "Once There Was A Snowman." Clearly the adults loved it just as much as the kids.

And I think Lilia loved dessert.

Jocelyn loved Bella, our cousin's dog.

Lilia and Max, loved playing together.

After Dave and Melanie and their kids left, things got quiet around the house.  Jocelyn and I went back up north to Provo to visit family and some of my friends for a day.

We met up with Jacob, Josh, and Tara.  They were really happy to see us.

Okay, they really were happy.

We went to dinner with some of my old roommates.  It's always so great to see them.

And to goof off with them.

After our short trip, we just had fun bonding with Grandma and Grandpa.

And Jocelyn has developed a love for playing the piano.

The day before we left we went to Beaver and visited some cousins that I haven't seen for years.  Jocelyn met Hagan who is 2 weeks younger but several pounds larger.  I love the chub.

We had such a wonderful time in Utah and can't wait to go back.  But we sure missed daddy and loved coming home to him and our new apartment.

ALOHA!

This is long so beware.  The end of July, Dave's dad treated all his posterity with a trip to Hawaii, the BIG ISLAND!!  It was amazing.  We were there for an entire week.  Here's what we did.  Sunday was just a low key day.  We went to church and then had lunch at Denny's owned by a member of the church who gave us a discount.  That's when we learned just how expensive everything in Hawaii is, even with discounts.  It was still nice of him though.  Then we went grocery shopping.  Yes, we broke the sabbath.  Deal with it.  We didn't have any food.

The next day the real adventures began.  We stayed in a private home in Captain Cook that was beautiful and hidden in what seemed like a jungle.  Here's a view from the lanai.

The silly Ricks boys tried out the pool.  It was cool with infinity waterfalls. The boys enjoyed competing with one another in such things as who could float the farthest and who could make the biggest splash.

Then we headed north to a ride called Flumin' da Ditch.  It was a kayak ride down the old sugar cane canals that are no longer used.  It was pretty sweet and our guide said we were the most rambunctious and fun group she'd ever had.  We only went a few miles but it took a couple hours.  We went through awesome tunnels (even sang in one) and over some amazing sights of the landscape. Mostly it turned into a huge water fight.  On our way back we rode through a Macadamia orchard. Grandpa stayed behind since he'd already done it before so he could spend some quality time with Jocelyn even though she slept most of the time.

Show me the SHAKA!  On our ride to the canal with our guide Hula.

Later that day we stopped at the beach.  It was a little chillier than I expected but still very nice and had real sand, none of that rocky stuff.

Tuesday, we went parasailing.  We were split into two groups since there were so many of us.  Josh, Tara, Dave and I were on the same boat along with some random couple.  We all decided to do the dip, which means on our way back down they drop us low enough to get our feet wet in the water.  I was a little nervous about going up but it was really fun.  I expected a huge rush off the boat but we slowly rose into the air.  Once up, we realized just how quiet it was out in the ocean.  We had a great view of the island.  Unfortunately, we didn't see anything cool while up there though Josh and Tara saw a shark (YIKES!) and the other group saw dolphins.

After that we went to the beach and went snorkeling.  It is one of my new favorite things.  It took a few seconds to figure out the whole breathing through your mouth thing but once I got the hang of it, I loved it.  I saw some bright fish and a turtle.  After I was finished I bought some shaved ice.  I got a large so I could share with everyone.  And when they say large, they mean large.  Tara and I ended up eating most of it because the boys took way too long playing in the ocean.  It was tasty.

Oh and Tuesday was Josh's birthday.  We celebrated that evening with cake and ice-cream.  Tara brought decorations so it would be more fancy and that it was.

Wednesday, we headed east to the volcano.  On our way we stopped at the Black Sand Beach for lunch.  It really had black sand.  I guess they named it well.

Then we went to the volcano.  We hiked around and then down through a huge crater.  We didn't see any lava which I was bummed about but it was still really cool.  And Jocelyn was amazing.  She loved being outside and smiled the entire time.  Once we made it back up the crater we went through a lava tube.  Crazy how those things are made.

The boys plus Jocelyn.

She was in heaven.

We just walked across that crater behind us.

Lava tube.

Thursday, we got up nice and early and went swimming with dolphins.  It was so AWESOME!  We weren't allowed to touch them, not that we got that close but we were close.  We just swam around in the deep open ocean for several hours.  That was the day we all got sunburned.  But it was worth it.  It was so fun.  On our way back to shore we saw Pilot Whales too, which are actually dolphins.  And just FYI, dolphins are conscious breathers so they never actually sleep.  Half of their brains are always on.  They were in their resting state when we saw them.

No, I didn't take this picture.  I sadly took no pictures of our dolphin experience but this is what Spinner Dolphins look like, the kind we swam with.

After swimming with dolphins we went to the beach to do some boogie boarding.  That was really fun as well. We didn't stay long because we were all burnt out.  No pun intended.  Okay it was kinda intended.

Friday, we went to another beach.  Everyone went snorkeling again except me.  I was done being in the sun.  We ate lunch and then headed over to the Place of Refuge.  I stayed in the car while Jocelyn napped.  She needed it.  Then we headed back to the house and just took it easy and started packing up.  We headed home on Saturday.  And just so you know, Jocelyn is a great little traveler.

We had such a wonderful week.  I had always wanted to go to Hawaii and now I can say I've been.  Thanks dad for taking us all.  We had a BLAST!