California Dreamin'

I have been the queen of bad bloggers lately and I don't have an excuse, but this blog is filled with wonderful things so hopefully you all will let me off the hook. =)

A week ago today I was still in California. At this exact time a week ago I was sitting in the library with Ashlei reading a book about ghosts and hauntings. It was quite wonderful.
My entire trip can be described with the word wonderful and many other adjectives that all stem from that word.
I arrived on a Thursday night. Jeremy was there to pick me up from the airport and it took us about two hours to get back to the house where Talia and Emma were waiting up for us. Now I had dyed my hair red the night before I came and I wasn't quite sure about it yet and according to Talia, neither was Emma. This is what she had to say about it. "Mommy I'm really excited to see Auntie Lydia but I'm kind of scared of her hair." Well I am happy to say that once she actually saw it she wasn't scared of it and actually liked it. haha
You have no idea how excited and happy I was to see Talia again! I always miss our sister time and having two weeks ahead of us filled with nothing but sister time was glorious.
The next day I was woken up by two little girls with crazy hair and big smiles. Annabelle was on top of me in a moment showering me with kisses. Oh how lovely! I spent that first morning getting to be an Auntie, which is always delightful!
A little bit later Ashlei came to get me! She had just gotten back from the beach so she looked beachy and beautiful. She took me out to lunch at Chilis and we went and saw Twilight at the dollar theater. After that we went to Starbucks, which was just one of many trips to be taken there.
That was my first full day in California and it was great! Don't you think so?
The lovely Ashlei and myself

Talia and I also went to starbucks, along with renting movies. Some filled with fairies for the girls, ghosts for Jeremy, and Johnny Depp for us.
My days were filled with chats, playing princess, drinking coffee, watching supernatural, and just having a good time.

One very special even that happened while I was there was the birth of Rosalie Hope!! I was so blessed to be able to be apart of this! Rosalie is gorgeous and Talia is once again a beautiful new mother. Nothing beats snuggling with a tiny baby and Rosalie is such a good little cuddler. She loves snuggling against your neck.

Me with Rosalie on her very first day in the world!

Hanging with my girls at the marketplace! aren't they lovely?

Another very special thing that happened was that Ashlei took me to Disneyland! It was her surprise to me and as it was my very first time, you can imagine that I was pretty excited! Disneyland is amazing. You can't help but feel like a child when you're there. I was so excited about everything and it's so beautiful there. I was able to experience everything, from the lagoons in Pirates to flying over London in Peter Pan's Flight. We talked to Crush from Finding Nemo and were almost hit by a giant rolling rock in Indiana Jones. We experienced Snow White's Scary Adventures and the Wild Ride of Mr. Toad. We fell down the rabbit hole with Alice in Wonderland and were face to face with ghosts in the Haunted Mansion. It was fabulous being there with Ashlei! Thank you so much!!

The rest of my trip was spent holding my new niece, playing with the girls, talking with Talia, being a silly sister, reading scripture in the park, watching the trees blossom, sipping tea, and many many other lovely things.

Spending time with Talia is always so wonderful. Anyone who knows her knows how sweet and thoughtful she is. She's encouraging and beautiful. I loved every minute with her.

And getting to see Ashlei again was amazing. I needed my best friend time and no time ever seems long enough, but i'm so grateful for the time we got. There's no better person to grab a coffee with and share old memories. We did everything from watch the gorgeous Dean Winchester to get yelled at by boys who obviously never had mothers. It was all lovely, absolutely lovely.

I got my sister time.....

My best friend time...

And even some brother-in-law time....

Don't ask...lol



And of course some auntie time!!!

I loved it all! Thanks you guys for making it so special!