A Fun January

 January started out with us saying goodbye to Avery.  She is now in London on a study abroad with BYU and having so much fun! (with some learning mixed in there, too)  We love hearing about her adventures and living vicariously through her.

I hosted Lunch Bunch for Grant's friends.

My sister's and I planned a sister's trip.  It was a little earlier than usual, but they worked around my work schedule, which was so nice of them.  We went to San Diego, in search of sun and warmer weather.  We did some fun things, like SeaWorld for a day.

SeaWorld has roller coasters, in case you didn't know.  They were fun!  And we only got whiplash from one coaster (we rode in the back row, which was a bad decision), and we did a little massage train and took some ibuprofen and our old lady bodies were back to normal in no time!

The whales were so cool!  I hadn't been to SeaWorld since my senior trip in high school and the animals were pretty amazing.

Loved this walrus.  He was one of our favorites.  He kept bumping up against the glass with his big blubbery body and it was entertaining.

We also loved this beluga whale, and he kept posing and smiling for our pictures.

Massage train!

The sunset from our Airbnb.  We were just steps away from the beach.

We did an early birthday breakfast for Nicole.

And then we went kayaking in LaJolla Bay!  We wanted to do this a few years ago, but Nicole was pregnant, so we couldn't.  The water was beautiful and we could see sharks swimming below us and it was so fun!

Afterwards we ate dessert for lunch.

And then we walked along LaJolla Beach and watched the seals and the people and the sunset.

We ate at Little Italy that night.

The next morning was Sunday and we took a walk along the beach by our house before church and found some tide pools.  

After church we walked around Balboa Park and saw fun art and beautiful trees.  My flight left that night, so my sisters dropped me off at the airport and I made it home late that night so I could work the next day.  It was such a fun few days with sisters!

Our house was at the end of this street.

While I was gone, Dustin went to the BYU vs Utah basketball game with my dad.  Grant's Madrigal's group was singing the National Anthem.

Dustin and I finally made this little stuffed animal that Monica gave me a couple of years ago.

Nailed it!  Haha!

Grant finally answered his date for the Sweetheart's Dance coming up.

Grant sang in the Utah Honor Choir.  They sang at Abravanel Hall in SLC and it was beautiful!  Grandparents came to support, which we love.  The girls sang separately and then the boys group and then all of them together.  There were 800 High School students!  They didn't all fit on stage, so they stood all around the balcony and we were surrounded by singers.  Pretty amazing!

Maren and Ryan are doing great on their missions!  Maren is on her last transfer and is working hard and finding so much joy!  Ryan hit his 6 month mark (already 1/4th of the way through!  Crazy!).  He feels like the language is coming and getting more normal for him.  We love our weekly chats with both of them!

And now, January is done, and we are on the countdown for Maren to come home!! February 25th is the day and we cannot wait!