California - Here We Come!

WARNING - picture overload ahead!

 

This past week, we went on a family vacation to San Diego - it was SO MUCH FUN!  Here is a little breakdown of the trip.

 

Time to start driving - we were a little nervous about a long road trip with Luke, but he did great!

 

Talk about right place, right time!  We stopped in Nephi for a quick break, and it just so happened that the 7-Eleven we went to was where Miss Amanda was working to promote its grand opening!  It was also her birthday, so we were very excited to see her!

We stopped and spent the night in Primm, Nevada, and then drove to San Diego on Friday.  We went to La Jolla Cove Friday night, and Luke had such a blast chasing after the seagulls.

As you can see, he wasn't so happy about them not cooperating with him catching them.

Family picture!

Need a breather from chasing after those birds :)

On Saturday, we went to USS Midway.  Probably not the best place for a toddler since no running is allowed.  Take #1:

Take #2:

Take #3 - gotta love photo bombers, especially when they are old guys :)

Airplane flying time

Saturday afternoon, we went to Coronado Island to go to the beach.  First time stepping feet into an ocean:

Playing on the beach

You probably heard about the Super Moon on Saturday night.  You may have also heard legends that jellyfish are more prevalent during a full moon.  I'll attest to the legend - we found this one on shore (and were told there were several more), and I spotted one in the water.  Thankfully none of us were stung!

On Sunday, we went to LEGOLAND.  Lucas had a blast playing with the Duplo blocks.

He also loved the many rides he was able to go on.

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at the San Diego temple.  Families can be together forever!

On Monday, we went to Sea World!  We may have sat a little too close for the Shamu show....when they call it a Splash Zone, believe them!  We should have gotten an after picture - we were INCREDIBLY soaked!

We also got to touch the sea stars

Luke's favorite place in Sea World was the Sesame Street Play place

He loved meeting Elmo!

And he absolutely loved every second we let him play on this bouncy thing.  You can see the red block that he's holding - he had fun playing with all the other kids, sharing blocks, and stealing blocks.

Mid-bounce

 

 

On Tuesday, we packed up our stuff and drove back to Las Vegas.  We spent the night in the Stratosphere, so we went up to the top of the Tower.

Andrew, James' brother, just moved to Las Vegas last week to start a new job, so he was able to stop by our hotel room to chat for a bit. Good luck to you, Andy!

Today, we drove home.  We stopped for lunch at the Dairy Queen in Beaver, and who can pass up getting a picture in the tourist destination of Beaver, Utah!

It was such a great trip.  We had a lot of fun, and Luke did great with all the driving.  It's good to be back home in the comfort of our own beds though.  Here's to hoping that he'll be able to start taking naps and sleeping for long periods at night again though :)

Baseball and Balloons

On Monday night, we went to the Bees baseball game.  It was so much fun!  My most favorite thing was watching the Bee - if he wasn't by us, I kept looking for him all over the park. 

I did also ride the train....don't I look so excited?

It was such a fun night, and the Bees won!

Besides the Bees game, Wednesday was a very exciting night.  Mommy and Daddy went to the doctor to find out if I'm having a little brother or sister, so later that night, our family came over for a Gender Reveal party!  Everybody took either a pink or blue balloon, and at the count of 3, they had to blow it up and throw it into the circle.  Whichever color balloon didn't deflate was going to show what the baby is.....

 

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!

 

Everyone was very excited, especially Grandma and Pompa Cooley because they don't have any granddaughters...yet!  Can't you tell how excited I am?

In all actuality, I am really excited.  I already know how to say sister!

Hogle Zoo & BBQ

On Saturday, we went to Hogle Zoo.  I sure had a lot of fun - I saw so many fun animals!  It definitely was different seeing them in person rather than on TV or in books.

 

Here are the giraffes.  They were very tall, and very stinky!

These are my cousins that came with me to the zoo.

I loved seeing the turtles - they were so fast ;)

This was my most favorite part of the entire trip.  I did not want to leave the gorilla's lap, even though there were so many other kids who wanted their picture taken with the gorilla.  If you ask me today what animals I saw at the zoo, the first one I will say is the gorilla.

On Saturday night, we went to some friends' house for a BBQ.  I tried to mow their lawn for them to thank them, but the lawn mower just wouldn't cut - uh oh!

Pass of All Passes

You may think this post is a paid advertisement for Seven Peaks' Pass of All Passes.  Well, it's not (unless Seven Peaks wants to send us some money, we'll definitely take it)!  We ordered our Pass of All Passes from CityDeals when they included a $20 Gift Card from WalMart, Target, or other stores like that.  Our total was $64, and then we got $40 in gift cards back, so overall the passes cost us $24.  Since we got them, we have taken advantage and have gone to Hollywood Connection and Planet Play.  Lucas has been in heaven going on the carousels, the Magic Bus, and he absolutely loves the arcade games!

 



HOLLYWOOD CONNECTION

 

PLANET PLAY

After he has had lots of fun, Mommy and Daddy got to have some fun as he has been such a snuggle buddy at night time!

P.S.  He absolutely loves this shirt - he asks to wear it every single day!

Miracle #2

 

As most of you know, we were approved to adopt again this past December.  We were so blessed to be able to adopt our little Lucas, our miracle #1.  We knew right away that we wanted him to have a sibling close in age so we applied for adoption right after his first birthday.

 

 

As part of the adoption process this go around, we had to provide a letter from our fertility doctor stating our chances of conception.  It wasn't news to us when he checked the box that said we had a LESS THAN 15% chance of conceiving WITH all of the fertility treatments.  We've known this for a few years, which is why we KNEW that adoption was the path for us to take.  We are so grateful for Miss Amanda and that through her, our dreams of becoming parents finally came true!  We know that Lucas coming into our lives was a true miracle, which brings us to...

MIRACLE #2

 

We're expecting!!!  You can imagine the shock we both experienced when we found out that we were pregnant!  Needless to say, we've taken almost 20 pregnancy tests over the past few months just to make sure this is real!  (LOL)  We still are amazed when it says "pregnant". 

 

Baby #2 is due to arrive on November 19th and we are thrilled to pieces.  We've had two ultrasounds and have heard the heartbeat twice now... AMAZING!  Lucas can't wait to meet his little brother or little sister and he loves to kiss the baby every day - sometimes the baby is in daddy's tummy though, LOL!