Report...

First of all, I finally got the coding right for the video on the last post, so go watch it. Seriously, best rendition of 'The Yellow Submarine' EVER...it will make you have a much better day than what you are having already...

K, so what has the Elizabeth been up to the last few days...

I flew into Phoenix, met up with the sister who drove over the day before, spent a few days with my cousin Barron, his sweet wife Jessica who was dealing with a ruptured appendix (happened 2 weeks ago) and their baby Little Barron (we call him LB). Luckily Jessica was detached from Satchel (this awful thing that she had to carry around that was draining her) and we were able to take the trip out to San Diego all together for Bradley's wedding to Lisa Madsen, who we found out is a very distant cousin of Emily and I on my Dad's side...small world!!!

San Diego was...heaven. No other word for it. We had such a wonderful time. The weather was absolutely perfect, which is lucky because it had been raining for a while. And lucky couple, due to the rain the scafolding that was being put up around the temple for repairs had only been put on one of the spires, so they were able to get some pictures with the temple but without it looking like a construction site. AWESOME.

First time in the San Diego temple for me...GORGEOUS temple...so much detail! Lots and lots of angles everywhere...squares and triangles and octagons and...yeah, tons of lines and such. And the windows and everything...unfortunately, due to the construction, some of the windows were blocked...but the sealing room was lovely, and that really was a neat sealing. The sealer gave some wonderful advice.

Lisa is a great addition to the family. She fits in quite well. Her dress was gorgeous! Evidently her friend/sister/not sure what her relation was designed the dress for her...very very pretty.

And then there was San Diego...we went to the beach...I forgot how wonderful the sand at San Diego beaches felt...the water was freezing, of course, which didn't stop all the kids, but I only went in knee deep. Collected some shells, but decided that they didn't have much of a chance making it to Alabama without breaking, so I tossed them back into the ocean.

We went to old town San Diego and went to the newly dedicated Mormon Battalion Memorial Building. It had been dedicated the day before by Elder Holland!!! It was really cool, very interactive technology. They highlighted the story of a 9 year old boy who ran away from the Mormon pioneers to go be with his dad in the battalion...along with a bunch of other people who had parts in the story. At the end, we looked up our ancestors who had been in the battalion, when we found out that that 9 year old boy was the son of our ancestor! Pretty cool, I say...

We then went to the reception for Brad and Lisa, which was great fun. The food was great, and it was nice to hang out with everyone.

We got a great deal on travelocity.com for a hotel, so we stayed at a Doubletree Resort. It was great. I slept really well, actually, once I got to sleep. The beds were comfy. The walls were fairly sound proof too, which was great because LB was right next door and evidently he was pretty loud a couple of times during the night. I chanced the swimming pool once, and while it was kinda warm, it wasn't enough to keep me in it more than a minute...the hot tub was exceptionally wonderful though...got some muscles to loosen that hadn't been in quite a while...and it gave me a chance to talk with Tom and Alice a bit too, which was great.

Poor Jessica was tuckered out after the first day in San Diego, but at least she was able to attend the sealing, which is the most important part. AND I got to hang out with LB quite a bit, which was wonderful for me. He is quite ticklish, so I had a lot of fun with that, and is just starting to walk, which is just about the cutest thing ever to witness...I really wish my camera hadn't broken so I could have a video of it...SOOO cute...

Emily and I made the 13 hour drive yesterday from San Diego to Albuquerque. I have a few more days here with her, Ison her husband, and my parents before I head back to Alabama. Happily my days in Alabama are numbered, so it won't be long before I come back out West permanently. Yay!