Our Little Getaway

We were fortunate enough to be able to go on a trip just the two of us before the new baby comes in 4 months.  Tyler got a new job working for a company called Qualtrics and he wasn't going to start for a week so we quickly planned a week getaway to California.  My amazing mom agreed to watch Payton and we took off.

Last year we took Payton with us to San Clemente and fell in love with the small quaint beach town.  We wanted to go back and visit some of our favorite places there, but we also wanted to try somewhere new.  We found this awesome VRBO in Dana Point close to the beach which is just a little north of San Clemente.

I highly recommend going to the Dana Point Beach if you are ever in Southern California.  It is not super popular so it isn't crowded and the beaches are awesome.

We rented paddle boards one day and paddled around the harbor.  It was really fun.   

We brought a little lunch with us one our boards the second time out and ate lunch in the middle of the harbor.  

Another day we rented a Vespa scooter and rode from Newport beach up to Huntington beach and walked around the piers and shops.  It was so fun!  The weather was amazing there.  In November it got into the mid 80's.  

Walking around Balboa Pier

Sunset on Balboa Island

Tyler is obsessed with fresh seafood (particularly oysters, clams, mussels and anythings raw).  Not my cup of tea.  We went to Fisherman's on San Clemente Pier and watched the sunset while Tyler got his own personal bucket of mussels.  

Our last full day there we went to Laguna Beach to walk around before dinner.  

We found this AMAZING restaurant in Laguna called Nick's.  Seriously if you are ever in Southern California you HAVE to go there.  It is the best meal I have had in a really long time.  I have Celiac disease and can't eat any gluten so it is hard for me to find restaurants to eat out at.  Nick's Restaurant was awesome and were really good about preparing my food.  Tyler ordered top sirloin with mashed potatoes and I just got a cheeseburger (wrapped in lettuce) and fries which I know doesn't sound that special, but Tyler ended up eating more of my meal then his.  The burger was AMAZING! And the view from our table wasn't too bad either.

All in all it was an amazing trip, thanks to my awesome mom for making it possible.  Until next time California.  We will miss you and your sunny weather.

Beautiful Fall

This fall has been absolutely beautiful.  The weather has been so mild and we have been able to go out and do a lot of fun things with Payton.  She is finally at an age where she really enjoys the fun family outings we go on and she is so much fun to watch.

We were able to go to a local pumpkin patch & pick pumpkins to take home and paint.

We went to a fall carnival where Payton got to ride a pony and get her face painted.  She was in heaven.

We went to Cornbelly's where Payton went on her first hayride and she played her little heart out.

We took the train downtown for dinner and a little fun at City Creek.

Tyler went hunting and shot a 4 point deer.

Payton had her second Trick or Treating experience as Tinkerbell.  We were showing her a video of when she went last year to remind her how to do it and we noticed she was wearing gloves and tons of layers.  This Halloween was beautiful.  No layers necessary.

 

Our Family is Expanding

So we found out earlier this week that we are having a baby BOY!  We couldn't be more excited!  When we were in the room getting the ultrasound Tyler literally jumped out of his chair and did a fist pump when we found out.  So saying that we are excited is an understatement.  I think Payton is excited too, but more times than not she says she is having a little sister.  We have to keep correcting her and telling her it's a little brother.

Heaven on Earth

This post is a little (well a lot) late but this summer we went to Lake Powell with my family.  My sister and her cute family came in town from Scotland for a month or so and Lake Powell was definitely the high light of our summer.  Especially for Payton.  For about 2 weeks after we left she asked to go to the lake every single day.

This brave girl even went tubing and asked to go faster...  

Kal didn't like it so much..

All the cousins

Settling In

It has been a few months since I have posted on the blog, but life has been quite hectic and busy.  We sold our house up in Layton (which is bittersweet, but honestly being out of it has allowed us more fun and more relaxing).  We were intending to buy a place in Farmington but 4 days before we closed on it Tyler got a different territory in his job down south!  So to make a long story short we backed out of our house and moved in temporarily with my parents while we figured out what we were going to do.  I do miss Layton a little bit, but it is so good to be back down south close to everything.  I didn't realize how much I missed the Salt Lake Valley. 

So after house hunting, we decided to rent for a while until we figured out where we really want to be.  So we found this cute 3 bedroom rental in South Jordan that fits our little family perfectly.  We are excited to settle in and simplify our lives.  So unfortunately this blog won't really be a remodeling blog anymore.  Now it will just be a personal blog about my cute little family.  

We meet up with our really good friends from Layton at City Creek after a month not seeing them and these two cuties ran up to each other and gave each other a big hug.  It was pretty much adorable.

It is good to be close to my friends from Hillcrest again.  We went on this beautiful hike in Draper up to a little waterfall.  Payton was in heaven.

It was fun this year talking to P about Halloween because she knew exactly what she wanted to be.  She has been OBSESSED with Tinkerbell lately so it didn't surprise me at all when she picked out her costume.  Poor girl thought that once she put her "wings" on she could fly like Tinkerbell.  It was hard to break her little heart with the truth.

We also went to Tracy Aviary with some of my friends to go bird watching.  Payton loved it.  It is only $1 on Tuesdays if you have a Pass of All Passes.