San Diego Lighthouse

Well, we went and contrary to my nervous feelings about "meeting the parents" it was awesome. Julie's family is really cool...really down to earth, easy to talk to, and they know how to show someone a good time in San Diego. We were there for four days and every day beheld a couple of excursions out to see what San Diego has to offer. Julie's parents and older sister Christy and her family are the only ones still around in San Diego...so I still haven't met all of Julie's family, but little by little I am getting there. It was such a relief not to have to worry about Mitt for a couple days, and just have a great old time. We spent a lot of time with Julie's family, had a great date out on the town together one night, and enjoyed the warm weather. It was supposed to rain all weekend, but thanks to Julie's prayers it turned out to be gorgeous, a little rain, but for the most part in was nice and sunny and in the upper 60's. How bout that picture above? I don't know what happened to the camera, but the lighting was way off, but I actually really like the way it turned out.

Here we are a lighthouse out on Point Loma, that overlooks the bay and San Diego. This is Julie's parents and sister and nieces if you didn't put that together. This weekend was great for my ego and my height deprivation issues cause I was a good 4 inches taller than anyone else there. Below are some highlights of the trip...bullet style.
- Flying in, smelling the rain, feeling the humidity, you know that feeling after you've been in dry weather for a while.
- Getting acquainted with Julie's parents, talking to her Dad about politics and sailing. Talking to her mom about her and her quirks
-Driving out to Point Loma, a beautiful point, complete with a lighthouse and a beauty view of the bay and the skyline.
-Going to Del Mar to see tide pools in the wind and rain, which provided for beautiful lighting, and only lasted a bit...seeing the crazy kite surfers out in the freezing water.
-Julie's dad cooked us some tasty steaks, complete with the sweet onion relish that he is pretty adamant about
-Playing tennis with Julie for the first time...and to my total relief, she is pretty dang good. Some raw talent that could really become something.
- Going to La Jolla, seeing the San Diego temple for the first time...how beautiful is that place?- Eating Fish Tacos in La Jolla
- The beach in La Jolla, hundreds of seals up on the beach there warming up in the sun.
-Watching the sunset on the beach with Julie, can't beat that
- Riding on a boat out to Coronado Island, eating dinner out there on the shores of the bay, looking across at the skyline of the city.
-Julie knows that I love big cities, so she took me into the downtown happening area and we walked around on a busy Friday night.
- We went into old town San Diego, the Mormon Battalion monument saw what it used to be like
-Getting to know Julie's sister and husband, and to my dismay, playing games which actually was pretty fun cause we didn't play "Settlers of Waste Your Time" or "Settlers of Catan"
-Enjoying the sun...getting to know Julie better...having fun

That was an awesome trip. It made me realize I would love to live on the beach someday. One more week of Mitt. And then it is on to life.

Enjoy the slide show below.

Jazzed Up

Well, Julie found the key to my heart. The Jazz. She totally surprised me for Christmas and got me and her tickets to see the Jazz and the Suns play. It doesn't get much better than that. She was so thoughtful, even thoughtful enough to talk with Dad and some of my friends to find out which game I would like the best. How sweet she is. On top of that, the Jazz walloped the Suns and there was a sweet bald guy behind us in this picture that I just noticed.

Last week it snowed a bunch during church and after trying to drive the big white sled up the hill for about 20 minutes, we resorted to walking up the hill. The big white sled I am referring to is the Mercedes. Rear wheel drive cars are the best thing that ever happened to the winter...especially when you are the driver. Julie came up and had a chance to meet Noah and we had a grand old time together. She has now met the whole family...which got me to thinking and we bought plane tickets to go down to San Diego next week to meet Julie's family. Well her parents and one sister and her family that live there. I am really excited to see what they are like, a little nervous at the same time. I guess I am just worried that her Dad might be like our Dad when it comes to meeting someone new. Man o man Dave, you got it bad.

Sitting by the fire after being out in a snowstorm. You gotta love that, and the fact that Julie is holding a camera for some reason.

You might be wondering what on earth I am doing here. This is my little celebration before putting all the papers into the shredder. We made over 6000 calls for Mitt from Provo last Monday. So when you get a pile of papers that big, your first impression (at least mine was) to throw them in the air...and the fact that I got a picture of it was even better. I don't know why this is underlined. Life is good in Utahr. The Jazz are back to their winning ways, I work about 65-70 hours a week and rake in the dough (I figure about $8 per hour), and it is almost Feb. 5. If you don't know what that means you'll have to call me. Love you all.

A Mexican Christmas

We went, we saw, and we ate some sweet food (and as you might imagine, there was some really sweet and some that you looked at like "what the heck is that!?!").

Favorite Mexican Moments:

- Being with Josh, Tal, and Char...representing the singlehood of Eyrealm...along with good old mom and dad.

- Tal carrying his backpack with us everywhere cause he was worried the maids at the hotel would steal his Ipod touch.

- the people, the culture, their smiles or kindness.

-the kids in the villages, spending time with them

-the game of basketball we played on the newly painted court in the park we assisted students with their service project of cleaning up the park

-the river ride we went on on Christmas in a gorge with 3000 foot cliffs on either side. The sides covered in jungle complete with monkeys, crocodiles, and iguanas.

-jumping in that river.

-the tacos al pastor we had at "mustache" restaurant. mmm boy.

-San Cristobal, the beautiful Spanish Colonial town way up in the hills of Mexico

-Seeing the ancient ruins of Teotuachan (not sure how to spell that one)

-Wearing shorts on Christmas. Giving the gift of service.

-Getting to know the others on the trip

-Making sweet pictures with sparklers and time lapse

-Christmas Eve party at the Stake Center with members in Puebla.

-More firecrackers than you have ever heard in your life on Christmas Eve

-Choholo, the village where we stripped, sanitized, repainted, and turned into what will be a clinic for the village

-Walking through the paths of the village, seeing how happy the people were, in contrast to the fact that they had next to nothing.

-The picture of Tal and the Rooster

-Great talks with my siblings and parents.

-Huevos Rancheros

-being attacked by people decked out in native clothing trying to sell us stuff.

-seeing and listening to mom and dad speak englispanish complete with the hand motions. You know exactly what I mean. Just close your eyes and imagine it and I guarantee you will laugh.

Those are just a few of the highlights. It was an absolutely amazing trip. Thanks to Mom and Dad for making it happen, and allowing us to be a part of it.