Rounding up California

We'll round out the California posts with a trip to Knott's Berry Farm,

a boy who loved the characters and wasn't scared of them?!

 a little girl who loves her Grandpa,

a Shaners who LOVED this racecar ride,

and wasn't as enthusiastic about a few others,

a picnic in Carbon Canyon park

a girly's first time in the swing,

a dentist who will still always be your big brother,

a visit with a good friend,

 a pedicure complete with the best foot massage I have ever had,

and a lot of memories!!!!  And a huge thank to you to the world's best mom and dad for making it all possible :)

Fat and Happy

-My baby turned 4 months (on the 8th)!  

-She is getting more and more interactive and fun every day.  

-She got her first two teeth a month ago (crazy girl!) 

-Last week I took her for her well check and she weighed in at 17 pounds 6 ounces, exactly double her birth weight!  She is just under the 98th % for weight and she is off the charts in height (26 1/2 inches).  So she is proportionate, just the size of your average 7 month old :) I hope I can keep up with her!  

-She was sleeping great for a couple months there but now that's she a crazy roller, not so much 

-She has pretty pretty blue eyes, kissable cheeks and thighs, and her hair is unfortunately thinning quite a bit

-She is happy and delightful most of the time but when her temper flares things can get a bit ugly!

-She loves her brother and tolerates a lot from him.  I think she is going to be one tough little girl!

-She is a flirt, and we love her!

The San Diego Zoo

One of the fun things we did with my family was the San Diego Zoo.  My parents came up with the brilliant idea of riding the train there since it is kind of an ordeal to drive there sometimes.  Plus, then we could roam a little and hang out with our aunts,

and cousins,

sit back and enjoy the scenery,

and not have to put her in a carseat!!!



We saw a lot of cool animals and they were actually doing stuff most of the time too.   

I look like a nerd here but I was excited because Shane had fallen asleep in the stroller and I was sad for him walking by all the cool animals that he was missing, especially the lions that he'd been talking about all day.  But then he woke up a little bit later and lo and behold there were some different lions!

It was so nice after to just relax and hang out while we waited for the train and not have to worry about driving home

Lizzie couldn't resist pinching Shane's cheeks

I know how she feels!

Favorite Places in the World

We may just have to find a residency in California because I am pretty sure that both Shane and Marissa's favorite places in the world are there.  You probably can't tell it from looking at these pictures, but Marissa absolutely loved the beach.  She was just so content and happy there hanging out and listening to the white noise of the waves crashing.

Shaners liked it too.  He didn't want anything to do with the water (which was probably good because it was freezing cold!), but he had fun playing in the sand, walking with dad, and hanging out in the little tent my parents got for some shade. 

But his absolute favorite place of the week was Angel Stadium.  The music, the lights, the game, he loved it all, especially the wave!  We even had him chanting the players names as they got up to bat and whenever they got a hit he got so excited.  I don't think I have ever seen him quite that excited for that long, he pretty much kept interest the whole game and the fireworks at the end were like icing on the cake.  My sister said "hey this makes up for his fairy running!"  Maybe there is hope for him as an athlete ha ha.  He's built like one anyway.

The Hotel Nebeker

This year instead of everyone making the long travel out to our favorite vacation spot, Bethany Beach, my family decided to do a "reunion" at my parent's house and do a bunch of the fun Southern California stuff that we don't always get to.  It was the first time in awhile (and will probably be the last for awhile...) that we've had every single sibling, spouse, and kid there.  Shane warmed up quickly this time and Marissa is still young and doesn't have attachment issues so they both enjoyed all the aunt and uncle action they could get.

My mom had lots of surprises and fun stuff to do at the house whenever we weren't out and about, and I think Shane had almost just as fun playing in the grass and running up and down at the street with his cousins as anything else.
This was the first time he was old enough to really play with his cousins and it was so fun to watch.  He thought it was so cool that he got to sleep in the same room with Kate and Lizzie.  (And also under Kate's bed?  We found him like this a few times.  Silly boy.)

 And none of the kids could get enough of their littlest cousin.  She got a lot of lovin!

 We're so glad we had a chance to do this before Josh's schedule gets too crazy, and there were definitely a lot of memories made and fun times had!  More posts to come...

Grandma and Grandpa Elkins

Before our "reunion" started in California we snuck off to Hemet to see Josh's grandparents. 

This was their first time meeting Marissa,

and she loved all the attention!

So did Shane :)  All his grandparents go by "Grandma and Grandpa" so he is learning each of their names now and it is cute to hear.  He knows at any rate that the word Grandma or Grandpa in front of their name means they are easily suckered into reading to him!

We enjoyed just hanging out and chatting, they made a wonderful dinner, and they even got a little pool for the occasion.

Probably my favorite part was seeing how smitten Grandpa was with Marissa.  He is great with all his grandkids but I think there was just something different about a little girl.  She had him wrapped around her little finger and she knew if she whimpered a little bit he would take her outside with him :) 

We are so glad that they live in California so we get to see them more often.  Thanks for having us, we were so happy to see you guys!

An Update

It's been a little while since I've posted!  We just got back from our trip to California and I will be posting a lot in the next few days as I sort through my pictures.  But I thought in the meantime I'd give y'all a little update.  We found out a few weeks ago Josh passed his Step 1 (woohoo!!) and have been waiting for the details of his clinical schedule.  After a bit of an emotional roller coaster we are happy to announce that we are staying in Saginaw for the next year!!!  (Yes you did read that happy part right ha ha).  Saginaw definitely has its downsides, but doesn't every place?  We like it here, we have a great ward, we've heard great things from the students who've done rotations here, there is a constant flow of new/old friends every few months, and the cost of living is very reasonable to mention a few of its upsides. We feel really lucky to have Josh's complete schedule for the next year and that he can get right through his core rotations with just a 3 week gap in there. And we found a cute little house for the same price we're paying for our apartment now that we'll move into next month, and we are really excited about it.  Today we asked  Shane if he liked Michigan and he pointed out the window excitedly and said "You like Michigan!! It's home!"  Guess that settles it then :)