Pops Does the Golden State

(third in the trilogy of Pops Does Space City and Pops Does the City of Angels)

My sister, Mandi, her husband, Clay, and pops came out to visit us! I have not seen Mandi and Clay since last Christmas which is just unacceptable. I am so glad they made it out here before their big move.

We went to....you guessed it.....Disneyland!

Sexy

Blue Bayou

Sad this picture didn't turn out:(

We spent a day going to the desert. Our Grammy lived near Palm Springs and we have so many good memories from visiting her when she lived there. We made a visit to the Cabazon Dinosaurs, drank date shakes, and went to the Marriott in Palm Dessert. 

You know those strange memories you have from when you were a kid and your not sure if they really happened or if you made it up? So these dinosaurs were one of those memories. It was a relief to finally determine that they do in fact exist. 

No words necessary

This one has a store inside of him...see why I thought it was just a crazy dream from when I was a kid. It's all kind of strange.

Here we are at the Marriott. Below you will see we also rode in the gondolas. If you are a Saved by the Bell fan you know that they filmed a few episodes here. Mandi did quite the tribute to the episode, so I will not even attempt you will have to check it out here.

\

We also spent a day in LA. We went to the USC campus, Hollywood, the Science Center Museum, the Griffith Observatory and drove through Beverly Hills. 

\

Denzel has a hand for each of us. 

The red carpet.

Ok ladies the new pose with the bent knee and hand on hip is a little OLD. UGH I get so irritated when I see it. So here is our tribute to the pose. Neither of us really have it but you get the point. 

...and here is Clay's attempt at the pose. 

Well we will end on that lovely note thanks to Clay. Thank you so much for coming out to visit us!!! We had so much fun!!

USC vs. University of Utah

B.J. and I went to see the University of Utah and USC play each other at the Coliseum. Luckily B.J. heard of an insurance company a few months ago that was offering two free USC football tickets to those that called for an auto insurance quote. Good old B.J. finding the deals; it saved us $100!

Pre-game picture

Half time picture

If any of you watched the game you will understand the distasteful looks on our faces at half time. It was one of the most ridiculous games. Utah played horrible, making it quite a boring game. USC really had not competition. I was so disappointed in them. I decided to root for my alma mater, dressed in my Ute gear, and was the only one cheering for them in our section (even B.J. was cheering for USC). They sure made me look like a goober. Even though it was a pretty lame game it still was a fun experience. Prior to the game we walked around the stadium to see the tailgating. I thought I knew what tailgating was from the Utah games but I was mistaken. USC takes their tailgating VERY seriously. They were lined up all around the stadium with catered food.... it was crazy. It was also fun to see the stadium close up, it is absolutely beautiful.

Brief history of the Coliseum. 

There is Tommy the Trojan on his horse Traveler. When he came out before the game I thought he was so cute, the horse that is,  so I took a ton of pictures thinking he wouldn't come out again. However, he comes out each time USC scores.....so we saw a lot of him. 

As you can see B.J. wore USC gear; at least one of us cheered for the right team.

Dreams Come True... After 23 Years

My cousin Shelley, her parents, and her sister's cute little family came out to California. It was so much fun getting to see them. Here are some of the fun things we were able to do together.

Shelley had her birthday a couple of weeks prior to her visit so we had a cake for her.

We spent a few hours at the beach. It was such a beautiful, perfect day for the beach.

Awww what a cute sista picture. I especially love Karen's son photo bombing in the background. 

After the beach we had dinner at Knott's Berry Farm's Famous Chicken Dinner. Which was delicious as usual. Shelley, B.J., and myself made a quick dash out of the restaurant to try and make it to Disneyland's firework show. We had to be quick because Shelley needed to buy her Annual Pass! Now Shelley originally had a four day ticket, but I couldn't let that fly. So I convinced her to put the money towards a season pass. I mean it only made sense. The money saved on parking, food, merchandise, and coming again.....how could you not. Disney if you are reading this I have convinced two people that live out of state to get an annual pass....I think I deserve something.

Anyways, the firework show ended up being later than we thought so we made it to the park with time to spare. These pictures were from our first moments in Disneyland together. As I implied in the title of this post it has been our dream to go to Disneyland together. After 23 years we made it happen. Just picture this, two 23 year old girls running into Disneyland arms linked and smiles plastered on their faces......yep that was us.

Waiting for the fireworks with the castle and creepster behind us. 

Please note the matching type shirts and matching fingernail polish. Neither of which was planned. I clarify that because we would be the type to plan something like that. 

The next day I was able to take off work because I had worked a previous weekend. I'm so glad it worked out that way because it was so much fun to spend the day at Disneyland with Shelley and her family. She also has two adorable nephews that were so fun to watch as they experienced Disneyland for the first time.

This depicts our true personalities. Shelley in the middle - tags hidden. Karen and me - tags hangin right out in the open with no shame. Way to keep it classy Shelley, as always. 

Sorry, I just couldn't resist. 

Our matching Minnie jackets....okay we did plan this one. 

On Space Mountain with our annual passes!!

I already miss you Shelley! Come back to me!!! I mean you have to make use of that annual pass, right?

B.J.'s 26th Birthday

B.J. turned 26 this month (what an old fart)!

We celebrated by doing B.J.'s favorite thing, watching movies and playing games on his iPad ALL day. That weekend we literally only left our room to eat, otherwise we were being totally lazy and watching movies.

His favorite cake, better than 'you know what' cake

Since we were lazy on his actual birthday weekend the next weekend I wanted him to be able to decide on an activity to do. So we went where else... Disneyland. Sorry if you are sick of my Disneyland pictures, but you will just have to deal with it.

Disneyland is all decked out for Halloween already. 

B.J. with his birthday pin and ice cream. If you get ice cream at the Ice Cream Parlor on Main Street get the cookies and cream. AMAZING. 

We got our fortunes told my Esmeralda on Main Street. 

I want you to read the 'prophecies' below and just guess which one is mine and which is B.J.'s prophesy.

For those of you who know how lucky and perfect B.J. is this is an easy guess. But for those of you who don't know B.J. his 'prophesy' is the first one pictured. Seriously Esmeralda's good. When I got my card I was reminded of my awful luck I have been having. Two car accidents in the last two month both of which I was rear ended and both of which the responsible party drove away. BOOO. Karma will get 'em. I am extremely grateful no one was seriously hurt and my dear old car has little damage from it but I digress. Anyways so then comes out B.J.'s card and I could not help but laugh. I won't complain I undoubtedly benefit from his luck and perfection.

We had an awesome time at Disneyland and it was a perfect day for B.J.'s birthday. We started out at Splash Mountain where we went in the single rider's line twice and both times got to ride together. I kind of felt bad for the people that were waiting in line for forty minutes and we rode twice within the amount of time they were waiting in line. But that feeling of guilt went away fast. Later in the evening we went on Grizzly Rapids in California Adventure. We went after the sun had gone down so not many people were in line so we got our own raft which was so fun. We then had dinner in Downtown Disney where we were seated with a perfect view of the fireworks from Disneyland. It was a perfect Disneyland trip in celebration of his birthday!

Our own raft. 

Get it? He's my 'record catch'! (I know cheese-o-rama)

White Coat Ceremony

B.J. had his White Coat Ceremony!! I am so proud of him and all of his hard work. I sometimes feel like a parent because I am so excited to see where he goes in life and all that he will accomplish.

My signature shot.