California … knows how to PARTAY (Name that song)

We love California.  Audra grew up here, two of our children were born here, and we have many memories of this state.  Sunshine, family, friends, new and old places, fun and relaxation.  Our summer was just what we needed.  :)

 Bowling with Uncle Burke (Audra's brother)!  Show us your moves!

 Henry does a cannonball at the Newbury Park High School pool.  This is where Audra went to high school.

 Adeline plunges off the high dive!

Lora DIVES off the high dive!  That girl has guts!

 We love family visitors and cousins!  Brinley, Beckham and Myla came to visit us!  Thanks Nicole and Eileen for making the trip down to California.  

 Adeline was embraced by the Young Women in the Conejo Canyon Ward (LDS) this summer.  She had the opportunity to go to Girls Camp, and we jumped at it.  We don't have these opportunities in Kazakhstan, so everyone was really excited for her!  Here they are getting the trucks packed up to go.  What a great group of women and young women.  She had a great time, made friends and created lasting memories.

 What would a trip to California be without the beach!  Keith and Lora race with their boogie boards to the water.

 Adeline and Henry dig for clams and sand crabs.

 MAGIC MOUNTAIN!!  This is the only safe-feeling ride we rode, and it broke down!!  We went with our awesome friends, the DeLaRosa's.  Our tube got stuck and would not get on the ramp to get off.  We had to "emergency evacuate" even though the step was literally a hands reach away.  They made us put on life jackets in order to walk off the ride.  I couldn't get pictures of that because as soon as I tried they yelled at me to put my phone away.  I guess they didn't want evidence of their ride broken down.  It was 104 degrees, and the seats were black.  We were left in the sun for about 30 minutes before they authorized us to step off. I guess liability issues mean that a lengthy protocol must be taken.  It's cases like this that make us miss Kazakhstan. Nobody cares about liability, they just do whatever they need to do!  But this fiasco did enable us to skip the line on X2 (after some arguing). 

 One of the great things about Los Angeles is the FREE California Science Center.  Here is a diver in the Reef Ecosystems exhibit feeding the fish.  We love science!  :)

 We got to see David and Susan Kim!  They were teachers with us in Kazakhstan and have a home in Valencia, our old stomping ground.  We love them and were super excited to spend the afternoon with them.

 Literally "hanging" with the DeLaRosa's at Borchard Park.

 Keith and I on a date at Santa Monica Beach.  Funny, cause when I was a child in CA, I didn't really like the beach.  But as soon as I moved away from it, I realized how much I took it for granted. Now I find it therapeutic.  I miss it.  

 Amazing sunset on the beach.

 More cousins!  We loved seeing some of the Frandsen's while we were in San Diego.  Keith and the kids went to the Mormon Battalion and had a great time.

 Silly cousins.

 What's better than cousins?  Cousins AND Mexican food combined!  We sure miss our cousins, and we sure miss Mexican food in Kazakhstan!

 In San Diego we got to go to the Safari Zoo Park (formerly the Wild Animal Park).  This place is awesome!  They have all these wild animals roaming, without cages, and mingling with other species amongst hundreds of acres.  Such a great place.  You get to take a safari tram around the perimeter of the property and see the animals interacting.  I love it.

 Elephants!

 Tigers!

 Rhinos!  How awesome is that!

California - we love you.  Family - we love you.  Friends - we love you.  We miss it all and were so happy that we were able to have such a great trip back to the United States this summer.  Thanks to Nicole and family, Eileen Phelps, the DeLaRosa family, the Frandsen family, David and Susan Kim, Burke, members of the Conejo Canyon Ward, and others for making it memorable.  An especially large THANK YOU to Audra's parents, Anita and Dee Woodward, who housed us, fed us, let us borrow a car, and loved us for 5 weeks.  Why in the heck don't I have a picture of you guys from this summer!?


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