This year my family decided to ditch Las Veags for New Years
and head to wear it's a bit warmer..
Newport Beach, California!
We had been there once before but it had been a long time, so boy were
we all excited to go down there.
We left on Saturday after Christmas and stayed until New Years Day
the following Wednesday. It was perfect weather..70's the whole time
even requiring no jacket during the day!
Everyone was able to come down too so it was a lot of fun.
My sister and Gabe had left a few days earlier to see his family,
so Linzi, Trev, my parents and Adam and I headed down Saturday.
Adam and I sat in the bank with my parents and Trevor drove the car down.
We decided to make a small detour that day and go to Palmdale to take a missionary
friend out to lunch. It made for a long day of travels.
We arrived late Saturday night so it was already dark but still beautiful!
We stopped and ate dinner at Cheesecake factory.. always awesome
and did a little shopping.
Gabe & Tay stayed with us in our 2 bedroom place..
They obviously didn't share a room, it had a big living room/pull out couch.
It was fun staying with them!
My sister and I get along great, and Adam always makes her laugh
we have a good time with those two!
Sunday:
The next day was Sunday and we decided to go to the local ward and attend church
We were going to walk the temple grounds but they were closed.
I had ended up bringing a maxi skirt so that worked perfect, but Adam
had only brought shorts and basically sport shirts so he didn't come along.
It was cool experiencing a ward somewhere totally different.
Afterwards, we went down to the beach for a little bit..
I am SO sad. I deleted one of the best pictures of Adam and I next to a Christmas
Tree on the beach.. oh well.
The beach was really pretty that day and then we drove
down to Laguna Beach :) to have lunch. We ended up stopping at eating
at Ruby's Diner.. and enjoying delicious hamburgers, milkshakes, and a rooftop view.
It was a lot of fun!
Afterwards my dad decided to go look at Mercedes at the Newport dealership.
We all had fun there for awhile..
Then my dad got serious and decided to purchase a Mercedes..
My sister and I decided we wanted to get back to the room so we can
maybe enjoy a little bit of the pool.
We lounged around for a bit until we lost the sun.
We then did a little hot tubbing.. and by 'we' I mean everyone
else but me :) I hung out on the side chatting.
That night we decided to drive out to Balboa Island and find BJs Pizza.
It was recommended from my boss and I'm so glad we tried it.
I think I had the best cheese pizza I've ever had. I wish they had one here.
It sounds so good right now.
Monday:
We got up early and headed to breakfast this morning.
We were planning to spend our whole day at Balboa Island..
we wanted to shop around and ride the bikes along the board walk.
We got there a little earlier than we thought and the bike shop wasn't
even opened yet..
hahah.. the life.
We decided that I shouldn't ride my own bike, so we got the two seater
bikes.. haha They are SO hard! Much harder to pedal than it looks.
My parents, Gabe & Tay got the 4 seater one and thought it was way hard too.
Trev & Linz were cruising on the regular bike two seater..
needless to say, I don't think we will be doing those again anytime soon.
The rest of the day we shopped around and then took some
gorgeous pictures on the beach ..
I could spend hours just starting at the ocean and sunset!
Found this little cutie.. My dad loves him..
Tuesday:
New Years Eve day we decided to head up to LA/Hollywood and do a
fun city tour of Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive and spot celebrity homes.
We also decided to go to Universal Studios this day.
A few of us had never been before or had been so long ago!
Adam hadn't been since he was 3 and I can't really remember the last time I went.
We got up to LA around 9 and booked our bus tour!
It was fun.. we rode in an open bus and had a fun tour guide.
We got to see Ellen DeGeneres house .. well her gate..
David Arquette, Johnny Depp, the big house on Iron Man, Elvis Presley's
old house, and Michael Jackson's old house... We also drove around
Hollywood and into Studio City and saw the turn for Justin Timberlake's house..
No I didn't' get to see it up close :( I was so bummed.. but I saw the back of it!
And I know the general location.. hahah. I guess he had a break-in awhile ago
so he had an armed security guard on duty 24 hours and lots of cameras.
crazy!
We also saw Bruno Mars hours, Gwen Stefani, Jessica Alba and Katy Perry.
It was so cool!
I also loved going down Rodeo drive in Beverly Hills and seeing
all the expensive shops, and nice cars..
I was disappointed we didn't see any celebrity's though.
One cool fact I never knew about Beverley Hills. .
Their fire hydrants are all platinum.. and they have different kinds of trees
lining all the streets.. but it is full of pretty trees.
This tour lasted a few hours and then we got free tickets to see the
Wax Museum down in Hollywood. It was really cool!
The wax figures were a little creepy to me though.. if you got close to them
it just seemed like they were going to move or jump..
They did look pretty real though, so that was cool!
Afterwards we had lunch at Mel's Diner.. I think it was a filming site for
a move a long time ago.. I want to say American Gravity or something?
It was really good!
Then we were off to Universal! It was a lot of fun!
We got there later in the afternoon so luckily we didn't hit a huge crowd.
We also were able to get on the back lot tours before it got dark.
That tour was so cool! It was crazy to see where everything was filmed!
Two shows I watch, Parenthood and Mindy Project are filmed there
and we saw all their trailers with their names on them, which was neat.
It's crazy how they can make a place look so much like NYC but it's really a stuido
in California.. kind of amazes me!
We also saw how they do rain storms and floods. . that was also very cool.
If you haven't ever done this tour you really should!
Tay and Gabe ran around doing some rides and Adam tagged along
for a few since I couldn't do any!
We watched a water show and a special effects show.
Those were both interesting. The special effects was more up my ally.
I also got a nice foot rub!
Wow by the of the day.. my pregnant body can use TLC.. and my husband
is awesome at doing just that.
I really felt the pregnancy on this trip and noticed the many changes going on..
I was a lot slower than everyone else.. and I couldn't stand or walk for
very long without getting extremely worn out.. at least my feet killing me.
I am glad we chose to go on this trip when we did.
Any later would have been a little uncomfortable for me!
I ate a little too much of the good food..
I had a pretzel and churro.. and later a cinnabun..
Dang pregnancy hunger.
We ended up being out later than planned so we had to buy some
sweaters to keep warm.. some very cool sweaters.
It was really pretty and all decorated for Christmas still.
It also had lots of Grinch stuff, which we loved.
We were debating about whether or not to stay that night for the firework show.
Universal park closed at 9 pm but you could stay out of the park where
they have restaurants and shops and then they'd let the fireworks off.
Typically I would have been all for it, but I could not stand any longer
and we were all pretty tired from our fun filled day that we decided to head
back to Newport. It was an hour drive after all.
I am so glad we did! As we were leaving there was a ton of traffic
coming into the parking garage, and just a ton of people around.
it was like being in the Vegas crowd..
being 6 months pregnant I did not feel up to it!
Universal was so fun though! We really enjoyed the whole park!
We got home around 11 and were able to get comfy and watch the
happenings in Vegas. We missed Vegas this year, but not enough to give up
the gorgeous beach and weather!
We hadn't eaten dinner yet, so Adam, my dad and Gabe went on the search
for something.. mostly everything was closed obviously but they found Taco Bell.
We had burritos at midnight.. and I barley got a midnight kiss..
the guys were still gone until just pass midnight..
It was still a good way to ring in 2014!
simple and practical!
Soon after I ate.. I was out!
The rooms/beds were so comfortable I could live there.
Wednesday:
On Wednesday we were traveling back home.
Going back home is always so hard.. and I dread that at the end of trips.
We left pretty early so we could hit Dillards in Vegas for their big sale.
We got to Vegas around 12-1 and were able to find some good deals
for Baby Holden.. I am already so in love..
and for Adam! Being pregnant is different when it comes to shopping..
I kept wanting to take off and go look for my own stuff.. but realized
that nothing fits me anyway, so how would I know if it'll work for me..
not to mention my body is bound to be different after baby!
Sort of a hard concept to grasp, but I didn't buy any clothes
so I guess I did alright.
We then stopped to eat at Famous Daves and then head back home.
It was a long day, and felt extra long with the travels.
I didn't feel so good that night when we got home.
I had very swollen ankles/calves and felt exhausted.
I think all the days of constantly going and traveling caught up to me.
Adam and I had to work the next morning too which was hard on both of us.
We still had Christmas put up and had to unpack everything..
It was a crazy week to get back in the swing of things!
I sure couldn't have imagined a better way to ring in 2014 though...
and I'm sure this little babe loved it too (even though he is still cozy in my belly)
It was a great way to end 2013 and start 2014..
surely two of the best years of my life..
We arrived late Saturday night so it was already dark but still beautiful!
We stopped and ate dinner at Cheesecake factory.. always awesome
and did a little shopping.
Gabe & Tay stayed with us in our 2 bedroom place..
They obviously didn't share a room, it had a big living room/pull out couch.
It was fun staying with them!
My sister and I get along great, and Adam always makes her laugh
we have a good time with those two!
Sunday:
The next day was Sunday and we decided to go to the local ward and attend church
We were going to walk the temple grounds but they were closed.
I had ended up bringing a maxi skirt so that worked perfect, but Adam
had only brought shorts and basically sport shirts so he didn't come along.
It was cool experiencing a ward somewhere totally different.
Afterwards, we went down to the beach for a little bit..
I am SO sad. I deleted one of the best pictures of Adam and I next to a Christmas
Tree on the beach.. oh well.
The beach was really pretty that day and then we drove
down to Laguna Beach :) to have lunch. We ended up stopping at eating
at Ruby's Diner.. and enjoying delicious hamburgers, milkshakes, and a rooftop view.
It was a lot of fun!
Afterwards my dad decided to go look at Mercedes at the Newport dealership.
We all had fun there for awhile..
Then my dad got serious and decided to purchase a Mercedes..
My sister and I decided we wanted to get back to the room so we can
maybe enjoy a little bit of the pool.
We lounged around for a bit until we lost the sun.
We then did a little hot tubbing.. and by 'we' I mean everyone
else but me :) I hung out on the side chatting.
That night we decided to drive out to Balboa Island and find BJs Pizza.
It was recommended from my boss and I'm so glad we tried it.
I think I had the best cheese pizza I've ever had. I wish they had one here.
It sounds so good right now.
Adam just giving out free back rubs..
Monday:
We got up early and headed to breakfast this morning.
We were planning to spend our whole day at Balboa Island..
we wanted to shop around and ride the bikes along the board walk.
We got there a little earlier than we thought and the bike shop wasn't
even opened yet..
hahah.. the life.
We decided that I shouldn't ride my own bike, so we got the two seater
bikes.. haha They are SO hard! Much harder to pedal than it looks.
My parents, Gabe & Tay got the 4 seater one and thought it was way hard too.
Trev & Linz were cruising on the regular bike two seater..
needless to say, I don't think we will be doing those again anytime soon.
The rest of the day we shopped around and then took some
gorgeous pictures on the beach ..
I could spend hours just starting at the ocean and sunset!
Found this little cutie.. My dad loves him..
Tuesday:
New Years Eve day we decided to head up to LA/Hollywood and do a
fun city tour of Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive and spot celebrity homes.
We also decided to go to Universal Studios this day.
A few of us had never been before or had been so long ago!
Adam hadn't been since he was 3 and I can't really remember the last time I went.
We got up to LA around 9 and booked our bus tour!
It was fun.. we rode in an open bus and had a fun tour guide.
We got to see Ellen DeGeneres house .. well her gate..
David Arquette, Johnny Depp, the big house on Iron Man, Elvis Presley's
old house, and Michael Jackson's old house... We also drove around
Hollywood and into Studio City and saw the turn for Justin Timberlake's house..
No I didn't' get to see it up close :( I was so bummed.. but I saw the back of it!
And I know the general location.. hahah. I guess he had a break-in awhile ago
so he had an armed security guard on duty 24 hours and lots of cameras.
crazy!
We also saw Bruno Mars hours, Gwen Stefani, Jessica Alba and Katy Perry.
It was so cool!
I also loved going down Rodeo drive in Beverly Hills and seeing
all the expensive shops, and nice cars..
I was disappointed we didn't see any celebrity's though.
One cool fact I never knew about Beverley Hills. .
Their fire hydrants are all platinum.. and they have different kinds of trees
lining all the streets.. but it is full of pretty trees.
This tour lasted a few hours and then we got free tickets to see the
Wax Museum down in Hollywood. It was really cool!
The wax figures were a little creepy to me though.. if you got close to them
it just seemed like they were going to move or jump..
They did look pretty real though, so that was cool!
Afterwards we had lunch at Mel's Diner.. I think it was a filming site for
a move a long time ago.. I want to say American Gravity or something?
It was really good!
My one true love.
Fun Pictures at the Wax Museum!
Adam's love.. Carrie Underwood
Then we were off to Universal! It was a lot of fun!
We got there later in the afternoon so luckily we didn't hit a huge crowd.
We also were able to get on the back lot tours before it got dark.
That tour was so cool! It was crazy to see where everything was filmed!
Two shows I watch, Parenthood and Mindy Project are filmed there
and we saw all their trailers with their names on them, which was neat.
It's crazy how they can make a place look so much like NYC but it's really a stuido
in California.. kind of amazes me!
We also saw how they do rain storms and floods. . that was also very cool.
If you haven't ever done this tour you really should!
Tay and Gabe ran around doing some rides and Adam tagged along
for a few since I couldn't do any!
We watched a water show and a special effects show.
Those were both interesting. The special effects was more up my ally.
I also got a nice foot rub!
is awesome at doing just that.
I really felt the pregnancy on this trip and noticed the many changes going on..
I was a lot slower than everyone else.. and I couldn't stand or walk for
very long without getting extremely worn out.. at least my feet killing me.
I am glad we chose to go on this trip when we did.
Any later would have been a little uncomfortable for me!
I ate a little too much of the good food..
I had a pretzel and churro.. and later a cinnabun..
Dang pregnancy hunger.
We ended up being out later than planned so we had to buy some
sweaters to keep warm.. some very cool sweaters.
It was really pretty and all decorated for Christmas still.
It also had lots of Grinch stuff, which we loved.
Adam and Gabe.. being Adam and Gabe..
We were debating about whether or not to stay that night for the firework show.
Universal park closed at 9 pm but you could stay out of the park where
they have restaurants and shops and then they'd let the fireworks off.
Typically I would have been all for it, but I could not stand any longer
and we were all pretty tired from our fun filled day that we decided to head
back to Newport. It was an hour drive after all.
I am so glad we did! As we were leaving there was a ton of traffic
coming into the parking garage, and just a ton of people around.
it was like being in the Vegas crowd..
being 6 months pregnant I did not feel up to it!
Universal was so fun though! We really enjoyed the whole park!
We got home around 11 and were able to get comfy and watch the
happenings in Vegas. We missed Vegas this year, but not enough to give up
the gorgeous beach and weather!
We hadn't eaten dinner yet, so Adam, my dad and Gabe went on the search
for something.. mostly everything was closed obviously but they found Taco Bell.
We had burritos at midnight.. and I barley got a midnight kiss..
the guys were still gone until just pass midnight..
It was still a good way to ring in 2014!
simple and practical!
Soon after I ate.. I was out!
The rooms/beds were so comfortable I could live there.
Wednesday:
On Wednesday we were traveling back home.
Going back home is always so hard.. and I dread that at the end of trips.
We left pretty early so we could hit Dillards in Vegas for their big sale.
We got to Vegas around 12-1 and were able to find some good deals
for Baby Holden.. I am already so in love..
and for Adam! Being pregnant is different when it comes to shopping..
I kept wanting to take off and go look for my own stuff.. but realized
that nothing fits me anyway, so how would I know if it'll work for me..
not to mention my body is bound to be different after baby!
Sort of a hard concept to grasp, but I didn't buy any clothes
so I guess I did alright.
We then stopped to eat at Famous Daves and then head back home.
It was a long day, and felt extra long with the travels.
I didn't feel so good that night when we got home.
I had very swollen ankles/calves and felt exhausted.
I think all the days of constantly going and traveling caught up to me.
Adam and I had to work the next morning too which was hard on both of us.
We still had Christmas put up and had to unpack everything..
It was a crazy week to get back in the swing of things!
I sure couldn't have imagined a better way to ring in 2014 though...
and I'm sure this little babe loved it too (even though he is still cozy in my belly)
It was a great way to end 2013 and start 2014..
surely two of the best years of my life..
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