Another Year Older...

I've decided that birthdays aren't quite as magical as they used to be. When I was little I used to count down the days until my special day and it seemed like it took forever to come. I remember older people saying that birthdays are just like any other day and sometimes they didn' t even want to celebrate because they'd rather not think about getting older. How could this be? I thought. But now I understand. I still love birthdays and enjoy celebrating mine, I just wish the years didn't go by so fast. The thought just occured to me the other day that I am now closer to 30 than I am to 20. How did that happen? I know it's not that old but it is for me because I'm still only supposed to be 16! :)

Anyway... for my birthday we got a Boston Cream Pie from Costco on Saturday and couldn't help but eat it the days leading up to my birthday, which is why you see a half eaten cake in the picture. Russell brought some flowers home for me and put them in a pitcher since we don't have any vases. I think they look beautiful. Josie colored a happy birthday sign for me, she also colored the wall. Even though it wasn't quite as magical as it was 20 years ago, I still had a great day! (Russ took a lot of really cute pictures of josie with my birthday sign and I couldn't resist posting most of them.)

California Dreamin'

To celebrate Russ' graduation and our 'new' life, but really just because.... Russ, Josie and I spent the fourth of July weekend in California. We stayed in hotel next to LAX, it was a very nice hotel but maybe not the best location, we'll have to stay closer to the beach next time. The weather was a little colder than we had anticipated but the 70 degree temp was a nice relief from the Las Vegas heat. We walked down the Hollywood walk of fame, explored Chinatown (where I payed to use the most disgusting bathroom I've ever seen), drove around Beverly Hills, went to 2 different beaches, and enjoyed the 4th of July festivities at the Longbeach Pier. We had a great time!In front of the Hollywood sign. (It's next to my head.)


The Beverly Hills Diner


Los Angeles Temple


Josie loved the hotel and was super hyper when we first got there.


We took this especially for Nicole.


Josie overindulged a bit while on this trip.


Huntington Beach

Longbeach Pier, in front of the Queen Mary.