Fun in Camarillo

     We got back to my sister's house late Saturday night and pretty much crashed.  They were kind enough to host us for a few more days.  Sunday we got up and went to church early and then spent the rest of the day relaxing, letting the kids play and everyone's favorite sunday activity, eating.  We were sad Brandi's oldest was in Utah visiting his other cousins but know he was having a great time.  Ashton and Melise were so great with Shad and he loved running around, wrestling, playing cars and making chaos with them.  Despite being several years older then him they were both great about playing on his level.  Chase is a total sweetheart and it is amazing to see how healthy he is considering he was hanging on to life by a thread just a couple months ago.  Modern medicine is amazing!  However, I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of him!!!
     Also on sunday my dear friend Becca drove three hours just to come see me.  She is one of those people that won't hesitate a second to do anything and everything for you.  This girl truly has a heart of gold.  It was so fun to spend the afternoon and evening with her and I am grateful she once again made the sacrifice to come to me.  When I called her (apparently I called her I don't remember much about it) to tell her about my parents accident her response was, "when do you want me there?"  There was never a second thought about her job, her life, the money.  I am so lucky to have a friend like her.  It was hard saying goodbye when we never know if it will be six months or three years before we see each other again.  It is also nice she adores kids and they adore her as well.  They seem to be able to sense her sincerity.  She happens to be an excellent "spinner".

Beca is everyone's favorite!

      Monday we went for a hike near the coast.   It was gorgeous and we were lucky to see several coyotes while we were out enjoying the scenery.  My sister lives in an incredible area with beautiful green mountains, nurseries and the beach only fifteen minutes away.  Not to mention the weather.  I may have had a few pangs of envy over how green it is there.  The kids were troopers and we all had a nice time although we had to cut it a little short when Chase got hungry.    We then headed home for some New Years Celebrations.  Unfortunately, we were kind of party poopers, but we did manage to stay up until Midnight and have some Martinellis.  I am pretty sure Ben was embarrassed for us for what lame partiers we are.  It was nice of them to put up with us.

Cute family minus one.

A rare picture of the four of us.

     Tuesday Ben and Dan spent quite a while working on some bikes and then did a bike ride over by the coast.  They both seemed to have a really good time.  The boys accidentally took Shad and Bailey's car seats with them so Brandi and I decided to walk to the park with the kids.  Fortunately, they didn't notice it was freezing.  However, the walk was a little longer than we anticipated and Shad got a little tired.  Luckily Ben and Dan got home and came and picked the kids up.

Shad quickly discovered aunt Brandi has way better snacks. . . even if they are out of Ashton's emergency stash.

The beautiful "I Spy" quilt is from my mom's sister, such a special gift.

Just in case I had forgotten what it was like to be pregnant. . . My sister was a little nervous about this one.  I assured her I could handle it, but it certainly wasn't fun or easy.

  We decided to take it easy for dinner that night and went out.  It was nice to not worry about getting dinner going and cleaned up, especially since I don't worry about it as much as I should.  My sister is really great about feeding people.  She gets it from my mom.  They both would labor for hours on fancy meals while I sat and chatted their ear off not noticing what needed to be done.  Despite always feeling guilty about it, I enjoy socializing so much I never can get myself to be a better worker.  So, it was nice my sister didn't slave away again and I wasn't a slug.  We went to Red Robin and the kids pretty much had the place to themselves which was nice.
   Wednesday it was time to say goodbye.  I didn't use to get super emotional about saying goodbye, but realizing how infrequently we see each other, and since my parent's deaths it has been a lot harder.  I always think of that last time I said goodbye to my Mom and just realize how you never know when that moment will be with the people you love. Luckily, we had a ten hour drive with two kids to distract me from leaving.  Unluckily, there was an accident and we hit traffic.  Even Shad was sad and cried and said he didn't want to leave and was sad.  He kept wanting to call aunt Brandi on the phone for about a week after too.   It was so fun to go and visit them and they were so gracious to feed us and and let us stay.  Brandi kept extending invitations for the summer, but come warm weather she may regret it!