Josh California Trip Day Three (Tuesday)

The next morning, we decided to go to the beach again, instead of going kayaking, which was what we originally planned. Caden’s mom and Julie brought us to the beach after breakfast. We ended up going to the same beach, since it was better for boogie boarding. It was a lot more crowded the second day even though it was a little bit colder. We overheard someone complaining how hot it was outside, but it was only 80 degrees. The water was actually pretty warm despite the temperature.

The beach was a lot more crowded so that left less room to boogie board. We still did boogie board for a while though. The tide was a lot higher that second day, and everyone was in the water instead of the shore, so we skimboarded for a while because there was tons of room. The waves started getting pretty big, so Caden and Kamen wanted to boogie board again, but I just decided to swim and body surf for a while. I went to lay down on my towel after that because I was tired. Caden and Kamen joined me after a few minutes and we laid down for a while. That’s probably why I got sunburned the second day but not the first day.

We started getting hungry, and we still had like 2 or 3 more hours at the beach, so Caden’s mom got us some fries and nachos from the snack bar. Once the food was gone we wanted to play in the water again. The waves started getting really big, too big for boogie boarding. The three of us skimboarded some more, then went to play around in the waves. It was actually really fun running away from the huge waves or getting carried and knocked over by them. But we had to leave right when it started getting more fun. We showered and ate some sandwiches when we got back, then left to go to the pier at about dinner time.

There were lots of stores by the pier, and this is what we were saving our money for, so we went and looked in them all. The clothing stores on the pier had terrible deals, and so did the souvenir shops. The only pretty good deal was a Mexican poncho jacket that was 20 dollars, and it was actually pretty cool. Me and Caden both almost got one, but then decided not to. There was also a store where you could customize your own hoodie with whatever logo you wanted. Kamen kind of wanted to buy one but the price was pretty high, so he didn’t get one. We were going to go to a restaurant called Ruby’s at the end of the pier, but it was closed so we didn’t get to go there. There was a Wahoo’s nearby, so Kamen and Caden both wanted to go there. I eventually convinced them against it.

It was starting to get dark, so we just ended up stopping at a Ruby’s on the way back. Ruby’s was really good, and they had endless fries, so I would say that it was worth it. Nobody actually bought anything at the pier, and so we all started to regret not buying more stuff when we were there the day before. We got back and then had some ice cream. Caden’s mom went to bed, and Julie was already in bed, so the rest of us played masterpiece. Not Kevin though, he was just sitting on the couch. We finished one game, and it was 11:30. We started another game, but in the middle of the game, the lights started flickering and then went out completely. It was pitch black in the room, and we had watched scary stories the night before, so we all looked at each other and then all bolted for the room.

Our room didn’t even have a light. But if it did, it wouldn’t have worked because the power was out. Luckily, our lamp worked. It was around 12:30, and we eventually found Kevin outside in the street. All the houses in the neighborhood were out of power. We went back inside, and Kevin asked if we wanted to go on a ride in his Tesla. All of us did, so we rode around for a little bit. When we got back, we went to bed. The power was still out. Me and Caden were tired, but Kamen wanted to play truth or dare for some reason. Me and Caden were giving zero effort to the game. Kamen told me it was my turn, so I dared Caden to face time someone random on his contacts. It was a pretty pathetic dare since it was 1:00 in the morning in California, meaning it was 2:00 in Utah. He just put his finger on a random contact, and it was one of our friends; a girl in our grade. He face timed her, and she actually answered the phone! I don’t know why, but she was still wide awake at 2:00 in the morning. After that, we all went to bed. 

Scavenger Hunt: Jaiden and Friends

 Jaiden and her friends went on a fun scavenger hunt at their friends' 16th birthday party (Hailee Phillips and Keira Howard). They divided up into three groups and took pictures at various locations. Fun! (This group included Jaiden, Emily Williams, Lizzie Bryner, Emma Hansen, David Bennett, and Lane Reeves).

Josh California Day Two (Monday)

We woke up the next morning, got on our swimsuits, ate some cereal, and then headed out to see the tide pools at 9:30. The plan was to go to the beach that day. At the tide pools, there were crabs everywhere on the rocks, so we all caught some and took pictures with them. There were also some sea anemones which were really sticky to touch. It was me, Kamen, Caden, Caden’s mom, and Julie. Kevin stayed back at the house.

We were just about ready to leave when Julie called out from behind us to come look at something. The big thing my family found last time at the tide pools (when we visited our cousins in California) was a baby Octopus. This time it was a giant sea slug. Julie pointed to under the shade of a rock, where a black sea slug was barely noticeable. We decided to pull it out to get a closer look, and get some pictures with it, so Kamen tried to pull it out from under the rock. Well, it’s grip on the rock was so good and sticky, that it took Kamen like 5 minutes to pull it out. (Kamen was the only one that dared touch it.) Once he got it out, we all took turns holding it and taking pictures with it. It was really slimy to touch, and it seemed like my hands were sinking into its skin. It must have weighed at least 2 or 3 pounds. After showing other people who wanted to see the slug, we put it back in it’s home and then left for the beach.

Before leaving for the beach, there was a tiny little beach by the tide pools, too rocky to play in, but it had sand. Caden and Kamen showed me how to catch sand crabs, which are the little dimples in the sand that we could see when the water recedes from the shore. All we had to do was spot a dimple in the sand, then dig our hands deep into it and the crab would usually be in the clump of sand that we were holding, and it would dig down as deep as it could until it made it to the hand, or he flipped the sand over, making it dig upwards. There had to be thousands of those crabs on the little beach, but there weren't as many when we got to the actual beach, although there were still some. We parked in the beach parking lot, and then walked down with our boogie boards down to the beach. The beach that we were at was called SaltCreek Beach. It was about 15 minutes from Julie’s house.

I had never been boogie boarding before and so it was a new experience for me. They taught me how and it wasn’t that hard. All I had to do was wait for a wave, and then when it crashed and started coming towards me, and it got close enough, I jumped on the board forward towards the shore and away from the wave. Then the wave caught up to me and pushed me back to shore. The important thing though is to get the wave after it crashes, or else it is way more likely to get knocked off the board. And it’s also important to keep the board angled upward, or else the board would get in the sand and fling you off. We boogie boarded for a long time, and we all had a couple pretty bad crashes. I had one crash where I messed up, and another where the wave was way too big, so it just launched me in the air.

Caden also brought a skimboard, so we did that a lot on the shore too, but we did that more the second day on the beach and not as much the first day. We also body surfed and just swam in the water with the waves. It made our legs really tired from just standing in the water and resisting the current for so long. It’s pretty crazy how far out the beach goes without getting that deep. My favorite waves were the waves that hadn’t crashed yet, so the momentum would just push us. We were probably at the beach for like 5 hours. Our next plan was to go home, shower, and then eat dinner at a restaurant called Wahoo’s. So we went home and took showers, but Caden wanted to go shop at a store called Tilly’s before dinner. Apparently Tilly’s is a pretty popular clothing store, but they don’t have one in St. George. So after we all showered off, we got ready and went to Tilly’s.

Caden’s mom was with him, so he was trying on all the clothes and basically going back to school shopping. Me and Kamen only had a certain amount of money that we brought, so we had to be more careful about spending. Since Caden was occupied with trying on clothes, me and Kamen went to look at other things. Kamen noticed that the sunglasses were only ten dollars, which is actually a pretty good deal for a nice pair of sunglasses. But after we got closer to the sunglasses, we saw that it said 2 for 15 dollars. So the two of us decided to both get a pair, and then split the cost. I got some sunglasses that have that reflective purple look on the lenses, and the outside were a pretty cool wood design. Kamen got some that were thin, completely silver, and it had mirror lenses. Basically something a police officer would wear.

After buying the glasses, I proceeded to look at shirts, since Kamen and Caden really wanted me to get a name brand shirt. Apparently I don’t dress trendy enough… Kamen went to look at shoes and other things, and I found a turquoise name brand shirt that was actually really cool. It had long sleeves and it was only 15 dollars, which is actually a really great deal for a name brand shirt, so I got it. I didn’t really want to spend anything else at Tilly’s since we were still early on in the trip. I did find some cool Vans socks and a Vans shirt, but I decided to save my money for when we went to the pier the next day. As we were about to leave, Julie was there too, and Julie said, in a completely sarcastic and kidding voice, “I guess you guys could buy a chain.” Well, I guess she didn’t know that wearing a chain was actually something that people do as a trend now. So Kamen decided to get one, and Caden tried to persuade his mom to buy him one, although it was pretty hopeless. I didn’t really want a chain, but Kamen wanted all of us to buy a chain really bad for some reason.

I guess so he wouldn’t feel left out while wearing it out in public. I still didn’t get one though. Caden ended up buying quite a bit of clothes, since his mom was there. After shopping, we went to go pick up Kevin, and then went over to Wahoo’s. We parked somewhere, and then we had to walk up to Wahoo’s. On the walk there, we stopped at a bunch of other little stores, including a candy store with a HUGE variety of different things. It smelled so good in that store. Caden’s mom bought us some salt water taffy, because we could pick out a ton of different flavors. After we got enough, they weighed it for the price. Wahoo’s wasn’t my favorite restaurant, because it was basically seafood mixed with mexican, which is not very appealing to me. I ended up just getting a classic bean and cheese burrito. On the way home, it was starting to get dark, and Julie decided to have us stop at a drugstore to get some tubs of ice cream. After we all had some ice cream and talked for a little bit, the adults went to bed, and me, Kamen and Caden played masterpiece until like 12:30 again.

Josh California Day One

My friend Caden invited me to go to California with him and his family for a few days, and my parents actually said I could go! He also invited Kamen, another friend. It was about a 7 or 8 hour drive, so we left on Sunday morning at 11:00. The drive wasn't as bad as I thought it would be though since I took some travel sickness pills, so I didn't get motion sickness. On the way up we watched a movie and all took a nap at some point. We were going to be staying at Caden's Aunt and Uncle's house in a city called Laguna Niguel. Laguna Niguel was above San Diego and below Los Angeles, almost right in between.

When we got to the house, it was probably about 6:30 or 7:00. Caden's Aunt, (Julie), had made us all dinner. It was Tostadas, chips, and salsa. Soon after we got there, Kamen walked up to me and whispered, "this is really awkward." I replied, "I know." Then me, Caden, and Kamen went to eat our food outside. It was cloudy when we got there, so it was kind of cold outside. After dinner, We thanked Julie, and she said that we could go swim at their community pool before it closed at 8:00 if we wanted to. We did, so we went to our room to change into our swimsuits. Their house wasn't that big, but it was a pretty decently sized house for an older couple in California. They also had a little grass yard, even though it isn't nearly as big as ours. It probably also cost twice as much.

Anyway, after we got into our swimsuits, we drove over to the pool. The pool water was kind of cold, so we mostly just stayed in the hot tub. After getting back to the house, Julie and Kevin, (Caden’s uncle), asked if we wanted to play a game. Julie wanted to play Imagine If, so we played that. It was pretty awkward at first, but it wasn’t that bad once we got into it. After it was over, the group of us played one round of Telestrations, then the adults went to bed. When they were in bed, Caden asked me and Kamen if we wanted to play a game called masterpiece. I was kind of tired, even though it was only like 10:00, because I was used to the Cross Country schedule. We ended up playing the game anyway.

They had a little game table for chess in the corner of the family room for games, but it only seats 3 people, so that is where we sat for the game. Masterpiece was a game where we would buy and sell paintings, and each painting had a different amount of money on it, one million dollars, through ten million dollars. And there was also like 1.5 million through 7.5 million dollars. There were also paintings called forgeries that weren’t worth anything so we had to try and sell them. There were bank auctions and different things like that where we would bid on paintings. All in all, it’s a game that takes a lot of strategy and risk, but it also has a sense of luck to it. Jase would probably like it.

The game took about 45 minutes to an hour to play, so we played the game a couple times and then went to our room. Our room had a queen size bed in it, so me and caden slept in the bed, and Kamen slept on the floor on a mattress pad. I guess we had this idea that we were going to be staying up all night, but we ended up falling asleep before 12:30. The house that we were staying in had the family room, then the kitchen, and the rest of the house was an L shaped hallway with lots of different rooms. Our room was at the very end of the hallway.

Father's Day!!

We arrived at Scott and Amy's a little before the party started. My sister, Jen, mentioned in our extended family Westra Way blog that this was the 14th annual group gathering for Father's Day. It has been held annual since 2006. Ironically (per the pandemic) this was probably the largest group there has been! There were even two dogs in attendance! (Since Jen had already done the Father's Day post I took some of the information directly from there!)

We enjoyed a delicious BBQ! Blackhams brought Grayson's super cool water balloon filler (that he made himself) where eight balloons can be filled at a time with on/off spouts to keep the H20 in some control. Chris brought a bunch of baby balloons (and Jen brought some big ones). So there was tossing, chasing, throwing and launching, as Chris brought his "launcher" to fling them high in the sky. Cornhole is a favorite and the girls liked the hula hoops and practicing tricks such as handstands!

Then our family sang "Oh My Father" for my dad! We had put this together for a Father's Day gift for him! I think he enjoyed it and sang along! As soon as I introduced the song my mom started crying -- and I did too. I could hardly sing! Whenever we watch the video my kids make fun of me because I look so funny playing the bells. I guess I need more practice so that I don't totally lean forward when playing them!

Derek videotaped our song on his phone and posted it on Facebook and it actually got 2700 views and 24 shares! We got loads of wonderful comments! Derek thought we should do more songs and start a family youtube channel like some others have done. The boys were NOT excited about that prospect! I think they are happy to have their Sundays back (we usually practiced the song every Sunday and then went around the neighborhood sang to several neighbors on Sunday nights).

Click HERE to see the song on Youtube!

We also took our annual photo!! Our family needs to do a little better about making "windows" for this picture now that we have so many people! There are a few people I can barely see!

 ... and let's not forget Scott's poetic invitation to the party! 

 On Father’s Day, the place to be 

 Is at our home, Covid free 

 We’ll gather and greet 

 And of course we will eat 

 And games we will play 

 To round out the day. 

 We’ll begin at 6 so it’s not too hot 

 And see how decrepit Scott has got 

 We will see how the Westra clan had grown 

 And allow for friendships to be sown 

 We hope to see you safe and sound 

 It will be fun to gather ‘round 

 And honor those who’ve done so much

 And pledge to better keep in touch 

 And since you all are dying to ask 

 No we won’t require a mask.

Jen has more videos and pictures from this party on The Westra Way blog!! 

After the party Rick and Jared went to stay with his mom (Grandma Jensen hadn't seen Jared since his mission) and the other kids and I went to stay with Shane and Alicia. We had originally planned on Rick and me and the kids staying at my mom and dad's but I had a little sore throat and with this whole Covid-19 thing going on I was worried about staying at my parents just in case it turned into something more! A day or so later I felt perfectly fine, so pretty sure it was "just a cold!" Rick and Jared went to Ogden since Jared needed to buy a car and they saw some on sale in Centerville. 

Rick and I had also discussed going to Lagoon the Monday after Father's Day with the cousins, but then the park was requiring everyone to wear masks while in line for the rides and there was so much on the news about spikes in Covid cases that we decided to err on the side of caution and cancel our plans. So we just stayed over at Shane and Alicia's and the kids played together and then we headed back to St. George! 

Father's Day Flee: Day Four; Traveling to Draper

(Sunday): This morning we had a simple breakfast and then had a church service with talks by Amber and Ethan and then had the sacrament. Instead of a testimony meeting this year the Dads decided to let the kids write down questions on little slips of paper and put them into a bowl and then we had a group discussion answering the questions.

We sang "Oh My Father" with bells as a musical number (and as a practice run before singing it at the Father's Day party later that night.)
After our church services we hurriedly packed our things and cleaned up and took a couple of group pictures! It was a fun Father's Day Flee! I feel really blessed to have such a wonderful husband who is an amazing father! He always puts so much work and planning into these activities to make them meaningful, spiritual, and fun!

Our family headed out for our long drive to Draper for the Westra  Father's Day party and Curtis's family headed to Snow Canyon Park to go to the Lava tubes. Some of the cars left earlier than others. Janika and Brandon took Jenna and Janelle with them and stopped by Brandon's sister's house in American Fork to see their sweet new baby boy!

When Rick and I went to leave Pine Valley there was no one with him in his car! I wished that Jared hadn't left with Jase and Ellen because then he could have driven my car and I could have gone with Rick and had a nice visit! I am okay driving, but I would always prefer not to if given the choice! Oh well, I least I got to listen to my audio book!

Father's Day Flee: Day Three

(Saturday) This morning I went running again in the morning while Rick and Curtis fixed a big breakfast of pancakes and sausages and eggs. Then Jase and Ellen taught an awesome lesson with lots of neat insights. Then they sent everyone out for some "ponder time" for thirty minutes. I was valuable for me and I wrote a lot of thoughts in my journal.

The kids played lots of games throughout the whole time we were here (ping pong, Foosball, pool, basketball, Scum, murder in the dark...).

This afternoon we all went to Mountain Meadows Massacre and Rick taught us about what happened there. It is such a heavy topic -- so tragic -- and it was SO hot outside! We did the small hike and looked at the monuments.

A couple of weeks ago we found Janika's little camera from her mission and Jenna asked if she could have it. I said that she could and so ever since she has been having a great time taking lots of pictures! Here is a collage with a few of the pictures I found on her camera...

Notice the little humming bird. There was a hummingbird feeder right outside one of the windows and there were so many hummingbirds buzzing around it! There were also two birds that flew right into one of the lodge windows and fell to their death. Sad!

We came back and Jared and Raquel taught their lessons. They were both excellent! I have been SO impressed by the teaching of our returned missionaries on this trip! Rick put the kids in charge of fixing dinner tonight (hamburgers and hotdogs) so that we could get ready for family pictures. I really wanted to get family pictures since this was the first time our whole family has been together since before Jared's mission! I will add those pictures into the next post. Raquel also did a photo shoot of Jenna and Janelle and they turned out really pretty!

Tonight was another rousing game of murder in the dark and then Jared and Rick told scary stories with the lights off. I kept falling asleep during Rick's story. He is an amazing storyteller, but I was SO tired!!