Halloween 2012 JibJab

The annual JibJab Halloween song...  This year, they changed the pictures a bit; they look over-exposed or something.  I don't like them as much as I have in the past.  But the kids always beg me to do it every year, so here is the link:
http://www.jibjab.com/view/d2wQxjKn6tLScDI8?utm_campaign=URL+Copy&utm_medium=Share&utm_source=JibJab

Sunny San Diego

Bryan had to go to San Diego for work, so I (and a few of Bryan's co-workers' wives) decided to tag along.  It was a little like a 2nd honeymoon for us because this was the longest we've ever been away from the kids alone; (on other trips away I've brought Bree with me, or I was at YW girls' camp, so those hardly qualify as honeymoon trips!)  We had a fabulous time!

Bryan flew out Thursday night so he could work all day Friday; I joined him Friday night and the first thing we did was walk to the Gaslamp Quarter, which is full of restaurants, shops, and some very good people-watching opportunities.  (I could sit and people-watch all day!)  We ate at a yummy Italian restaurant where we ordered "chef's choice," which is a huge sampling of different things from the menu.  We got plates of 5 different pastas, 3 different entrees (steak and chicken), and then 4 different desserts.  (I might as well tell you now that I gained about 5 pounds on this trip and so did Bryan!  We ate so much!)

Saturday we went shopping at Seaport Village.  It was just nice and relaxing to stroll along the ocean in the warm sun.  We saw lots of little crabs and a big pelican.  Saturday night we went to Old Town to look at the shops and to, again, stuff ourselves on a big yummy dinner (Mexican, yum!)

 Sunday we took a tour of the USS Midway, an aircraft carrier that was brought here and turned into a museum in 2004.  (I have been to San Diego only twice before this trip, but it was before 2004, so I had never been to the Midway before.)  It was so interesting!  I'll tell ya what....I would NOT want to be stationed on an aircraft carrier.  It is huge and full of cramped, claustrophobia-inducing hallways and stairwells.  I would get lost in a heartbeat.  One of Bryan's co-workers joked that someone could die in there in a corner somewhere and never be found.  Luckily for us, the tour had plenty of signs pointing us through the maze of corridors.  We had headphones that told us about each thing we were looking at and it also included lots of interviews of men who'd actually served on the Midway (it was first used during WWII in 1943).  It was really neat to hear about all their experiences and it sure makes me appreciate all they did.

here we are in the BRIG--the ship's jail

Bryan's favorite was looking at all the airplanes

Working up on the deck would have been CRAZY--there was a museum docent there who was a pilot that landed on the Midway during WWII and he had some awesome stories to tell.

After the Midway we went and hung out at the beach.  The water was freezing, but we had fun finding shells and catching little sand crabs.  Most of all we just enjoyed the gorgeous weather!  The temperature was warm and beautiful every day!

Monday the guys had to work again, so some of the gals went shopping and got pedicures--it was lovely!  Monday night we were able to go see a San Diego Chargers football game.  And, sadly, we ended up being witnesses to the 2nd greatest comeback in an NFL game ever (so I'm told; I'm not much of a sports buff)....The Chargers were up 24-0 at halftime (the first half was fantastic) but in the second half the Broncos came alive and the final score ended up being 35-24 for the Broncos.  Yeah, needless to say, the second half was not quite as much fun!  Oh well, I'll be honest with you--before this trip I didn't even know that there was an NFL team called the San Diego Chargers, so it wasn't too heart-breaking for me.  It was just lots of fun to be in an NFL stadium and feel the energy and excitement from the sold-out crowd (there were LOTS of Broncos fans there too, so the energy was crazy during both halves of the game.)  We had a great night!

On Tuesday morning before we caught our plane home, we went to the San Diego temple for sealings.  Bryan had never been there before, so it was really neat to be there together.  It is probably the most beautiful temple I've ever been in.  Of course they are all beautiful, but the architecture in the San Diego temple is awesome.  There is a huge spiral staircase that continues up for 2 stories, and a open-air atrium on the top floor that you can look up through the glass and see the statue of Moroni on the spire of the temple. There is so much stained glass that sunlight just pours in, all throughout the temple.  (In fact, in the sealing room I was really struggling to look up at all because it was so bright and my eyes are pretty sun-sensitive.  I needed my sunglasses!  But I didn't think that would be too great with my temple clothes! ha!)

I had been there once before, years ago, for an endowment session and it was the tiniest session I've ever been in.  I think there were only 5-6 people total in the whole session.  After that session, in the Celestial room, a temple worker was talking to us and she said that this temple is not very busy, ever.  She told me (and who knows if this is true or not, it could just be a Mormon rumor...) that President Hinckley was in the San Diego temple and when he saw the amount of money spent on building that beautiful temple, and the very low attendance rates there, that was when he decided that the church needed to build the smaller temples, closer to the people.  Whether the story is true or not, I do think the smaller-size temples are inspired, and the number of temples built since President Hinckley made that decision is just incredible.

It was a beautiful way to end our fun trip.  Many, many thanks to Gramma & Grampa Terry, and Papa (and Bayli!) for taking care of our kiddos while we were gone.