You're going to pay me for that?

Today I got paid $75 for giving Jack in the Box my opinions about their new menu board. I was part of a small focus group. It only took an hour and was actually tons of fun. I must admit that I almost want to spend most of it on all of their new things (chocolate molten cake), but I will restrain myself. They are going to be doing a new thing where you build a meal with several options instead of fries. I probably would have done that for free, but hey I can't complain about $75/hour!

Our trip to the Wild Animal Park

We love the Wild Animal Park. We went on Stuart's day off on Monday. First on our visit we spotted some beautiful creatures with some cute little ears.


We only took pictures of a handful of the animals that we saw. The pictures are of course a pelican, giraffes, and rhinos. The giraffes and rhinos were observed on the safari tour.



We tried to capture the beauty of the landscaping in the following pictures and of course sunset. During this part of the day Spencer turned to me and said, "I'm impressed." I said, "Wow, Stuart he just used the word impressed. Spencer what are you impressed about." Showing me is dirty feet he said, "My feet are impressed." I guess maybe he's not quite sure what impressed means and Stuart and I couldn't figure out what he thought it meant either. Oh well, it sure was cute.



We finally made it home for dinner and were lucky enough to smuggle this monkey out of the park with us.

Stuart

Stuart loves taking fun pictures of himself and I just happened to notice this cute one. He is such a fun husband that I adore!

Tide Pools in La Jolla

Sat. Jan 10th was a beautiful 70 degree day in San Diego. We took the kids to the beach to see the seals and explore the tide pools. Many were getting submerged in the water, but we were mean parents and just let the kids get in up to their knees. They just didn't understand that even though it is 70 degrees outside does not mean that the water is warm enough to swim in. It was a very fun day of exploration. The first picture is of seals, although it doesn't look like it. The other pictures are of us standing on the tide pools.

Trip to Disneyland

Grandma and Grandpa Spendlove gave us a wonderful trip to Disneyland for Christmas. Thanks so much!! Here are Summer and cousin Rachel and the teacups and Spencer and Nephi on the teacups. We had a blast.

At Last Sam and Brittany's profession wedding pics

Cutting a Rug with Grandpa Lentz

Here's a cute video from Sam and Brittany's wedding. Dad sure loves to dance and Summer was excited to dance with him... until the end that is! She saw another little boy she wanted to play with and just ran off leaving Grandpa standing there alone! Sorry Dad. We're glad she and Grandpa had a chance to boogie together for a little while anyway.

Stars Were Gleaming

This Christmas Spencer learned a new song in Primary that he was excited to share with anyone that would listen. He sang it for his grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, and even did a solo in front of his preschool class of 22 students and the Santa Paula Ward primary opening exercises. His preschool teacher audio recorded it for me. He's usually a little shy, so it was a pleasant surprise to see him so ready and willing to share his new-found talent. Notice his smile and the slight swing in his stance as he sings. Cute!

Sam and Brittany's wedding

I left my 35 mm camera at the luncheon and so have been waiting for family to send more pictures (NO PRESSURE THOUGH). Then I was downloading pictures from my camera and found one that Spencer took. So this is the picture that Spencer took, which is why Brittany's head is just barely on the picture. He really does take some good shots for a 4 year old.

It was a fantastic wedding. We just love Brittany because of her compassion, kindness, and the way she makes my brother laugh.

San Diego

While Stuart was presenting at a conference, I took the kids on the ferry from Coronado Island to San Diego and then back again. We left before the sun set and were on the water as the sun set. It was beautiful.

Nephi's favorite thing at the park

Night in Zarahemla

In November our Ward did a "Night in Zarahemla" in celebration of the ward reading the Book of Mormon. We had a dinner and then ward members put on an amazing play telling the stories of the Book of Mormon. Stuart was Nephi and the kids were the Stripling Warriors. Sister Pykles, an AMAZING seamstress, made all of the costumes. I wish the pictures had better lighting so that it would show the great detail of the costumes, but that's what happens with a cell phone camera. It was an amazing night.