California!

My niece, Sydnee, got her mission call to Salta, Argentina. Her farewell was April  27 in St. George. Her family was going to Disneyland for a last trip before she left. They were heading to Cali that night after her farewell. When I was talking to my sister, I said I wanted to go and my Mom said she wanted to go as well. So we went! My brother Scott decided to go with his family and my brother Tim was going to be there already with his friends. It was totally last minute planning, but we all wanted to go! We ended up having four of the siblings and my Mom there! 

We all headed to St. George first for the farewell. Sydnee did awesome and I could tell she was definitely ready to serve the Lord and the people of Argentina. We left earlier than everybody else because we were going to have to stop a lot to feed Lee. My Mom came with us and was a huge help. The drive was long and hard. We got stuck in traffic for an hour outside of Vegas. Lee was hungry so I fed him while we sat there. Finally, we got moving and made it to Anaheim. Jackson did so great the whole time. He was so good and kept himself entertained. Lee didn't like his carseat and would get so upset. I felt so bad. We stayed at a hotel right across the street and I could see Space Mountain and the fireworks from our hotel room when we got there. It was so fun and got me so excited to just be there!

The next morning, we got up and went to Disneyland! Yeah! We were so excited. We had lots of fun with the Yates and Scott Johnson Fam! We spent most of the day at California Adventures. It was so hot though and I felt so bad for Lee. The plan was to go to Disneyland Monday through Thursday and it just didn't happen. Monday we lasted all day. Tuesday, CJ had to fly home to go back to work. Tim was so nice and took him to the airport that morning. My Mom came over to the hotel to help me pack up the car because that night we were staying at my Mom's sisters house. After we got the car all packed, we went to Disneyland and lasted only two hours. Jackson was beyond exhausted and Lee was being so whiny and that isn't like him at all. We were all going to my Aunt's house for dinner that night anyway with my cousins so we left early to go hang out there. Everyone else stayed at Disneyland. 

Visiting horses in St. George

On our way to Cali!

Space Mountain from our hotel room! 

Tuesday night we had everyone over to my Aunt's house for dinner. All of her kids were able to come and my other cousin Kallen and her family. It was so much fun being able to see everyone. We don't get to see them nearly enough. They are all so fun to be around and we just laugh the whole time.

Wednesday, my Mom and I were so exhausted still that we didn't go to Disneyland. We just hung out at Aunt Nae's house and let the kids catch up on sleep. Thursday, I stayed at my Aunt's and my Mom went to Disneyland with Jodi and her family for their last day. Thursday night Jodi and her family came and were sleeping at Aunt Nae's until Saturday. They would then drive home to go to church one last time with Sydnee and then drive to Salt Lake to take her to the MTC. Tim ended up coming on Thursday as well and he was so busy playing that they ended up spending the night and Friday night as well. It was a party!

Friday we went to the beach for a little bit and Jackson loved it! The water was freezing so we just put our feet in it. It took Jackson a while to warm up to the water, but he loved the sand and building castles.

A bird pooped on my niece's shoulder. Gross!

Everyone had so much fun at the beach and we were all exhausted after. CJ flew in that afternoon and that night we played mafia with everyone. It was awesome, but I am really bad at that game.

Saturday morning we had to say goodbye to Sydnee. It was so sad, but I am so proud of her for choosing to serve a mission for the Lord. She is going to be amazing.

After we said goodbye to Sydnee we were able to go see our good friends Tyler, Jen and their daughter Eliza! We have missed them so much. It was so fun hanging out with them again. Eliza absolutely just loved Lee. It was so sweet to see her with him. Jackson was very shy at first, but then he warmed up and him and Eliza had so much fun.  We went and walked along the coast that night. It was beautiful and so peaceful just watching the sunset and hearing the waves. We spent the night at their house and went to church with them. CJ had to fly out early Monday morning so he stayed Sunday night and Ty took him to the airport. I went back to my Aunt's house.

That next week my cousin Amy and I went to Disneyland. Poor little Brynn was so tired so Amy left after a little bit. I stayed with my boys and we went on a couple rides and ate dinner. It really wasn't bad being there by myself because we could do whatever we wanted! 

My cute Mommy and Aunt Nae went and played at Disneyland too! Jackson and I decided to watch the parade. We sat down on the curb so we had a good seat and waited for it to start. Grandma was so nice and bought him a bubble gun. Between that and the popcorn he was fine while we waited. The kids around us loved the bubbles as well. One little girl chased a bubble down the street and her parents had to run after her. It was so funny.

After the parade, we headed back to Aunt Nae's.

The rest of the week we just hung out and relaxed.

CJ got back in town on Thursday night. Friday morning we went to Los Golandrinas one last time. My burrito was sooo good. Then we headed to Disneyland for a little bit while we waited for the rest of his family to get there. They were all arriving that day for a Cottrell vacation!

The past two weeks were really amazing. It was so fun being able to spend so much time with my family on vacation! We all loved it! Being at my Aunt's house was very comfortable. I never felt like I was imposing. They just made it so nice for us and it felt like home. It was so much easier being there than a hotel.  My boys were really so good for being gone from home for two weeks. My Mom was so helpful and I am so glad she spent that extra week with me in California. It was so fun to spend time with her. Jackson loved being with so many of his cousins and his new friend Baby Brynn.