Visiting Cory in L.A.

I had so much fun visiting my big brother in L.A. Jill was kind enough to take Jay for me while I went down to see Cory, so we really had some one on one time. Cory was very good to me and we packed a lot into 5 days!
After picking me up from the airport we immediately headed to "get some food," as Cory puts it. We went to this yummy retro organic diner and had chili cheese fries, chicken quesadillas, and milkshakes (mine was blueberry banana - a new favorite!). So, it wasn't the most nutritional meal, but at least it was organic ;) On Thursday Cory had to go to work so I braved the streets and freeways of L.A. to drive him to work so that I could have the car for the day. Despite the crazy traffic I survived my first L.A. driving experience. I seriously don't know how my brother does it every day. After dropping Cory off I went over to the beautiful L.A. temple and did a session. What a peaceful place amidst the craziness that is L.A. The temple truly is heaven on earth. After the temple I went to Santa Monica to wander around and eat lunch. Although L.A. is extremely overcrowded and polluted, the city certainly has some fun attractions. Santa Monica was filled with street performers, stores and miles of beach. I had a good time hanging out before my hour long commute to pick up Cory (someone was stalled in the middle of the 405). That night we went to a Dodgers vs Giants game with some of Cory's bowling friends (he's on a league - two actually). I had a great time, even though the Giants lost :( Dodgers don't look kindly on Giants fans either. Oh well, it was just exciting to be at a major league game.
On Friday, following another harrowing drive on the 10, I went over to check out the UCLA campus. It's a beautiful campus filled with rolling grass hills, collegiate brick buildings, and plenty of "unique" college students.

The campus is huge. After walking what seemed like the entire length of BYU campus, I realized I had only covered a small corner of my UCLA visitors map. It was fun to look around though and the business school is very nice, a more conservatively dressed group was milling around the MBA school.

Friday night we drove 7 miles in 45 minutes to go to Cory's volleyball game (he's also in a volleyball league). Unfortunately the game was canceled when we arrived due to scheduling conflicts. After making it back to west L.A. we met up with Cory's good friend Breanna for dinner. We ate at a great Mexican restaurant called the Pink Taco. Sadly, we didn't get any pictures! It was fun to meet Breanna though and we had a yummy dinner.
Saturday was a busy day. First we got breakfast with Cory's roommate and close friend Eric. Then we went bowling.
I rocked the first game getting a score of 127. Unfortunately my luck didn't hold and I ended up with a 70 on the next game. My brother showed off his skills scoring over 150 each game. He's pretty amazing. Eric had a hard time too, but I think we may have barely beat Cory together in the second game. After bowling we went to see Monsters vs Aliens in 3D for $11.50 each! Seriously L.A.? The movie was great though. We all loved it. After the movie we had to say goodbye to Eric because he had to go to work. It was so much fun spending time with Cory's closest friend down there.

After the movie Cory and I headed out to Hollywood.

Since he hadn't done much of the touristy stuff down there yet, we decided to take a Hollywood tour. It was great. There were only 5 of us in an open top van. We saw all the major Hollywood sites. We drove up to the Hollywood sign and toured around the ritzy Bel Air and Beverly Hills areas, home to many stars. This is Dr. Phil's home.

Julia Robert's home.

Julia Robert's home from another view.

My fairy castle home.

After our tour we headed back to Cory's apartment for Cold Stone (banana ice cream with caramel and raspberries for me - another new favorite!). We had a great time hanging out just the two of us.

On Sunday we had brunch with Cory's friends Erin and Veronica. I've known Erin for a while so it was fun to see her again. I had some awesome pancakes with fresh berries. Yeah for food in L.A.! Except for the prices :( After lunch we walked around the mall until we had to head for the airport. I had so much fun with my brother. I love him so much and am so glad I was able to go down and visit him. I can't wait to go back. I miss him already. Love you Cory!

Congratulations Lissa and Reed!

We have two reasons to be celebrating Melissa and Reed. First, they both graduated from BYU. Woo hoo!!! And second, THE'RE HAVING A GIRL!!!!!!!! We are so excited for Jay's first cousin to be born. She will no doubt be a beautiful little baby. We love Melissa and Reed both so much. I cannot express how grateful I am for their friendship towards me and Jay while we've been living at the Connellys. They truly are wonderful people. Congrats guys!

Easter Time

We had a wonderful Easter. We celebrated some of the fun secular Easter traditions on Saturday (after our hike) and had some beautiful experiences focusing on the Savior throughout the week, but especially on Sunday. Jay finally is understanding the idea of an Easter Bunny. He was very excited about all his candy and toys. The Easter Bunnies (plural) brought Jay all sorts of wonderful things. One bunny hid candy eggs throughout the house. The adults weren't too into hunting them, but Jay went crazy until we finally were forced into a hunt just to keep Jay from sugar overload! I guess it's one way to get the whole family into an Egg hunt.

We loved seeing the Connelly side of the family on Holy Saturday.

We had a yummy lunch of barbecued hot dogs (roasted on a fire pit), potato salad, baked beans, and all the the fixings. We had an Easter Egg hunt with the Connellys and just enjoyed each others company.

I think this is the first year Jay really understood the concept of the Easter Egg Hunt. He was quite good too if I do say so myself. When we showed him what to do he ran around like crazy, finding every egg in the house.

We had to slow him down so the other hunters could have a chance.

Jay not only enjoyed hunting the eggs, but he also had fun coloring them too. Of course, his hands were dyed green for about a week, but what can you do?

One of Jay's favorite things at the party were the beautifully decorated fluffy pink cupcakes (thank you very much). He mostly enjoyed the pink frosting, with a few bite of cake snuck in when he couldn't help it.

Here we all are!

On Easter Sunday I went with the Connellys to Stake Conference. There were some beautiful talks that turned our hearts toward the Savior and uplifted us on such a Holy Day. After church we got ready for the big Easter meal with the Taylor side of the family. We had ham, celebration potatoes, salad and deviled eggs of course. It was very yummy. After dinner we had a small devotional reading and discussing various scriptures leading up to and about the first Easter Sunday. What a blessed day it was! The funny thing is I have probably spent the past 5 out of 7 Easters with the Connellys, and I think Mike has only been with me for 1 of them. hmmm... something's not quite right about that!

I love my sweet Easter boy!

Jay and Grandma :)

The beautiful Sara and Alli Talylor.

Also beautiful, Megan and Alisa.

Okay, this family just has beautiful women in it. Here are a few more... Grandma Great Taylor, Kerri, Sara and introducing Alisa's handsome new boy, Dax.

Here is Jay with his sweetest, loveliest cousin (and new best friend) Kami. Jay would not leave her alone! And she was amazing with him. What a sweetheart. She will be the best big sister to little Dax. He's a lucky guy!

Me and Zinichka. I love you!

Grandma Great Taylor with baby Dax.

Torrie, Casey, Melissa and Reed. We actually had quite a few more people there too, but unfortunately I didn't get pictures of everyone. Sorry! We had such a wonderful time though.

Here are some pictures of Jay I took on Sunday. My little boy is getting so big!

Taking a Hike On Holy Saturday

On the Saturday before Easter Grandma, Grandpa, Melissa, Reed, Jay and Mommy took a hike up Rock Canyon. It was such a beautiful hike. Jay loved every minute of it. He is definitely my little hiker boy.On our way along the mountain we found an old cave/tunnel that apparently all the Connellys have used for generations.Lynn used to go there with his friends when he was a teenager and since then Mike and Melissa both have used it with their friends too.

It was very dark in the tunnel but Jay bravely walked through it. It was fun to be all huddled together in the mountain. The tunnel is pretty tall and is about 40 yards long. We all enjoyed exploring it. After our hike we all sat together in a little cave and read the Easter account in John. It was a perfect way to spend Holy Saturday.