Spring Break Continued

We were really spoiled and got to have an extended Spring Break this year. Jed's brother and his family drove down to San Diego for the weekend because their Spring Break was the week after ours. So we let Olivia play hooky from school (and Jed from work - don't worry, he deserves it) on Monday and we all went to Sea World!! It was so fun listening to Lexi "ooowing " and "aaawing" at all of the dolphins and whales. She's still talking about Disneyland and Sea World.


Watching the Sea Lions

Jed and Lexi on the spinning starfish. I did it first with Lexi and thought I could handle the "little kids" ride, but boy was I wrong! Here she wanted to ride the flying Elmo over and over:)

While the older kids and adults (besides me) went on the "Journey to Atlantis" ride, Lexi and I hung out at the huge fish tank. She couldn't take her eyes off all the fish and sting rays.


Jed's brother's family then drove to Palm Springs and stayed with us for the rest of their Spring Break and we had a lot of fun! We even got to enjoy an adult date night to PF Changs - yummy! We hope you guys come back to visit soon!

Spring Break

Let me start by saying that for Christmas this year I would like a nice new camera!! I know it's a little early for a Christmas list, but my Birthday has already passed and I'm tired of looking at my fuzzy pictures!! I want the crystal clear pictures on my blog that I see on everyone else's blogs :)
So I apologize for the quality of my pictures in advance. Anyway, despite the horrible camera, we were able to have a really fun Spring Break! The girls and I went to my parents for the whole week (yes Jed had to stay home and work - surprise!). We went to the beach, swam in the pool, played at the park, went to the movies and took Lexi to Disneyland for the 1st time!!!! There is nothing better than seeing the excitement of a child at Disneyland for their first time - so fun:)

Chris, Cassy, Shaina, Chaz and my parents joined us in all the fun! The weather was perfect that day until about 6pm when it started getting TOO cold and raining - so we decided to call it quits a little earlier than planned. It was a really great day though - and I got to ride on rides that I hadn't been on since I was a child:) (they were the only ones that I could ride while being pregnant - the submarine, the train, Small World - you know, the really exciting ones;)


Lexi LOVES horses, so the first ride she chose was of course the Carousel with Mimi :)

This being her first experience, Mimi had to also buy her some of her very own Mickey Mouse ears and she chose these ones!


Poor Lexi kept on asking to ride the elephant ride, but the line was way too long - so I'm really glad that she settled for a picture in this Dumbo :) Such a fun day! We'll have to do it again soon (one of the perks of living in Southern California and having annual passes:) But hopefully next time Jed can make the traveling team and be part of the fun - we missed you babe!

Cousins and Best of Friends!!!

Livvy and Shaina (Thanksgiving 2010) taking a break on the rocks during our Torrey Pines hike in San Diego ( I miss their long hair)!

Olivia and Shaina (my brother's daughter) are cousins, but also great friends! They have been lucky enough to live by each other off and on throughout their lives and to build a great friendship. I love watching them together because they remind me of myself and my cousin Tenley when we were growing up. Tenley is two years older than me, like Shaina is with Olivia, but she always looked out for me. I see Shaina doing the same things for Olivia that Tenley would do for me - helping me choose outfits, doing my hair and make-up and just spending time together! Brings back great childhood memories :) I haven't seen my cousin since she moved to Florida, but I still love her the same - I miss you Tenley!


Shaina's birthday was in December and she was the cousin who did the 10 things for her 10th birthday (where Olivia got the idea for her 8th birthday). We were lucky enough to be with her for part of her birthday activities - one of which was Livvy and Shaina cutting off their hair together!! Aren't they so cute in their matching outfits and hair! Olivia cut off 10 inches and donated it to "Locks of Love" - she was so excited! I'm just glad that Shaina still finds it fun to have a cousin who wants to do everything she does and wear everything she wears :)



After the haircuts we went to the Irvine Spectrum where they had manicures and pedicures and painted their toes and fingers like candy canes - so cute!! Lexi had to try to get her feet in the picture too :) I hope their friendship lasts forever and continues to grow stronger with each year!


The girls on Christmas Eve at Mimi and Papa's house in their new matching Christmas Pajamas


All 3 of the girls on Christmas Sunday in their Christmas dresses from Mimi - so beautiful :)

More Birthday and Baptism Pictures

Activities #1 and #2 - Circus Vargas and going out to dinner with mom, dad and Lexi

So for Olivia's 8th Birthday she got the idea from her cousin that she wanted to do 8 things for her birthday instead of having a party with friends. At the beginning I thought that this would be a great trade, but by the end I think it turned out to be twice as expensive! I think we will definitely be having a party with friends next year for sure :) But it was still a lot of fun!



There weren't a ton of people at the circus, as you can see, so it was even more fun - we had great seats!! (more people did show up later - we just got there really early too:)) I had forgotten just how much fun the circus can be and the girls loved it!


Then Mimi came into town and we had 3 more days of birthday fun and activities. Activities #3,4,and 5 - shopping (new outfits and books), homemade pizzas and spa night (Jed was out of town) - Mimi gave Livvy a manicure and pedicure and Lunch at Panera (Olivia's favorite) before the movie!! Can you say SPOILED!!!!!!


Activity #6 ? (we kind of lost count, we were having so much fun) We went to Gnomeo and Juliet with Mimi before she had to go back home. We discovered that it really pays to go to the first showing of the day - it's almost half price!! My two cute girls are getting so big and becoming best friends :)


You can see what Lexi was doing while we were eating pizza and having cake (Activity #8) - she really slept through the whole thing - singing and all!! She was done after all of the fun that we had been having for days, plus she was a little sick too :( This was after Activity #7 - Bowling with her friend Rachael.


Olivia requested her favorite, rainbow chip cake with rainbow chip frosting! (turns out that this is one of my husband's favorites too and I didn't even know) Jed and and Olivia are really so much alike, it's scary sometimes! All in all, I'd say she had a pretty memorable 8th birthday!! I know I won't forget it :) Love you Olivia!


Olivia and her great-grandparents - Grandpa Doug and Grandma Betty Gines :)


Olivia with her parents and both sets of grandparents. We are so blessed to have such a wonderfully supportive family!!

Olivia and my cousin Christina's girls Jaycee and Kylee

Good News Comes in 3's?!?!

I don't know about you, but in our family it seems that life's events, whether good or bad, come in groups of 3. This has definitely been the case for us! After Olivia's Baptism, and my Birthday, we also told the family that we were expecting our 3rd child. But what makes this even better news (especially for my husband) is that we are having a BOY!!!!!!! We are all so excited to add another Gines family member in August. The debate has already begun between Jed and I with choosing his name :)

Olivia's Baptism and my 30th Birthday Weekend

February was such a crazy month!!!! Olivia turned 8 years old on the 12th and then the following weekend (President's Day) a bunch of our family came into town to help us celebrate her Baptism and my 30th birthday!! So she was actually baptized on my Birthday - what a great present huh? At least I won't ever forget her Baptism date:) While the family was here we decided to take the Tram ride in Palm Springs up to the top of the mountain and it was snowing! This was really fun for us "Californians" but not so much for the family that had come from snowy Utah - they wanted to get away from the cold :(

I think all of the kids really enjoyed playing in the snow though. Here's my brother Chris - the biggest kid of all:)


Lexi and my nephew Chaz in the snow


All of the Romney and Gines' family at the Baptism. This was such a special and wonderful day!! I didn't really know what to expect, since this was our first child being Baptized, but everything went really smoothly. I wouldn't have changed a thing - it was that great! The spirit was so strong and we were so proud of Olivia. She truly is such a blessing in our family - she makes us all better people. Her sweet and kind spirit, her quiet obedience, and her capacity to love others around her amaze me each and every day. Thank you to all of our family for your love and support!! You really helped make this such a memorable day for Olivia (and me) :) Better yet, I was able to focus more on Olivia than on the fact that I was turning 30 :(


Olivia with her uncle Chris, Aunt Cassy and cousins, Shaina and Chaz :)



My birthday cake - yummy Double chocolate chip "Nothing Bundt' cakes" (I know I've posted these cakes on my blog before - they are the best cakes you'll ever eat!!!) Overall I had a great Birthday (except for the dinner - we'll just try to forget that part). I received so many incredible gifts (thank you family) and it was so fun just to be with those people that I love so much! Thanks again :)

I was actually really bummed when I was going through my pictures, because I realized that I had barely taken any pictures of the whole weekend!! Sorry I'm so lame - we were just too busy having fun!

Halloween Fun

A really cool and different plant that my mom gave me as a "Fall" present:)


Aren't they cute little lanterns - and they're real!

Livvy and Lexi with their decorated pumpkins - no carving this year! Can you guess who is who's?



Gifts from Grandma Lori and Grandpa Tim - thank you:)

Lexi wanted to be Minnie - her favorite TV show is Mickey Mouse's clubhouse and Livvy was Mulan - I love these cute girls!

The girls eating MORE sugar at the ward Trunk-or-Treat

Livvy and I making our "Mummy Hot Dogs" for our Halloween dinner - BOO:) The girls actually really enjoyed staying home and passing out candy this year:)

The finished "Mummies" - they were really yummy!

Pumpkin Patches X 2

The Romney (and Brett) family at the Pumpkin Patch


Livvy is finally getting a little more adventurous - like her younger sister;)


Lexi and Mimi on the train ride

The poor goat was scared of Lexi

After Bryce and Lora's wedding, while the family was still in town, we went to another Pumpkin Patch in Del Mar and they had a lot of fun rides, blow-up slides and a petting farm.

Lexi's favorite part of the trip was riding the pony:)

Livvy and Lexi got to choose their own pumpkins

The pumpkins were huge!


Earlier in the month of October, Mimi and Papa took me and the girls to Bates Nut Farm and Pumpkin Patch and we had a great time - even though it was way too hot! It just doesn't seem like fall when the weather is so warm. I miss the changing of the leaves, cool breezes, sweaters, hot chocolate and snuggling up with a blanket:)