California

Hello again. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten any of you. I've just been in California for the past two weeks. Steven and I were out there visiting some of his relatives and taking in the sights and sounds of the west coast state.

We left on July 2nd and flew into San Francisco. Needless to say, neither one of us was very impressed with the city. It was cold there which I wasn't a fan of and we didn't find much to do. We got there about 3:00, went to look at the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz, found a sushi place to eat at, then basically went back to our hotel and went to sleep.

Steven and I at the Golden Gate Bridge.

Downtown San Francisco.

The next day we drove to Steven's grandma's house in Modesto. This is his dad's mom. It was nice to meet a part of that side of the family. She was nice and we just kind of hung around her house for the day. It was definitely warmer there so I was happy.:)

After crashing at her house we drove to Clovis to visit his grandpa and wife. I've met them a few times. They actually came to our wedding and are really sweet people. They live only about a half an hour away from Steven's dad and wife so we hung out with them every day we were there. Steven had told me quite a few stories of his dad and my initial response was, "what a horrible father". His antics are quite unbelievable. But after meeting the guy he's one of the funniest people I've ever known. He's basically a big 10 year old at heart. He's a good guy but a little irresponsible and immature at times. Like for example, as we were driving to his house on the first day Steven told me he remembered driving on that road. After doing some quick math in my head I realized that the oldest age he was in California was when he was 14. So after asking why he was driving at 14 he informs me that he wasn't 14 when he was driving, he was 8 and he dad was peeing out the side of the car. Yeah, and you thought you knew some hicks. There are other stories such as his dad calling the electric company after they shut his power off and begging them to turn it back on because his son was in an incubator. That's right he said incubator fully knowing it was supposed to be respirator. But he was convincing enough and they turned it back on.

Steven's father, DJ.

Steven's grandpa and dad.

After the first day of hearing stories from Steven's childhood, which were interesting, believe me, we spent the next few days going to the lake, hanging out at the house, and visiting Yosemite National Park. Yosemite is gorgeous. It is so huge that it would take weeks to see it all. Steven and I climbed up one of the trails to a waterfall and swam around in the water. It was darn cold but it was worth it. So after our few days were up in Clovis we then traveled to LA.

Yosemite National Park

Swimming in the cold water.

Steven's dad, DJ and his wife Maryann.

Steven grew up in LA for the first few years of his life. While his mother worked he was taken care of by a family from Peru. They talked straight Spanish at home and needless to say that was Steven's first language. He'd told me that before but until I saw videos that the Florian family had taken I didn't believe it. It was quite a sight seeing him as a little 3 year old speaking Spanish. He was such a cutie! :) Steven also took a trip to Peru with the family when he was 15. They are such great Christian people and I'm so thankful Steven had a good start to his life with them. While we were in LA we ate some great Peruvian food, visited Hollywood, the Crystal Cathedral, and more. We were also able to meet up with my cousin Dan who lives near Laguna Beach. That was a neat little town and it was nice to see him again. He actually taught us how to eat sushi since we struggled a little in San Fran.:)

Crystal Cathedral in LA

Dan, me, and Steven in Laguna Beach.

Hollywood sign

After LA, we drove to our final destination of San Diego. I think this is where we had the most fun. We didn't stay with any family but we were able to find lots to do. We went to the San Diego Zoo, Sea World, and Wild Animal Park thanks to our wonderful military discounts! I think Sea World was our favorite. It was very entertaining and it was the first time Steven had been so it was fun to watch his excitement.:) Steven also learned how to surf at Pacific beach. I do have to say, he did pretty well in just a few hours.

Petting the dolphin at Sea World.

Do you see a resemblance? My husband seems to.

That one for sure!

Steven surfing!

We had originally planned on traveling into Mexico for a day or so but most people we talked to said it wouldn't be worth it and there wasn't much to do in Tijiuana anyway. So we decided against it and I'm glad we did because we had a lot to do in San Diego.

So that's what I've been doing for the past 2 weeks. Now we're in the final processes of closing on our house and I probably should start packing up soon! Don't worry, from now on I'll keep updating more regularly. I hope you have all had a great summer so far!