Thursday, December 11, 2008

Newport Beach and Balboa Island

As part of our Thanksgiving trip we spent a few days with our friends the Reis family. They lived in our ward for a few years and we all got to be very close... our kids were devastated when they moved back to SoCal but we've stayed in touch and it was so fun to be with them again. We went to Newport Beach and took the ferry to Balboa Island where we walked around and got jealous of all of the waterfront properties.

We stopped at a bakery that the Reis family always goes to. They love to get their hippopotamus sugar cookies. Coleman opted for his all-time fave: vanilla ice cream.

Brandon, Madison, Olivia, and Coleman in front of the bakery.

The famous Hippo Cookie. It was tasty!

Coleman and Olivia had a great time walking along the sidewalk next to the private piers with the other kids.

We found another beautiful sunset to pose in front of :).

One of the houses had a really cool dinosaur in front of it. The boys LOVED that. Coleman, Brandon, Amanda, and Olivia posed for us.

Carrie Beth, me, and Valery (CB's mom, who was there with the rest of the family for Thanksgiving). We are lucky to be accepted by them as part of the family.

Amanda, Olivia, and Madi on the pier.

Cutie Ry and me on the pier.

Our last stop of the evening was a burger joint out on the pier... they gave all the kids a train to put together while they waited for their food. It was a very fun day!

By the end of our visit, the kids had figured out a new job for Ryan in California (I'm sure the station where Jay is a paramedic needs a computer guy, right?), a house for us to buy, and someone to buy our house in Utah. If only it were that easy :). We love the Reis family!

4 comments:

the harpers said...

I loved the pictures of your trip. Don't you just love the water? It would sure be nice to have some of that here at home. Nice mountains one day, beautiful water the next! We missed you guys for Thanksgiving, but maybe next year we can all get our schedules to jive! See ya next weekend!

Kristi said...

It's so fun to see the Reis family! I can't believe how big their kids have gotten. Glad you had a fun vacation. It's hard not to have fun with Carrie Beth involved!! :) I miss her and her stories.

RyanH said...

Cutie? Sounds like some TAMN influence if you ask me ;)

Anonymous said...

Jerry did his undergraduate at UC Irvine and we went to Balboa Island all the time when Damon and Veronica were about the same age as your kids. We still go anytime we get to go to California. It is such a neat place. Just remember, we love you guys and want you to say here! No moving allowed.