Oh the Wilsons...

Recently I had privilege to visit the most incredible woman and her amazing family. I stayed a week with Kim and Brad in L.A. for a week. It was so nice to get away and have some awesome sisterly bonding time. But I guess that I went at the wrong time! Before I went to Cali, the weather here in Utah was pretty chilly and so I thought, "Great! Cali's going to be nice and warm and I'll get some sun. I can't wait for the warm weather!". Well that was all a lie, because the cold weather followed me. The week that I was gone it was warmer here in Utah then in California. Then inevitably when I came home, the weather dropped again. I guess I just have bad luck with weather...

My work was nice enough to let me have a week off to spend time with my family. The Saturday that I flew out was interesting... So I've never flown by myself and honestly I don't fly that much in general. So all of this was a new experience for me. I barely made it to my gate in time but once I was on the plane I found my seat. Oh wait, there's a little girl in my seat. Oh but it's okay because she's sitting by her momma. So I took the isle seat and waited for everyone else to find their seats. Then some foreign woman who's in her late 20's says that I'm in her seat. So I hold up my ticket and say this is what my ticket says. So she studies the ticket for awhile then very rudely to this poor little adorable girl, "Where's your ticket?" in a very curt, rude voice. That did it. The little girl who is about 4 and looked a lot like my niece Emma just burst into violent tears. Through her sobs you hear her mumble that her daddy has it. As all of this is happening, the woman next to her just turns her body 45 degrees away from the little girl and so I realize that it wasn't her mom and was just some cold stranger. This little girl was all on her own. I could definitely relate to this little girl in how I felt but there was a 16 year age difference. I should be pretty suave by now right? Definitely wrong. Anyways the woman is continually rude to this poor little girl so I calmly start to step in and talk to the little girl. Then her nice father comes up from a few rows back and has her ticket and she was in the wrong seat. As the little girl is finally coaxed out of her chair, her dad says, "Was that scary?" and between her sobs she let out a sad confirmation that it was. It was a traumatic experience for both me and this poor little girl. In the back of my mind I'm thinking, "Really people? Where do you get the nerve to treat a little girl like this. At least have the decency to be polite about the situation."

Moving on, the next day which was Sunday I had the opportunity to see Kim speak in church! Awesome right?! Definitely awesome but kind of a worry for me. Kim's husband, Brad is in the bishopbric, so if he's up there and Kim's up there... Oh no! I have to babysit these two fiery redheads in church! I got this, I'm the best freakin aunt ever! They're gonna love me and it's going to be great. So sacrament meeting is last and as we walk through the hall we see Brad carrying Joel who is fast asleep. Joel had fallen asleep on the floor in Nursery. So we lay him down on the bench in the Chapel and I think to myself, "Sweet! This will be even easier! I just got one adorable little girl to look after. So sacrament meeting starts and everything's great. Amelia's being very quiet and good and Joel's still asleep. After the sacrament is passed he wakes up. He's not very happy when he wakes up... He sees momma up on the stage and bolts it out of the row. I try grabbing him and call his name and surprisingly he stops! Didn't see that coming. All he wanted to do was sit by his big sister Amelia. It was so sweet. After his initial groginess wears off he is as happy as can be. Kim did such an amazing job speaking. She is definitely her father's daughter. She tells all of her stories just as animatedly as dad does. She prepared the talk a half hour before we left for church and did an amazingly splendid job. She has such a knowledge of the gospel that speaking comes easy to hear. You can definitely hear her testimony and the love of the gospel through her talk.

The next night we went to Diddy Riese's Cookies. More commonly known as "Goodbye six pack, and hello theme song of 'Dang girl! How'd you get all that in them jeans!'" The main attraction was sugar loaded ice cream that was divine, stuck between two warm delicious cookies of your choice. Ya talk about calories.

The next night we went to Diddy Riese's Cookies. More commonly known as "Goodbye six pack, and hello theme song of 'Dang girl! How'd you get all that in them jeans!'" The main attraction was sugar loaded ice cream that was divine, stuck between two warm delicious cookies of your choice. Ya talk about calories.

This is Joel in his incredible Dinosaur sweater. The ladies couldn't take their eyes of off him and kept stating how cute he was! I think every guy wants to hear that but I don't know if Joel appreciated it....

Look at that face!  Moo-Moos is thoroughly enjoying her ice cream that I think she forgot there were cookies...  because clearly they were not touched.  

After the amazing cookies we headed over to the L.A. Temple for our family night. It was so beautiful there. I love being in a huge city like L.A. and coming to one spot that's a haven of perfection and serenity. It's easy to come there and feel the spirit.

This picture was taken one morning after Kim and I went running on the beach. Don't we look fine with our post workout glow?! Clearly Kim is much more tan then me...  jealous.  Kim is such a hard worker and definitely pushes herself and everyone around her to do better and reach their potential. This day that we ran on the beach was so pretty. The sun was shining and there wasn't a gray cloud in the air. It was nice having the beach right there as a backdrop.

This is the only picture I got of our day at the Alley. I seriously love the Alley so much. I call it the black market in downtown L.A. you can find anything and everything at a ridiculously cheap price. I bought several things down there but the thing that I'm most proud of is the shirt I purchased. I absolutely love Charlotte Russe and we found a booth with all Charlotte Russe clothing for such a great price. I bought a $30 shirt for $10! Great deal! But this picture is of little Moo-moos in her Sunnies that I bought her! Hot stuff right?! She definitely has the personality of her momma. This picture says it all!

One of my last days there we were fortunate enough to head down to Manhattan Beach. A few years ago Kacey and Amy had taken us down here and it was so great we had to go again! There's a pier that goes out into the water and at the end there's an aquarium. We had to stop by and pet the sea urchins. I'm pretty sure that I was the only one brave enough to touch them. They're so cool!

This picture is of little Joel waiting for us to go down to the beach.

I love the palm trees and pier in the background. Definitely an exotic feeling!

This is at the aquarium. Outside is parked a replica of a great white shark. Yes it is an incredibly intimidating size but that does not subdue my craving to go inside of a shark cage. Not just any shark cage, they have these clear ones with no steal bars. Not just anywhere either. Off the coast of Africa where they have the most great white sharks. This dream of mine will come true and I will conquer my fear of sharks!

Our lovely and talented Kim took this picture of Joel. This is by far my favorite picture. He looks like a giant that's crawling up on the beach and the people in the background are running away. Also I love looking at his cute little chubby hands. They're so sweet and he's working so hard to build a pile.

I absolutely love this pier. I think that it is so pretty.

Standing underneath the pier is even better because you can watch every single wave break on every column. It's very climactic build up to the shore.

This is such a great picture of them. I love the personalities that shine through. Each of them have their own and it shows!

Later that night when we came home, Kim had to go visiting teaching. Joel was absolutely worn out. Brad set him on the couch and literally 15 seconds later her fell over and was out. I couldn't resist taking a picture of him.

This was seriously such a hard good-bye.  Kim told me that when Amelia doesn't want to say goodbye, she'll avoid the person because she avoids the good-bye.  When we are at the airport she kept hanging on to mommy.  I'm totally the same way.  I avoid good-byes like crazy.  

The flight home was much like the flight there.  I almost missed my flight because I had to get a pat down!  Seriously?!  Do I look like I'm storing a gun somewhere?  They said that I was randomly selected.  After I went through the metal detectors they went off 30 seconds later.  They quarantined me in a box and told me to wait.  I'm thinking in my head, "Oh no!  I'm going to miss my flight and I'm going to be arrested."  Pretty much I just assume the worst.  I wait there for several minutes and a lady comes and takes me over to my own little section.  She asks me if I want my own private room to get patted down and all I said was, "Do what you have to.  Just as long as I don't miss my flight I'm fine."  It seriously took forever.  Not to search but to explain what she was going to do.  The entire time I was thinking, "Just do it already!  I'm not feeling shy right now!  I understand the process so hurry it up!".  Finally my search was done but then they had to go through all of my bags....  Ya not looking good for making my flight.  Once they were done I booked it to my flight and luckily it was close by but I was literally one of the last few people on the plane.  Phew we're good.  

It seriously was so nice having the opportunity to get away and have some family time.  I wouldn't trade that week for anything.  Thanks so much again Kim and Brad for letting me monopolize your house for a week!  I appreciate it so much!