There's a New Family Member on the Way!

That's right...you've guessed it...

Jeremy and I....

are getting a PUPPY!!!!!

Ha ha! Alright, how many of you thought I was going to say I was pregnant? Come on, you know you thought about it for at least a second! Well, just for the record...I am NOT pregnant, NOR do I plan on becoming pregnant anytime soon. End of story. Thanks for asking.

Anyway, we are SO EXCITED to finally be getting a puppy! Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I'm pleased to introduce our newest family member:

Diesel Bofferding

Isn't he SO cute?! He a Chocolate Lab and he approximately 6 1/2 weeks old.

So, Jeremy and I have always talked about getting a puppy. First, we wanted to get settled into married life (done!). Then, we wanted to buy a house (done!). And then, we wanted to seriously start looking after our vacation (done!). It didn't take too long to find our big guy, and though we won't be getting him until April 4th, we've already "claimed" him as ours! Yay!!

Now I'm sure some of you who know us well are thinking, "But Sara, didn't you guys want a St. Bernard?" As a matter of fact, we were considering a St. Bernard (more so Jerm than me), but I was a bit concerned about that large and furry of a dog. If you refer back to my post entitled, "We Want a Dog...Maybe this kind of Dog," you can find my concerns. Anyway, long story short, we discussed our options and decided that for our first dog we were not going to get a St. Bernard. So, we narrowed down our choices to a Lab or a German Shepherd, and then we found the ad in the newspaper for this big guy and his siblings.

Since I've been traveling every weekend for work, I knew I probably wouldn't have time to go see the puppies; so, last Saturday, Jerm drove down to Phoenix, liked the breeder and the pups, and picked this guy out of the litter! According to Jerm, he's such a cutie, a goofball and the biggest of the bunch. In fact, the breeders call him, "Chunky Monkey!"

Oh, we are SO excited! We've gone shopping for him during the past two evening and have already gotten him a bed and some toys. There's so much to do and get for a puppy, but we're BEYOND EXCITED and CANNOT WAIT to bring him home!!

I foresee many, many more blog posts about Diesel, in the future.

Vacation - Days 8 & 9

Day 8 of our vacation was our last day of going to a theme park.  You just can't go to San Diego without going to the next fun place...Sea World.  Before I get to Sea World though, let me show you the view from our hotel room.  We stayed at the Hilton near the bay and the view was pretty great.  We could see the bay and all of downtown San Diego.

  

Since we were right near the bay, we saw lots of ships arriving and moving throughout the area.  This one was my favorite...all the way from Honduras, filled with bananas and tropical fruit (which is just what I'm assuming it had on it), the Dole tanker!

 

Alright, on to Sea World.  So, it had been years since Jerm and I had been to Sea World and I'm sure this was probably his favorite day of our vacation.  For as long as I've known Jerm, he's always said that he wanted a Killer Whale for a pet!  Thank goodness there are laws that strictly prohibit that! 

Anyway, we really enjoyed the day and checked out the following attractions: the Shamu show, the Dolphin show, Shark Encounter, Wild Arctic, Stingray Bay, Penguin Encounter, Manatee Rescue, the water ride called "Atlantis" (the boys did this)  and the Sea Lion & Otter show (us girls did this).   Whenever I go to Sea World, I always forget how much I enjoy it.  After all, at how many places can you see dolphins and MASSIVE whales jumping through the air?!  That's right...not many!

Thanks for paying attention when I took the picture, Jake.

   

The dolphin show.

  

Me and my fishy...about to feed the stingray.  That's a good, little stingray.

  

That Shamu is pretty amazing, huh?

 

Why exactly are the Budweiser Clydesdales at Sea World??

 

Wild Arctic.

The Sea Lion & Otter show....plus, my favorite: the walrus.

As our day at Sea World ended, we went back to the hotel to prepare for dinner.  Since it was our last night on vacation, we wanted to go somewhere fancy and we selected Donovan's Steakhouse.  So, we got a bit dressed up and headed to our fancy restaurant.  I'm not a huge fan of steak, but let me tell you...the food here is pretty awesome.  I wish we had gotten some pictures but it was a dimly lit restaurant, plus it seemed like the kinda place where we'd get funny looks if we took pictures.  Oh well, good memories shall be remembered.

As our vacation sadly concluded (all good things must come to an end, right?), we had finally reached the last day of our trip.  We spent the morning hanging out by the hotel pool (I was in the hot tub since I won't get into a pool unless the water is about 80 degrees) and reflecting on our great vacation.  Around noon, we packed up our gear and headed back to Orange County, where Jerm's dad took us to the airport, and we flew home to Prescott, AZ.  *sigh*

Well, I hope you all enjoyed the re-cap of our vacation!  It was a fun time and don't you worry...thoughts, ideas, and itineraries are already in the works for "Jayla and Saremy's Vacation 2010." :)  Jake and Kayla, thanks for a great vacation!  We had a blast!

My favorite picture from our vacation!

Vacation - Days 6 & 7

Continuing on with "Jayla and Saremy's Vacation 2009," we're now on Sunday.  This day was a much needed day to relax from our three fun filled (and tiring) days at Disneyland.  We went to church in the morning with Jerm's parents and then, we headed out near Balboa Island, for lunch at Ruby's Diner on the pier.  This is what the building looks like.  I forgot my camera this day, so I took this from the website. :)

 

After lunch, we headed over to the Irvine Spectrum mall to do some shopping.  Well okay, Kayla and I did some shopping while the boys watched.  Before we knew it, it was time to go to our evening event...the Anaheim Ducks game!

The Ducks game was surprisingly a lot of fun!  All I know about hockey, I learned from the Mighty Ducks movies (which are awesome, by the way), but I must say...rather enjoyed the event.  Plus, we had good seats where servers came by, took your food/drink order for you and brought you your food.  Cool!

    

After the game, we jumped in the car and drove to San Diego for the rest of our vacation. 

Day #7 was spent at the wonderful San Diego Zoo.  Though it was a bit cold in the morning, we enjoyed our time seeing all the different animals. When we first got there, we hopped onto the double-decker bus that toured the zoo, so we got a chance to see a great overview of the place.  When that was finished, we walked all over the zoo for an up close look at the animals.  There were lions, tiger and bears.  Oh my! :) 

Funny statue at the zoo.

 

Lioness' and the bear, having a snack. 

  

This guy reminded me of Harry Potter...when the snake gets Dudley!

 

Peacocks were all over the zoo.

 

The gang.

Jake and Jeremy...err I mean, some monkeys.

  

Baby gorilla.

 

Cheetah and some camels.

  

Giraffes and elephants.

    

Rhino and meerkats.

So, as you can see, it was a fun day at the San Diego Zoo.  Once done, we went back to the hotel to nap for a bit until dinner.  When it was about dinner time, we drove across the bay, to Coronado Island, to eat at the Coronado Brewing Company.  Great suggestion, Jake!  Dinner was excellent and it was another great ending to a great day. 

I know that you're all anxious to see what we did next!  Stay tuned as we wrap our vacation in one more upcoming post...

 

Vacation - Days 3, 4 &5

As we continued on our vacation through Southern California, our next stop was Disneyland, a.k.a. The Happiest Place on Earth. I LOVE Disneyland! And I very strongly feel that it is indeed, The Happiest Place on Earth. How can someone go to Disneyland and not have a good time? From my trips as a kid, I remember getting Minnie Mouse ears, riding it's a small world with my mom, going on Star Tours with my dad and the smell of Pirates of the Caribbean. I remember going there for our "Band Trip," my freshman year of high school (yes, I was band nerd), and just going for fun with my friend, Kristen, a few years ago. Plus, I remember when Jeremy proposed to me there two years ago. *sigh* Yes, it's the Happiest Place on Earth, indeed.

     

Almost inside the park.
Have you all heard of Disney's promotion this year? This year you can get into Disneyland for FREE on your birthday! Let me tell you that whoever came up with this idea deserves a huge raise. Think about it: How many people would go to Disneyland alone (well, besides me)? And how many families with kids, would just take the one birthday kid to Disneyland? The answer: Not many. Therefore, though Disney is losing  the $69 for the birthday person, they are getting money from all the people that birthday person is bringing along! INGENIOUS idea! When you go to Disneyland on your birthday, they'll give you a big pin/button that says Happy Birthday and has your name on it. That way during your day at the park, everyone is saying "Happy Birthday" to you. How fun! When we were there, we saw SO many people with birthdays. It was crazy. I guess you never realize how many people share the same birthday.

Anyway, back to our vacation.  So, we spent 3 GLORIOUS days at Disneyland!  The first two days we had Park Hopper tickets, so we spent time in California Adventure and Disneyland, while the third was strictly Disneyland.  A few favorites from California Adventure where: the Mission Tortilla factory (free samples!), the California Screamin' roller coaster, the Tower of Terror and the newest ride, Toy Story Mania!  Oh my gosh, Toy Story Mania is SO fun.  We probably went on it about 5 times.  This ride is an interactive Toy Story adventure.  You wear 3D glasses, board the ride vehicle and zip off into a 4D world of midway-style games!  SO FUN!  Be sure to go on it, if you go to California Adventure.

Three days at Disneyland was perfect!  This was my first trip there, where I felt that I did everything that I wanted to do (multiple times even!).  All of California Adventure = done!  Sleeping Beauty's Castle = done!  Pirates = done!  Haunted Mansion = done!  Indiana Jones = done!  Big Thunder = done!  Splash Mountain = done!  Matterhorn Bobsleds = done!  Peter Pan = done!  it's a small world = done!  Roger Rabbit = done!  Finding Nemo Subs = done!  Space Mountain = done!  Star Tours = done!  Buzz Lightyear = done!  The train = done!  Numerous churros = done!  Disneyland cookies and Rice Krispie treats = done!  Fabulous memories and pictures = done!  *sigh*

It's just the Happiest Place on Earth!

Outside California Adventure.

Jayla.

C3PO and the boys.

 

"There's so much that we share, that it's time we're aware, it's a small world after all..."

 

The Incredible's.

Jerm and Mr. Potato Head.

Half way through our vacation!  Stay tuned...because you know there's more to come...