Day 6: I've Got The Beach In My Backyard

1 brand new backyard + 1 bottle of sand from the beach house poured into cracks between sod = beach front property... right? Can't blame me for trying.

Classics and Favorites: Beach house 1999

Another picture from the beach. What can I say? I love it!! This classic picture of the grandchildren (Granpa and Granma are in there somewhere) was taken in 1999, ten years after the picture of the grandchildren I featured in the first installment of this series. We have so many memories of our vacations at the beach as an extended family. A memory from this particular trip was the huge log that had washed ashore. It became a "playground toy" for the kids all week long... and as you can see, a great "photo op" for the photographers in the family. I love the beach house!!

Classics and Favorites: Church Ball?

Here is a photo with a bunch of my favorite guys, with one of my favorite places, the ocean, in the background. At the start of Beach Road is an outdoor basketball court where the guys usually assemble at least once every trip for a game or two. I have a funny basketball story (not sure if it was this particular trip) to share. One Sunday morning at the beach the guys headed down the road to play basketball. When Granma saw them leaving with basketball in hand, she asked where they were going (knowing full well where they were going). When she was told they were going to play basketball, she responded, "on the sabbath?" And without skipping a beat David responded, "church ball." And off they went.

Classics and Favorites: San Clemente Pier

This classic picture was taken on our first trip to the beach house in 1984. I have some other beach house pictures lined up for this series, but I had to share this one first. I have been going to San Clemente beach since I was 10 years old (including my honeymoon), but this was the year that the beach house tradition started for Mike and I and our little family. Some memories of this trip would include: being a contestant on "The Price is Right"; walking from our motel in Las Vegas to Circus Circus, because... "it's just down the street" (it turned out to be 3 miles); and triple odds on craps... and I'm not talking about gambling here folks. I.LOVE.THIS.PLACE!!!

TDBC Day 20: A Picture Of Yourself From 10 Years Ago

Beach House 2001

Jeremy, Michael, Caitlin, Lesley, Kristin, Andy, Jeffrey

My So Cal Vacay

We recently returned from a wonderful vacation in Southern California. I have been coming to this area in So Cal for 42 years; my parents brought our family for the first time during the summer of 1968. Mike and I spent our honeymoon in San Clemente, and first brought our children to the beach house in 1984. We've enjoyed many visits since and look forward to many more.

This was the first time that we have stayed in this particular beach house. The bottom window is G'pa and G'ma's room and Caitlin's room is just above. We were very lucky and got to stay in the upstairs master bedroom at the front of the house; facing t'ocean.

Every morning Mike and I enjoy our daily walk down Beach Road. On this particular morning we walked across the Pacific Coast Highway, up a steep road and into the community just above us. This overlook is directly above the beach house.

Our beach house is in the center of the picture, just two houses away from our usual house. Directly below us is the Pacific Coast Highway, the railroad tracks, and Beach Road (private road). There is a brick wall that runs the length of Beach Road separating it from the tracks. As you can see our front yard is the beach.

San Clemente is our neighboring community and we love to spend time there each time we go to the beach house. We love to walk on the pier, swim in t'ocean, shop.... Mike and I love to eat at the Fisherman Restaurant (on the pier) every time we visit; it's our favorite vacation restaurant.



This year we did something that we have never done before in all of the years we have come here... we went on an ocean cruise. I.LOVED.IT. It is one of the funnest things that I have ever done. I love t'ocean and I loved being out in the middle of it.

We saw hundreds of dolphins, the captain told us that for every one we see on the surface... there are seven just below.



Here we are arriving back at Dana Point Harbor. Mike stood in this spot at the very front of the boat for the entire two hours. It was an amazing ride.

My nephew Michael and his little friend Jack. They each seem to be missing something.

Caitlin enjoying her time in the sun.

Sometimes I Wish It Was An Endless Summer....

We started out the summer in the best way; a trip to the beach house. While we were there some of our family members went to a Dodgers game, some golfed, some shopped, some had mani's or pedi's, two were rescued by Baywatch (both separate occurrences) while we swam at San Clemente, some went to the movies, some ate dinner on the pier, some went whale watching, some visited the San Diego temple, almost everyone went to Disneyland....and we all had a great time!







We went to youth conference at the Manti Pageant....


We went to parades, BBQ's, and fireworks....




Endless Summer has been busy all summer long; they will be doing a free concert at the Bountiful City Park on Friday evening, August 14....


Caitlin and I went to stake girls camp....


Caitlin performed in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat....


We went to Cherry Hill....


The biggest event is yet to come as we close on our new house on August 31....and then we MOVE!!!


There are just two weeks until school starts, summer isn't over yet and our calendar is beginning to fill up for the fall. You know what I'd really, really like to do....go back to the beach!!!

It's A Small World

Today I returned from my vacation (I'll post about it later). Since I've arrived home I've been busy doing laundry, grocery shopping, going to a wedding reception, leaving the house for 2 hours so that it could be seen by a potential buyer, going to the movies (we had to do something for 2 hours), squeezing in a half hour before I had to leave so that another potential buyer could come see my table, making sure my "new home" hadn't been sold (it hasn't).

I also spent some time catching up on my friends blogs....I hope Hayden had a wonderful birthday, I'm excited for Aimees's new baby Samantha, I loved reading about Bonnie's trip (yay for the new car!), I'm sad I missed Drew's blessing, I hope Adrienne wins a new dress 'cause I think she'll look darling in it, I checked for news on Charity's blog, I love Kathryn's playhouse, I read Teresa's story about SIT out loud to Mike and we both laughed, I loved reading about the accomplishments and seeing the pictures of Heather's cute kiddos, and seeing how cute baby Colton is.

But I just gotta share one story. While at the beach house I introduced myself to my "neighbor". I had noticed that one of her boys wore a Viewmont t-shirt and sure enough they were from Bountiful (they live behind Dicks Market). We visited for a few minutes. We talked about schools. We both went to Viewmont. I was a few years ahead of her, but her sister graduated the same year as my sister. She told me that her sister married her math teacher (eeeeoooowwww!! Lilian remembered that girl). As we were all leaving yesterday morning I jokingly said to my neighbor, "see you at Dicks".

So today I'm walking through the dairy department in a crowded Dick's Market and who do you think I saw? Yep. My "Neighbor". I said, "hello neighbor". She looked at me, and I watched as recognition dawned and then we laughed. I said, "I knew I'd see you at Dick's but I didn't think it would be this soon". Hmmmm....it's a small world, after all.

I Love The Beach House!!!

The whole family has seen this, but I wanted to share it with my friends and blogger buddies (and I wanted a copy on my blog). My brother Alan (recently featured on "Family Friday") put this short video together for us so that we'd get excited for our upcoming vacation. So....if you want to see why I love the beach house so much, watch the video and you'll find out!!

Changing My Background

I changed my blog background 'cause this is where I'm going soon. Who's going with me!?!

It's My 100th Post

The first time I saw someone's blog commemorating their 100th post, I remember thinking that I would never make it to 100 posts. But 14 months and 17 days after my 1st post, here is my 100th. In honor of one of my favorite places (which I will be visiting very soon) I give you 100 memories of my trips to the beach. Oh, and...click on the pictures to enlarge.

1. Waking up each morning to the sound of the waves, and realizing that I'm still at the beach

2. Mikee and I going on our walk down Beach Road every morning (except Disnneyland day)

3. Granma's Ulster Fry

4. Driving down I-5 and getting my first glimpse of t'ocean

5. Lots of palm trees

6. Pick Up Stix

7. Family talent show

8. Mr. Roboto

9. "We're here for the week!"

10. Buying ice-cream cones and walking on the pier

11. Jeremy's strangulated two wood

12. Eating at the Fisherman Restaurant on the pier

13. Lilian sharing her favorite ice-cream with us (and serving it to us while we're sitting lazily on the beach)

14. Buying Michael Teryle a treat one year, and being reminded of it every year ever since (I think it is a tradition now)

15. Lying on my stomach on my beach towel, and feeling the ocean breeze move over my back

16. Glimpses of Catalina Island

17. Looking for Grunions at midnight

18. The hokey pokey

19. Dutch oven dinners, BBQ's, and bon fires

20. Going to Disneyland

21. David missing the Disneyland parking lot tram as he ran while pushing Emily in the stroller, the rest of the family were on the tram ("we'll wait for you!")

22. Walking as far down the beach as possible and then back

23. Rocks

24. Gathering seashells

25. Jeremy telling his big brothers that he couldn't go swimming in t'ocean because "...shark's are attracted to yellow." He was 5 years old and wearing a yellow swimsuit.

26. peanut butter..."and jelly?"

27. Kids buried up to their necks in the sand

28. The big log that washed ashore and kept the kids occupied all week long

29. KFC on the beach

30. Going to the movies in San Clemente

31. Dolphins

32. Toe rings (not for me) and ankle bracelets (for me)

33. "When are we going to the store Trix?"

34. Eating Lilian's famous salad while sitting on a beach chair looking out at t'ocean

35. Being called to "come on down..." on The Price Is Right (a future post)

36. Our Ditty cousins on occasional years

37. Zach throwing his binky off of the pier

38. Lots and lots of Marsden, Leger, and Nielsen cousins

39. Lip-sync

40. Going to LA to see Wicked

41. San Clemente K-Mart

42. Grocery shopping at Ralph's

43. Washing the clothes (I love doing my laundry at the beach house....seriously)

44. Going to Dana Point Harbor

45. In-N-Out Burger

46. The Pacific Coast Highway

47. The broken stairs on the mountain

48. The railroad tracks and the trains

49. Visiting The Best of Britain to buy chocolate

50. Beach toys strewn all over the beach, all week long

51. Parking our cars and making sure that they all fit in the carport

52. Going over to San Clemente to swim and play for a day

53. Beach umbrellas

54. My Dad periodically asking me if I have plenty of lotion (sunscreen) on

55. Going to a Dodger's game (which I've never done, just Mike and the kids)

56. The Japanese people in Disneyland that wanted to get their picture taken with David; he was wearing his Dodger jersey and they thought that he was an LA Dodger, so he complied ("you play for Doja?")

57. Dancing in the parking lot of Capistrano Realty while our car radio blasted away

58. Meeting Uncle Joe and his family at Barstow Station

59. Walking to Circus Circus

60. Triple odds on craps

61. Mike winning $600 in Mesquite with two $5 coins, and one pull of the lever

62. The Roller Coaster at Buffalo Bill's

63. Everyone waving their arms out of the car windows and cheering at the first glimpse of t'ocean

64. Snow on the tops of the school buses (in So Cal?)

65. Watching the fishermen on the pier reeling in their fish

66. Watching the sunset while standing at the end of San Clemente pier

67. Del Mar

68. While shopping in the Thrifty store we saw Anthony Edwards (ER) buying a kite for his son

69. Sharing the beach with Lavell Edwards and his family

70. Uncle Roy singing Ashleigh-O

71. We Didn't Start The Fire "ahh", "ahh", "ahh", "ohh"

72. Lily

73. Fixing the screen door

74. Sweeping up sand

75. Oreo cookie ice-cream sandwiches (mmmmmmmm!!)

76. Cruise ships and boats on the horizon, lit up at night

77. Airplanes with advertising banners in tow

78. Chris's sunscreen

79. Church basketball

80. Playing games

81. Watching the movie Jaws

82. Sunday night testimony meeting

83. "Pay the rent..." in assorted languages and accents

84. Boogie boarding and body surfing

85. Never, ever stopping at the Roy Rogers museum in Victorville

86. The pelicans

87. Jet skis jumping over the waves

88. Tim closing the curtains so that the neighbors wouldn't see him playing the broom while he performed his talent

89. The toll roads

90. Jeff and Jeremy singing in the bathroom at the Jack-In-The-Box on Coronado Island and everyone in the restaurant hearing them

91. Seeing the people way out on t'ocean passing our beach on their paddle boards at dusk and wondering if they would make it to Dana Point before dark

92. Pearl divers diving for pearls for me, at Sea World

93. The big white house at the end of Beach Road

94. Passing Zzyzx Road, my 3rd (soon to be 4th) favorite street in the USA

95. One year on our way to the beach we stopped to visit Uncle Roy's grave, as we stood at his grave I could tell that my Mother was on the verge of tears so I decided to lighten the moment by saying, "in all of these years that we've been coming to the beach we never once stopped to visit Uncle Roy at his house...but now that he's dead we're stopping to visit his grave." Mother started to laugh and all was well.
Disclaimer to # 95...Uncle Roy did rent the beach house next to us for a few years, so we did see him

96. We can't mention going to the cemetery without being reminded of a big gulp cup

97. Water shoes

98. Margie calling Archie on the phone to tell him about Tim winning everything (showcase included) on The Price Is Right and saying..."Arch I'm as serious as hell." I think Arch believed her then.

99. Mike's waffle cone (and his white pants) at Sea World

100. The rules of the beach house (and we know who breaks them)


Where do you go on vacation? What do you LOVE about it?

I Love T'Ocean

Traditionally this would be our week at the beach...if it was our year to go, which it is not. So in order to help ease my yearning to be there I decided to post pictures and share some of my beach house highlights through the years.I've been going to San Clemente California since 1968 (I was 10). Mike and I spent our honeymoon there in 1977. In 1984 we started going to the beach house at Capistrano Beach just down the sand from San Clemente. Here we are on the San Clemente pier with our three little boys. Andy (6), Jeffrey (4), and Jeremy (9 1/2 months).
These are our three boys and Ashleigh in 1989 pictured with children of two of my cousins. This was Ashleigh's first of two trips to the beach house.
Upon our arrival in 1999 we discovered this huge log that had washed ashore. It became a great playground toy for the cousins and a great photo shoot for the parents. Granma and Granpa are somewhere in the middle of all those kids.Here we are on our "front porch" in 2001. This was Kristin's second trip to the beach house, and Caitlin's third.In 2003 Mike and I spent a week at the Beachcomber in San Clemente. We drove over to Beach Road and parked at the public beach parking lot then walked along the private beach 'til we came to the beach house. I was happy to see it was unoccupied.Our family in our "front yard" in 2005. This was Melissa's first trip to the beach house, Emily's second, Adam's second and Zach's first.Follow the sand for a couple of miles and there you'll find our beach.Caitlin and Mike walking on the San Clemente pier in 2007. In the distance you can see both the Beachcomber and the Sea Horse (where we spent our honeymoon).

These pictures represent only some of the years we've spent at the beach house. We have a lot of memories at the beach and I'm going to ramble off a few "one liners" for the family. Family talent night, bon fires, the hokey pokey, Mr. Roboto, walks along the pier eating ice cream cones, watching sunsets from the pier, the occasional glimpse of Catalina Island, jr. lifeguards jumping off the pier, dolphins playing in the water, going to sleep and waking up to the sound of t'ocean, golfing, eating at "The Fisherman", "When are we going to the store Trix...?", peanut butter..."and jelly?", has anybody seen Chris's sunscreen?, buying Cadbury's at "The Best of Britain", toe rings and ankle bracelets, David missing the tram at Disneyland, Grunyens at midnight, rocks, boogey boarding, "The Price is Right", Jeremy's stangulated two wood, church ball, "Wicked", the buses with snow on top, going to the movies, watching "Jaws", morning walks down Beach Road, trains, Granma's Ulster fry, Pickup Stix, family testimony meeting, good food, Ralph's grocery store, Dana Point, "We're here for the week..."
So many, many memories. I vote for next year!!!! All in favor???