#IzandAVacay

After traveling to Vegas with my mother in law, I somehow convinced my husband to let me take my little sister Izzy to California for the week. She had just recently returned from a year and a half mission in Honduras so it's safe to say I was deprived for way to long from the person I love most (other than you Jaime).

When I was little I begged my mom and dad to have another girl. I loved Garret and Connor but I wanted a sister SO bad. I prayed every night for one. I promised Heavenly Father if he gave me a sister, I would love and protect her every second of my life. I wanted a life size doll to play with, dress up and take care of. I loved dolls and loved to pretend I was a mommy. The day my mom came home from her ultrasound is still to clear in my mind. When she told me she was having a girl wouldn't stop screaming from excitement that I'm pretty sure she locked me outside the house. The day my sister came home from the hospital I refused to go to bed despite in being way past my bedtime. I told my Grandma Arlene that I couldn't go to sleep until I got to hold my baby sister. I had waited a whopping 6 years of my life for one and I just couldn't wait another minute.

 

Point being, I have taken loving and protecting this girl so seriously since the day she was born. I'm pretty sure I thought she was my baby until I was 10. My parents would let me bathe her, feed her, dress her, carry her...basically everything because I had proven I was responsible and careful with my baby sister. She was so tiny she even fit in my doll strollers and doll clothes. She was my literal life size doll.

  
   
  

The funny about Izzy is that she is 6 years younger than and the most tiny and precious thing on the planet yet she has wisdom beyond her years and strength beyond my own. When I need advice I prefer to go to my little sister than anyone else in my family. She is so calm and understanding. She loves everyone around her and looks for the best in people. She has the most positive outlook on every possible situation and she is such a great listener. She always makes you feel so important and like she has all the time in the world for you. She is a peacemaker and will go out out her way to make your day or offer her time and support. Also seriously, how cute was she when she was little!?

  
  
  


 

    

 

I really struggled without my ray of sunshine for the past year and a half but I told myself that I have selfishly taken so much of her time all her life that it was only fair for some of her sweet personality to be shared with others. I'm sure her little 4 foot 9 inch body gave Honduras more love than they could ever handle. I think the hardest part of her being on her mission was that I couldn't just be a call or facetime away. I could run to be her shoulder to cry on or there for anything she needed (honestly this girl is so independent she doesn't really ever need anything but I like to think she needs me from time to time). I didn't feel like I could protect like I always wanted to and it was so hard to love her from so far away. I prayed every night that she would have enough food to eat, that she could be safe and that she could feel my love from her from so far away. When I googled Honduras prior to her leaving on her mission that first thing that popped up said "Honduras has the number one murder per capita rate in the world."I just about burned her passport and refused to let her leave. Nevertheless she needed to spread her wings and fly and I'm so proud of the service she has dedicated to other. Even though I thought my life would end seeing her go (here's proof) I'm so proud of the growth that has happened since she left.

I e-mailed Iz prior to return and proposed the idea of a girls trip. She was ecstatic and told me to book the tickets! When she got home, I was mindful to let the other family spend time with her because we were going to go to LA to stay with out Aunt Gayla for a week. They second we said goodbye to Mom at the airport and headed off we were nothing but smiles. We talked the whole plane ride about everything, literally everything possible. I had missed getting my sisters advice. 

Gayla picked us up from the airport and treated us to a yummy dinner at the Cheesecake Factory before we went home and crashed!

The next day I woke up with the plague and thought I was going to die. Our little nephew Hamilton got the whole family sick with a stomach but he had, possibly the norovirus. I was projectile vomiting like never before and was so weak I could barely move. I apologized to Izzy and was so upset I finally got time with her but instead could do nothing but lay in bed. Cheerful as she always is she told me not to worry because she had a lot of phone calls, emails, and perusing social media to do. My sweet little sister fed me, kept replenishing my water, got me crackers and literally took care of me on my death bed. The funny thing about this whole stomach bug was that EVERYONE in our family got it EXCEPT her. It's like she had this special shield of protection over her since coming back from her mission. Maybe her stomach just developed a tolerance to strong bugs? I don't know but we were all jealous.

The plague passed in 24 hours and then next day I surprised her with tickets to Universal Studios and we have a blast. 

  

 

While on our way through the rides Izzy met her long lost twin Dora. Needless to say they were both stoked and practically matching. No Izzy did not pee her pants that was from the Jurassic Park ride.

 

The Jurassic Park ride was a blast and we managed to get a front row seat which meant we were drenched by the waterfall once we hit the water. No problem though because the sun dried us up!

We also went on another Harry Potter roller coaster, saw a show at Water World, got to go on the Despicable Me 3D Minion ride, screamed our faces off at the Walking Dead haunted house, saw a behind the scenes special effects stunt show, watched a new Shrek 4D film, went on the Mummy ride and saw mascots all along the way. Fun fact, my favorite mascot is the minions. Also we were worried the mummy was going to pull off our arms. 

   

Izzy's favorite part of Universal Studios was the Harry Potter world and their virtual ride. I was very impressed with how close everything resembled the actual movies. 

After all of the rides we grabbed some pizza and salad before our next adventure. I told Izzy I was very proud of myself for not puking on all the roller coasters and rides considering I had been projectile vomiting the whole day before. The first solid food I ate was this dinner and it was oh so worth it. I felt bad the day before because Dave and Gayla made us dinner but I was so sick that all I could eat was a bite of a banana. 

Since we were in downtown LA and recently had an obsession with LALA land, we decided to visit the Griffith Observatory. The sunset and weather was incredible. I kept thinking this would be so cute for a family photo shoot or engagement. It was cool to look at the different exhibits in side. Izzy was studying up on her science and nursing knowledge. We basically goofed around the whole time reenacted scenes from the movie. I wish I could post the video of Izzy dancing on the same table that Emma Stone and Ryan Gossling did their famous dance number on. 

 

     

PS I fried. Didn't think we were going to be outside at Universal that long we forgot our suncreen. Oops.

The next day we drove to the Claremount Schools so Izzy could say hi to her friend Emily. I kept myself busy at Starbucks for a while and drove to Trader Joes to get us some beach snacks. After we drove out to Newport Beach to meet my dear friend Mackenzie. I grew up with her and it was fun to see her on our trip. 

 

We spent the day catching up at the beach and then went to this bomb taco place she recommended called Wild Taco.

  

The rest of our days we spent soaking in as much sun as we could! It was so refreshing to lay in the sand and do what we do best, just chat it up. If you have a sister you are close to, you know what I mean!

 

I wouldn't say the water was as warm as Hawaii but it was still nice!

I 

We also stopped by In-N-Out for a delicious burger, fries and shake and went to Annenberg Beach in LA.

On our way back to Gayla's we went to Salt N Straw and I finally got to see what all the fuss was about this place. I have to admit, I'm still team Molly Moons but the ice cream and fresh waffle cone was great. 

Our last day we went to my favorite place: Nordstrom. We did little shopping and Gayla treated us to dinner at the Cafe. The thing we love about seeing Gayla, other than just spending time with her, is that it is so much fun to talk about our lives and hear her experienced and thoughtful advice. She is a family therapist and such a great listener. We love learning about our family history and benefiting from her knowledge and expertise. She is just the best! She also has the cutest and comfiest little guest home that we just LOVE to stay in. 

   

We told her we might have to make this "sister trip" an annual thing. We were not ready to leave and had the best sisters vacation we could have hoped for (minus Adrianna getting the plague).