Basketball tournaments have been in full swing around here,
as we end this season and prepare for Football to start!
Ty's team played again in Anaheim at the West Coast Elite 25 Championship.
We tried our hardest to pull a team together for Garrett this year,
but being the 4th of July weekend, it was pretty tough and we ended up not being able
to get enough kids together that could go.
Families had lots of things planned and just couldn't make it work.
My Dad's friends, the Bunkers,
were generous enough to let us stay at their Condo near San Diego.
Because of that, we went down a couple of days early for a
little vacation time together before the Basketball tournament started.
It was so nice and had a beautiful pool - which we spent plenty of time in.
Our first day there, we did nothing but swim and take a nap.
After we showered and were ready for the night,
we grabbed some dinner and did what everyone dreams of doing when they visit the coast....
we shopped at Ross for 2 hours!
Ha ha ha!
The kids love Ross. Apparently, it is the cool place to buy shoes!
Nordstrom Rack was right next store, so we hit them up too.
The kids played a little Wii before heading to bed!
Who would have guessed that Mom would be better than all of them
at the 3 point shoot out game?!!!
I guess after a full 13 hour day in the car, we all deserved to just take
a day hanging out and being lazy.
It felt good! 
Beautiful.
The kids really enjoyed walking the grounds and taking lots of pictures.
and make it one of their biggest goals to go inside one day!
Our first stop was a picnic lunch and then on to an awesome tour of the
Mormon Battalion Museum.
The Church really outdid themselves at this place.
It is really incredible. Our kids enjoyed it.....even our older ones!
and the pictures on the walls come to life.
Julia was positive it was real gold.
After it had been in my purse for a few hours, and was flaking off,
she looked at me heartbroken and said, "I guess the Church Lied!"
I had to explain a little bit about Fools Gold!
They also take your picture while you're there.
I had such a special experience while we were there.
After we had taken our pictures, the kids headed outside to pan for the gold.
Earlier, the Sister Missionary had asked where each of us were from.
A woman in our group approached me after our picture to ask what part of Utah we lived in.
Sometimes the Lord sends little reminders that
He knows exactly who you are and what your heart needs.
This woman said she had grown up in Tooele Utah.
What were the odds of that?
We played the "Do you know game?"
I realized she knew my cousin Paul Davies,
which also meant there was a huge possibility she would know my Mom.
When I asked if she knew Rosan Davies,
tears filled up in her eyes and she said, "Of course! How do you know her?"
How blessed I felt to respond, "She's my Mom!"
She then shared how devastated she was when she her the news of her passing and went on to tell me my mom was truly one of the most outgoing and kindest people she has ever known.
"She made everyone feel so special!"
I stood in tears as I thanked her for sharing that with me,
as I have very few memories of my own of her.
I love to hear anything that anyone has to tell me of her.
Such a small world, and I don't feel it was just by chance we met that day.
Beautiful experience, and one I won't ever forget.
We walked around Old Town.
Sis had some money Grandma Davies had given her to buy a little souvenir,
and it was burning a gigantic hole in her pocket.
There was a shopping market, like those in Mexico and she was in the height of her glory! 
The boys?
Not so much......
They were very patient however, and sat on that bench in the hot sun,
while Julia walked through every store and booth,
and picked up everything possible to look at.
I thought for sure she'd pick a cute purse, or some kind of jewelry item.
What she chose?
A $7 tiny pouch of shiny, smooth rocks!
She also spent money on that shirt she is wearing at our Ross party!
By the time she was finished shopping, the boys were ready to go!
So, we headed back to the car, down through the city of San Diego,
and over the Coronado Bridge.
That was incredibly narrow, and high!
Fun shops, eating places, and hotels.
We parked by Hotel Del Coronado and spent some fun time on the beach.
We had sand in every crevice!
Such a fun, fun day.
Love spending time like this as a family.
No one else to be with, but us!
We all went back to the condo, extremely hungry and tired.
We woke up the next day, to celebrate the 4th of July.
I called Uncle Mark and Aunt Linda, to see what their plans were for the day.
We always try to visit them when we are down that way.
The kids LOVE spending time with them.
They had driven to LA to see Julie and her family,
but they ended up being sick, so as luck would have it.....they were on their way home
and wanted to spend the evening celebrating with us.
We swam at the condo again, for most the afternoon
before cleaning up and heading to Uncle Mark's new home.....
to eat and swim some more!
Their new home is just down the street from their other one and it is amazingly beautiful.
They were so generous in letting us spend the
night there swimming and enjoying each others company.
We love to catch up with them.
It was a wonderful 4th of July!
The next day, we cleaned up the condo, got it locked up,
and headed to Anaheim to play some basketball.
Our hotel was extremely close to Disneyland, which killed all of us....
but when you're using your Marriott points and can stay for free.... you take what you can get!
Games started that afternoon.
We played awesome, despite the excruciating hot gym we had to play at.
I didn't remember it being that hot last year in there!
Our first game was vs. Yellow Jackets from California.
They are the team we beat in the Championship in Reno.
We beat them 42-28.
We waited an hour or so and then played San Diego Select.
They are ranked #3 in the West Coast, and are an awesome team.
We were playing them last year when Ty broke his foot.
We hung with them for a little while this year, but ended up losing by close to 20.
We didn't play our best. We were hot and tired.
I wish we would have been at full strength to go against them, but we were a little flat.
We met up with the Hamblin's that night and went to dinner.
They came back and sat around our pool for a while, while the boys sat in the hot tub.
We checked out of our hotel the next day and headed to our 3rd game
vs.
Coves Finest Elite
We won! 51-31.
I loved watching Austy watch Trent talk to the kids.
He'd look at Trent, then look at the boys, and so on and so on.
He is part of the back-a-ball team for sure!
Our 4th and final game was against the SD South Bay Show.
We beat them by two, putting us 3-1 for the whole tournament!!
This was a great tournament! We were proud of our team.
It's fun to associate with many of these families and kids.
They are amazing.
(Ty Burke, Cole DeBoard, Baylor Harrop, Jake Sampson,
Jace Whiting, Jake Leonhardt, Bridger Hamblin, Dallin Hall)
We were nuts and decided to drive straight home after that game ended.
Our car pulled in to home at 4:30 a.m.
We slept til 2 or so!
Such a wonderful trip as a family and one we won't soon forget.
Ty is officially done with the Basketball season and is waiting anxiously for football to start.
So is Mom!
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