Christmas Party at the Montage

A couple of weeks ago, Joseph and I flew to Southern California for his company's Christmas Party held at the Montage Resort in Laguna Beach. We had such a great time and we are very grateful for their kindness and generosity. We flew my mom to watch the kids while we were gone and they eagerly looked forward to some great quality time with Grandma. Joseph and I have been married for 8 1/2 years, 6 of those years with children. We have NEVER in all 6 years been overnight without atleast one of our children. Any chance we have had to get away, I have always been nursing, and when I wasn't, we either had no money or no time to go anywhere. It was soooo nice to have my mom with them...it made our trip worry free. We were able to enjoy being just the two of us again...in a very beautiful place. I love my children immensely, but a couple days with no diaper changing, cooking, cleaning, tantrums, homework, work for Joe .......I'll take it!

We went with James and Traci, and Frank and Tracy after landing in Orange County. Our first stop was the pier in Newport Beach. We then headed for lunch at The Crab Cooker. We both love seafood, so of course we totally enjoyed it! On a side note....just before we took these pictures we realized that I had left Joseph's camera on the plane! ARRRRGGGHHH! he told me to leave mine home....so absolutely beautiful place + no camera = totally bummed us! We got over the disappointment quickly and thanks to James and Traci we were able to still get some shots....and we did get the camera back the next day.



After lunch we rode the ferry to Balboa Island, visited a few shops there and enjoyed a yummy Balboa Bar ice cream bar. We then headed to our hotel in Laguna Beach. The hotel was amazing! The room was beautiful and the hotel is designed so that every room has a view of the ocean with a private balcony. Absolutely gorgeous!

We headed down to the beach and walked along the shore and climbed through some of the rugged rocky cliffs (everything with Joseph has to include atleast a little adventure), and then we sat on the shore and talked as we watched waves roll in.....Joseph played football on the beach with a bunch of other administrators and then we spent some time in the pool and hot tub!

James, Traci and us. James is Joseph's regional director and they are also in our ward in Woodland.


It was really lots of fun to meet all the people that I have heard so much about. There were about 300+ people there from all areas of California, parts of Seattle, Utah, and Arizona. We enjoyed a yummy buffet and then for the next few hours we danced....and danced.....and danced. We really had lots of fun!

The next morning we slept in (our feet were tired) enjoyed a delicious breakfast at the hotel's restaurant, visited with other administrators and their wives, and just enjoyed the beautiful surroundings. We did a little shopping at Fashion Island before before heading back to reality!

We were very excited to get Joseph's camera back at the airport...and even more excited to give our sweet little ones lots of hugs, kisses and surprises when we arrived home! They were extremely happy thanks to Grandma!

The next day, Joseph headed back to work and I jumped right back into the swing of things, with the joys of little hugs and smooches, pictures and paintings by my sweet little ones, making sugar cookies, and listening to Christmas songs as well as the cleaning, stinky diapers, wiping behinds and noses, and scraping up food remnants stuck to the floor, while I did my daily work I thought of the Montage..."Yes, Mrs. Lee, we would be happy to......" There is a time and a season......every time and every season are beautiful and rewarding in their very own way! A photo from the night of the party from the hotel lobby balcony.