Thanksgiving 2013

This Thanksgiving was spent up in Payson this year at Ben's sister's house (Amanda). We left on Wednesday morning. Ben had to be in downtown Salt Lake City for a deposition hearing. It worked out good since they paid for our trip. His hearing was by City Creek, which was great because I had somewhere to take the kids. We got to City Creek and walked around, went to the Disney Store, the play area, and played in the water. It was a beautiful Fall day. the play area was really crowded, so we didn't stay too long. Coleman LOVED it. Kaelynn was watching him and wanted to take his picture, but he ran around like crazy. After the play area Ben was still not done so we walked over to Temple Square. It was the most peaceful experience I have had at Temple Square. The weather was beautiful, there wasn't hardly anyone there, and the kids really got to see some fun things. Ben joined us when we were almost done at Temple Square.

Here are the kids in front of the Nativity. (Notice the non-existent crowd?!)

 After Temple Square we went to Ikea Cabela's and Costco. We were so tired, it was a long day.

Thanksgiving day! Here is the beautiful table Amanda set.  

 Kaelynn Chillin' out waiting for dinner

 Ben acting goofy. "Get out of the kitchen" we have work to do!"

 Hanging out with Coleman.

 Bryson teaching Ben what the "cool" games are!

 These cousins sure love each other. They played hard, and we never saw them. I had to tell them to stand still long enough to get this picture.

 Fun kid table. They got to draw on it and decorate it however they liked.

 Later that night we went to Wal-Mart for Black Friday. It was so fun. Missy went with Ben and me. We left the next morning because Ben had to get back to work. Such a fun time!

While Ben was working Saturday the kids and I went to Cedar City. We did a small version of a Turkey shoot. The kids shoot the BB guns and the adults and big kids shot 22's. 

 G&G with the little boys.

 Tyler with his "Rambo" head band. He actually said it was he "Pirate head band".

 Coleman and Axton collecting rocks.

Fun times with family! Love the holidays!

Family Vacation Day 5 (Disneyland)

This will be the last post of the vacation. Today was our 3rd day in Disneyland. We were on our own today. Mom and Dad went to L.A. It was such a great day. We went to get our fast pass to Radiator Springs Racer first. While waiting for the fast pass we rode a couple of other rides in Cars Land. We also rode Screamin' again and Toy Story Mania in California Adventure. After a quiet morning in California Adventure we headed over to Disneyland. We went Tomorrow Land and did all the things we missed yesterday. Then headed up to Toon Town. After a long day we took the kids to the Lego Store in Downtown Disney and then headed home. We LOVED our Disneyland vacation. Caleb can not stop talking about it. He kept a map and looked at it so much it's ripped to shreds. I can't wait for our next trip to Disneyland. I think we are on the 5 year plan! The next day we drove straight home to Panguitch. It took about a week to recover.

Here we are on day 3. "Get up kids we don't want to be late." Three days in a row might have been a bit much for the little kids. I think I would still like to go for the 3 days, just take a break in the middle.

Our favorite ride.

 Screamin' again. LOVE IT!

Toy Story Mania. Such a fun a ride, one that we almost passed up.

Coleman loved this ride so much. He cried when we had to take off the 3D glasses.

You have to have one of these

The lego store is so neat. The things they build are amazing!

My favorite!

Tyler got picked for Jedi training. He even got to fight Darth Vader!

Family Vacation Day 4 (Disneyland)

This day we decided to spend the day in Disneyland. It didn't open until 10, but we had a magic morning pass that got us in at 9. The Magic Morning pass wasn't all that great. It only got us into Fantasy Land and some of Tomorrow Land. Since these were the only Lands open it was crowded. But, we did get a few rides in. After we spent an hour in Fantasy Land we made our way over to Tomorrow Land to meet mom and dad. Tomorrow Land was even more crowded then Fantasy Land. I was a little caught off guard by this. I thought , "What are all these people doing here? It's not supposed to be this busy" We were a little frustrated by this, but once we figured out fast pass and left Tomorrow Land we had a great day. We mostly spent the day on the other side of the park. Giving up on Fantasy Land and Tomorrow Land made for a happy day! The favorite ride of the day was Indiana Jones. We convinced Caleb to go on Splash Mountain. I don't know if he loved it or hated it (probably both). He keeps talking about how fun it was, but he didn't like "the down" part. I love Disneyland. Next time we go I vow never to go near a holiday again. One fun thing was the Halloween decorations and all the people in costumes. Some people really went all out and they almost looked as good as the official Disney characters.

Tyler and Caleb trying to pull out "The Sword in the Stone" Too bad the Carousel was closed. (Small World, Tea Cups and Thunder Mountain was closed too. We were a little bummed about that.)

Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. We didn't go on Peter Pan this year. I was sad about that, because it's one of my favorites.

Dumbo, another favorite of the kids!

Here we are in a tea cup. We didn't go on the ride, but this is just as good. Right?

Tarzan's Tree house

Haunted Mansion. It was Nightmare Before Christmas theme.

I am still laughing at how funny this picture turned out. I kind of wish I would have bought it. I am holding Caleb's face because he didn't want to see what he was getting into.

River boat ride. It's a fun relaxing ride. 

Last ride of the day. River Boat Tour is always fun. After this we went to the parade and ended the day.

It was so fun to have Mom and Dad with us. We loved it! I wanted to write this story down that dad told me before I forget too much of it. Dad used to visit California a lot in his childhood because he had several Aunts and Uncles that lived there. One trip they went to Disneyland. When they got to the park Grandpa Austen gave dad some money to buy the tickets. Dad bought the tickets and ran off without getting the change. Next thing he knows a man walks up to him tells him he forget something hands him the change and shakes his hand. When he left Grandpa Austen asks dad if he knew who that was. Dad didn't know. Grandpa Austen said "That was Walt Disney"! Wow, what a fun thing for my dad to have seen and shaken Walt Disney's hand in person. I think Dad said he was about 9 or 10 or so.  Side note: Dad and Mom would tell us what the original rides were throughout the day and what they were like. Fun memories

Family Vacation Day 3 Disneyland!!!

We decided to start with California Adventure for the first day. The doors opened at 8 and we got there an hour early. We got several tips to get there early and have someone stand in the fast pass line for Radiator Springs Racer and the rest go straight to Cars Land and get in line for Radiator Springs Racer. Dad said he would get the fast passes. After we got our plan together and we were waiting at the gate I was sooo happy I felt like crying (not really, but seriously). Before they opened the gates they welcome everyone to "The Happiest Place on Earth and play music. It's so special, everyone is smiling blah blah blah. Our plan worked awesome and we got to ride Radiator Springs Racer twice. California Adventure wasn't busy and we didn't have to wait long in very many rides. We stayed late and watched World of Color. It was worth the late night stay. LOVED our first day in Disneyland. We nailed it! 

Kaelynn in these cute shirts I made. Mom found them at the craft store on sale for $2 and I freezer papered them. I found the directions HERE. As we were waiting a lady commented on cute they were. She asked me where we were from I said "Southern Utah" (because let's face it Panguitch isn't exactly famous). She said "I knew it! Only Utah mom's can make something that cute". Ha Ha Ha Then she told me they were from Spanish Fork. 

K had Minnie Mouse and the boys had Mickey Mouse shirts. These were the best! the pictures don't show how truly bright they are. We could literally see them from a 100+ yards away. (Nailed it again)

 Caleb and Coleman and their first visit buttons. They didn't even wear them, but it was fun to hang them on the stroller.

Coleman's first ride. The Tractors in Cars Land. He LOVED it. He screamed when he had to get off.

Kaelynn and Tyler went on every ride the adults went on. Here is Ben and Dad waiting to go on Screaming! After one time they loved it so much Dad and I took them again. This was their favorite ride.

Here was Tyler's not so favorite ride. The Tower of Terror, was truly terrifying. I think he thought he was going to die. Funny enough he asked "When we get home can we see if Netflix has the Twilight Zone show?" We said, "OoooKaaay if you want"

Happy Birthday Kaelynn 10 Years Old

It's always fun to reflect back on my life through pictures. 10 years ago today was a special day for me. It was the day I became a mother. I have learned so much this past decade. Mostly, I think, motherhood is one of the most challenging and rewarding things I have ever done. Some challenging moments have been, sleeping through the night, potty training, stitches, burns, cutting own hair, spills and spills, drawing on walls, breaking countless items, I could on and on. The rewards out weigh all of that. Seeing your child smile for the first time, laugh, walk, talk, say a prayer, go to primary, go to school, read their first book, play the piano, get baptized, Christmas morning, saying "I Love You" those are the things I treasure. Here are a few of my favorite pictures of Kaelynn. Happy Birthday to Kaelynn and Happy "Mother's Day" to me!

3 Years old. Kaelynn used to have a bit of Strawberry blonde.

I LOVED dressing Kaelynn up in dresses. I would dress her up for every special event. This is at the ward Christmas breakfast.

With Grandpa just before he retired. 2 years old.

About a mouth old. She was such a smiley baby!

8 years old. Beautiful girl!

These pictures were taken today! She got a new Christmas dress, a new case for her tablet and mustache earring! She even has a special surprise visit from Grandma and Grandpa and Barkley. It was a fun day for her. Dad took her to lunch for a special Daddy/Daughter lunch. She showed G&G how the new house is coming. Lastly she had three friends over for a late movie night.