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.

Family Vacation (Disneyland Day 2)

Day two was mostly driving. We did gain an hour, so that was awesome. We did have one problem with gas on the way to California. We stopped at Costco in Victorville and tried to get gas, but our Credit Union was having problems connecting to Costco. We had to go to a different gas station that was a lot more. (BOO). We also found out the Marriott we were staying at didn't have breakfast, so bought some cereal at Costco (luckily we had some cash). 

We decided to go to Newport beach on this day. My Grandparents, some cousins and Aunts went to Newport last summer and said it was so fun, so I wanted to check it out. It was a great day on the beach. The weather was awesome. It wasn't crowed. Perfection! When we got our lunch out the birds attracted us. Birds would literally take the food right out of your hand. It was so relaxing and fun.

After the beach we went to the Marriott. It was one of the nicest hotels I have ever stayed at. It was also huge. I can see why they don't have breakfast there. Who could possibly feed a thousand+ people every morning? It actually turned out better to eat in our room. It was faster and everyone could eat cereal (which is Ben and Tyler's favorite). The strange thing about the room was they had two double beds. I didn't know hotels had double bed. I thought it was Queen or King. Oh well, Ben and Tyler slept in one bed and Caleb and I in the other. They brought a trundle bed for Kaelynn and we were set. That night the hotel gave us a complimentary movie and popcorn. We went swimming and watched a movie and went to bed to rest up for our big day of Disney fun!

Family Vacation (Disneyland) Day 1

We started our vacation on Monday, October 21st. We meet Mom and Dad in Cedar and off we went. We made a quick stop in St. George to pick up some more stuff (Wow! the first leg of the trip was exhausting!) We decided to go to Las Vegas to show the kids the M&M factory. I HATE the Las Vegas Strip. Every time I go there it's like my hate is this festering wound that gets bigger with each step I take. So, I don't know why I agreed to take the kids there, but I caved. The M&M factory was fun and the kids really liked it. They had a free 3D movie that was fun to watch. We thought we might buy the kids some M&M's but they were soooo expensive. I am saving my money for Disneyland, so they had to be happy with the free sample. After we ate lunch at a nearby Wendy's we headed off to Primm/Stateline. We were staying at Buffalo Bills hotel and Casino. It was cheap and a good half way point. I went shopping with Mom and Dad at the factory stores, which was fun. Everyone seemed to be tired from the drive and went to bed well. California here we come! 

Fun Times!

We had a crazy busy week. But it was also so much fun. Caleb's birthday was on Wednesday. Grandma, Grandpa and Barkley came over. They bought us lunch at C-Stop Pizza and we opened presents. Caleb got new PJ's from G&G and Ben and I got him a helicopter. He loves it! He picked hamburgers and hot dogs for his birthday dinner. Thursday was Halloween. I LOVE Halloween. This year was so much fun. The Elementary had the costume parade. I even dressed up as a pirate. I helped with the Halloween party in Kaelynn's class. Trick-or-Treating was fun. Kaelynn went with her friends and the boys went with Ben. The kids got a lot of candy. I'm sure I will picking up candy wrappers for the next month. Sometimes I just want the kids to eat their candy as fast as they can and just be done with it. On Friday Tyler had a birthday. 8 years old!! His birthday was pretty low key. He picked cereal for his birthday. No surprise there. We told the kids they were not getting friend parties because we just got back from Disneyland. Tyler got some Star Wars guys and a Strom Tropper alarm clock. Ben's dad came by that night and visited for a bit. They flew in form Hawaii. Saturday was such a wonderful day. Ben baptized Tyler. We were surrounded by Family and Friends. After the program we had an early dinner at the church. I made some soup and had other people bring soup and roll, crackers, and I also made a cheese ball. I think everyone liked it. Afterword we showed everyone the progress on our house. What a fun week!!

Caleb, Grandma and Barkley

 Yummy Cake

Pirate and Ewok

Princess Leia 

Ninja (again)

Luke Skywalker

Happy Birthday, Tyler!

Tyler's baptism

Tyler's friends!

I made these CTR cookies for the kids. I thought they turned out cute.