Disneyland Trip

Day 2- Friday October 19th

Our first day at Disneyland.

7:30 am

On the tram. They don't even know what's coming.

Just went down the Matterhorn.

It's starting to get really exciting!


Peyton's first ride was Mr. Toad's Adventure (or whatever it's called) .
It's pretty dark and kinda scary for a 2 year old.
This kinda set the mood for the next couple of rides...uneasy.


Lovin' the flying.

Waiting for KC Jr. Train ride.

Ben, Kim, and Brooklyn were our riding buddies.

Max, Kim, Tillman, and Easton joined us on our Disneyland trip.

They were lucky and had Easton wear shoes that made him a whopping 40 inches so they didn't hang around with us as much since little Easty could ride most of the rides.

Luckies!

We bought an autograph book and went around meeting some of the characters.

Peyton finally crashed around 4pm.

We waited in line for what felt like forever to meet

MICKEY MOUSE!

He was worth the wait.

Then we got in another line to meet the Princess'.

Ben was a fun uncle and played games with Taylor.
Isn't that just so cute and sweet?!

The boys kept themselves entertained with their new Buzz Lightyear guns while we waited.

We met Princess Jasmine first.

She was Taylor's favorite and Ellie couldn't keep her eyes off her.

Then Belle was next.

And finally, Mulan.

Right after our turn was over the Princess' swapped with the 3 Princess' we REALLY wanted to see. Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White.

We were told we would have to get back in line!

We were so sad. So we left.

But not for long. Next was the "Honey I Shrunk the Audience".

Then we road Space Mountain and it was AWESOME!

Taylor loved the ride. Preston not so much.

We road lots of rides, but didn't take pictures at all of them.

It was a fun filled day. We stayed at Disneyland for 13 hours!

So exausting, but so worth it!
~

Day 2 at Disneyland coming tomorrow.

(I'm hoping if I say that it will force me to make sure I do it)

Disneyland Trip-the beach

Day 1- Thursday October 18th

We arrived in California with minimal torture during the 5 and 1/2 hour drive.

We decided to head down to Laguna Beach to grab a bite to eat and take some pictures at the beach.

We chose Laguna because when Chris and I were first married we lived there for 4 months so he could try out a job. As you can see we didn't stay because they made promises and didn't keep them. Probably a blessing.

The weather was gorgeous!

What a beautiful girl!
(can you believe I let her sit that close to the edge?! I should have at least made her wear a helmet- sorry, I had too, just this once!)


I love Peyton's face in this one.

I love you too!!!

This is our ward building we went to while we lived there.

We call it the cat building.

One Sunday while sitting in sacrament I looked over and saw a little girl with a cat

on her lap with a pink yarn tied to it as a leash.

It was weird.

This is the view from the front of the church.

Doesn't even do it justice for how breathtaking it really is.

(the long black thing is our atenna-we were driving and I stuck my arm out the window)

(another drive-by picture)

Right up that hill is where our 1 bedroom apartment for $950 a month was.

"Club Laguna" was nice, but EXPENSIVE! (for 9 years ago anyway)
Tomorrow I'll have our 1st day at Disneyland posted.

Going Private

Yup, you read that right. I am going private, but not for the usual paranoid reason that it probably should be. I do not want to recieve anymore rude and judgemental comments (really it was just one and that was enough) about how I am the worst mother on the planet. If you enjoy reading my blog and want to keep up on our family happenings then please leave your email address!

However, if you too are disgusted with me and my mothering skills for:

1. Not enforcing my children to wear a helmet while riding a quad.
or
2. Feel that the picture of Ellie with fake boobies is pornographic.
or
3. Fear that I will post more things that reveal how aweful of a mother I am.

Then please, by all means, do not request to be on my viewing list.


Even if you are not on my friend's list and wish to view my blog please do not hesitate or worry I will think you are some weirdo for wanting to view my blog. Do understand that I will check your blog out first if I don't immediatly know you to make sure you are safe...just a little good mothering skill I did pick up. ;)

Sorry for sounding so cold. I guess I'm still offended by some girl named Kara.

*My Disneyland posts are coming soon I promise! I'm still sick and hope to have some more energy soon! And no I'm not pregnant, just to clear up any rumors that might be going around :)



This blog will be private on November 1st.

Disneyland here we come!

Tomorrow we are off to California to spend 2 glorious days at Disneyland!!!

It will be our first time going as a family.

We are so excited and can't wait to have the drive over with!

I am sick so it will be interesting. Hopefully no one else gets sick!

Wish us luck and have a wonderful weekend!

10 Year High School Reunion

Chris and Me

Kim and Me

Ben, Kim, Me, Chris


Malissa, Heather, Me


Chris, Me, Phil, Heather, Malissa, Antonio


Dave, Annelise, Me, Chris

~

I had such a great time at my reunion last night!
It was so fun to visit with old friends and classmates.
Dave and Annelise totally surprised me and came home from their amazing travels earlier this month and didn't tell me! I'm so glad her dad's birthday wish was to have ALL his children be there at his party. And that his birthday was before our reunion.
It worked out perfect!
Welcome home you two!!!

~

There was all sorts of contests like,
most kids, married longest, most pets, ect.
I almost won most pets!
I got beat out by some guy that owns a reptile store.
What a freakin' jip!
Like that should count as HIS pets!
I also got pretty close to winning married longest,
but some girl apparently got married a month after graduation.
~

I wish we could do the night over because I didn't get all the pictures with friends that I wanted to.
Which really really bugs me...dang it!
Oh well. Hopefully I'll do better at our 20 year.


GO TOROS!

Sisters Reuniting

My sister, Courtney, and her sister, Amber, came to town for a wedding reception.

I couldn't go to the reception and see all of my "step" family so they invited me out to lunch with them. It was so fun to see family I haven't seen since I was 11!

Thanks so much for treating my kids and I to lunch Vaughn!

My "ex-step sister" Amber.

She's due in January with her first baby!

Sharon and her family came up for the weekend to visit too.

So it was Sharon, Courtney, Amber and my mom all over for pizza and a lot of reminiscing.

My mom and Courtney

As long as it has wheels...

It must be a toy.

I love how he neatly stacked the 3 items that were in it before he took it out.

And how he must fix the broken wheel before he

pushes it through the house.

I really really love this little boy!

The Story Behind the Boobies

First off,

I did not give her the idea or tell her to put them in her

Mexican Hootchy Mama swim cover-up.

(mexican meaning-we got it in Mexico)

(see side bar)

Ellie came running out of her room and said,

"Look at my boobies Mom!"

She looked so cute and funny that I HAD to take a picture.

Emily R asked, and I quote,

"What did you use to give her those boobies? I am laughing! ;) she looks like she is 20!"

(I think you are right Shauna, boobies do make her look older)

Well folks, Ellie's boobies were (and still are on occasion) made out of

her little brother's balls.

Don't worry, they are just the toy kind.

They even have different little animals inside of each one. Some of you may even have these cute balls at your house!

Remember this?

Junior High Taco Salad.

Did you know you can buy 4 big taco shell bowls at

FOOD CITY for only $1.69?

And let me tell you, they are delicious!

And authentic.

They were

a huge

hit

at our house!!!




But I'm pretty sure I made them even better
than the ones from school!



2nd favorite lunch item: The Salad Bar

3rd favorite lunch item: Bagel and Cream Cheese



What was your favorite lunch item in
Junior High?

Cherished Moments...

Chris worked extra late yesterday so he didn't have to start work

until 8 AM today!

He walked the kids to the bus stop and they were thrilled!

I got to make him one of his favorites-

fried eggs and toast.

Thanks for working so hard everyday honey!

Hope you have a great day!

Love you!

Pinetop- Saturday and Sunday

Beautiful Sunrise area.

On Saturday we drove 30 minutes away to go quad riding.
(The neighborhood we were staying at doesn't allow it there.)
So we get there and start riding and a Forrest Ranger comes and tells us that

it is Arizona law that children under 16 require a helmet.

We had no idea it was the law.

(Guess it's time to invest in some now)

We were just always really careful when giving our kids rides and let the older kids

ride only in 2nd gear near us.

So that was a bummer.

Luckily there was a horse near by and the kids had fun petting it

while us adults took turns riding.

Taylor and Sydney


Preston and Peyton waiting for dad or mom to come give them a ride.



Preston driving before we got stopped by the Forrest Ranger.
He's such a good little driver.


Chris and I went for a ride and got back just before it started to rain!
Thank goodness!
It hurts when it hits your face!


Ellie and Taylor staying warm in the truck.

Blake and I getting cozy out of the cold rain.

After we got the quads all loaded up it stopped raining!

So Murphy's Law.

So Chris pulled out his trustly metal detector and unfortunately didn't find a whole lot.

Right outside of Mama Bears and Honey Bear Antiques.

We had a good time checking out all the fun antiques.

Then we went to an old fashion Car Show.

It was so fun to see all the different old cars.

They were driving all around Pinetop when not sitting at the Car Show.

We got some fun pictures that I will post later....maybe.

Sunday we woke up and slowly cleaned up and tried to soak up the last tiny bit of relaxing.

Then we headed home around 2pm.

The ride was okay until we hit Payson then the screaming started.

That was enough for me to send Chris to get fixed!

Now that we aren't in the car anymore I think I've changed my mind :)

Pinetop- Thursday and Friday

Thursday night we got into Pinetop at around 8:00.

We were all starving so we picked up some semi-yummy

pizza from Little Ceasar's and devoured it in minutes .

Afterwards the kids got in their jammies and played on the steeeep stairs.

This is the HUGE cabin we woke up to.
It has 7 bedrooms!
We were living the high life for sure!


We spent most of Friday riding around on the Polaris.



And some went fishing.
(I really wish I sent the camera with Chris)

More to come tomorrow.

It's Monday and not my turn to babysit!!!

(I do a babysitting swap on Mondays from 9-12 with my sister-in-laws)

I gotta go drop my kids off and come home and clean up from our trip- interruption free!