Just a little doting and bits of news....

It was good to have another weekend at home to get some more projects done. Joe worked in the yard and the garage most of the day while I did some work inside and prepared my lesson and music for Sunday. Joseph made the kids lunch and we left them by themselves to eat. (I know bad, bad, bad!) Things were quiet, so I stepped out of the office and looked into the kitchen to find Aaron sound asleep at the counter. Poor guy!


Joe told the kids that we will be going camping in May for the ward campout, so on Sunday afternoon he thought it would be fun to have them practice sleeping in a tent. A little excited? Yes! All three played in the tent all afternoon and then Brynn and Abby slept in it. We were surprised they lasted the whole night. Abby came to our room this morning beaming with pride that she had slept the WHOLE night in the tent.


Joe has been really busy at work with the remodel, The basement flooded twice, so he was in his suit (not his swimming suit :) he wears a suit and tie to work everyday) with rubber boots helping the maintenance supervisor and the plumber figure out the problem. Turns out both times were tile from the demolition that got caught in the drain. Frustrating!

He's had a slow couple of months, so he's working really hard to get things cranking by the end of the month. He's determined!

Our funny kids: On Sunday I made it to church late with the kids so I missed the announcements, but that's okay we have someone in our family who remembers and recalls everything that goes in her ears. We were in the van for no more than 2 seconds when Abby said at lightning speed, (read with a slight lisp and throw in a few w's for a few r's, and don't take a breat). "Mom there is an Easter Eggstravaganza at Pioneer Park on March 22. We need to bring our own eggs, we color them at home but only if you want to and then we bring them to them to the park for the rest of the kids to find theres going to be some candy eggs and theres going to be some colored eggs and theres going to be the kind of eggs you eat and you can decorate them with your family and then bring them to the park but its not tomorrow it's next week I mean next month and you need to bring your basket so you can put the eggs that you colored into your basket." She repeated this about 10 times to me throughout the afternoon and then made sure that Joe heard the word when he arrived home from meetings. It's so funny, you have to be careful when you ask her what story she read in pre-school because she will repeat the story VERBATIM back to you. We often have to stop her for times sake. I wish I had a memory like that.

Brynn is really taking off with her reading and writing (and math) it is so much fun to watch. She leaves notes all over the place, and is constantly "making books" by stapling papers together and writing a story to fill the pages. She starts a new art project before I can clean up the last one. But lately her notes have been making us laugh. A few nights ago she wrote a couple of notes on cardstock and placed them on our pillows. The notes read, "Go To Bed! Dad!" and "Go To Bed! Mom!" Last night while she was trying to sleep in the tent, she brought us both notes that read, "Dad you can't tok. but wisper!" and "Mom you can't tok. but wisper." She's learned about apostrophes but they are as big as the letters themselves. :) Her newest was the one she put on the basketball standard in Aaron's room, "don't use your feet!" she said she was worried about people kicking the balls up through the net instead of dropping them in the net. Thanks Brynn! I love her so much!

After something the kids saw today in the parking lot of the drugstore we had a chat about putting harmful things into your body and making choices that can result in not having a safe place to sleep, eat, and live. Abby said, "Yeah mom I know what it's called, they're not following God's diwections!"

Disneyland Day 1

We LOVE Disneyland! Everytime we go, we leave wanting more....that's the way it should be, right? This time was no exception, it was a quick trip, so we really left wanting more, but we were so happy to be able to meet up with Scott and Annette and their cute kids, and Mom and Dad and Emily. We really missed Wade and Sara, and Chad and Jenn and their boys, but I'm sure we'll make plans to go together some time in the future.


We arrived home from Laguna Beach late Friday night. On Saturday we took Mom to the airport so she could teach her lesson for members of the Relief Society in her stake and then we spent the day doing laundry and packing for Disneyland. We were exhausted and almost decided to stay home and take the trip at a later date because everyone was feeling pretty sick, but we didn't have the heart to tell the kids, and we really wanted them to get to go with cousins, so we decided to see how everyone was doing on Sunday. Aaron's dry hacking cough became a little wetter, so Joe headed to his 6:30 a.m. bishopric meeting and I started getting the kids ready for church. When we arrived at church the bishop came up to me and said, "Well, are you going?" I told him yes, and after church we were on our way. We packed every over-the-counter medicine known to man, as well as our humidifier and headed out. Getting to Disneyland from our house is a straight shot on the I-5, so easy, especially if you can miss traffic in LA. We managed to get there in 6 hours, but on the way home it took me 8 hours because traffic was congested getting out of L.A. County.



Brynn and Abby loved seeing Sleeping Beauty's castle. We raced from ride to ride and after a couple of hours Brynn and Abby kept complaining......"This isn't Disneyland...where are the princesses?" We assured them that we would see princesses, but that there were lots of other things to enjoy at Disneyland as well.

On Monday morning the lines weren't too bad, but by the afternoon, things started to pick up. We didn't realize how busy it was until we went on Tuesday and experienced very little wait time for rides. We took advantage of the switch rider passes, and took the girls on all of the crazy rides we could. Brynn did pretty well and Abby finally said, "Mom, no more rides that go from side to side and that are really downing." You can tell by looking at Aaron's eyes that he's not feeling that great, but this guy was in such great spirits. We really have to hand it to him!

Joe was in the very front taking the picture, I had taken Abby on it before, and this was the "downing" ride that she preffered to opt out of the second time. Delaney hung on the my arm tight during the intense parts. Splash Mountain has always been one of my favorites at Disneyland.
The kids had lots of fun exploring through Tarzan's Treehouse. Delaney was so cute. She was scared of the bridge, so she asked some lady she didn't know to hold her hand as she went across. We all got a good laugh out of it.
All of us, except Scott, but he was with us...enjoying a ride on the Mark Twain.

After Mark Twain we headed over to California Adventure to take advantage of the fun there because Joe had to head back to work the next day. Our old-time favorites there have been Soarin' Over California, Grizzly Rapids, California Screamer, and it was fun to let the kids try these ones. They loved Soarin', mostly loved Grizzly except for the drops (Abby, but she did it 3 times!) and Brynn was slightly too short for the California Screamer, but Joe and I enjoyed it twice.

Because of our FastPasses and the switch riders we were able to go twice in a row. Hense the disheveled look. Right after this picture was taken the roller coaster pulled up and the women sitting next to wear I was standing was covered in vomit! Nearly everyone in line and on the roller coaster was dry heaving. Everyone got off and the next group started to get on, while I waved to the attendant. Thankfully they sent that one away to be cleaned and we hopped in a new one. Poor woman. I felt so bad for her. What a bummer that would be to have to go back to the hotel and change.


Mom and Dad took the kids to some of he attractions for the little people while Joe, Delaney, Emily and I went to the Tower of Terror. It was fun and thrilling. Joe plays everything up so well, and screams so loud, (half the time, he does it just to get a rise out of people). Everyone on the ride with us was laughing so hard at the end at the things he said and looking at him like,"I can't believe you were that scared!" ....I wish I could remember what it was he said, I'll have to ask Delaney, but he really played it up. Everyone deserves the chance to go to Disneyland with him. You can't help but have a good time when he's in the group.

After the "Tower of Terror" we met up with Mom and Dad and they offered to take our kids back to the hotel and put them to bed so that we could close down the park. I have the greatest parents ever! Emily and McKenzie decided to stay with us. When California Adventure closed we headed back over to Disneyland. It wasn't quite as busy, so we got alot in during those two hours. Being at Disneyland at night is so magical, I LOVE it! We started out with Space Mountain, and then headed to Splash Mountain, then to the Haunted Mansion, then to Indiana Jones, then to Big Thunder Railroad....while we were on Big Thunder we noticed fireworks in the air. So we ran to see the tail end of the show....and when I say ran, we literally ran, Joe led the way, and it reminded me of the couple of times we had been to Disneyland in the past, he runs through the place so he doesn't miss a single beat. I wonder how many miles we ran back and forth. We felt like kids again, it was so much fun. We loved having McKenzie and Emily there with us too! McKenzie did awesome and kept right up with Joe. Thanks Mom and Dad for being so thoughtful.

After Splash Mountain we stopped for a wet photo op with the honey pots.

Good Night Disney!
McKenzie and Emily

Whew! The next day Joe flew home to get back to work and we geared up for another day of Disney with swollen and sore feet.....but very happy spirits.

Disneyland Day 2

We were ready for another day as the park opened. This time we decided to do California Adventure first. On the second day we spent more time letting the kids do the little people stuff, but we still managed to get in a few thrillers for all who were willing and able!

There was hardly a line for "Soarin" so we went there first. Scott and Annette watched the two little boys and then took the switch riders to use for later. You can tell that Cooper is thrilled to be waiting in line with all the girls!

Abby and Auntie Em
Grizzly Rapids, here we come! Before...
Brynn and I decided to wear plastic, Abby and Delaney wanted to brave the storm!
McKenzie and Grandpa!
Abby after....she was so cute to watch on this ride, her face was priceless...she kept asking how many more drops there would be...what a brave chica! She was soaked! My little bear cub playing in the Brother Bear play area. Makin' my Dad proud!

Em and the nieces and nephews
Before we entered the park on the second day, Dad went to Target and bought a stroller. We all looked at him kind of funny because I had brought a double stroller and Scott and Annette had brought theirs, so we asked him who it was for...he told us it was for his "stuff". He was sick of carrying around the bag of snacks and jackets, so he bought a stroller to haul it all around in. We mean business when we go to the D-Land.....we had a total stroller blockade going on! But most of the time the strollers were carrying...you guessed it....stuff! The kids loved playing on this ship....there is so much to see and do at the parks, but of course, never enough time.

It was quite warm...so the water was a welcome treat!
Abby started stripping when she saw the water. We're working on the modesty thing! Aaron is tuckered after playing in the water. I love the way he puts his arms behind his head. He does it while he's watching movies at home or whenever he watches a movie in his carseat. The guy just LOVES to kick back and relax!
We stopped at Boudin's for some yummy lunch...the kids enjoyed feeding the bread bowls to the ducks. ..and then we raced over to see High School Musical perform. We LOVED it, of course!

Joe gave me his camera because I forgot to charge my camera, and his camera ended up running out of battery too. They stay charged for so long that sometimes we forget when they do need to be charged. But I did have my video camera with me thank goodness. Our next mission was to head back to Disneyland to meet some Pricnesses! And that we did! I waited in line for what seemed like FOREVER...but while I was in line I spotted our law school friends Kristina and Paul Edwards, who live in Reno now. I am so glad that everything aligned and we were able to bump into them. What a cute family! It was fun to see them in REAL life since we see each other's kids on the computer quite often :)

After we saw the Princesses, the girls felt like they had finally BEEN TO DISNEYLAND! Whew! We went on the "Finding Nemo" submarine ride, (which Aaron loved), and then finished off with Autopia and Buzz Light Year (also two of Aaron's favorites!) Mom, Dad and Emily headed back to St. George to spend the night, and the rest of us said good-bye to Disneyland, and drove back to our hotels. :( It was seriously sad seeing it end.

I just have to say that my family are the greatest people to go to Disneyland with....every ride we went to go on either Scott or Annette or my Mom or Dad would volunteer to watch and play with the ones who couldn't ride. We started to feel guilty, but they insisted. Scott's phrase, "Go ...have a date with your husband on ________." They were all such a big help and made our trip very enjoyable. They watched after my kids like they were their own and probably bought them more food than I did...but wouldn't take any money. I owe you guys big time! After they dropped us off at the hotel, I took everyone in and started to figure out what to do for dinner, just as I was getting everyone out the door Scott came running to the hotel room with dinner for us. Thoughtful people they are....they are just so with it! Their kids were not only great friends to my kids, but also watched out for all of them. Thanks for such a great trip! We love you all alot!

The next morning I woke up early and packed all of the gear up while the kids were sleeping and then left about 9:30 hoping that would be enough time to miss traffic. It wasn't. It took me 8 hours to get home, but the kids were angels in the car, watching movie after movie. We were excited to get home to Joe, and to return to more normal life. I love having little trips, but I really enjoy the consistency and predictability of everyday life. It's always good to come home!

The Montage ~ Laguna Beach

We're back from our vacation packed month. For some reason, all of our opportunities for fun trips came within a 4 week time period. To keep with tradition, everyone had to bring home some type of illness with each trip. From Lake Tahoe came the stomach flu, from Trinidad came the bronchial ickies which led into the colds that carried through to Laguna Beach and Disneyland, and while Joe took the kids to Santa Rosa to watch the Amgen Tour of California, I stayed home and slept off a massive head cold (I should probably go to see someone after 2 1/2 weeks of this, but it's such a hassle with kids, hopefully it will take care of itself)....Joe headed into Sacramento today to watch them ride around the capital, but I chose to watch the recap on Versus so we didn't have to take the kids out in the crowds again (he'll post more on this later).

When we arrived home from Trinidad I hurried to get everything ready for Super Nanny (my mom) and I loaded up on the Sudafed, Tussin, Ibuprofen, Tylenol, and Exedrin (but not all at once). We had a really nice time, in spite of the sickness.

We flew down early Wednesday morning and started off with a little window shopping at the South Coast Plaza. We then joined all of the administrators for lunch at a mexican restaurant overlooking the ocean called Las Brisas. After lunch we headed to check into the Montage. I can't say enough nice things about that place. I love it!

The view of the ocean from our room made being sick a little easier.

The workout room overlooked the ocean and the lap pool with huge sliding doors they had open. I could watch dolphins pop up as I ran. It was a treat, and I was able to get to know some of the other spouses who also had the same idea.

The rest of my morning and afternoon was spent at the regular pool visiting while Joseph attended business meetings. I spent more time than I should have at the pool and paid for it. I may look tan, but I am really fried! That night we went to dinner at the Sorrento Grill with some of the other administrators and their spouses. That night we had a dance back at the hotel. It was fun, but I was feeling pretty sick...and tired by that point....I just felt....off. We stayed until the entertainment left, and then went to our room and crashed!

The next morning Joe went to a short business meeting while I enjoyed another great run overlooking the ocean. We enjoyed a yummy late breakfast at the hotel's restaurant, The Loft, and then we walked along the beach and took a stroll around the hotel.

Mmm! Mmm! Doesn't that look good.

We changed our flight so that we could enjoy the area a little more. When we arrived at the airport they told us they had overbooked the flight, and asked if we would volunteer our seats. We were anxious to get home because Aaron was feeling so sick, but we called Mom and without hesitation, she said "Go for it!" So we ended up with nearly $700 in flight vouchers! Wahoo! Thanks for being a trooper Mom!

It was fun to get back to the kids. My mom did an awesome job! I am always amazed at what she is able to accomplish. She comforted and took care of the two sick kids, got everyone to school, baked and decorated Valentine cookies with the kids, arranged a playdate with Brynn's friend at the park... and visited with the little girls aunt while the kids played. (The aunt later told me, "Your mom is REALLY nice!" ) she played new games with the kids, took the kids out for pizza, made a healthy new muffin recipe with them, took them to two days of dance, went grocery shopping, kept the house in order, and navigated herself around a new city and sister city, without any landmarks (mountains) to tell which direction she was going. Go Mom! I am always thinking I should have paid more attention to all of her qualities and skills while I still lived with her. She is great!

It was absolutely wonderful, but along with all of the blessings come challenges. I'll spare you the details of what Joe had to deal with today, but let's just say, this was a well-deserved trip!