The Magic Kingdom 2009

Some of you have told me that the four previous pictures I posted were not sufficient.  If these don't satisfy you, I can't help you.  This is almost every great picture of our very fun and much needed trip to Newport Beach and Disneyland with my family.

We started our drive after our church responsibilities were finished on Sunday.  We stayed at my parents' place in St. George and continued on to Newport on Monday.  As soon as we checked into our hotel (thanks, Dad!) the kids jumped in the pool.  Our room wasn't even ready yet, so we used the lobby facilities to change.  There is nothing better than swimming after a 6 hour ride in the car and too many movies!

On Tuesday morning we headed out early for a full day of Disneyland.  The lines were great--we waited maybe 20 minutes for Peter Pan, which is always the longest line!  We did all of Fantasyland, and most of the rest.  My boys loved Indiana Jones this year.  I did prepare them by telling them what to expect.  They went on every big ride in the park and are at the perfect age!  

Lucy was amazing too.  She was so happy and easy-going, but she's just like that.  Our traditional first ride is always the tea cups (always the shortest line), and Lucy couldn't wait to go with Grandpa! 

I have to say that my dad, who says he hates Disneyland and thinks it's the most miserable place on earth, was a trooper.  He was the best grandpa and he was always holding, helping or entertaining someone under 6.  It was so fun for my kids to get to experience Disneyland with Grandma, Grandpa, cousins, aunts and an uncle!






Baby Lilli loved all the excitement!  She was so sweet and never went a moment without someone's complete attention.  I got to watch her for a minute or two while her mom experienced Indiana Jones.  What a cutie!
I love that my boys still love Winnie the Pooh and friends.  We have stood in line every time to see these characters, and my kids love it.  Lucy and Audrey were pretty excited too!


It was so fun to have Adam, Ash and Eli come meet up with us for our Disneyland evening.  We don't get to see enough of their sweet little family.  By the end of the trip Eli was constantly asking for Audee and Woo Woo.  Cousins are the best!


I missed seeing Lucy meet the princesses.  Olivia and the grandparents took the girls and Eli while Shea and I rode the big rides in Tomorrowland with the boys.  It was nice to spend some time with my guys, and I know Lucy was loving meeting all these pretty ladies!  She just had to admire their dresses, their accessories, and everything about them.  Oh how I've waited for a girly-girl to share my interests with!


Meeting Minnie was a treat.  Lucy was wearing a Minnie shirt and it got lots of attention from the star herself!
Have you ever seen anyone so happy to be on "it's a small world" in your whole life?  My dad texted Matt and Marc while we were in line.  They couldn't be more jealous that we were riding their favorite ride without them!  The new changes are darling.  I've always loved this ride, and now it's just that much better.
Lucy's dad couldn't resist buying Lucy a dress to be just like the pretty princesses!  She has worn it every day and we'll probably never clean up all the glitter.  We bought the dress as we were leaving the park.  She insisted upon wearing it and walking to the car.  She wouldn't look up the entire time because she was too busy watching the skirt poof in front of her.  Occasionally she would twirl right in the middle of the street and a big crowd of people.  Everyone around us thought she couldn't be cuter!  We definitely agree.

We broke up our Disney days by going to the beach on Wednesday.  Lucy had never been to a beach and had a great time playing with her dad and brothers.  We stayed for a few hours and just let the kids run.
It was Audrey's first time at the beach as well.  She couldn't get enough of letting the sand run through her hands.


Thursday was California Adventure day.  I must admit it's not my favorite park, but we had a good day. 



Cooper was chosen to come on stage and be a part of the illustrator show.  He was supposed to pose like the characters, but his shyness held him back a little.  He did get a cool pencil sketch of Woody, and we stayed to meet a few characters.
In 5 visits (plus one where my mom just went with the boys) to Disneyland, I don't think we've ever had a picture with Mickey Mouse.  Gasp!  We were glad to end that streak.

Another princess?  This place is heaven!  My boys are such handsome gentlemen.  Cinderella was loving them!

Thankfully we waited in line for the new Toy Story ride.  It was a 30 ish minute wait, and hard to do with tired kids, but the ride was worth it.  It was so darling!
We were leaving the park just as the parade was starting.  We easily found front row seats and enjoyed the Pixar characters.  Disney parades are so fun!

We had a great time.  We left on Friday--endured horrible traffic in Vegas--but made it to St. George to stay for the night.  The kids woke up, went for a swim in the very heated pool, and we made it the rest of the way home.  We were happy to be back and out of the car, but we made some wonderful memories!

The Happiest Place on Earth

I have some fantastic pictures of our trip to Newport Beach and Disneyland last week.  If I had the patience, I would post all 272 of them!  For now, enjoy these few.

Valentine's Day 2009

I'm not hip on the idea of going out on Valentine's Day with a million other couples and waiting at some restaurant for three hours just to get a table.  I'm perfectly fine with going out the week before or after.  This year, however, we celebrated on the 13th and 14th in grand style.

My brother, Cameron, is in culinary school at UVU.  His class decided to do a fundraiser sweetheart's dinner on the 13th.  My parents wanted us, them and Ben and Olivia to go and support Cam, so they bought us tickets to go.  We have been a few times to Greg's restaurant, which is run on campus by the culinary school and is worth the $40 you spend as a couple.  The food has always been the best quality and so good!  We knew the Valentine's dinner would be great as well.

We showed up and enjoyed several different hors d'oeuvres--mini bbq pork sandwiches, chicken satay, fresh fruit, sushi, sashimi, a cheese platter, a pate assortment, crab cakes, stuffed grape tomatoes, cucumbers with crab topping, and Martinellis.  It was all delicious, and we hadn't even started dinner.  

We then sat at our table and enjoyed four courses more of food.  We had a butternut squash tortellini soup with mushrooms, a salad rolled in parma with cranberry and other sauce (sorry Jane, it's been a while!) the taster course was smoked salmon wrapped around greens with wasabi caviar and creme fresh, and the main course was filet mignon with root vegetables.  I do remember that dessert was my favorite.  It was served on a 12" square mirror and had panna cotta with mango sauce, a tiny molten chocolate cake with fresh orange creamy stuff on top, strawberry sorbet and all the fancy cookies and sugar sculptures to make it exquisite!  

Anyway, after stuffing ourselves and chatting for four hours we headed home.  I'll definitely do that again next year.  Cameron and his colleagues even got to create ice sculptures and carve melons.  It was really amazing.

The next night was a blast.  My parents offered to watch the kids so I dropped them off at 5:30 ish.  Shea was waiting for me at home.  He knew I had planned something, but it was a surprise.  A group of 9 neighborhood couples got together for a nice dinner/newlywed game.  The men didn't know, however, that they would be kidnapped, blindfolded, cuffed (with red fuzzy handcuffs), thrown in the back of a seatless mini van and driven around the neighborhood to where the party was happening.  It was fun to surprise all these men! 

We arrived at the party, took mug shots, and made the men find their seats by identifying their wife's lips on the placecards.  It was very creative and funny!  We enjoyed Goodwood ribs and turkey and all the women brought side dishes and appetizers to complement our meal.  We learned too much about each other while playing the newlywed game and burned most of our meals' calories by laughing.  It was a great evening that we ended with a little chocolate and caramel fondue and a marshmallow fight.

Camden lost a tooth!

(Cam closed his eyes in every picture.  I told him to close them and open on the count of three.  That's what I get for trying to manipulate the photo!)

The hardest thing about older twins?  Having one hit a milestone more than a day before the other one.  Camden was pretty sad when Cooper lost a tooth in December.  But, his time came on February 13th.  Shea pulled his tooth out downstairs and he proudly came marching up to show me the tiniest tooth ever.  It was an exciting moment!

Not two minutes later, I pulled Cooper's second tooth out.  My boys are growing up!

(Yes, I realize how behind my blog is and how boring I've been lately.  I would trade blogging every day with being sick in a second!  This is miserable!)

Our newest addition...

will debut in mid-September!  

We are very excited and more than a little anxious to find out if it will be an addition or additions.  We would take twins again--as crazy as that sounds.  It's the thought of having 5 children that is way more overwhelming than two babies.  We find out at our doctor's appointment at the first of March (hopefully...I just have to convince him to do an early ultrasound to be sure.)

So, my friends, that explains why I've been so very absent lately.  I haven't felt like doing ANYTHING except lying on the couch.  That doesn't happen with three kiddos running around.  This pregnancy's morning sickness has been so much worse than the other two.  I hope I survive at least 4 more weeks!  The unisom/B6 combo has helped and so has the Zofran.  It doesn't make me feel normal, but at least I can function.  Is it my age?  Is it because I'm on my third pregnancy? Any more tips on fighting mid-day/evening sickness?

My baby girl

is potty trained!  I kept asking her if she wanted to do it, and she always said no.  I knew she was mature enough, I just didn't want to fight her about it.  I bought princess undies Friday afternoon, and she has worn them ever since!  (She does still sleep in a diaper, and she hates it.  Until she lets me get rid of her ba-ba, she won't be able to wake up dry.)

I am so glad I waited until she was ready.  I told myself that if she had too many accidents and it was a chore and a challenge, I would give up and try again later.  Three accidents in almost a week is a miracle!  I don't even have to constantly ask her about the potty.  She comes and tells me every time when she needs to go.  I am so proud of her.  She is so motivated by praise and attention, so it has really worked for us.  She did get a new Dora playset today from her daddy.  She insisted on having Dora and Boots--and she deserves it!

Aruba 2009

If you want the really creative and hilarious version of our trip, visit Emily's blog.  (Seriously, you will laugh until you cry!)

 This will be just a boring travel log and picture run-down.  But it's a post and it has pictures, so enjoy!

Our flight left SLC at 12:50 a.m.  It was really early while we were sitting in Atlanta.  We had breakfast at Starbucks--since Shea had almost $50 in gift cards from a vendor.  I still haven't found something I like there.  At least the gift cards are almost spent.

I was so excited to be somewhere warm and tropical!  It was a little hot and uncomfortable in my black velour once we landed.

We sat poolside for a while on Saturday morning until we decided to rent a car and explore the surroundings.  Baby Beach--recommended by all the locals as the place to snorkel--was lame.  But at least we got to see the western and southern parts of the island.

We rented the car at the perfect time and had transportation to and from church.  The local branch was happy to see us, and I was touched as I watched the missionaries and the members interact to pull off Sunday meetings.  We were given headsets and a sweet returned missionary translated the talks for us.  We would laugh as he would get wrapped up in the joke and forget to tell us.  He would also make up what he didn't know, or he'd just leave it out.  The spirit was still very strong, and it was a great experience.

Lots of days were spent by the pool.  I read two books, Shea finished one, Chris finished one, and Emily started about four.  Too bad she didn't bring one that kept her interest!

We had gone grocery shopping and saved money by eating in the room, but the men couldn't resist the $2.50 hot dog on the beach.  We all enjoyed sandwiches quite often.  Right, Emily?

The pool area really was amazing.  I kept wishing my kids were there to enjoy it!  But I was glad they were having fun and doing great at home.  Thanks again, Ashley!

The Booze Cruise--or the Jolly Pirate snorkel, sail and swing adventure

I was appalled by the drinking and stupidity on this boat.  I am grateful, however, that it provided us with our trip's theme song.  And the snorkeling was much better at these places.

We laughed hard as our 120 lb. ripped captain tried to backflip with this 270 lb. guy on his back.  That kid had muscles!  At least drunks are entertaining to watch.

We ate...a lot.

Toward the end of our trip we let the boys fulfill their dream of offroad exploration.  We saw the north and east of the island from the back of the Jeep.  I think I'm getting too old for stuff like that!  We did see some very interesting places and things though.  I have to admit that I was happy to get back to the groomed and pristine beaches and resorts on the other side.

After a three hour wait at the airport--and more security and immigration lines than I care to remember--we were headed home to our children and the freezing cold.

Oh, and did I mention that I went scuba diving?  Never again, my friends.  I was just waiting for Davy Jones to rise up from the sand and make me join his crew.  The only reason I went was to chance seeing Will Turner or Captain Jack.  No such luck.

I spent all my time trying not to surface and the rest of the time trying not to scrape the bottom of the sea.  

I did it!  And my hubby is forever proud of my efforts.  They better be good for a lifetime of praise!

A sneak peek

Into what I've been doing lately...

I should have blogged right when I got home, before I was ready for another 8 hour flight back to Aruba and the sunshine!  

How do you top this as the view from your room?