Random Pictures

I had to take a picture of this project that Corban did for school.  I saw it hanging up in the hall and it made me smile.  Perfect for Valentine's Day.

Love is being with my family.  

Love is Mom.

Love is Bump.

Love is fishing.

Love is happy.

Love is love.

I got my hair all chopped off.  I thought it was going to be a bit longer than it ended up being, so I was a little shocked at first and didn't know if I liked it or not.  Now that I'm used to it I really like it.  And it is shocking how curly my hair has gotten!  When it was all cut off it curled right up.  Now I just scrunch it up a bit and have it be curly, or I can straighten it to a smooth bob or flip it up.  It's lots of fun!

 I took a few pictures of my St. Patrick's Day decorations.  Well, some of them.  I didn't get pictures of the shamrocks all over the windows.  St. Patrick's Day was on Sunday this year, so the leprechaun that normally destroys our house didn't come.  That's the story and I'm sticking to it.  :)  We had a busy day though.  We went to the first 2 hours of meetings and then went to a farewell for Bump's good friend Jay's son.  It was a really special meeting and I'm glad we got to go support such a good kid.  He will be a great missionary.

Then we headed over to Lee and Trisha's house to celebrate my brother Jared's birthday as well as my nephew Dallin's 18th birthday.  My parents were in town visiting and we had a nice dinner and family home evening.  It's so nice to spend time with the people that I love the most.

Speaking of Dallin.  He got his mission call this week and will be going to Colombia, South Carolina in July.  It's crazy how many boys are getting their mission calls now before they even graduate from high school!!

This week I decided that I needed new pictures of my kids.  So, I took some!  The ones I have up on my wall are from 2 years ago.  It's crazy how much Gabby has changed especially.

I figure that this is my last picture of Corban with his perfect baby front teeth.  Both are loose now and he'll never look the same after they come out!  :)

Disneyland

Having a brother that works for Disney definitely has it's perks!  We got to spend Monday and Tuesday and the Happiest Place on Earth thanks to Dave!  Gabby had several conversations with friends at school about different rides at Disneyland and what ones they loved or hated.  She was very concerned about going on the Hollywood Tower of Terror ride.  She knew it was scary and wanted to be brave and go on it, but at the same time she was so scared that she really didn't want to go on it.  

We started the day out at California Adventure and took the kids on Soarin' over California.  They were all finally tall enough to go on it (Quincy was perfectly at the height line).  They loved it, of course.  Then we went to Bug's Land (one of their favorite places to go).  They went on a few rides there and then we went out the back way and walked right into the Hollywood Tower of Terror without the kids even knowing where they were.  All of them were tall enough, so we just made them go.  Ha ha!  They realized it while we were in line, but it went quick and we were on the ride.

I was surprised at how well they all did, but none of them liked it and would not go on it again.  If we even started to walk in that direction they got worried.  I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that we didn't give them a choice in the first place.  :)  They could all say that they did it at least and we didn't have to hear all of Gabby's worries the rest of the trip.

The rest of the time spent was just fun and full of memories for everyone!  The weather on the first day was beautiful.  The second day was a little cooler, but with sweatshirts we were fine.

The new Car's Land is open now and I think that was my favorite part of both parks.  It felt like you walked right into Radiator Springs.  Dave had told us that the line would be really long for the racing ride and to get fast passes right when we entered the park.  We did that both days and were so glad that we did.  There is no way I would have waited in the stand-by line for that ride.  It was REALLY long! As it was we lucked out.  The first time we went on it the ride broke down right at the end of the ride so they let us go on it again!  What luck!

 Here's where we were when the ride broke down.  The end of the ride is right around on the other side of Mater.  It's a really fun ride!  They did a good job on it.

Bump and I went to Disneyland on our Anniversary 15 years ago and ate at the Blue Bayou.  When we have gone back alone we always eat there.  This time we let the kids enjoy it with us.  We love the atmosphere of the Louisiana bayou and the kids favorite ride is the Pirate's of the Caribbean.  I'm glad we took them.

The highlight of Corban's trip was that he got picked to be in the Jedi Training Academy.  The picture below is the only smile I got during the whole program.  He took his Jedi "training" very seriously and focused exactly on what he should be doing the whole time.

After they were trained on the proper moves they had some surprise visitors show up.  Darth Vader and Darth Maul showed up.  Corban got to fight against the evil Vader.  I think it's fitting that his BYU shirt shows so prominently below his Jedi robe.  After that experience Corban had to come home with a light saber.  We let him build his own.

The second day at Disneyland I didn't get as many pictures, but here are a few more of the new Cars Land.  Here we are waiting to get on the tractor ride.

I wish I had taken more pictures.  They did such a good job (as usual) with this new part of the park.

 By the end of day two at Disneyland and after staying up late with cousins before that Corban couldn't even walk.  He was almost sick he was so tired.  But oh we had fun!

The next morning we left to make the days drive back to Utah and the snow and cold once again.  It was our 15th Anniversary and I loved the way we celebrated it!

Ahhh California

California is a good place to go to get out of the bitter cold of a Utah winter.  So, when Bump and I talked about what we should do to celebrate our 15th Anniversary this year we both agreed that we needed to go somewhere warm!  In talking about it we decided that it had been too long since we have taken the kids to see their cousins in sunny California.  So instead of having a romantic get-a-way to celebrate without kids, we went on a family trip.

The weekend we arrived Lauren was having a soccer tournament outside San Diego, so we met up with my brother Dave and his family to enjoy a weekend of soccer and hanging out.  Saturday night my sister-in-law Julie wasn't feeling very well so we left her sleeping in their hotel room and took the kids to play with each other at Chuck E. Cheese's!!!  It was a great thing for them to just play and have fun getting to know each other again.

Bump was happy to watch BYU Basketball while the kids played.

 Sunday we watched a few more games and hung out together at a fun park between games.  I can't believe I didn't take any pictures of Lauren.  I stole one from Julie's facebook page.   Below is Lauren and some team members during lunch on Sunday.  They are a great team and won all their games in the tournament.  It was fun to see her play.  During the first game on Sunday Lauren fell and hurt her arm.  She kept complaining about it and Dave kept telling her to be tough.  They wrapped it and kept ice on it, but she wasn't happy about having to be tough.

I stole another picture from Julie.  This was taken a few weeks later.  Yup, she did actually fracture her arm that morning.  Things like this make you feel like the best parent of the year!  :)  She is a tough girl!

The kids had so much fun just playing at the park together enjoying the sunshine and great weather!

 That Sunday was also Superbowl Sunday and after the last whistle blew on Lauren's game we quickly got in the car and headed over to Julie's Uncle's house to watch the 49ers lose to the Raven's.  Dave was pretty disappointed in the outcome, but we had fun.  The kids spent hours playing in the hot tub and we enjoyed good food and good company.  It was nice of them to invite us.  They have an incredible home, perfect for parties!

A cold winter

 This winter has been so cold!  I got a few pictures of Quincy and her friend Peyton when the sun poked it's head.  Don't let the sunshine fool you, it's bitter cold this January!

 I decided to go out and take a few pictures of the yard covered in the latest snow storm.  I was lucky enough to have some willing help today with the sidewalks.  Gabby and Corban shoveled them twice for me during this storm.  It's nice to see them get older and want to help more.  And I actually LOVE a good snow storm!

Welcome to a new year!

At the end of every year I order a hard bound book of my blog.  It's like a family history or a family year book that the kids can look through and remember the fun things that we have done.  This has replaced my scrapbooking days since I have had kids and I feel great about it!

Well, I received my 2012 book and it's the thickest one yet since I did my weekly blog update and the picture-a-day challenge.  It's so fun to see just basic, every day pictures from our lives.  Well, I started doing bad at the end of the year and have done even worse at the beginning of 2013.  I rarely even take pictures!!  But, I will try to do better so that I have a book to print for this year.

Meanwhile, I will catch up on things that have happened.

We sprang in the new year at Lee and Trisha's house.  I only took a few pictures and one of them that I wanted was a first kiss of the year with my cutie.  This one would have been perfect with the neighbors fireworks in the background... ha ha!!

 But we got one and I feel so grateful for such an amazing and loving husband.  What a great way to start of a brand new year of our lives together!

Jared and Casi were there with their kids and I got this great picture of Jared guzzling down the sparkling cider.

 We all had fun playing with and holding Lee and Trisha's cute new puppy, Bokkie (Boy-Kee).

We all had fun and didn't come home with a stolen puppy no matter how much Bump wanted to.  Can't wait to see what this new exciting year holds for our family!!