The Happiest Place on Earth!!

On our way to Disneyland....

On our way home from Disneyland...it was a blast, but very exhausting!

We got to spend the last week in California and spent one day at Newport beach and then five days at Disneyland and California Adventures. It was so much fun and the company was awesome! We went with Blake's dad and I really don't know what we would have done without him. He knows Disneyland!!! He took care of kids, showed us what to do and helped out so much! We also had two other families with us, the Praags and the Christensens. They are our good friends and we are so glad they were all able to come!

These are all the kids that went to Disneyland, waiting patiently for our rental cars!!! What a cute bunch...

Our first day was at the beach. Oh my! Marley went around eating sand and laying around getting totally dirty!

Blake's dream came true when he was able to take the waves and do some boogie boarding!

Our first day at Disneyland...and Peter Pan was the first ride!

Stratton was so excited to see Buzz!!
Here is Grandpa and the kids at his favorite place on earth! We are so blessed that he could come with us!
Yep, we were one of those groups who lined up before Disneyland started and waited behind the line. Once the park opened, we walked (no running!) to the Submarine ride. I had to laugh at the people run-walking once the rope was taken down and I was one of them!! I actually saw a guy with a stroller nearly take down a girl in front of him. It was a comical moment.

This is everyone, except Blake's dad.

We had to get Mickey's signature!

New Mickey hats and waiting for the parade...all of the kids were so excited.

We spent much of Thursday at California Adventure, but we started the day with a race to the Disney princesses. Each time we asked Strat what he wanted to do he would say, I want to see Cinderella! We waited in line for them to open up and we were about 25 people back. Blake was waiting with Marley up at the front of the line and using Marley as bait, got in the front of the line. He is such a smoozer, but it did save us a lot of time!

In honor of Halloween here is the pumpkin Mickey!
Over at California Adventure we stood in the line for the new Toy Story ride. It requires these cool 3D glasses and is quite the ride!

This is my little bug in the ant hill at the Bug's Life Theatre.

We loved the Toy Story ride so much that we rushed to it on Friday the second the park opened. It was another funny experience watching adults act like kids!

Here Marley is ready to play the Midway games on the Toy Story Ride!

Here we are back at Tarzan's treehouse, this was one of Strat's favorites.
Our last day at Disneyland...Marley smacked a kiss right on Mickey's nose. Isn't his Halloween outfit awesome?
One last picture in front of the castle...

We had a fantastic trip! Just a few things I want to remember...

Stratton's favorite ride was the Matterhorn (spelling?) he wanted to ride that over and over. Blake took him on Space mountain and he felt so bad afterwards because Stratton was so scared! I think I felt that same feeling when I went on Tower of Terror. I hate the feeling of dropping out of control! Blake was a hoot at the parade. It sold him on bringing our kids back and Tim described him as being 'sentimental'. It was such a fun time - Thanks Russ, Tim, Ang, Ty and Tiff for helping our family make some great memories!

It's a MIRACLE!!!

In reflecting on General Conference last week one of the many messages I got was to enjoy where you are in your life right now. This is one of those lessons I have had to learn over and over again. This has also been one of my goals for the year. I think it is one of the most important things I can teach my kids (along with a whole list of other really important things): Be grateful for what you have now and enjoy the moment. My kids teach me this lesson each day when I get to share their new discoveries with them and remember that each moment is a gift.

I don't like water and I don't like being wet. Marley apparently enjoys water on her face and wet jeans. She giggled and smiled while the sprinkler was spraying her all over. This was one of those times that I had to stop what I was doing and just watch her enjoy herself for a moment. It was priceless!

This past Saturday and Sunday we got snow! It was exciting and fun for me to see the big snowflakes come down. It was more than that for Stratton. He stood outside in the snow wearing a knit hat and a bright red nose, his arms were stretched to the sky and he proclaimed: "It's a miracle!!!" He and Marley would have played in it all day if we didn't have church! Another moment I will always smile about when I remember it.