DISNEYLAND (Feb. 2014)

DISNEYLAND!!!

This trip was fantastic and really turned out better than I expected. One of my goals during this trip was to get Scott to admit that Disneyland is "Magical" and surprisingly he agreed early on.

We left Klamath on a Sunday and drove down to Elk Grove California to stay with Jan and Allan over night. The plan was to leave super early in the morning and make it to Anaheim as the park was opening but ended up changing plans, choosing to do a day at the beach Monday. So glad we did because it was the hottest day, plus had we waited till Friday like we planned we wouldn't have been able to even step onto the beach due to closure because of one of the biggest rainstorms/swells that LA has had in over 10 years....so we heard.

The kids LOVED Disneyland and surprisingly loved California Adventure almost even more. Favorite rides for them were Buzz Lightyear, Space Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, Cars ride, Soaring over California, Grizzly River, Bug's Life section, trading Disney pins, and the whole Hollywood section of California Adventure with the art classes and the talk with Crush room.

 

But I would have to say that overall the group favorite was watching the Aladdin play in California Adventure! We saw it twice it was so darn good. Funny actors and an amazing set.

 

 

 

 

 

(This is Ellie on The Tower of Terror. Lets just say she HATED it! she cried for about 20 min. after the ride ended)

 

 

(This was Sawyers face at every parade. He loved them!)

 

 

(The girls loved all the Princesses and got a lot of their signatures. Connor was told to give Merida a hug right before this was taken and he then moved further away.) 

 

 

 

 

( It just so happened that my friend Laura and her family were at Disney the same time as us! SO good to see her!)

 

(every morning Tinker Bell left the kids fun Disney surprises that they could take into the park or wear in the hotel)

(Connors favorite meal we got in the park)

 

 

 

 

 

What a great experience for everyone and my favorite family vacation so far. Scott says enjoy it cause we probably wont be back till Sawyer is in high school.....but the kids and I won't let that happen :)

Cousins, Polar Express and a Christmas Surprise!

The end of December was spent with our Olsen side cousins! I love that we live close enough to see Heather, Kris, and Kara's kids quite often. Connor and Devin were meant to be brothers...or twins.

 

 

We love cousins!

 

 

Christmas Eve was our traditional Polar Express night.

 

 

We look forward to this night all season. Sawyer got way into it this year.

 



Then we spotted Rudolph and knew it was time to get home and get into bed. 

 

Christmas morning was magical. We had a fun surprise for the kids. Scott and I made a video pretending to be spies. We challenged the kids to be spies as well and search for the hidden packets throughout the house and figure out the clues. 



 

 

 

They searched and found all the clues and on the last one were instructed to open all of the packets and figure out the surprise.

 

WE'RE GOING TO DISNEYLAND!!!!

 

December family service

Scott and I want our kids to grow up with great memories. But more than that, we want our kids to remember helping others and to know that service is such an important part of life. With all of the fun and the lights, the jingle bells and traditions that the Christmas season brings we really want this season to be a time of service.

I decided that during the month of December our family would make it a habit to try to give service to others in our community. I made up a calendar and filled in all the Monday nights and Saturdays with ideas that we gathered and the kids came up with from a previous FHE.

Before we went out every Monday we would watch a Mormon message or an online video on service and then we headed out into town.

The kids worked together and got excited about being sneaky and leaving surprise services for others. Here are a few of the services we did:

We taped money and a note on vending machines at the hospital and at the College

 

 

Singing at a nursing home and giving passing out cards.

 

We all helped out at a breakfast with Santa activity put on by a local organization for foster children.

 

 Delivered doughnuts to the fire station. They actually asked us if we wanted to come in and take a tour so the kids were thrilled!

And the kids made Christmas cards and wrote a message inside. Then placed them on cars in parking lots at grocery stores. We even stayed for some and hid down on the floor of our van to watch some of them be opened.