My Birthday and Disneyland

I seriously think I was as excited, if not more, than the kids, to spend my birthday at Disneyland. We went to a hotel, a mile from Disneyland, the night before thinking it would allow us to get more sleep and get to the park bright and early. Well, unfortunately, the getting to the park early worked out well, but the getting more sleep part, not so much. The hotel was SO loud. They had blaring music outside the room. The fireworks at Disney went off at 9:30. I was SO glad it didn't wake up the kids. And the people next to us had probably 15 people in their room and the walls were as thin as paper. I could seriously hear everything they were saying and doing. I was NOT happy. I somehow managed to fall asleep close to 11 though, but was then awoken again by our neighbors who must have had an early flight because they were up getting ready at 4 AM! I slept probably one more hour before Brandon woke up. We put him in bed with us. He was a MAJOR bed hog. I ended up getting maybe 30 more minutes of sleep before getting up at 6 to get ready and be gone by 7. Well, I was tired, but I did it. I wasn't gonna let lack of sleep deter me from my day.

We got to the park, after having to park OFF lot (and be bused in), due to the LARGE number of people expected that day. Bought our tickets and decided if we were gonna really enjoy the day, we should just get season passes so we wouldn't feel rushed, or sad that the park was so full and we didn't get to do that much. It was costly, but I think this is a good year for us to have passes and I'm really excited to use them.

Anyway, here are some pictures from our day. I took A LOT! I didn't want to miss a thing. The park was completely packed. Employees were directing "traffic" and they were blocking walkways making them "entrance" and "exits" only, instead of two way traffic. It was crazy. But we got on a suprisingly good amount of rides and left quite content and EXHAUSTED! We even managed to stay long enough to see the Christmas parade. But definitely couldn't last for the fireworks. Maybe another day. Over all, it was a FANTASTIC birthday. I don't think I've ever been told "Happy Birthday" to SO many times. People were surprisingly patient with the crowds and all the employees were so pleasant. Seriously! It really must be "the happiest place on earth".

Here we go! Off for our fun day at Disneyland. It was a chilly morning.

First ride of the day....Dumbo. Had to get it in before the lines got too crazy. It paid off. We only waited about 10 minutes to get on.

Fairytale boat tour. The girls LOVED seeing all the Princess castles.

Ah....I'm being eaten....

HELP.....
ME......

Whew...I survived.

In line for "It's a Small World".

The kids LOVED this ride. It was so pretty with all the Christmas Decorations. Light and bright and very "happy".

Seriously been dreaming about this Mickey Ice Cream. SO delicious. Even at $4.00 each.

Yup...we got to ride on Princess Tiana's Riverboat. VERY FUN!

My favorite ride. The Haunted Mansion....Tim Burton Style. I loved it. We got Fast Passes for it and literally walked right on. It was awesome!

This is what Ashlyn thought of it. Oops. I'm so mean to make her go.

Snuggling during the Parade. Actually I was holding them up on a fencepost. I thought my back was gonna break. I don't know how I managed to take a picture of it, but I did. Good times!

On the bus ride back to the car. Tired, but happy. It was a great day! Even with Brandon and Leah going at it in the double stroller fighting and crying all the way out of the park. All we could do was laugh. They were exhausted and totally overstimulated. They both crashed in the car.

Christmas Day

Yes, I managed to go the whole day and never get a picture of myself. Great....hopefully my kids will remember that I was actually around on Christmas Day. I was just the one BEHIND the camera. Gotta get that husband of mine to take more pictures I guess. So I don't have to either (1) not get pictures of me or (2) have to take a picture of myself with my kids (wait for Disney pictures. I swear that's about the only time I made it into the shot).

But back to Christmas. We had a GREAT day! I heard the kids (well, Leah) stirring just before 7. I quickly got up because I had told them not to come out of their rooms. I know, I'm so mean. But I didn't want them to see the stuff downstairs without us. Anyway, the kids quickly woke up after I went in their rooms. Paul came and stayed up with the kids while I got the fire started and the camera rolling. Everyone came down. It was very exciting. After opening stockings and Santa gifts, Jim played "Santa" and handed out all the rest of the gifts under the tree. Then we took turns. Leah was surprisingly good at this, despite her itching desire to rip into all her gifts without a second breath. After opening presents, me and my Aunt headed in to make the traditional grits and eggs with bacon and juice. I also threw in some pigs in a blanket thinking the kids would devour them. But they didn't. We had a LOT of leftover. Then Paul gave me the greatest gift of all and told me to go take a nap. I slept for almost 2 hours I think. Can't remember the last time that happened. Then we spent the afternoon at the movies seeing "Princess and the Frog". I know lots of people do this on Christmas Day, but I just can't get into it. It all the sudden didn't feel like Christmas. But just another ordinary day. I don't think I'll be doing that next year. The kids had fun though. Poor Paul spent half the time out in the hall with Brandon. He's still just too young to sit through a whole movie. But too old to fall asleep in it.

Overall, it was a fun day. It was so nice to be at our own home and not have to worry about traveling and trucking presents here and there and everywhere. I love that our kids are getting older too. It's so fun to see the excitement in their eyes and to know that this is the BEST day of the year for them. I truly remember that feeling. That's what keeps Christmas and the idea of "Santa" exciting to me. There really is a spirit of love and giving in the air. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year. And now that all the decorations are down and the Christmas movies and music are packed away, I can't help but feel a little sad. Oh well. I suppose if Christmas were more than once a year, it wouldn't be near as special.

Brandon was really into Christmas this year. He had a great time opening all his gifts and showing them off to Uncle Jim. Look at all those balls. That isn't even all of them

Leah got her "jewelry" box that she's been asking for ever since Ashlyn got one for her birthday this past August. It's now full of all sorts of little "treasures".

Ashlyn got her locket. Now to fill it with pictures of her best friends.

Leah LOVES to dress up and was so excited to get some new princess shoes.

Ugg boots. Is that how you spell it? She wears them almost everyday. They're already getting scuffed up. Should have gotten brown ones.

Matching nail kits and dryers from my sister. They were SO excited. And I'm SO excited to not have to sit there and blow on their nails until they are dry anymore.

The kids got Paul a lego set. They were eagerly watching him open it.

Ashlyn got a cd player and cd from Grammy and PopPop. She loves having her own music to listen to. Just not too loud she says. Ah...I love this girl.

Rhonda and Jim. Yes, my Aunt always looks good. It's sickening. Jim hates how many pictures our family takes. He's learning to grin and bear it. Can you tell?

The aftermath. Brandon was chilling with Jim on the couch. It was so cute. I had to sneak and take a picture.

Ah....the red velvet cake. Should have gotten a picture of it BEFORE we started devouring it. It lasted for days and was still delicious. I can't wait to make it again....next Christmas! It's pretty darn rich. But oh so yummy.

Christmas Eve

Christmas is a bad time to get behind on blog posting. I can't believe how many pictures I've taken. And I want them all for my blog book. So here I go. Beginning the long trek of getting them on my blog. Enjoy if you like. Feel free to click away from my site if you get bored.

On Christmas Eve my Aunt Rhonda and her husband Jim, came over from Ventura to spend the night with us. We had our traditional enchilada dinner (YUM!!!). Then for dessert, I made red velvet cake. It was a cake my mom made every year at Christmas time for my Dad. I had forgotten about it for years and then stumbled across the recipe about a month ago. I honestly couldn't even remember if I liked the cake as a kid. I just remembered my mom making it every year. So I called my mom to help jog my memory and all she could tell me was, "well, you always ate it". ha....So I decided I would make it. It did NOT disappoint. It was a delicious cake. Paul loved it and even said it was his new favorite. So yay for new family traditions. Anyway, after dinner, the girls wanted to act out the story of Mary and Joseph going to Bethlehem. They were pretty funny. I swear they got "into character" and everything. Check out the pictures below. Paul was the donkey. Jim played the innkeeper. It was a great re-inactment.

After reading from the Bible, the kids got to all pick out a gift to open. I usually have jammies or slippers for them on Christmas Eve, but my mom wanted to start a new tradition of her buying the kids jammies. I should have pulled them out of the pile, but I honestly didn't know which ones they were. So the girls picked out random gifts. Brandon scored and actually chose the jammies. So he's the only one wearing new jammies on Christmas morning. Next year I'll be smarter.

Here's the goods after "Santa" came to visit. All set up and ready for the kiddos come morning time.

Santa brought us all tickets to Disneyland. That was the kids big gift. Unfortunately, it wasn't until the afternoon of Christmas DAY before Ashlyn really realized that we were gonna to go Disneyland for "FREE"! It was pretty funny. I got it on video, but it's too long to post on my blog. But basically, the kids came down. We had to DIRECT their attention to the Santa Mickey and help them figure out that the tickets were to DISNEY and not to go see the "Princess and the Frog" movie. Then once we told the girls that Santa had given us tickets to Disney, Leah just shrugged her shoulders and moved on to her stocking and Ashlyn stood there holding on to Daddy's leg, not really sure what to think. Oh well. They got it eventually. And we all got a good laugh out of it.

Boy Santa was hungry. He ate all FIVE of his cookies and drank all his milk. Must be hard work getting all those toys out, wrapped and under the correct tree. A man needs his energy. Hey wait a minute. I wrapped all the gifts and transported them from the Northpole (aka my brothers house), and set them all out on the couch and under the tree. I should have gotten those cookies. Darn Santa. He owes me!

It's all about the hat

...that made this trip super cool!

School's out, so we have to be creative. Otherwise my kids start watching far too much TV. So when my friend asked us if we wanted to go with her and another friend from our "old old" ward, on a tour of the Krispy Kreme doughnut shop down in Burbank, we were there! It was a short tour and we didn't even get to go behind the counter, but the kids got a darn cool hat, free doughnuts and a glass of milk. So the trip was a hit. Now we are watching Polar Express (it's on TV. I don't actually own this one. I know....shocker...I am kind of a Christmas movie junkie.....I buy every one I can find.) Christmas is almost here and then the Christmas movies will go back into hiding. Until next year. When we will rediscover them all over again.

(The pictures are out of order, once again. But I'm not fixing it.)

There is NO doubt....

Daddy is LOVED!