OUR 2 DAYS WITH PAUL & JULIANNE'S FAMILY

Before Disneyland, we spent 2 days with my sister Julianne, and her family. We had so much fun together - it just was way too short! We met at Griffith Park in Los Angeles. At this park the kids rode horses, we all went on a miniature train ride, everyone toured a train museum (while I stayed in the car with a napping Ashlie), and then we went up to the Griffith Park Observatory and viewed LA and the Hollywood sign. Take a look at the fun we had...

In line for the pony rides:
Megan went first. Since she was 7 years old, she could ride the larger ponies. They strapped her on with a belt, and away she went - giggling the entire time practically. She loved it!

Paige and my niece Brooklynn, and my nephew Landon went next. They were on the medium sized ponies. Paige was bobbing up and down like crazy when her horse was trotting around the track. It looked like she was just focusing on holding on. Honestly, it was hilarious!!! Believe it or not, she got off her horse and told us how fun it was. Paige is in the hot pink jacket:

My nephew Landon loves trains, and Griffith Park had lots of trains! We all went on a little ride.

At the train museum:

We walked up to the Griffith Park Observatory where we had a great view of the Hollywood sign & all of LA!





Next, we drove out to a beautiful area (Irvine, California) to take our chances at getting a free ride on the Great Park Balloon. The weather was rainy, so they weren't taking anyone up in the balloon in the morning. We walked through the farmer's market, and then waited around until they said the weather had cleared enough that they'd begin giving rides in the balloon. While we waited for our turn we rode the free carousel at the park. It was so neat that all of it was free! Here are some pictures of the carousel and our ride in the helium balloon. The balloon went up 400 feet. I was probably more nervous about looking down than anyone in our group, even though the balloon was my idea!
Isn't my nephew, Landon cute?! I can't get enough of him!


My adorable niece, Brooklynn:


My girls, Megan & Paige:



The balloon:


Going up!


This is the group that went up just after us:

We went to Laguna Beach together. It was Megan, Paige, & Ashlie's first time to ever see the ocean. It wasn't very warm, but they loved it!

On the last day of our trip, before we flew home, Brad and I and the girls went to the Fullerton Arbortoreum. It was a 26 acre botanical garden taken care of by the university. It was beautiful! There were ponds, streams, orange trees, varieties of trees and flowers we'd never seen before, and a very neat desert area.

CALIFORNIA TRIP!!!

We just got back late last night from a fun trip to California. Brad and I have been planning this trip for a while, but we waited until just a few weeks ago to tell the kids. We did two days of sightseeing, one day at the beach, and 3 days at Disneyland. My sister Julianne, and her family joined us from Arizona for the first 2 1/2 days. Later I'll post some photos of the fun we had with them. They watched Ashlie for us on our first day at Disneyland while we went on some of the rides Ashlie couldn't ride. Here's a little about the build up of our trip - it's been part of the fun.....

TELLING THE KIDS:
So, I thought it would be fun to tell the kids that we were going to Disneyland in a fun way, so this is what I came up with:
Brad and I decided we would tell them about the trip on St. Patrick's Day. We had a leprechaun come visit our house, leaving behind a trail of shamrocks leading the kids to a pot of gold. The gold coins had Disney stickers on the back, which spelled out WE ARE GOING TO DISNEYLAND.




BUILDING UP THE HYPE!
We made a countdown chain, and for the next 9 days I gave the kids a little gift that they could use on the trip. By the end of the 9 days they were completely excited. Gift #1 was Disney nightgowns! I couldn't get Ashlie to stop running around to get a good photo of her (because she seriously was bouncing off the walls in her new nightgown), but she got a really cute Minnie Mouse one.



Next, I gave the girls new swimming suits & flip flops. You can see cute pictures of them in their suits later in my post about the beach.
The next day Megan and Paige both got a small backpack to wear while at Disneyland.
I was really excited to give the girls these autograph books I made for them. I bought small journals for $1 then covered them with a paper book cover and ribbon. As part of the gift, I gave Megan and Paige Disney stickers that they could decorate their books with.



I found a list online of who you could potentially see at Disneyland, and then I found cute clipart pictures and created these "check-off" lists for the front of their autograph books. They had 10 pages or so of these character "Can You Find Me" lists. While we were at the park the kids would mark off the characters that they saw, and it made it really fun. I couldn't believe how many characters they found! Megan was very happy to say that she got 12 autographs!




All Decorated!

Sand Toys For The Beach!

I bought these Mouse Ear stickers and we glued them onto hair clips. They turned out pretty cute, and Megan wore them in her hair most of the trip.

Coloring books for the airplane!

Disney tupperware containers. Sounds like a silly gift, but then I had the girls help me make a yummy trail mix (of Cheerios, M&Ms, raisins & peanuts) to go inside of their containers, and they enjoyed their "mix" on the plane, and at Disneyland.

Last gift...black nail polish! I painted their fingernails hot pink and then painted black Mickey Mouse ears on top.

It's almost time to go to Disneyland.....Megan's taking off the last link on her countdown chain!

Favorite Songs

3 posts in a week, you're probably thinking. I'm starting to have a little too much fun on the computer I guess...but I got my floor mopped (okay, Brad did this actually), house cleaned, I babysat for a friend / visited with my friend too, cooked dinner, completed an entire batch of incolumns, and bathed kids today - so I'm not going to apologize for having a little fun.

Music is one of my most favorite things in the world. I think i-tunes has to be one of my very most favorite inventions ever. I love that I don’t have to purchase an entire album anymore, and that I get to just pick and choose which songs I want. Living in a small town the last 5 years, I only get 2 radio stations, and I’m pretty much on my own to search for songs I like. I was listening to my i-tunes playlist and was thinking of so many good things while I listened to favorite songs of mine. Anyway, that’s where this idea to write down some of my favorite songs came from. I realized something while doing this, which I already knew about myself…I am a sucker for a good slow song. I don’t know why I love them so much, but I do. I have lots of up tempo music on my i-tunes list, but for some reason I get tired of them easier. I just can listen, and listen, and listen to some of these. Anyway, enjoy the list!

Okay, the most played song on my i-tunes list is embarrassingly enough, Last Kiss by Taylor Swift. I am seriously obsessed with this song, and I’ve probably listened to it at least twice a day since I bought her Speak Now cd (for $3.99 on amazon ☺). I love it!

Please Remember Me – Tim McGraw (loved it since high school)

My little Girl – Tim McGraw (makes me not want my girls to grow up – ever!)

I will not take these things for granted – Toad The Wet Sproaket (loved it since high school)

Some Things Never Change – Tim McGraw (just love it, & have since high school)

Hoy Me Voy – Colbie Caillat (this song makes me want to start singing in Spanish for some reason…)

Stole My Heart – Little & Ashley (this always makes me think of a Target commercial – it was probably on one. I love that I got it free on amazon!)

America – Neil Diamond (always makes me think of my dad, and how we’d dance to this song together as it played on our record player)

Far Away – Nickelback (there is a youtube video that someone made with this song that I love – it’s this song with Pride and Prejudice video footage…gotta love Darcy coming out of the fog!)

Little Known Fact About Me – I like celtic music. I have about 4 celtic woman songs, and I’d have more except I can’t choose which ones to get. Once I watched an episode of So You Think You Can Dance and they danced to a celtic woman song. The judge said it was great except for the slow, boring song. I loved the dance too, but I thought the song was great! I’ve watched the pbs Celtic Woman special twice. Yep. True. I did fall asleep to it the first time though, I’ll admit. It’s relaxing – be warned.

Gabriel’s Oboe from The Mission – Ennio Morricone (I watched this movie in college, and I LOVED this song from its soundtrack)

Heartbeat – Enrique Iglesias (This is Megan & Paige’s favorite song. They dance like crazy to it, & that’s why it makes the list – it makes me happy to see them dancing!)

Over The Rainbow – Eva Cassidy (when I was student teaching the teacher whose classroom I helped in had Eva Cassidy’s cd. She would turn the volume up on this particular song so that it was seriously audible throughout the whole hall at school)

Flightless Bird, American Mouth – Iron & Wine (Love song in the movie Twilight when Bella & Edward are dancing in the gazebo. Love it!)

Songs by Mindy Gledhill – (I just discovered this artist. Her songs are sold at Deseret Book, so they’re totally clean. Her voice is so unique, & her songs are so fun and catchy. I ended up buying Crazy Love, Hourglass, All About Your Heart, Anchor, and All The Pennies, and kept thinking to myself, “Maybe I should just buy her album?” Hourglass is another one of those songs that tug at a mom’s heart – about not wanting your child to grow up. It’s so true, I hate it!!!)

On Fire – Switchfoot (My sweet sister gave this cd to me as a late b-day gift, and I happened to listen to it on the way to my grandpa’s viewing after he passed away. This song always reminds me of my Grandpa Memmott for that reason. I love this song.)

Other Switchfoot songs I love: Dare You To Move and Twenty-Four (Dare you to move is from the A Walk To Remember soundtrack. That was the first cd that I wanted so badly, that was out of stock everywhere, and that I special ordered when I lived in Logan -before i-tunes ☺. I still love all the songs on that cd)

I Don’t Think I Will – James Bonamy (this was on my wedding video!)

I’ve Gotta Find You – Lonestar (also a song from my wedding video)

Come What May – From The Moulin Rouge Soundtrack (I love a lot of songs from this soundtrack. It makes me think of singing in the backseat with my sisters while on vacation in Southern Utah, and of watching the movie in my sister’s basement apartment with the popcorn & glitter ceiling. It was the first movie I ever watched in wide screen, & I remember being totally bothered by the black lines on the top & bottom of the tv! Dumb movie – great soundtrack!)

Falling Slowly – (I have 2 versions. One by Glen Hansard & Marketa, and one by Lee Dewyze & Crystal Bowersox. I love this song, and I never get sick of it.)

Gethsemane & Loaves & Fishes– Roger & Melanie Hoffman (I had to get this for my kids. This album is so wonderful! The loaves & fishes song will get stuck in your head, but my kids know how many loaves & fish – 1,2,3,4,5 loaves and 2 little fishes!)

Songs I just love:
Two Is Better Than One – Boys Like Girls
My Heart Will Go On – Celine Dion
Goodbye’s The Saddest Word – Celine Dion
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face – Celine Dion
What Can I Say (Featuring Sons of Sylvia) – Carrie Underwood
Almost any Colbie Caillat song
Little House – Amanda Seyfried (Dear John Soundtrack)
Broken – Lifehouse
Can’t Breathe – Leone Lewis
Beautiful Like You – Lee Dewyze
Terrified – Katherine McPhee
Broken Strings – James Morrison & Nelly Furtado
Singing in the Rain / Umbrella – Glee Cast
Falling Stars – David Archuleta
Other Side of Down – David Archuleta
Vultures – John Mayer (always makes me want to dance)
Stop This Train – John Mayer (makes you not want to age)
Perfectly – Hayley Anderson (love the whole LDS album)
Say – John Mayer (even though he repeats “say” over and over, I don’t get sick of this song)
Can’t Take My Eyes Off You – Lady Antebellum
Feel – Marie Digby
One – Mary J. Blige & U2
Heart On My Sleeve – Michael Johns (remember him from American Idol?)
The House That Built Me – Miranda Lambert
You Could Be Happy – Snow Patrol
The Best Day – Taylor Swift
Love Story – Taylor Swift

Primary Chorister

This next Sunday will be my first week with my new calling - Primary Chorister! I had this calling before Megan was born, so I'm definitely rusty, and a bit nervous, but I know how fun this calling can be. The song for the month is "My Life is a Gift". FYI in our ward the junior and senior primary are combined. In case anyone out there has the same calling, this is what my plan is for the week:

Week #1: Song: MY LIFE IS A GIFT

Have 7 children come up, one at a time, to hold an object. First explain each picture / object, then have the child hold it, forming a line across the front of the primary room.

Object #1 (present) My life is a gift

Object #2 (scriptures) My life has a plan - explain that in the scriptures it teaches us about where we came from, our purpose in coming to the earth, and that we can live with Heavenly Father again after this life.

Object #3 (baby, wedding, or family photo) My life has a purpose - explain that we needed to come to earth to get a body, and to be part of a family where we would learn and grow

Object #4 (picture of Jesus) My choice was to come - we chose to follow Jesus's plan in the premortal world

Object #5 (picture of the earth) - to this lovely home on earth

Object #6 (flashlight) - and seek for God's light

Object #7 (picture of an arrow) - to direct me from birth

Choose a child to leave the room. Scramble the kids who are holding objects so that they are in a different order. Invite the child to come back inside, and to put the kids back in the correct order. Repeat, but this time while a different child is outside in the hall, remove an object. That way the child has to come back in the room, and has to rearrange the kids, and they have to identify what's missing. I'm guessing that's going to fill the time, but I'll just repeat as long as we have time for.

I've gotten some great ideas for the nursery music (thanks to my sisters, and all the great people that share things on the web). It'll be fun putting a little nursery music basket together.

February 13th I'm going to hand out heart shaped suckers to the kids at the end of church. Attached to the suckers is going to be a note saying, "Thanks for singing your heart out today!"

Wish me luck!

Our Western Caribbean Cruise

Brad and I just got back Sunday night from a fun trip courtesy the company he works for. A big thanks to my mom and dad (and sisters) who watched our girls so that we could go. It was so fun to be on vacation with so many friends.

Before boarding the cruise ship we took a tour of the everglades in Miami. We had done this once before, but we still really enjoyed it. We saw alligators, birds, fish, and turtles, and after the boat tour there was an animal show). Little tidbit: the everglades isn't a swamp because the water in the everglades is constantly moving. Here are some photos:




Leaving Miami: It was fun looking off the ship, seeing all of the people waving from the shore. It got me thinking that it would be pretty fun to be on the other side, and to watch the ships take off one by one. Of course, it's really fun to be the one on the ship too! Leaving Miami is always bittersweet because it's our last chance to call our kids until we're docked back in Miami a week later. My last phone call with Megan was interrupted by the ship's super loud overhead speaker. I could barely make out anything she was saying, so I was so glad when the announcement ended, only for the exact same announcement to then be given in about 5 other languages. Welcome to the world of cruising - lots of nationalities onboard! :)




Bye Bye Miami! Caribbean, here we come!!!


Our first port of call was Costa Maya, Mexico. Take a good look...yep, this is it! :)

The small city you see here was created about ten years ago so that cruise ships could visit. We took a shuttle bus down along the water about 20 minutes or so, and spent the day at a private beach resort. Brad went scuba diving here with about 7 others from our group while I stayed on the beach (with about 20 people from our group), and ate chips and salsa, strawberry mango slushies, and did a little kayaking. (Yeah, not white water kayaking - think "waist deep", calm, seaweed water). :) Brad enjoyed his dive (he saw lots of lion fish), but he unfortunately forgot to take dramamine this particular day, and he threw up about 3 times after his dive (including while on the dive boat and on the shuttle bus on our way back). That kind of ruined this day for him, and we of course didn't stop and shop at any of the souvenier shops you see in the photo. We hurried back on board ASAP. Tip #1 - ALWAYS take motion sickness medicine when on a cruise vacation!
Brad found these pictures online of a lion fish and a lobster (which he also saw on his dive):



Our second port of call was Belize. We were surprised at how far out the cruise ships had to dock. It was a 25 minute ferry ride to shore. Here's a photo of how far out our ship was docked:
We were excited about Belize because we scheduled a cave tubing excursion along with the majority of our group, and my parents and my sisters McKenzie & Shalyce had done this excursion before. We hiked quite a while with our tubes and then lazily floated down two long caves, while wearing head lamps. Very fun. Brad really wants to get a water proof camera now, because every excursion we went on we were in the water, and unfortunately we didn't get many photos of the fun things we did on this trip. Sorry!

Our third port of call was Cozumel, Mexico. We had so much fun in Cozumel! We booked the Palancar Beach Resort and Snorkel excursion. Brad and I booked it alone, but were happily surprised when our friends Bonnie & Ken had booked it as well. Bonnie works with Brad, and they are in our ward. It was fun to have them on the trip with us this year. We had an hour long boat ride out to the snorkeling spot, and then we snorkeled for an hour & twenty minutes. I had never snorkeled that long before! I was super cold by the end & was completely shivering in the water. We saw two sting rays, two sea turtles, a baracuda, and tons of the coolest fish I've ever seen. I am seriously in love with snorkeling. It is amazing what is underneath the water!!! Our dive master spotted the sting ray on the bottom (it was buried in the sand), and he dove down to touch it, which made the sting ray swim around us. Very cool! Here's a lovely (dorky) photo of me before getting in the 75 degree water (which felt very cold actually, because we were used to much warmer air).
Here's Bonnie & Ken and Brad & I (photo was taken on board the ship):


Our fourth and final port of call was Grand Caymen. We had been here before on a previous cruise, and when you see this water, you'll know why we were excited to come here again. Isn't this beautiful?
Brad's boss took the whole group on a day long excursion in Grand Caymen. First, we took a boat out to a sandbar where we touched and fed squid to the sting rays. I chose not to feed the sting rays, but Brad couldn't get enough. He kept catching every ray that swam by him. I think he was reverting back to his days on the farm where he caught wild rabbits or something! :)

Afterwards we took a boat ride to a different spot where we snorkeled for a half hour. The snorkeling spot wasn't as cool as it was in Cozumel, but still very fun & cool. This is a photo of another group snorkeling in the same spot that we just finished snorkeling at. Once again, we wished we had a water camera on this trip!

Next, we visited the turtle farm. Our kids would have loved this! The first turtles we saw were HUGE!


Then, we got to hold the smaller turtles! Brad held the smaller one, then one a little larger.




In Grand Caymen we bought our girls some cute stuffed animals (turtles & sting ray). On our customs form Brad declared 3 stuffed animals, and the man in customs checking our passport and customs form asked if they were real animals that we'd had stuffed. Brad's like "uh, no. No taxidermy." Hilarious!

Our cruise ship (Liberty of the Seas) was a lot of fun. Brad's favorite thing on board was the Flowrider. His boss reserved it 3 different times throughout the week. Brad got pretty good at the boogie boarding, and then spent two nights working on the surfing. One night he was surfing so long that I was wondering if he was going to join me for dinner (on formal night). He showed up to our room ten minutes before we were supposed to be seated for dinner. He was having too much fun, and he wanted to surf until the reservation time was up!
Here was our ship!

Here's Brad on the flow rider. The time that our group had it reserved was in the evening once the cruise ship was moving again, so sorry the video is shaky & loud (it was really, really windy). Notice with the surfing video that Brad's pretty much the only one out there still!


We also did a little rock climbing. I made it to the top, but only after falling off the wall twice. The worker belaying me told me to just keep trying. She started me on a really hard part of the wall, and once I shifted over a bit I was able to do it. It felt like I was working on my climb for ten minutes, I swear. To give you an idea of how long it took me, I started on the wall, then Brad got started on the wall on a section to my far left, then he climbed it all the way and he took more photos and some video footage of me ringing the bell at the top! So, this first photo of me is at the beginning, then Brad was climbing the wall himself, then the second photo is of me near the top.



By the way, I read a good book while on our vacation. I thought it was a great book if you just want a quick, light read. It's quite a bit like Cinderella. I found it in the junior section, as I was just browsing titles. It was called The Amaranth Enchantment by Julie Berry. I really enjoyed it. Just thought I'd share.

An Extra Bonus To Make You Laugh!

My main post is down below this one, but I couldn't resist sharing these pictures. Ashlie's holding onto a large, plastic magnifying glass, which apparently is fun for a lot more than just looking at bugs!




I sure love this little girl. She is so cute!