Sunday, November 30, 2014

Thansgiversary

This past week we celebrated 11 years of marriage! and had a great Thanksgiving with both families. On Monday I went to Lilly's school to help serve pie for their Thanksgiving celebration.  I loved their turkey hats.
 Lilly came home with this too.  It cracked me up!
 This is random but the other day Mable was having a snack and thought some of her crumbs looked like an ice cream cone.  She had me take a picture.
 For our actual anniversary Doug had to work but we celebrated later that night.  We had thought about staying over somewhere but were a little vacationed and hoteled out.  First world problems right?  Anyway, that night my amazing parents came down to watch our kids.  Doug and I went to the temple and then to Black Sheep Cafe for dinner.  The dinner was lovely but the X-rated conversation going on next to us was a little disappointing.  We had this delicious southwest hot chocolate complete with a flaming sugar cube.
Doug was a little freaked out by it.  JK. Our food really was delicious and it was a fun way to celebrate.
Doug completely spoiled me with season tickets to the Hale Center Theater in Orem for next year.  I'm so excited!! We also got our new car that day.  We had some issues finally getting it to us but we finally have it and we love it so far.  It was a good anniversary present! JK.

The next day Doug had the day off from work and so we extended our celebrations with lunch and a movie in Sandy.  We are so spoiled and abuse our family way too much!!! Awhile ago our favorite Thai place in Provo closed down and said they were looking for a new location.  We were so happy to find out they'd reopened in Sandy!! Doug was seriously so happy.  He was pretty sure he was in heaven.  I asked him if he wanted a moment alone with his food. Haha.
 After that we went and saw Interstellar.  For those who've seen it, I was pretty sure that when we got out our kids were going to have aged 50 years. The theater was packed too.  It actually did fill in a little.
It was long!! My nice brother and his kids watched our kids and took them to the movies again.  They are seriously spoiled!  All Lewis needs is cousin Andy and some popcorn and he's good to go.
 On Thanksgiving we watched the parade and exercised a little (2 hour Zumba class!) and then went to American Fork to have a little Turkey Bowl with Doug's family.  Some of the kids played at the park while the others played football.
 My cute little turkeys all ready for the big day!
 After the game we headed to Doug's parents for a delicious feast.
Once again, this picture was not sideways on my computer.
Doug's mom took these 2.  I love this one.  It looks like he's pondering the tastes on his palate.
After spending a few hours with Doug's family we went up to my brother's house for dinner with my family.  The meal was complete with turkey butter.
 
 And turkey legs.  Haha.  The Disneyland joke continues...
 Lewis had fun playing with another cute little boy there and loved the blue ring pop from uncle Dylan. The food was delicious and our bellies were throbbing by the end of the night.  So much good food!
On Friday we set up a little bit of Christmas.  We got some new decorations this year and I've really been enjoying them!
It's still hard for me to believe Christmas is almost here!!  Especially without any snow on the ground!

Bryce Canyon

Last week Lilly gave me this and told me not to look at it until my birthday. Sorry Lilly.  I just couldn't wait 7 more months.  I love her and her little creations.  And these pictures were not sideways on my computer so whatever. 
 Party time!! Can't wait! She sure knows how to celebrate.
A few weeks ago Doug's work had a manager/partner retreat in Bryce Canyon.  Doug went down on a Thursday and I was going to come the next day.  The day he left was not one of the best days.  We had some car issues (surprise!) and I was a little stressed out.  Sophia made me this sweet note.  I love how she wrote everyone's names.
 On Friday one of Doug's co-workers wives came to pick me up and we headed down to Bryce. We drove past the Big Rock Candy Mountain which was fun to see.  I don't think I'd seen it since I was a little kid!
 Then we made it to this beautiful country.  We went on a few hikes while we were down there and had a great time.  He works with some really great people (and they have great wives!!) It was fun to laugh and talk together.  Just what I needed after a stressful week!
 Me being crazy and holding up the arch.
 We did take some pictures of Doug and I together but they're on his phone...
 It really was so beautiful down there. I couldn't believe it.  This was only my second time there and the first time everything was covered in snow so this was the first time I'd ever hiked down there.  Absolutely stunning.
 My nice nice nice brother and his wife (and my dad!) helped with our kids.  They were so good to do that and my kids had a blast.  I got plenty of awesome snapchats too while from them which was fun.   My sister-in-law took Lewis to the pet store while my brother was with my girls at a movie.  They are seriously the best!!

Sunday, November 23, 2014

OR/CA Trip Disneyland/CA Adventure Days 2 & 3

For the last 2 days  we spent in Disneyland we were lucky enough to have family join us.  My brother and sister-in-law and a niece and nephew came with us.  It was so nice to have their help!!!
I've always loved this sign in Disneyland.
Of course the first ride we headed to was Peter Pan.  I've always loved this one.  It was good we hit it first because the line was long the whole day!
Then it was to the Matterhorn.  I think I was 10 the last time I rode this one.
K.  Does the Snow White ride freak anyone else out?  It's seriously the weirdest ride.  I love this part at the end though.
We had fun with the pictures on all the rides. This one wasn't as good.  I rode this one with Mabel and you can barely see the top of her head.  And I have no idea what is happening to the person in front of her.  I think he might be having a seizure. JK.
And back to the food. These cream cheese filled pretzels just might be my favorite thing at Disneyland.  I may have had more than I'd like to admit while we were there.
And of course we had to ride everyone's favorite makes your so nauseous Winnie the Pooh ride!
This little guy enjoyed his Tigger Tail while we waited to meet Pooh Bear.
More crazy ride pictures. I love how Sophia is cool as a cucumber in this one. This by far was her favorite ride.
This one is a little hard to see but Doug is in the very back.  He cracks me up.
And here he is again. Seriously kills me.
We also had to wait in line a little bit but finally got to ride Dumbo.  Mabel was pleased as punch.
Lewis absolutely loved it.  I loved his expressions.
That's why I took a million pictures of him.
Sophia was a little too cool for this ride but rode it anyway. What a good sport.
We were there the first weekend of Christmas in Disney. Which I would not recommend.  I would also not recommend going on a half marathon weekend.  It was crazy. Too bad it was still amazing.  Sleeping Beauty's castle was seriously stunning.
And back to more food.  A trip to Disneyland would not be complete without a turkey leg!
My SIL sent this snapchat out.  Glad she got it documented.
And another goofy ride picture.
And 3 very sleepy kids at the end of the night.
They slept through the fireworks which were amazing.  While everyone was waiting for the fireworks we hurried and took advantage of slower lines.  The teacups were pretty fun at night.  I loved all the lanterns.

And Small World was amazing all lit up!
At the end of the fireworks they shot fake snow out from the tops of all the buildings. It was actually pretty cool.  It really did look like it was snowing.
Another shot of Small World.  I loved it!
The next morning we took advantage of our magic morning (which really was quite crowded and not so magical) and headed back into Disneyland.  Mabel got distracted by all the characters so we stopped to meet a few.  She really wanted Minnie's autograph and was glad we got it.

We waited in line forever for the dumb, I mean amazing Storybook Boats.  The girls got to sit on the front of the boat which they thought was pretty cool.  And then Mabel cried about it for the next 30 min because she didn't get to.  Disneyland kind of turned her into a monster.  It's a good thing we love her!
We also waited to meet Tinkerbell and the girls loved it!

The new Cars ride was pretty fun.  We totally took advantage of the baby swap on all the rides that we could and the kids usually got to ride again right after.  It was the best!

Having family there meant Doug and I could do a few rides together!! California Screamin was crazy but so fun!
For lunch the last day we had to try the Monte Cristos. They were delicious. Word to the wise.  You can only get these in New Orleans Square at New Orleans Cafe or the Blue Bayou.  You have to make a reservation at both places we learned.  Also, the Cafe is cheaper but these are still about $20 a sandwich.  But you get 4 gigantic pieces that could easily be split between 3-4 people.  We didn't realize that until after we ordered. Luckily a few of us had already decided to split them!! Also the pomme frites are really yummy here!
After lunch in Disneyland we left the super crazy crowds and headed back to CA Adventure where things were a little less busy.  It was so nice to have cousin Andy there! Lewis loved him!
My two little Ariels waiting for the Little Mermaid ride.
 I even rode this ride twice.  I thought it was my favorite ride and then I remembered it wasn't.  My niece absolutely loves it!! Then my SIL talked me into riding it again,  I'm kind of in the middle screaming my head off.
After watching the fireworks again we used up our last fast passes (and baby swap!) for Space Mountain. I seriously love Sophia in this one.  She had the whole photo thing down.  Jeff taking a selfie isn't too bad either.
After that we said goodbye to Disneyland and headed back to the hotel.  We were so tired!! My legs ached for days!! I was so glad we had our huge stroller though!! It hauled all 4 kids at 1 point!
The next day we packed up and headed for home. This little boy was in desperate need of a bath and to get out of the car!
Unfortunately we rain into a little car trouble just outside of Cedar City.  Luckily we had AAA and were towed back to Cedar.  My amazing dad drove all the way down and picked us up.  He's incredible.  Doug towed the car back the next day and things were a little crazy but it meant we got to get a new car!! As unfortunate as it was to break down 2 hours from home we really were blessed that it didn't happen in the middle of California on a windy road with no service!!

If you made it through all of these posts congratulations.  I still haven't looked through the photos on Doug's phone and our camera so I may be adding more soon!