Our California Trip

A couple of weeks ago we took a trip to California with my family. We have been waiting a long time for this vacation. My parents bought a time share in Newport Beach through Marriott almost 2 years ago and we got to use it for the first time in October. This vacation was our Christmas present from last Christmas. It was all worth the wait...we had such a good time! Ty and I decided to start driving a day ahead of when everyone was leaving and stay in Las Vegas overnight. So that's where our trip began. We stayed at the Tahiti Village Resort. Our girls' favorite part was the pool. It had a beach sand entry on one side, and a lazy river across from the pool. Here are a few photos in Las Vegas.The next morning we got up, swam some more and then headed on to California. When we got there we stopped off at Fashion Island to have lunch and shop around and then on to the resort. We stayed at the Marriott Coast Villas Vacation Club Resort. It was really nice. Here's the view off of our balcony. After we all gathered on Saturday, we had dinner and just hung out. We were all pretty tired from traveling. Then Sunday we went to church, Kim and Abe's old ward from when they lived in Newport Beach when they were first married. Then that afternoon we walked around the resort and enjoyed some of the ammenities...the kiddie park, the putting green, the sandbox, and the coy fish pond. The kids had a great time!
Bright and early Monday morning we headed to Disneyland. We went hard and fast all day long. We rode a lot of rides that day in both parks, visited Toon Towne, watched the Pixar parade and the fireworks. The kids had a blast. Here are the photos from that day.
Tuesday, it rained off and on all morning, so finally when it cleared up a little, we headed to the beach. Audrey loved the ocean, Madelyn slept through most of the beach trip, so we didn't last very long because it was so windy and cold. We went back to the resort and got in the hot tubs, which were much more enjoyable.Wednesday morning we headed back out for another day of Disneyland. It rained most of the day, unfortunately. However, it made for an opportunity to ride a lot of rides because there were not a lot of people there. After lunch we met up with our good friends, the Petersons for a few rides and then headed on our own ways, but it was fun to see them for a short moment. Overall, it was a wet, fun, and full day.

Thursday, was a nice day so we went swimming, took naps, and headed to one of our family's favorite beaches, Balboa Beach in Newport. The kids had a great time digging in the sand, and we even built a slide with a plastic tarp that we had from the rainy day at Disneyland. Ty and I won the couples' paddle ball tournament by a long shot, we were pretty proud! Then we had a shake at Ruby's Diner and ended up going back to the condo for a bbq and more hot tubbing...another fun day!

Friday, was our last day at Disneyland, so we got up early and arrived there as the gates were opening. We decided to split up and do what each individual family wanted to do first. So Ty and I ran through the gates and headed to Fantasy Land, we rode several of the little kiddie rides and then went on It's A Small World. We then ran to California Adventures when it opened to do Toy Story and then stayed there and did several rides until lunchtime, including the Muppets in 3D show and the Crush show. We played in Bear Country and went back to Bug's Land (Madelyn's favorite in California Adventures). After naps in the stroller we headed back to Disneyland and didn't get much accomplished, because it was Friday and 92 degrees, it was packed. We watched the parade, rode just a couple of rides, ate dinner, and finished off the evening with the Matterhorn, which was Madelyn's request each night before leaving the park. It was her favorite ride in Disneyland. She couldn't stop talking about how she didn't close her eyes and she was so brave. We rode that ride about 10 times when we were there, thank heavens for the speedy lines and the rider switch pass. Overall, we had a great time in Disneyland, both the girls had so much fun! We packed up the next morning and headed home. The girls did great on the way home, and we made really good time, even with a pit stop in Cedar City at Cafe Rio. Thank you Mom and Dad for another memorable family vacation!

Madelyn's 3rd Birthday!

A few months ago I decided that I wanted to have a carnival party for Madelyn's 3rd birthday. So...the plans began. I pictured this outdoor carnival in my backyard, parents and kids wandering out from game to game, eating carnival food, and having a good old time. After all the planning and preparation, the day came and at the last minute, it was too windy to set up. So we crammed 40 people in my house, and tried to still eat and play all the games. To say the least it was a "circus". But it was a lot of crazy fun! We had corn dogs, nachos, giant pretzels, popcorn, and drinks for dinner. Ty was tying balloons for the kids while they were eating and playing games. Madelyn had such a good time! We had the pleasure of our friends Tim and Kim Shirley there taking pictures of the whole thing. They did such a great job! Thank you to all that came and celebrated Madelyn's birthday. We'll never forget it or the mess that was left to cleanup afterwards...Enjoy the pictures. For more information about Tim & Kim Photography, visit the link to their photography blog.

Madelyn's 1st Day of Preschool

Madelyn is now going to preschool called Discovery Corner Preschool and she loves it! Her teachers name is Miss Dawn and she gets so excited to go every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. She is learning a lot and has met a lot of new little friends. To be honest, it's a nice little break for me too, because Audrey naps the whole time Madelyn is gone, it's fantastic! Anyway, here a few photos from the 1st day.

Madelyn and Miss Dawn Madelyn and one of her best friends, Addison

Aiden + Anais at Target!

My favorite thing that I received when Audrey was born was Aiden + Anais muslin swaddlers. They are thin and lightweight for swaddling (especially great in the summertime), yet big so that you can actually wrap them up well. Well Audrey is obsessed with her swaddlers. She now balls them up and cuddles with them when she sleeps. She loves to rub her face in them and I never worry about her being too hot because they're so breathable. She cannot sleep without them. Unfortunately, they are not a cheap commodity. The only places you could buy them were at boutique shops and online and they were about $45 for a package of 4. The other day I was at Target and I happened to see that they have them there now in the baby section and they are only $29.99 for a package of 4. For anyone having a baby soon, these are one my top ten, must haves list. Check them out at this link...Aiden + Anais for Target.

http://www.target.com/gp/search/179-8215718-7889451?ie=UTF8&search-alias=tgt-index&viewID=drill-down&field-keywords=aden%20%2B%20anais

Two New Temples...One Weekend

Friday, Ty and I were able to go to the first session of the dedication of the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple inside the temple, with my parents and my brother and his wife. My dad was the superintendent of the project of building the temple and so it meant a lot to him to watch the process from start to finish and finally dedicated. It was really neat to be sitting inside there knowing that President Monson and the general authorities were just down the hall. I was really glad I was able to attend and I can't wait to someday actually go there to do temple work. Then on Saturday, our ward (old ward now) went as a group to do an endownment session and go to lunch afterwards. I went alone because Ty had to go to the stake baptism and then he met me there and did initiatories. It is such a beautiful temple. It was really cool to actually be in the temple after I had been to the open house 6 months ago. I feel so blessed to live in Utah where we have so many temples all around us. It was a great weekend!

A Bittersweet Day

Well, today we woke up late, rushed to get ready for church and showed up a few minutes after the meeting had started. (We have 8:30 am church, it's hard to be on time.) I walked in to the chapel and it was dark. I was really confused, so I sat down and the counselor in the Stake Presidency was at the pulpit with a map. I knew what that meant...ward split. We had one about 4 1/2 years ago. As he was explaining where the new boundary lines were, I could see this little chunk out of our ward, about 20 houses that were told that they would be going to a new ward. Us being one of those. Actually the boundary line is our next door neighbor. Keep in mind that Ty's up front conducting the meeting as 1st counselor in the Bishopric. He found out about 2 minutes before the meeting started. I immediately felt sick to my stomach and couldn't help the tears from coming. We have been in this ward for 5 1/2 years and have served in many callings in the ward, including presidencies and bishoprics. We have a lot of friends that we will be leaving behind. We also now have 2:30 pm church...yuck! Come fall and winter, we will be leaving church in the dark. At least it is only until the end of the year and then our new ward is actually heading to a new building that will be done at the beginning of the year. We look forward to meeting new friends and serving in a new ward, however we are sad to leave. To say the least, I balled through the whole 3 hour block. I guess that's life. Anyway, I'm so proud of my husband for serving so diligently and making me proud. I love you honey!