Birthday Wishes for Dad

Just wanted to wish my Papa a very happy birthday. Right now we are on a trip with our little family in California. It has brought back a lot of memories of childhood trips to California for both of us. As Mark and I have reminisced....I have been filled with a new appreciation for the patience and planning it must have taken to haul our "not so little" clan to all the various attractions without losing your mind!! We have had some good laughs as we shared stories of our family adventures! Thank you Dad for loving us enough to put your own sanity aside for the sake of your kids and for seeing the value in spending time together as a family. At the time you probably couldn't see it .... but you were providing me with childhood memories that I will forever cherish!! Enjoy this little blast from the past....a California vacation with your "little" clan. With each passing day my love for the man who drove me around on vacations in our family station wagon grows tremendously:)

I love you so much Dad.....Happy Birthday and the best of everything in 2012!!!

DISNEY

We have spent the past 2 days running around Disneyland and Disney California Adventure with a million other folks:) It has been totally exhausting, but a complete BLAST!! We started out early on Wednesday and arrived at the park when the gates opened..... and rolled out about when they closed!

Disneyland was open until midnight and although we stayed nearly until then, it was impossible to get to every ride. We sadly had to pass on the Haunted Mansion (the one I was so excited about) the line was never less than a 2 hour wait and Fast Pass was not an option:( We also opted out of some like Jungle Cruise, Train, Dumbo and Small World (I know it almost seems sacreligious, but we had to be selective)

Emmrey was such a trooper and she rode everything that she was tall enough for with a couple of exceptions. Mark and I were talking about how this would never have happened with our other 2 girls at this age....so we were very fortunate and it made the trip so much more enjoyable:) She even rode Splash Mountain. I don't think she particularly liked it and she said she would not ride it again....but at least we all did it together!

Indiana Jones was one of our favorites (along with Pirates of the Caribbean). This was one that Emmrey was not tall enough for, so we did the Ride Swap on that one...AND we used a Fast Pass......this made all the difference!!

It was impossible to get a picture in front of the princess castle without a thousand other people being a part of it. This is the best we could do.

The character visibility was a bit disappointing. It was sparse to begin with and then when they were spotted, it was a huge line just to get a picture. Thus Pluto was the only character photo we got this time:( I felt bad that Emm didn't get to take pictures with the princesses, but she did get to see them in the parade.

We spent a lot of our time waiting in lines.....more than I care to remember.


And then "flying" through the ride!!



When we finally realized the line for Matterhorn was not going down, Mark took Bailee and Karsyn and waited (what ended up being )one and a half hours....yikes! While they spent their night in line, Emmrey and I rode some other milder rides and she also used some of her Disney Dollars to buy this little cutie......Her new baby Tiana ....oh my goodness another one to take care of :) She was just giddy with excitement to show her sisters.

The park was all decked out for the holidays ....so festive! Although it was a little strange to be walking around in 65 degree weather, sun shining, palm trees swaying and Christmas music playing?


We had the best time and I just loved experiencing it this time around with our girls....magical!!



Part 2

The next morning we were all a little sluggish, but we headed out for yet another day at Disney. This time at California Adventure which was a first for all of us.


Once again Emmrey was a good sport and at least tried most of the rides that she could. We all went on the Grizzly River Run together and got SOAKED. Good thing we did this early on when it was warm and we dried fairly quick:) It was a little rougher than I had anticipated, and Emmrey was not thrilled about getting wet. (This was before the ride started)

We made it up to her by allowing her to choose the next few rides, which included Little Mermaid, Jumpin' Jellyfish and the Golden Zephyr....

After Bailee and I waited in line for an hour to ride California Screamin', we decided that Mark and Karsyn definitely needed to try it out. Karsyn was not interested and so Bailee was more than happy to accommodate her dad for a second time. While they were screamin' we spent some time playin' in A Bugs Land.


Then we all met up for a viewing of "It's Tough to be a Bug"...


The girls turned into Toy Story Action figures for a brief moment....


Hollywood Picture Backlot didn't have too much that we were interested in doing, but the atmosphere was great and we did watch the Aladdin Show which was fantastic!

We had a great second day and the crowds were a bit more manageable, although still crazy!! We made it on almost everything at California Adventure. We missed Toy Story Mania....because well, it was MANIA, and sadly Bailee did not get her turn in the Tower of Terror:( They "ran out" of Fast Passes (one of my gripes) and the line was still 2 hours long. I had no intention of revisiting this ride....(I am still recovering from Disney World six years ago), and although Mark and Bailee really wanted to terrorize themselves, the line was just too monsterous!! Maybe next time!! Our favorite by far was Soarin' Over California which we went on twice and California Screamin' (at least for the 3 of us)....the best roller coaster we have been on in a while!! All too soon it was time to catch the tram back to the parking and call it a day ...we were exhausted!

Farewell dear Disney....we hope to see you again someday!!!

Merry Christmas

Christmas morning didn't come too early. In fact, because I knew that we would not have a lot of time for our Christmas before the house was filled with aunts, uncles and cousins....I had to softly wake Emmrey (by whispering Merry Christmas) at about 7:30. I knew once she was awake, her enthusiasm would inevitably wake her sisters up. I was right! As soon as she woke, she started bouncing on the bed and saying "It's Christmas!" We checked the stockings first and then started unwrapping.....


Santa brought the girls a few items from their list and they each bought gifts for each other. Earlier this month we sent our letters for Santa with Puck. The next morning there was a letter from Santa to the parents of Bailee, Karsyn and Emmrey informing us that the girls could expect something special come Christmas morning. We were not given details, but the girls new something was coming and they were filled with wonder. Sure enough a big wrapped box was there waiting with a note telling them to save that gift until last. When everything else had been opened, they unwrapped the package together. Inside was full of balloons with several small wrapped items. At the bottom (according to the original plan;) were Disneyland tickets and Disney Dollars for each of the girls. Bailee was smiley, Karsyn was speechless and shrieking, and Emmrey just wanted to know which package she got to unwrap......go figure!!! I know they were all excited and as the day went on it was.... Disneyland this and Disneyland that......even if initially they had a funny way of showing it:)


After the Smith's had arrived and the traditional breakfast had been served, we all walked across the street to church with Grandpa & Grandma. It was fun and unusual to sit at church all together. Grandma Shirley was so pleased.....my guess is that this was the best Christmas gift she received:)


After church, a little more gift exchanging and visiting, we headed out to my sister Jill's for more Christmas with the Fortie's. We ate delicious food as usual and the kids just played and played while we all caught up.....just how it should be. It was a very Merry day!!!


Hope you all had the Merriest Christmas and a New Year full of memories......

...now we are off to Disney to make some of our own!!!

Twas the Night Before Christmas.....

And we were partying at my parents house!! We decided to spend Christmas Eve with just one side of the family this year rather than try to split the night between both. I must say it was more relaxing...not feeling rushed to leave one and get to the other, but we did miss the Smith's:)



My mom always has some new little gadget and this year it was Merry Okee!! We all (well most of us) had fun singing the familiar Christmas Carols with elf voices and mixed up words. Mark and I did especially well with our version of "Oh Artificial Christmas Tree"

It was a tradition when I was a child to read the story of the Christ Child. My mom has reintroduced this wonderful story with props the past few years. The kids and adults alike enjoy this sweet story. The kids also had fun playing a Christmas matching game.


After getting our fill of yummy food, goodies, and family time, we returned to grandpa & grandma Smith's to get ready for Santa. The girls opened their gift from Mark and I, which they have come to predict, but still look forward to. They usually get new Christmas PJ's and a book!! We got our PJ picture by the tree and then left a plate for Santa (one of grandma's homemade rolls and milk....yum:)

Christmas Cruise

We went on a cruise ....a Christmas Cruise that is! On our second night in Utah, we set sail on the Provo River for a Christmas light extravaganza with my family. My sister Kris had rented the entire boat which seats 40 people so with our clan plus her in-laws, we had a full house:)

We bundled up and waited anxiously for what was in store......
Although we had anticipated it being rather cold, it was surprisingly comfortable once we all settled into the excursion boat. Of course Hot Chocolate always helps:)

We sang carols and oohed and awed at the scenes of lights. This is the best I could get....but it really was pretty!

Santa also made an appearance. He rowed up on a canoe with candy canes in hand.

Of course the best part was just getting to spend time with our family. The girls just can't get enough of their cousins on our trips to Utah!!

It was also Kris's birthday, so that made it extra special!!

History with the Big Guy

We had our church Christmas breakfast this morning and I had a bit of an epiphany ......our girls are NOT fond of visiting Santa!!! Now I do realize that Bailee is getting a little older, and although she is still a pretty good sport, she was less than thrilled. Emmrey loves the idea of Santa, but when it comes to sitting on his lap? Not so much!! And our dear little Karsyn .... well I had to urge her over and over to get a little closer so I could at least take a picture.


As I grumbled in my head about the ordeal of getting a simple photo with Santa, I realized that this was not specific to this year. They get super excited for Christmas and the anticipation of Santa coming. But do they want to actually SEE him or TALK with him? No ...nuh-uh ...nope!! I started looking through old photos of Christmas past and guess what? The look on their faces year after year says "I am putting up with this as a means to an end, but I am not liking it one bit". (Karsyn especially has a track record!!!:) I do have a couple of years with pretty happy girls with Santa. They must have really been humoring me!

I can't believe it has taken me this long to come to this realization. No wonder they LOVED their email message from Santa last year (no real interaction:) Karsyn had asked if they could just have this type of encounter with the big guy this year. Of course Mom always wants a photo for the "memories". Can you really blame them? It is a little creepy when you think about it:)
Maybe this would make it more FUN???

Gingerbread Village

It is tradition for us to make/decorate Gingerbread Houses sometime during the month of December. Since we won't be home for Christmas Eve (which is usually when we do them), I decided to get to them last night. Last year we did one big house and everybody decorated a side. While in theory this sounded like a good idea to promote a little teamwork, this was not a big hit! The girls really like to have their own house to design. There have been some years when we thought it would be great to make our own gingerbread, cut the pieces and so on.....well frankly that is too much work for me and the pieces NEVER fit together correctly. So although the smell of gingerbread is delicious, we have since opted for the pre-made kits. I saw this kit that said it made 5 miniature houses....... a little village......PERFECT for our clan. Well we opened up the box and they were not kidding when they said miniature:) We each got our itty bitty house and let the creativity flow....


I thought they went together very well...no glue gun this year:) Our girls prefer to not work off a design plan. Every year they just kind of put them together as they go along. A little something here and there....whatever strikes them at the moment. It is always fun to see the end result. I was a little dissapointed that Mark opted to let the girls decorate his. He is so artistic, it would have been neat to see his masterpiece.



Our Gingerbread Village......so fun to make and look at for another week .....but way to hard to ever eat.....wasteful? YES!! But a fun tradition nonetheless!!

A Year Without a Christmas Tree....

Okay, so it's not quite that sad, but it's true. Our much anticipated tradition of loading the car and heading to the forest (with permit in hand), to cut our beautiful tree did not happen this year. In years past, we try to take care of this ritual over the Thanksgiving break. This year Mark was less than a week out from his surgery and in no condition to chop down a tree....although he was seriously considering it. It seemed that the next few weekends after that were spent at swim meets, and before we knew it half the month had passed. We entertained the thought of going to cut a tree last week and then came to the realization that we would have a good week with our balsam friend before we would be loading up and heading to Utah for Christmas. So we made the decision to forgo the real deal this year and find solace in our little artificial Family Tree we have upstairs. We are missing the fresh fragrance of a real tree, but are content with our glowing little alternate for now. We look forward to next year when the scent of pine once again swarms through the house!!

Elf on the Shelf

Last night during dinner, we heard a slight knock at the door. We sent Karsyn to answer it, sure that it would be her little friend from across the street. Well it was a little friend, but one we had not met before. This cute little guy greeted us with a friendly smile and a new tradition.



We all wondered who on earth could have left him? Emmrey was certain it must have been the big guy himself.......hmmm I think she is right on;) We took him in and warmed him up. He brought with him a book that told us all we needed to know. He is in fact a very special elf who was sent from the North Pole to keep an eye on things;) Every night when we go to bed, he returns to Santa to give him a report on whether we have been good or bad and then in the morning we get to find him again. Our book specifically told us not to touch him or it rubs off his magic, so Emmrey has been really worried about that. It is so funny to see her first thing when she wakes up....searching all over the house.


It was very important that we named our little elf. Of course the girls all wanted a different name, so we let them choose 2 names and we put them in a bowl and drew one out. The nominations were.....Buddy & Leanarno for Emm, Eduardo & Clyde? for Kars and Puck & Rodney for Bailee. And the winner is...........PUCK!! That's right....wouldn't you know it:) Mark is certainly having a good time with it....

Our new little friend is growing on us and we look forward to many adventures with him!!