Advice: Next time leave the camera home...

We have been gone for the past week on our own California Adventure. Brian decided to take advantage of the fun photo opportunities that the parks offered so I will post a few of them. At the end of our vacation, the kids suggested to Brian that with the amount of money that was spent on each of these photos we could have had a really nice photo sitting session-- BUT would they look like these and show our real personalities??? What a fun time we had. Our first full day we spent at Sea World where Amanda and Alisha were able to interact with the dolphins. They couldn't get the smile off their faces.

The first coaster we rode was Atlantis at Sea World. The kids said I looked EMO so they told Brian he had to buy it.

I'm the one with the jacket over my head that you can't see. Sorry these are so small. I probably should have fixed them when I scanned them in. Oh well. The next day we went to DISNEYLAND!!!!! "The happiest place on earth"? For most....YES! We went on Space Mountain and Splash Mountain.

Oh, I get it it's kind of like a game where you pick your poses for fun!! This one we decided to show NO emotion and act like this is boring. I think the workers rigged it because we all had ponchos on and we all got off soaked. I think they turned up the water just to spite us thinking we were all cool by not getting wet. After the ride, we did kind of look like this when our ploy to not get wet didn't work. No time to waste throwing a pitty party. On to more rides. I paid 15.00 for a service on the internet that you input all of the rides you want to ride and they spit out an itinerary for you that gives you the best options with not much waiting. It worked!! We rode everything we wanted and some twice. Saturday we went to Universal Studios where they had a photo special 4- 5x7's for 24.95. Great!! We'll do it so here are three of the four. The one at the beginning is one of them.
This is front of the Haunted House. It was real SPOOKY!
This is the ride "Revenge of the Mummy". It's one we hadn't been on before. Lots of Fun!


The photo above is on the "Jurassic Park" ride. It's a hard one to see because there are 2 shots on a 5x7. Our last day we went to California Adventures. One of the "cast" members dressed like a Bellhop approached Nick and Amanda and asked if they were alone and Amanda said her family (us) were with them. The Bellhop asked if we would like to take the dare. We said sure. So he told us to follow him and then proceded to tell us we were going to be the first family at California Adventure that day which meant we got to sign in the hotel (Tower of Terror) guest book and carry the big velvet rope with the people BEHIND us into the park. We would also be the first on the Tower of Terror ride in our own elevator and 2 fast passes to use whenever we wanted throughout the day on that ride. SCORE!!!!! Sarah and Amanda have pictures of that so you'll have to check their blogs and see if they post them.

Notice our family pose. It would be great in a 16x20 frame except for one problem....where's Kyle???? He had to stay home and work. Bummer!! We missed you! Maybe we can photoshop him in.

We had a great get-away!!! It's always good to be home. Does anyone know where to get a mean batch of cotton candy???? I'm going through withdrawls. Mitch said he couldn't believe I would drive all the way to California for cotton candy when walmart has the same thing.....duh---it never tastes the same unless you're actually there. Thanks for the fun.

Refrigerator Worthy???

So as I continue to look through scrapbook photos, I run across a few that really give me a big smile! This is one that I found and so I put it on the fridge. What cuties!!! Every once in a while I will hang something from the past on the fridge. A week or so ago, Mitch needed to write an essay on something that he did in his life that no one else has done, that had an effect on him. So I dug into the past (my treasure box of their memories) and found this....

Mitch chose this to write his essay on. He brought this home from elementary school one day and casually handed it to me and said it was from his teacher. So he did write and complete his essay of which he received a great grade on and yes, this has been hung back on the fridge (until I have time to get it back where it needs to go and not lose it). A few days later when I passed by the fridge (I do pass it frequently - I just don't pay a lot of attention to what's on there since I'm the one that puts it there) I found a new item hanging on it that caught my attention......

I thought it funny that Mitch would hang his first driving ticket on the fridge but figured it was one of three reasons.

1. He was proud of it?????

2. He wanted to keep the memory of it going strong?????

3. He had gone longer than any of his sisters without getting a ticket and wanted to proove it???

I figure it was so he wouldn't forget to call and get it paid in the timely manner. $82.00. Sorry about the ticket cute boy.

I think every fridge has a story!!!

Cheap Therapy

I ran across these 2 pictures as I was rummaging through the scrapbook "stuff" and found these 2 pictures and they took me back....to the day when we had a bird in one of the window wells that couldn't fly. Now everyone that knows Tasha (the Beagle dog)knows that she is instinctively ready for the hunt. Shanna thought she would get a shovel and help the bird out while someone was to keep watch on the dog inside the house and NOT let her out. That someone turned for a brief moment as another human went out and the dog followed and ran directly to the shovel and in one quick snatch helped the bird out of it's misery. Alisha screamed and yelled at Tasha but of course it won't bring the nice birdy back. We had our discussion on the food chain with a bit of hunting instinct lesson so I figured we had everything understood. I had gone on with my day and was doing some cleaning in the bedroom when under the door these 2 pictures were slid by 2 very small hands. They tell the whole story.... and she went on to play.

Last fall, Sarah and I talked about running the St. George 1/2 marathon that was January 17. Okay I said that means A LOT of time on the treadmill. UGH!! I really enjoy being outside but it's a bit too cold and not too good on the ankles dodging the ice chunks. So I committed to train inside.

We took Grandma and Alisha to Cedar City to spend the night with Kyle, Gina, and the girls. We ate dinner at the NINJA (like Benihana's). That was fun to visit a short bit with them. Then on to St. George.

The morning weather was beautiful in St. George - up to 60 degrees and not even much of a breeze. I start off doing great and then my feet went numb - oh man! I really had intended on getting a good time but was afraid I might twist an ankle or fall because I couldn't feel my feet SOOOoooo.....I slowed down. Big mistake! Well let's just say we finished --not last but not as good of a time as I had wanted. Sarah tried with all of her might to get me to get the lead out!!! She is so much fun to be with and I appreciate her "taking one for the team" and staying with me. I'm sure she could have finished AT LEAST 45 minutes sooner. Thank You Sarah for the fun! Looking forward to Ogden in May.

A great way to start the year!!