Chrismas Card 1 2010

Colorful Frames Christmas

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Santa Run 2010

This weekend was our first Santa Run in Ogden. It was an absolute blast! It was Aimee's first race ever and she did fantastic!!! It was my mom and dad's second 5k (their first was the Turkey Trot last weekend), and it was actually Joey and I's first 5k ever, even though we ran MUCH more than that during the Ragnar in October. There were over 700 people dressed as Santa ready to run! See the starting line!!!

Along the way there were Santa's little helpers handing out cookies and milk, which we didn't take (yuck while running!) but our own little mini-Santa and reindeer really enjoyed (it was their first race too!).

 There were a lot of people along the side of the road, some there to support the Santa's and some there waiting for the parade. Duffy thought that we were the parade so he waved to everyone watching the ENTIRE race! It was so cute, 3.1 miles of waving from our own little Santa. They were both such troopers because it was only about 30 degrees out there but they didn't complain one bit! I think we all did really well, my dad finished in about 26 minutes and the rest of us were right behind at about 30 minutes. I'm so thankful to have found a love of running, even though the training is not fun, the races are a really great experience that I am so happy to be able to share with my family, including the kids. I hope that us running can encourage our kids to stay active, since so many kids would rather watch tv or play video games now days!
So, what a great start to our Christmas 2010 season! We can't wait for everything else to come in the next few weeks!!!

Fall Family Pictures

We haven't done "formal" family pictures other than for Christmas cards for a couple of years now, so this year we made it a point to get them done. We chose the most beautiful fall day in the most beautiful place, Beus Pond. The kids were real troopers and didn't protest too much. I think we got some really great pictures that I will treasure forever! My wonderful sister is the photographer (look at her blog on the right-Junebug Photography), I'm so lucky to have her in my life, she's one of my best friends and the best aunt the kids could ever imagine having! Here are some of my favorites, although there were MANY more!

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Must Love Dogs?

Yesterday we left for the night to head out to Wendover (not my favorite place by the way). We left our dogs in the back yard along with our friend Justin's dog Tonka. Aimee came by and let the dogs in for the night because both Tonka and Buddy are indoor dogs and we didn't want them barking all night and disturbing our neighbors. Again, I want to clarify they are both indoor dogs and *almost* never cause any problems. This is what we came home to:

The mess you see is the result of a dog with separation anxiety. Tonka has been to our house a lot but always in the backyard so we are assuming he wasn't familiar enough with our house and got stressed. Somehow they removed a child-lock doorknob cover and broke into the bathroom, chewed up bath toys, the toilet brush, a bag of potatoes, the dog dish, a flashlight, and a bottle of sunscreen from the kitchen, and finally an xbox controller, our remote control, and two of our couch cushions. Needless to say we are shopping for a couch this evening. It is NOT even close to salvageable! It's a good thing we won about $1000 last night! And now I get to clean up this gigantic mess.

How Have I Gotten So Far Behind?

I feel like I just keep repeating myself on saying I will be catching up on blogging, but as I looked through my posts today I realize that I haven't even blogged about either of the kids' birthdays. This really makes me sad because I want to try to document how I felt at each age. I don't even have the pictures from Duffy's birthday on my computer, they're only on Aimee's! Anyway, let me start here: with Syracuse Heritage Days.

We had a great time, as usual, since it's one of our favorite weekends of the year. It seems like the weather is usually really nice and really hot. We all headed to the parade in the morning (except ,of course, Joey-not his type of thing!). Grandma and Grandpa Great were there, Grandma and Papa Bennett, Aimee, Jordan, Carson, Ty, Ashlee, Ryan, and Carter too! We really love parades, and we have a lot of traditions at parades and they kind of all have to do with food . . .hmmm. Anyway Grandma Great brings Doritos and bean dip, EZ Cheese and Saltines, and other yummy treats; and my mom and dad bring donuts, juice, and chocolate milk. The kids love all the off-limit foods they get to eat on parade day. We always get way too much candy and have a great time watching all the hometown floats.
After the parade we headed over to to the little fair they have. We had lunch and SPED through the booths because Maisy's party was later that day and I was nowhere near ready! The kids really wanted to do some rides so we let them go on the big slide with grandpa, it better have been the best slide of their lives because it was $3 EACH!!! What the heck? Anyway, after that we had enough tickets for Duffy to go on one more ride, and he chose the little motorcycles. While all of us were watching the carnival worker strap him in (to make sure he was doing it right!) Maisy decided to release herself from her stroller and take a little walk. Talk about scared, there were a million people there and we didn't have any idea which way she even went. We finally found her behind the "grab a duckie" game thinking it was bath time or something. She was soaked but she really wanted a couple of those ducks!
Next time: the second half of the day, Maisy's birthday

Powell-View 2010

Our group of friends has a yearly tradition of going to Lake Powell at the end of the season. We have been looking forward to this year's trip since we got home last year! Joey and a couple of his friends even bought a houseboat so we wouldn't have to rent one anymore, and so we could actually rent ours out to other groups. First problem-the houseboat repairs weren't going to be done on time so we would be tent camping. Our trip was scheduled for a full week: Sunday through Saturday, and I was SO excited for the break from reality. Out on Lake Powell there are no distractions from just being yourself, no TV's, no cell phone service, etc. I really love the peace and quiet although I worry about my kids while I can't talk to them for that long.
Anyway, Saturday night we were packing and getting ready to go. Joey and Justin ran to the store for a couple of things we forgot earlier that day and blew a brake cylinder on their way home. The parts store was closed already but they, along with our resident mechanic Nate got the wheel off and everything ready to fix it in the morning. Early the next morning they went for the part and three hours, another trip (this time by me) to the parts store for brake fluid, and a whole lot of crap on my driveway later they found out they had been given the wrong part and would have to start all over again. Forget it, we'll take Justin's truck. We should have taken the warning that this trip was not meant to be!
We loaded everything up into Justin's truck and hit the road. We picked up the rest of our group in Salt Lake, grabbed free lunch at Nate's restaurant The Philly, and headed out. About 6 hours later we saw water!!! We were finally there! On the way we named a new national monument though: Wii's Tree's. Our friend Nate saw a group of trees in the distance which he thought meant we were close to Hanksville, we all looked around and could not figure out where the heck he could see the trees. Justin asked if he meant those rocks up ahead, he did. It was so funny, it really thought they were trees.
At the marina we loaded enough camping gear, food, and wake boarding supplies to last 7 people for 7 days into one boat (see picture in the collage). It was absolutely insane. The boat was so full we basically had to sit on each others laps to get to camp. By the time we had gone the 7 miles to the canyon we like to stay in it was pitch black dark. We were using our flashlights to look for places to set up camp. Our perfect spot from last year was taken so we had to move on. We finally found a spot that would work but it meant hauling all of our things up a steep. long, sand hill. It was exhausting just to get the necessities for one night up that hill. As we were unloading a few of us heard a noise that sounded like a small waterfall. We all looked at each other stunned when we figured out the boat had a hole and was taking on water-fast. We had no other choice but to have the four guys turn it around and pick the back up onto the rocks for the night. We didn't finish unloading our things, just what we needed for the night, and figured we would deal with it in the morning.
The next morning our hopes were renewed when Joey offered to rent a boat for the week. We were all in pretty good spirits as four of them took off for the marina to ditch the sinking boat and rent us a new one. Dirk and I stayed back at camp and settled in for a relaxing few hours. I read my book, took a nap, and just enjoyed the sun. As it got hotter and hotter the biting flies got worse and worse. Even insect repellent wouldn't keep them away. I was covered with welts and really, really mad! Oh well, we thought, we will just look for a better campsite when they came back with a rental since we could now look in the day light.
The four came back from the marina in a 20 foot piece of junk boat and broke the news: we would be heading home that day. The rental would cost us $3500 for the rest of the week! What a rip-off, even a houseboat would have been less! We also found out that on their way to the marina the boat was taking in too much water for the bilge pump to keep up with so they had to ditch the rest of our stuff on a random rock AND use the Fatsack pump just to stay afloat. The guys at the repair shop said they didn't even know how they had made it back without sinking the boat.
Three of the guys took a load back and picked up the abandoned supplies from the rock while the other three of us stayed back to finish packing up camp. It was hot, the flies were still biting, and that hill was ridiculous to get down. The sand would go over your feet and burn them as you were trying to haul stuff down. I was even more mad! We were roasting so when we were basically finished packing up and hauling things down to load we decided to go for a swim. We laughed as we said "At least we can say we swam in Powell this year!" As we were enjoying the water we noticed a giant black cloud making its way toward us and we knew we were in trouble. We got out and got the last of our things down the hill, then we huddled under the top from one of our canopies to wait for the storm. It started out with lightning. It was right above us, there was no time between the flash of the lightning and the sound of the thunder. I was terrified, I had never been that close to it before and we had almost nowhere to hide. We huddled to the side of a cliff to keep ourselves as small as possible. Next came the wind and the rain. The wind was blowing rocks into our backs and sand into our eyes, even though we were mostly covered. Joey appeared alone in the rental boat in the midst of complete madness. The metal holding up the bimini top was bent to the breaking point and it was just flapping in the wind. I cannot even describe the rain to give it justice. All I can say was that it was raining so hard that it was running down our faces and into our eyes. We could only see for a few seconds when we wiped our hands across our faces. There was flooding coming down the hill, causing us to fall every time we tried bringing something off the rocks into the boat. I finally gave up and started sliding down on my butt as I was hauling things. It was by far the hardest rain I have ever been in. We loaded what we could and left the rest there, someday someone will find themselves a nice table and a few other things!
With the small boat packed down we got in and put on our life jackets. This was something I had never done before, normally we only wear them when we are on the wake board or tube, but we were so afraid that we were going to capsize in the waves that we wore them from the beginning of this terrible ride. Lake Powell can be a scary place during a storm but we felt that we only had a choice to get ourselves out of it or risk staying in the lightning, soaking wet and exposed. We chose trying to get out of it. The waves were about four feet tall which may not seem like a lot but if we took a wave wrong or for some reason lost power, that boat was so small that we would have capsized, no doubt about it. The lightning was still right above our heads and it was still raining like I've never seen, and it was freezing, we huddled under wet sleeping bags to get warm. I was so afraid that I cried and cried and begged God to let me live because I had two kids at home. Telling the story doesn't do our terror justice but even now as I'm typing this I am fighting back tears thinking of what could have happened. Our kids could have lost both parents in a single second. One beautiful thing we saw on the way back was the flash flooding coming over the cliffs. The water was moving so fast that it was picking up a lot of sand and dumping it into the lake. It looked like red chocolate milk waterfalls.
Finally we got out of the storm right as we reached the marina. I can only imagine what we looked like, shivering and haggard. I couldn't stop shaking and Joey finally broke down after his adrenaline wore off. It really gave us a chance to reflect on life, and about what and WHO were important to us. We loaded up the truck and headed out of town less than 24 hours after we arrived. The upper left hand picture of the four guys, and the two pictures of the boat are some of the only 5 pictures we have of the whole trip to Powell.
On the ride home we decided to borrow a boat and head to Pineview for a few days to try to at least salvage some wake boarding sessions. We stayed at Nate's house that night and headed to Pineview in the morning (Tuesday). While it wasn't Lake Powell and we cut our trip short by another full day, we had fun. We camped on grass instead of rocks, set up lasso golf, and played a lot of Bocce. The first night, the three girls (Emilee had joined us by now) made our very own fire without any help! We had a couple of great days with good weather but of course it couldn't be all good after the luck we had for the week. Wednesday night and Thursday morning it rained and rained and rained. We had all packed for 100 degrees so we froze when it was only about 60 and we were wet. Oh well, we had breakfast at Chris' and put canopies up over the fire and the lasso golf, and kept up on the fun.
We had to wait until about 7 that night to get water good enough for wake boarding. By that time the other two girls had gone home so I was the last one standing which meant I got first dibs on the wake board, fine with me since it was cold already and would only get worse. It was a mistake. I tried to jump off the wake and caught the toe edge of the board which quickly slammed my face onto the water. It felt like hitting concrete, literally. I couldn't turn my board over so I was face down, with just enough strength to hold face out of the water. Joey had to jump in to turn me over and get my board off. My nose was bleeding, my face was swollen, and I had a horrific headache. I rode it out while Joey had a turn but was feeling so terrible I had to have them drop me off at shore, so Joey and I went back to camp. Joey made a fire and started on dinner while I relaxed, a first!
The next morning I had massive bruises on my cheek and jaw, I looked great for a few days! We packed up camp, had a last lasso golf match, and headed home. I was so excited to see the kids again and to sleep in my own, comfortable bed.
This trip was an expensive nightmare, but we will never forget it. All we kept saying was we can't wait until Powell 2011!!!

Maisy's Second Birthday Portraits

I'm trying to play catch up on my blogging so my posts are going to be nowhere near in order, sorry! These are the portraits my amazing sister/resident photographer Aimee did for Maisy's 2nd birthday. I think they belong in a magazine but maybe I'm a little biased :) You now the drill, click on the collage to see the pictures bigger!

Bear Lake Day Trip

Yesterday Joey and I decided to take the kids for a ride up to Bear Lake. It's such a pretty drive and the kids slept for a lot of the way so we had a pretty nice ride. Once we got up there we drove out onto the beach and had fun wading around in the cold water. The kids and Joey got all the way in but I stayed shallow enough that the water didn't hit my stomach, it was too cold! The sand was nice and we even made a makeshift sandcastle. The kids thought it was great when Joey dug a moat around it and the water surrounded our castle. We put a big "O" on the front and then we destroyed it. Everyone was pretty cold by then, because of the breeze and the water so we decided to head down the road for a shake. We all split a blueberry shake, which of course the kids loved, Maisy even tried to eat her cup she liked it so much!
On our way back we saw a car stuck in the sand trying desperately to get out. Joey took the next turn and went to their rescue without even thinking twice about it. When he discovered he didn't have his tow ropes he drove down the beach until we saw another truck with a winch. Then he got out and walked around asking everyone he saw if they owned the truck. Finally he found the guy who didn't even speak English and convinced him to follow us down to the car who was stuck. When we got back to them a truck was parked behind them honking at them and telling them to get out of the way, we couldn't believe someone could be so ignorant!!! Anyway Joey and the truck owner got the little car right out of the sand and we all went on our way. It reminded me of how lucky I am to have married someone like my dad who would go out of their way every time to help someone in need. It didn't matter that we were on our way home, that we were all exhausted, or that he had to go up and down the beach to find someone to help. Joey said he just thought of what his dad would think if he hadn't helped and that Joe would have "kicked his butt". I think it's more than that, I think he was raised to help other people just like my dad was, and I know he would always lend a hand. Besides, what goes around comes around, and someday when we need help I know God will make sure that happens.

Pioneer Day

We had a blast this Pioneer Day! I was really hoping to go camping at my aunt and uncles property which didn't work out but it turned out great! On the 23rd Aimee, the kids, and I ventured out to see if we could find a spot for the parade. We weren't hopeful since people had been setting up for at least 2 days already but we thought we'd try. Driving along Washington we found the ONLY spot on the east side that wasn't roped off and flipped around to get it, we couldn't believe the luck!
The next morning we left at 6:30 to get to our spot and set up. It was a nightmare to get to it since they had Washington closed from 31st-17th and we were set up at 25th, but we managed to snake our way up there anyway. My parents, sister, brother, Grandma, Grandpa, and Jordan's friend Carson were there with us, and it was our first time in 4 years so it was great. When I was a little girl we used to go EVERY year, so I've really missed it. As usual the parade was long, but it was great! The only snag was a family that decided to stand right in front of us so I had to get them to sit down and they took over a huge chunk of our area, but oh well I guess.
After the parade we headed straight to the lake for some fun in the sun. We wake boarded, knee boarded, tubed, and swam. We were on the water about 9 hours, which was a really long time but we had a blast anyway. Duffy wasn't too sure what to think at first and had a hard time swimming in the water but then he warmed right up to it and didn't want to get out! My mom, Aimee, the kids, and I took a ride on the tube which just happened to be Maisy's first time crashing into the water, the waves were just too big for me to hold on with one hand so off we went! She was a little shocked but was just fine after a second! We had so much fun, it was the perfect summer day!

Seattle, Only for the Weekend

Joey's company has been changing out locks for LDS churches all over the place and I was excited but really jealous when he told me that he'd be going to Seattle to do some churches in the area (actually in the Bellevue area). I couldn't even believe it when he somehow worked it out for me to go up with him the weekend before they started, which also happened to be the weekend of our anniversary! I know, this post is about 2 months late. They had a LOT of product that needed to go up as well as a lot of heavy tools so he had decided to drive his truck up there. We dropped Duffy off at school (Aimee would pick him up later) and Maisy with Grandma and headed out. I HATE the drive to Seattle, just like I hate all long drives, only this one happens to be longer. I get carsick and usually have to take a Dramamine which puts me right to sleep. I was pretty proud of myself that I stayed awake the entire ride! While eating at a Denny's in Baker City, Oregon we decided to drive to Portland for the night instead of going up through Yakima. The last minute decision made us both remember our pre-kid, carefree days when we used to make spontaneous travel decisions all the time. It was a beautiful, fun drive into Portland at night and we were even able to say hi to Joey's cousin Kristi who lives there. We stayed in a corner room with floor to ceiling windows and we had a fantastic view of the city and the river.
The next morning we left early and made the 2 hour drive into Seatac. We were staying at the Cedarbrook Lodge in a suite (I got a killer deal online!) and I will never stay anywhere else if I go back. It was an amazing room with a great view of a nature reserve. They have the best customer service and free ice cream, malt balls, etc., what could be better?
Our first day there I kept telling Joey that I needed to meet my friend Crystal downtown for lunch at 1. I said I couldn't remember the name of the restaurant but I had Mapquest directions to get us there. We went all over downtown following the directions and I think he truly thought we were lost for a while there. He was saying, this place must be right on the lake. When we pulled up to Kenmore Air instead of a restaurant I told him "Happy Anniversary!" We weren't really having lunch, I had actually pulled off a surprise for his anniversary present and was taking him on a seaplane tour, which he's always wanted to do. I could tell he was so happy and shocked and excited, it was probably the best present I had ever given him. After the couple who was on the same flight was loaded up the pilot said he could use a copilot and I thought Joey was going to die! He kept asking if it was ok for sure that he didn't sit with me, but why would I be upset that he got to ride in the front seat? I thought it was great! The tour was so amazing, taking off from the water and seeing all the sights of Seattle. We flew right between the tall buildings of downtown and the Space Needle, flew over the sound, saw Bill Gates' house, and a bunch more. It was really the best and smoothest flight I'd ever been on.
For the rest of our weekend we revisited all of our favorite places in the area: we ate at the Fisherman and watched a snowboarding exhibition from our table, which was crazy to see right on the piers of Puget Sound! We hiked to Snoqualmie Falls, where Joey had the biggest breakfast I had ever seen! We visited Pikes Place and bought a beautiful bouquet for $10. We went to the horse races for the first time at Emerald Downs, and hit plenty of Starbucks.
We had our anniversary dinner a day early since I was leaving at 9 that morning, so we got dressed up and went to Maggianos in Bellevue. We sat in a corner by ourselves and had a really nice, romantic Italian dinner.
The whole trip was the perfect way to celebrate our 8th anniversary. We got time to really enjoy just being with each other and doing the things we really love to do.

California Day 7

Finally! I am back to blogging our last day of vacation! I've been in big trouble with my Grandma for not keeping up on the blog, I'm sorry! You know how we are, living every day(if possible) as an adventure and our summer has been super busy and SUPER fun!!! I'll try to blog on those fun times too, eventually! The collage has a ton of pictures from our day so you'll have to click on it for sure to see all of them!

Back to the vacation: Our last day, not counting the travel day home, was in Sea World. We had an absolutely fantastic time! The kids love animals so they were basically in heaven. We got there right as the gates opened and it was such a nice break to be away from the crazy crowds of Disneyland and just walk around Sea World without having to fight off a million people and wait in horrific lines (other than the line to get lunch which was terrible!). Maisy slept through some of it, including Shamu, but that didn't stop her from having a great time either. We saw the dolphins before heading into the Shamu show. Duffy couldn't believe how big Shamu was and thought the huge waves coming over the walls was great! We sat far enough back to not get wet though. Duff touched starfish, bat rays, and anything else they would let him get his hands into. We saw millions of fish and went through the shark tube, the thing Duffy had been looking forward to for months! We got to see an animal show that included dogs, birds, ducks, a pig, and even trained cats, which I didn't think was possible. Obviously the kids loved it!!! Sea World also has an Arctic area where they have beluga whales, huge walruses, penguins, and polar bears. It was so much fun! Aimee got the best picture of the kids in the pretend polar bear den where both of them look like they're running from a real bear, I love it!
The next day we had breakfast and drove around San Diego for just a little bit before dropping off the cars and heading to the airport. The kids slept for most of the flights which was a good thing since we had to change planes in Las Vegas and had a pretty rough flight into Salt Lake, we even missed our landing and had to circle around, it was pretty scary. Overall the vacation was an amazing experience, I'm so grateful that we were all able to do it together. We try to expose our kids to all the great things that life has to offer, big or small and I hope we get to travel to many, many more places over their lifetimes as well as wonder at what we have in our own backyard. Life is truly wonderful for the (Semi) Irish!

California Day 6

Day 6 was our first day in San Diego. We drove down the Pacific Coast Highway from Anaheim to San Diego and were kind of hoping to stop at some amazing beach on our way down, but unfortunately it wasn't going to happen. We actually did stop at an overlook which was really pretty called Dana Point. There were cliffs and beach but it was about a mile walk straight downhill to get to the sand (which meant a mile straight uphill coming back) so we just looked and hit the road. We stayed at the Bahia Resort in San Diego which is right on Mission Bay, it was great! The rooms were kind of old but the grounds were so pretty. They even had two harbor seals that live there. It was also only about a five minute walk to the ocean, which we did almost as soon as we got our things into our room! Joey and Jordan bought boogie boards on the walk down and we borrowed some sand toys from the hotel. The beach was actually pretty crowded but still fun. Duffy was super protective of Maisy and didn't want to let go of her hand so that she wouldn't go into the water. Jordan had to be rescued by a lifeguard because he went out past the break and couldn't get back in but other than that no major events. The kids loved playing in the sand and the guys wore themselves out swimming and boogie boarding. There was a guy next to us sculpting a giant mermaid in the sand, it was really cool. He had to hurry and finish and a bunch of the people at the beach built a little dam because the tide was coming in and was threatening to wash it away, he finished and got a picture just in the nick of time.

California Day 5

Day five of our trip was our last day in Disneyland. I still wasn't feeling great but decided I couldn't miss a day of Disneyland so away we all went on the shuttle. Finally the group was able to get to Splash Mountain but I didn't feel up to that yet so I stayed with Maisy while everyone else, including Duffy, used fast passes to get on. They had to sneak Duffy past the person who was checking heights because he was like a half an inch too short and he almost got kicked off right at the last minute but somehow got lucky enough to stay on. He loved it! He called it the Winnie the Pooh ride, I guess because of all the bee hives and also because we ran into Tigger and Pooh right after they got off the ride. We hit the fire station and Pirates one more time and headed over to California Adventures. After lunch I decided I could not stay out of bed any longer and unfortunately had to head back to the hotel. Joey came with me and the kids got to stay with my family. I am SO glad they were there!!! They met Goofy, played in the splash pad, went to Midway Mania and won some prizes, and all sorts of other fun stuff. After a few hours sleep Joey and I made it back. That night we went out to Downtown Disney to buy all of souvenirs and ate a healthy dinner of Jamba Juice. I was exhausted from all the days at Disneyland but was definitely sad to leave for the last time, we are already looking forward to our next trip to Disney, hopefully Disneyworld next time! Joey and Jordan stayed until the park closed and got in a LOT of rides that Joey had missed out on while he was sick, so glad he was able to do that. Tomorrow: San Diego!

California Day 4

*By the way, I've decided to add these collages to the beginnings of all of my vacation posts so that everyone can see some pics from the day I'm talking about. I added them to all the days I've blogged already.
Our third day in Disneyland (4th of vacation) was full of exciting things, we were busy, busy, busy! We decided to use it as our "Magic Morning" which means you can get in an hour before the park opens to hit certain rides. Dumbo was our first stop that morning since it is notorious for having the worst line in the park. The kids absolutely loved it and we got the cutest picture of them with my dad. After a few more rides in Fantasy Land and a couple in Tomorrow Land we finally headed over to the Jungle Cruise. We had been waiting for Joey to feel well enough to be with us for that one. Duffy really loved all the animals and, as usual Maisy slept through the whole thing. On our way over there Duffy even got to ride the fire engine, and since he's obsessed with firemen he thought he was pretty awesome.
Then we headed to Toon Town, which was another of Duffy's favorites. They have all of these interactive things that make noises when you touch them and he had a great time. We went to Goofy's house, met Pluto, and got on Donald's boat.
After that I insisted that we go to Mickey's house, I did NOT want to leave Disneyland without the kids meeting Mickey. He was the one we were talking about for four months after all. The line really wasn't too bad, and the kids' faces were priceless when we walked into the room where Mickey was standing. Duffy seemed kind of in disbelief and Maisy just ran right up to him and didn't want to let go. She just kept hugging and hugging, and when Joey tried to get her to leave Mickey waved him away. It was really a great moment in our vacation because it was just us and Mickey, away from the crowds.
After lunch we were sitting in the sun waiting for my mom and dad when Woody and Jessie walked right up to where we were standing. Another lucky character siting. We got in line and the kids got pictures. Duffy loves Toy Story so he was really happy.
In the hurry to get in line for Woody and Jessie I had left the face sunscreen within Maisy's reach and when I turned around for a minute she decided to eat it. Sounds disgusting right? Her face was hilarious, she didn't know what to think. She just knew she wasn't supposed to be doing it!
Day 3 of Disneyland is also when I got the kids' mouse ear hats. It was the one souvenir I knew I had to have. There are a million choices now for those hats, but I really wanted classics. Duffy got the black and Maisy got the pink. Their names look so cute on the back and the kids look darling with them on. Both of them really love their mouse ear hats, especially Maisy.
After such a long time we decided to leave and relax then have dinner at the hotel. I wasn't feeling quite right but hoped that I just needed to eat. After I ate I decided that was a terrible idea because I ended up having the same thing as Joey. I don't think I've ever felt that sick in my entire life, including morning sickness. I literally couldn't get out of bed at certain points. I still think it's a miracle that no one else ended up with it. I don't know what I would have done if one of the kids had been that sick, I think we would have ended up at the hospital. I'm so grateful they stayed healthy!!!

California Day 3

We decided to break our Disneyland days in half and take a beach day on our third day in California. Probably not a great decision since it was the worst weather day of our vacation! It rained pretty hard in the morning but stopped by the time we hit Newport Beach. By then it was just cold and REALLY windy. We walked on the beach a little and Duffy waded in the water, then we walked out onto the pier. After that we hit some really cute shops on the beach and then drove along the Pacific Coast Highway past Huntington Beach and over to Long Beach to check out the Queen Mary. They were filming a pilot episode at the Queen Mary and we couldn't believe the amount of wiring, trailers, staff, etc. it took to film one episode! I can't remember the show they were filming :( I'll have to ask my mom who is the queen of remembering useless knowledge!
After our beach adventures we had reservations for dinner at Medieval Times. While we were waiting for the show to start Joey bought both kids battle axes, without my knowledge of course. Maisy's is foam but Duffy's is wood, great decision right? Well no matter what I thought the kids loved them while we were there (I have now hidden them in the top of their closet for safe keeping!). The Master of Ceremonies of the show came by and talked to our kids which Duffy couldn't quite believe since he was dressed in his medieval garb. The MC whipped out his sword to hand to Duffy and Duff jumped back with this look on his face like "Whoa, what the heck?" Joey swears Duff was looking for his "shoot gun". Once he had the sword in his hands he thought he was pretty cool though! We also went into the torture museum, luckily the kids are young enough they didn't know what anything was for, but it was disturbing to me! Some of the things they used to do were indescribable.
Once the show started Duffy was totally serious, I think he was a little worried that it was all real, so we kept explaining that they were pretending and finally he got a little more into it. Our knight was the yellow one but Duffy's favorite color is dark blue so when the blue knight "killed" our yellow knight, our entire section was booing but Duffy said "YES!!!" I can't even remember who won but we had a blast!

Still In Shock

Back in January I filled out an application for a scholarship called the T.H. Bell. You had to write an essay explaining why you should receive it, what your teaching plans were, etc. I've been working really hard to improve my GPA since it tanked when Joe was sick but it's still not quite to the 3.5 you normally have to have in order to receive a scholarship, but I thought "What the heck, I might as well turn in the paperwork!" It had been almost four months and I wasn't really giving it much thought, just assuming the candidates had been chosen already. Last Saturday I went out for the mail and had an envelope from the teaching department. I just got accepted into the program for fall semester so I wondered what else they could possibly need from me, other than I haven't done my criminal background check yet, oops! When I opened it, I read "Congratulations! You have been selected to be a recipient for the Terrel H. Bell . . . " and I just started crying! I guess my 3.44 is good enough for them :) It will cover my tuition and student fees for up to 3 years, which means I will save about $13,000 that I don't have to get student loans for. This is such an incredible relief and blessing for our family. As the title says, I'm still in shock, but I'm extremely happy and pretty proud of myself!

Vacation Post #2

Ok, I knew this is what was going to happen. I knew I was going to get busy and forget to blog about our vacation and then I would start to forget some of the details :( Thank goodness for pictures so I can remember most of it.
Our second day in California was Easter. I had brought bubbles and the kids' Easter baskets from home and figured I would run over to Target for the rest, which of course didn't happen after being up before dawn, on a plane, riding a bus, checking into the hotel, and spending the rest of the day at Disneyland Saturday. Duffy spent the night in my mom and dad's room with Auntie A so luckily I could go down to the hotel store and grab a few things. Duffy had spotted some swimming goggles in the shop on Saturday and said that he wished he had some so of course I got those! Sunday morning I brought the baskets down to my mom and dad's room and told Duffy I had found them. He was pretty excited over the goggles and they both liked the bubbles.
We got them dressed in their darling Easter outfits-Duffy had a cute pair of plaid shorts from Grandma and Maisy had her gorgeous tutu that Aunt Aimee made for her. We had breakfast and went outside where we were surprised with a little egg hunt from the Easter bunny. Grandma and Papa had hidden eggs with $50 for each of my kids and $100 for each of us adult kids so that we could buy whatever souvenirs we wanted. I was shocked and thankful!
Joey was still sick so we planned on starting at California Adventure until he could catch up, but we found out that they didn't open until 10 and we were there at 8 am. We headed over to Disneyland instead where Duffy got to ride his favorite ride-The Matterhorn which he calls the "Bominable Snowman" Maisy and I waited to the side while the rest rode and then I got to go with Duffy by myself, he promised to protect me from the snowman, it was so cute!
After the Teacups we headed to Maisy's favorite ride-It's a Small World. She couldn't get enough of the colors and singing and just kept pointing everything out to us. Another trip to Tarzan's Treehouse while we waited for part of the group to go on Indiana Jones and we were off to California Adventures.
Duffy really loved California Adventures because it has an entire section of Bug's Life rides for kids and of course the 4-D show where you get to wear the bug eyes. After a couple hours there Joey finally got to come meet us since he felt a little better. Duff and Maisy love their daddy very much and were so excited to see him there and tell him about the rides and adventures we had. Grandpa even bought the kids cotton candy before lunch, can you say "spoiled"?
During lunch Maisy got a special performance from the Mariachi band, she looked on in admiration with her face COVERED in macaroni and cheese. It was really sweet. They met Mulan right after lunch too, which both of the kids thought was great, they couldn't stop looking at her. Duffy also met Lightning McQueen on our way over to the other side of the park.
We played at the Redwood Adventure Trail for a long time that day, the kids thought it was great that they could run around without being in a stroller or holding someone's hand. Aimee did not think it was so great going over all the nets 30 feet in the air. This is where we were when the earthquake hit. Aimee thought she felt something but didn't know if it was just because she was so nervous. We had no idea for probably 30 minutes that something had happened. While we were in the Adventure Trail we got to meet Brother Bear and then headed out to hit some rides-that's when we found out about the earthquake.
Disney shut down all of their rides for checks and we were already exhausted at that point so we decided just to head out and get in the pool at the hotel. There was a flood of people leaving and Disney didn't let anyone know when they would reopen the rides, we found out the big rides can take hours and hours to check.
Luckily Duffy's favorite thing on Earth is swimming so he was very excited to go back to the hotel. The kids swam with Daddy for a long time, until Maisy fell asleep on the lounge chairs with me and we finally dragged Duffy out.
More soon!

Vacation Post #1

I'm going to try really hard to remember all the little things that happened during our vacation so that one day I can look back on this. I don't know how many vacation posts there will be but here's #1.
We have been counting down to this vacation since December and life was a little crazy before we left. Just trying to get ahead on homework, make sure the kids had summery clothes, finding a place for the dog, etc. was a lot of work. Duffy had been saving up change for a few months too and any money he found immediately went into his money jar. Eventually we had to move it into a second jar and even that ended up overflowing into a ziplock bag. We had decided it would be his souvenir money for our Disneyland vacation. The day before we left we went to the bank to cash it in. I truly thought it would be like $50, so when it added up to $204 I was shocked, it's amazing how change can add up! He thought he was awesome! Later that night Duffy got into his Mickey jammies and Maisy into her princess castle jammies, the kids went to bed as usual, they didn't really understand the big week ahead of us. I, on the other hand, slept like it was Christmas Eve-which means didn't really sleep much!
Our flight was at 7:05 am so we figured we needed to leave by 5, meaning I woke up for the last time at about 4 and we got the kids out of bed at about 4:45. We met at my parents' house and rode down together. The ride was an adventure already, they drive an Expedition which has 8 seats, exactly the amount of people going, leaving us little room for luggage (we really didn't want to pay for parking for 2 vehicles!). We went Beverly Hillbilly's style and strapped some up on the roof. The little ones got jammed in every empty crevice of the car! Aimee had to basically sit sideways with the stroller standing up at her feet. We finally left my parents' house about 5:15, running late already. Since Duffy was still half asleep when we left, he hadn't gone to the bathroom and decided around Centerville that he really needed to go, which meant we had to stop right then! Finally we made it to the airport pretty much right at 6, but thought it would be pretty calm in there since it was so early-it wasn't!!! Everyone in Utah was heading to Disneyland for spring break, and the airport was a mad house. We literally RAN through the airport to make it to the gate, it was not pleasant to say the least.
Finally on the plane things calmed down. Duffy was super excited and watched out the window as everything was loaded up and while we took off. He really thought the whole thing was cool. Luckily it was a short flight because Maisy is not a sitting still type of girl and got really restless and grumpy toward the end. This is also when Joey started to get sick, making the flight even more interesting. All of our ears really took a hit on this flight and Duffy was crying that his hurt, it made me feel so bad!
Once we landed we rode a shuttle to Anaheim, Joey was sick the whole time. The first shuttle stop was the Disneyland Hotel and we wanted to get out right then! All the lampposts on the Disney property have the head of Mickey Mouse on them (just in the same metal as the post so they look kind of like silhouettes) and Maisy kept looking at them saying something we just couldn't understand. Finally we figured out she was saying "Toodles" from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, it was so cute!
We got to the hotel and basically just got changed to go to Disneyland. We were so excited but I felt terrible because Joey was REALLY sick and had been throwing up pretty much non-stop since during our flight. There was no way he could leave the hotel and had to miss the first day at Disneyland. He felt bad too and I think both of us had a little cry about it. By the time we got there Disneyland was CRAZY packed, it was a Saturday after all. We forgot the sunscreen and had to stop for that, then we were so hungry since all we had were airline pretzels up until that point, so we stopped for lunch in Tomorrowland, it was actually pretty good. Finally we got to go on a ride! About a month ago I had asked what ride Duffy wanted to go on first and he thought carefully and finally asked "Is there a Buzz Lightyear?" I told him yes, but didn't give it another thought. Guess what we actually went on first? Buzz Lightyear! I found that pretty funny, it just happened to have a decent line. I think total we only hit 4 rides that day because the lines were so long but it was fun. We did hit Pirates of the Caribbean that day, not Duffy's favorite because of the drops in the dark, but toward the end he was ok and Maisy just rode along like nothing was even happening, she was so good on everything! We went into Tarzan's Treehouse (the first of a few times) and poor Duffy tripped and cut his knee pretty bad. It had gravel and sand all over in it and all I had was a water bottle and wet wipes, and a bandaid that was too small. So we took a trip to first aid. Let me tell you, if you are going to get hurt somewhere, Disneyland is the place to do it! They have regular old doctor's offices in there and the nicest nurses ever! They cleaned it out really well and hooked him up with a bigger bandaid. Bad for Duffy but definitely memorable for our first day!
Ok, that post is long enough, more tomorrow maybe :)

California Pictures!!!

Ok, I am anxious to post these pictures! I'll have to do the blogging on our trip over the next few days so stay tuned for that. I am warning you, this slideshow is LONG, but it's less than half the pictures we took! We had the best time, I can't believe it's over already!

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A Terrible Blogger

Ok, so I have been a terrible blogger recently and to tell you the truth I don't have time to blog today either. We leave for Disneyland and Sea World in two days and I need to get a million things done, including a 14 page paper that is due the Monday we get back. Wish me luck since all of us are also getting sick :( I PROMISE to blog like a mad woman when we get back!

Polar Plunge 2010

My sister Aimee is going to school to become a special education teacher. She is wonderful with "her kids" that she works with now and is going to be the best special ed teacher ever! She decided to start volunteering for the Special Olympics and when she went to their website she found this Polar Plunge fundraiser they do every year. The goal is to get people to pledge money for you to jump into a frozen lake. Crazy right? So Aimee, Jordan (our brother), and I decided to do it together. We woke up early on a Saturday and got to Deer Creek Reservoir in Heber at 9 am. The temperature gauge on the car said 19 degrees outside and I began to wonder what in the heck we were thinking.  Then we walked down to check out what we'd be jumping into. They had cut huge blocks of ice out and had a ladder on the other side of the hole for us to climb out on. The water in the hole was already getting a film of ice on the top. It was really cold already and we were still dry! After registration they had a costume contest, Aimee was Pippi Longstockings, there was a Mr. Clean, a leprechan, a figure skater, and a whole bunch more. Then we all walked down to the hole. There was a big crowd around and they read our names one at a time, taking turns jumping in. It was fantastic cheering everyone on as they took the plunge. I had asked if Aimee, Jordan, and I could go together so finally she called our names and it was our turn. Walking up to the hole together I held my pants up so they wouldn't get wet, don't ask me why, just habit I guess. I could see my parents and Duffy and Maisy on the other side thinking we were nuts. A few seconds later we all jumped in together. It was instantly cold. Imagine thousands of needles poking into your skin, your lungs freezing up, and being barely able to move, it was cold! I didn't go all the way under like Aimee and Jordan did but next year I promise I will. Jordan hit the ladder first (so much for ladies first) and I was saying "Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up!" I was next and got about halfway out before I bailed out onto the ice so Aimee could get on the ladder. I still have a huge bruise on my knee! The hole was not close at all to the trailers where we were getting dressed so we had to run, soaking wet about the length of half a football field to get dressed. There was only one safe place to get onto the boat ramp we had to walk up so there was a huge traffic jam of dry people and I yelled "Seriously?!?" Finally some of them let us through, I was freezing by this point. By the time we got to the trailer my feet literally felt like blocks of ice clumsily tromping along. Once inside the trailer and semi-dry though I was really surprised at how not-cold I was. The whole experience was absolutely amazing and I plan to make it a tradition. There were several special needs kids there and a few even took the plunge, it was great to see them there supporting us. What a life experience, there aren't too many people who can say they have jumped into a frozen lake (on purpose especially). Can't wait until next year!!!

So I Can Look Back and Remember

Life is stressful right now and the blog's taken a hit. I really enjoyed November I just need to get back into the habit! Anyway, yesterday Duffy had been upstairs playing for a while and when he finally came down he was in a pair of warm-up pants and his Vance Bennett Construction hoodie. As he climbed back over the gate he asked me if I knew why he was in those nice clothes. I said "Why?" and my 3-year-old little boy replied "Cuz I'm taking Sharon out to dinner tonight"! I about died laughing. He was so serious talking about going on a date with his imaginary friend. This kid is going to be a ladies man. He also said they were eating at a restaurant so they didn't have to go to her "dang house". What? Haha.
Maisy's latest obsession is getting completely undressed, diaper and all. In fact I just had to take a break from writing this post to get her dressed again, this time she's not getting out, I put her in some zip-up jammies and she hasn't figured them out yet. I know it won't be long until she does. I remember Duffy going through this stage and me walking into some yucky messes in his room after nap time. I used to have to put him in his zip-up jammies backward so he couldn't get them off, I'm anticipating I'll be doing that with Mais soon too.
Something that's been stressing me lately is waiting to see if we are going to be approved for my dream house. I haven't wanted to post about it because it will truly be a miracle if we get it and I've been working very hard not to get my hopes up, but since this blog is a sort of journal for me I want to look back on this time some day. I'm growing weary of renting and the two bedroom town home we are in now is in no way big enough for the 5 of us (dog included). The house we are looking at is all we'd ever need and since the market is so bad we would be paying about $100,000 less than it was selling for 18 months ago. It was built a year and a half ago but hasn't been lived in so it would be all ours. I'll post details if we get it, no need to do it if we aren't going to end up there. I just want to know one way or another, this waiting is not healthy for me.

Hogle Zoo, A Little Late!

I just realized that during all the craziness that was the holi-daze I totally forgot to blog about our trip to the zoo in November! We went early in the month, before it got too cold but it was just cool enough that the animals were actually being pretty active. I think it was the best trip to the zoo we've had! We saw so many of the animals roaming around and playing, there wasn't an absurd amount of people there, and it was Maisy's first time (other than in-utero!). Really, I suggest you all go to the zoo in the fall. We walked around, rode the train and the carousel, and had a picnic. Duffy has always loved the zoo and it seems that Maisy does too, she was so cute looking at the monkeys especially. Duffy loved the bears and penguins the most this time I think. I know I always do collages but there are so many cute pictures this post would have gone on forever! Like I've said before, if you want to see them bigger just click somewhere on the collage :)