Little Girls No More...

Mike was soberly looking at this picture the other day and remarked, "You know, we really don't have any of our little girls anymore."

I'm afraid it's true.
Too True.
They've grown up.

California Adventure-Day 3

We started out early Saturday Morning so we could be the first ones into California Adventure. They let us in about a half hour before the park opened. We took pictures and rode Soarin' Over California.
When the park opened we ran back to California Screamin'. We rode this amazing roller coaster several times. We walked by these people handing out something. I walked past and said "no thanks" because I didn't want to hold anything else. The man said, "Ma'am you really want this."

It was fast passes to every ride in both parks. Yes I really wanted it!
A Bug's Life

We saw the Aladdin Show. It was fantastic. We ran into Goofy, the Old Hag from Snow White, and Goliath the lion from JoJo's circus.



I was sooooo nervous to ride Tower of Terror. I had heard that it was really scary. I am a ride wimp. I didn't want to go but I didn't want to be the only one that was too scared to go.

I loved it! It ended up being my favorite ride.
We went on Grizzly's River Run and once again I took the hit for the family and got soaked. (Luckily that smart mom made everyone put the sweatshirts in the locker so they wouldn't get wet.)
After dinner at Ariel's Grotto, we ran back over to Disneyland to use our fast passes on our favorite rides.

Here we are on Space Mountain.

We saw the fireworks. We left when the park closed and went to Downtown Disney to buy souvenirs and kettle corn.




The girls bought princess piggy banks.




My husband bought himself a tie and a sweatshirt. I had a moment of missing Joy so I bought her this. She was always carrying around a care bear or stuffed animal.

As we were going back to our hotel, I said, "We've done everything that we wanted to do and we still have two days left."

Ariel's Grotto

The biggest highlight of our trip (besides Wicked) was meeting all the princesses. This is a "don't miss" dining experience if you ever go to California Adventure with girls. First you get to meet Ariel and then you get to eat while the princesses circle the room and talk to you.

The Happiest Place on Earth-Day 2

So we got up Friday Morning and drove to Anaheim and parked at the hotel that we were going to check into. I asked at the desk about check-in and they said if our room was ready we could check-in early. Turns out I had booked the wrong hotel. The hotel I had booked was the exit before. We decided to just leave our car and head to the park.

It was a gorgeous day. Sun shining. Warm. We were surprised at how light the crowds were for a Friday morning. We walked onto every ride. We started the day with the Log ride so we would have plenty of time to dry before it got cold. (For some reason I, the water hater, ended up getting the most wet on the water rides.)

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Honey We Shrunk the Audience

Autotopia

Watch out fellow drivers in about 9 years!

I sat this one out for fear of motion sickness. The girls LOVE the teacups.

In front of It's a Small World

The consensus--Space Mountain was our favorite ride!!!

So when the park closed we went to our hotel only to find out that our travel agency had booked us the wrong room. Instead of the Family Suite, we were in a smoking 2 double beds room. (Not good with a child who has asthma.) There was a music convention in Anaheim that brought in 75,000 people which made it impossible to switch rooms until Sunday morning. (We had just moved into the Family Suite when we got the call.) The hotel clerks were wonderful. The travel agency gave us a refund for the difference (and later refunded half our costs for the unused nights.)

We went to bed very tired but excited for the next day.

The Wizard and I-Day 1

I guess it's time to post about our trip. I've had several people ask me if we got to see Wicked or even hit the parks before we had to come home.
We left Thursday morning around 6 a.m. (Incidentally, I was freezing. So I grabbed my heaviest winter coat, even though we were going to 70 degree weather. The girls were warmly wrapped in their blankets and they had jackets for evenings so I ended up the only one with a coat when we got to Idaho Falls where it was 20 below.)
We drove through Vegas. We actually were surprised at how easy the drive was. We got into L.A. around 4. We had gotten a hotel in Hollywood so we could relax before the show. Wicked started at 8 p.m. so we had plenty of time to shower, eat and hang out. We knew our hotel was pretty close to the theater but we didn't realize how close until we drove around the corner. So my husband let us out and went back and parked at our hotel and then we walked back after the show.



We were on row 12. The best seats!

This is the second time I have seen the show.
I LOVED it the second time. I really liked it the first time but I didn't know the story and I had only heard a few of the songs. Defying Gravity still blows me away. There is a new Elphaba and she was really good except she kind of choked out her low A in "I'm not that girl" which disappointed me (as a low alto that can also hit that note.) We saw the same Glinda a year ago and she has really come into her character. Everyone should see this show!
I sat in that theater with tears in my eyes thinking that one of my dreams had come true. I had taken my girls to Wicked.


What did I learn from this?
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Message Mix-Up

So I got this card in the mail today...

After laughing really hard, then crying, I thought of the poor Browns who just had a baby and they're getting my card.

What is This Feeling?

It's amazing, this feeling of love. When your heart is sorrowful, when you feel like doing nothing but sit around.
What is love? Today, I feel it all around me.
Love is...
being heart attacked by the Young Women.

stopping to help when your neighbor is shoveling his driveway.
making heart shaped pancakes when you'd rather stay in bed all day. (that only happened because school was delayed 2 hours because of the snow.)

dropping off a craft so I could still be a cool mom with no work.
a sonic gift card.
chocolates and flowers. (Thanks honey. Walt's dark grapefruits just for me!)

A few months back I read a talk given by Bonnie Parkin. How our personal ministry should be love and service to those around us. Now I have been the beneficiary of a lot of love and service lately. My heartache and loss has been very public. I am continually touched by the outpouring of love, the thoughts and prayers of everyone. I feel the love wrapped around me like a blanket.
There are so many people out there that are privately suffering. I encourage everyone to pray for and think of someone who could use a friend or a treat or a phone call or a note. Don't wait for a tragedy. Share the love, my friends. Like the commercial that was on when I was a kid. Reach out and touch someone.

Charity Never Faileth

So we were heading up to meet my husband's brothers and dad for a ski trip. It was a little stormy, so we pulled the girls out of school early and left so we could get there while it was still light. The roads were clear and the sky was blue. We noticed the wind had picked up as we got closer and about an hour away we saw a sign Freeway Closed. Please Exit.
We thought they would divert us down the frontage road up to the next exit but as we got off a policeman said, "You can park at the school." It was so windy we could hardly see where we were going. We went into the school to go potty and hear what was going on. There was a basketball game going on at the school so we were just hanging around in the halls when we heard that they had opened the Stake Center for a refuge. We drove down the road, past a gas station which was jammed with people and cars and found the church.
This town has 3 buildings--a gas station, a school and a church. We were grateful to have a warm place where the kids could run around. Someone had set up a DVD player, brought basketballs, set up chairs and tables and brought in the nursery toys.
Before long, the Relief Society showed up with pots of chicken soup, crackers, chips, hot chocolate, fruit snacks, granola bars, cookies, fruit. I was amazed by these sisters. They were so kind. They came out in the storm to help complete strangers, BEARING FOOD. They just had items on hand to whip up and bring over when they got the call. We were grateful. They also said we could spend the night if we needed to. There were around 100 people in the church. Every one fed and warm. (What a nightmare if we had to stay in our car. We were there over two hours.)

I have thought a lot about the Relief Society lately. My own ward's R.S. has been wonderful. They have gone above and beyond their "duty" to comfort, care for, and feed us. What a neat organization to belong to. I feel so blessed to be a member of a group of women who come out in a storm to feed strangers and who mourn with those they love in their own ward.

Hot cocoa with whipped cream

Is there anything better than hot chocolate on a cold Winter's Day? Isn't the Cocomotion the greatest invention ever? These pictures are from January 13. Sunday night. Hanging with the fam.






Isn't she beautiful?

Comforting Words

This talk was given at a BYU devotional on January 15. This talk is so timely considering our family's circumstances and for those mourning the prophet. His words have brought me some comfort.

President Eyring's Talk

President Hinckley

This is my new favorite quote from our beloved prophet. And just think, my baby Joy was a part of the big celebration that welcomed this special man back home after a long life of service.

"Never forget that these little ones are the sons and daughters of God and that yours is a custodial relationship to them, that He was a parent before you were parents and that He has not relinquished His parental rights or interest in these little ones. Now, love them, take care of them...welcome them into your homes and nurture and love them with all of your hearts."