The Happiest Place on Earth :)

It's a long one :)
Our journey began Saturday, February 12th. We dropped Maya (our dog) off at my parents and headed to Las Vegas. We stayed with my good friend Jenni Prue. Jenni P and I were mission companions and then later roommates for years. At one time we worked together, lived together and played together and I can honestly say that I never got sick of her. Needless to say our relationship has been changed since getting married. It was SO fun to catch up with her. I gave her a little taste of what two kids are like :)
We left for Disneyland Sunday morning and got to our hotel around 3pm. We checked in without any problems. When we finally got to the park ( I got a little turned around and it cost us some time) and up to the ticket counter the guy said they didn't have any tickets reserved for us. I did my best to stay calm, but I was very upset. The agency we had used to book everything was closed and wasn't any help. After standing in line again, having his manager take a look for us and being referred to the customer service counter (which was closing and we were lucky they let us in) They finally found out why the guy at the counter couldn't find our tickets. My name had been spelled Christenesn... They thanked me for my patience and apologized... The guy will be receiving training no how to do half name searches :)
When we got in Jeremy's friends Elizabeth and Josh were there to be our guides :) They met when they were both working at DisneyWorld and got married. They live here in Cedar, but they have season passes for Disneyland and go as much as they can. They know so much about the park and how to get the most out of your time. We headed to Mickey's house where Jac was able to be "let off his leash"... literally. We bought him one of those animal backpacks that have a leash as a tail. LOVED IT! At one point Jeremy had to go get him back because he had made his way to the front of the line to see Mickey. He was so excited. So it was funny when he got into see him and turned shy :) We got a picture and he did give Micky "rocks" and a hug before we left. We played around Toon Town and did Small World, Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Indiana Jones, Jungle Cruise and took the Train all in one night. We also got to see Fantasmic that night. Elizabeth and Josh had gotten us fast passes that day and watched our kids while we rode the bigger rides. I was sad that the dragon wasn't working that night for Fantasmic though.
The next Day was so busy! First off, we wanted to get there before rope drop, but when we woke up and looked the the clock and it said 8:00am... we didn't think it would happen. So we hurried and showered, got dressed and packed the bag (the night before I didn't pack very smart, I forgot the baby carrier, snacks,water and Reese's binkey. I had to buy one at the park and it wasn't one she really liked). When we got out the door Jer texted Elizabeth to tell her we were running late, she replied with a confused response. He looked at the phone and it read 8:04am... what a fortuitous mistake! We made it in plenty of time and hit tons of rides in Disney land and then made our way to California Adventure. We got to see Woody and a solder, but two people away from meeting him he has to go and Jessie came out. Good, but we wish we could have met him. We went on so many rides that I don't want to name them all, look at the map though :) Our friends had to leave that afternoon, and we were sad to see them go. They were such a big help in making the most our of our time there. That night we had tickets to see World of Color, which is a light and water show put on in the lake in California Adventure. It was amazing! I was video recording it and half of the way through the camera turned off and I thought the battery had died so I handed it to Jeremy and he turned it off and then back on and continued recording... I got to thinking and when we were back at the hotel I checked... yep, I had just not pushed the record button and the "battery saving feature" kicked in and turned it off. Opps! So the next day we went and recorded it again. Unfortunately we couldn't get tickets so we had to sit on the other side of the park and film it from the back. It was still cool, but I feel really silly for standing there for a half hour holding a camera up for nothing.
Our third day was a little more slow paced. It was nice. We met up with Jeremy's cousin Jessica and her two little boys, William and Levi. Will and Jac are a month apart and it was fun to get them together. We went on Autopia with the boys while Jess watched the babies (Reese and Levi are 2 months apart). The boys had so much fun driving the cars. Jeremy and Jac built Light Sabors for their souvenirs and I got Reese a princess charm bracelet that she can add to. We did a few rides and saw lots of Characters. It was so much fun to watch Jac's face as we came upon new characters and he got to got up and meet them. I would trade our trip for anything. With Jeremy starting back to school most nights we don't see him till after 8:30pm and then it's time for kids to go to bed. It was just what we needed.
I know this was long, so if you stuck through it :) Thanks!!!

Disneyland :)

The first time I went to Disneyland was in 2005. My friends Jenni and Jessica and I were on our way to our mission presidents house for their home coming. We made a big trip of it stopping in Vegas and Disneyland, surfing and all the stops one make on a road trip with friends. I was 24, but I felt like such a little kid. It was awesome!




The second time I went to Disneyland was 8 months after the first time :) How do you like that, I wait my whole life to go and then go twice in a year! My entire family went, it was so much fun to be there with everyone. We never really had taken a family vacation growing up. We always went camping and stuff, but this was the first time we went somewhere. We had so much fun and it is something that really brought us closer.

Needless to say Jeremy and I are getting really excited. I had a friend of mine loan me some books about Disneyland. One about how to find Hidden Mickey's and one is 101 little know facts about Disneyland. Jac is also so excited, I have been showing him some pictures and he Jumps up and down and claps his hands. I will defiantly be posting some pictures when we get back. So, see ya later!

I can take a deep breath and...

let it out now.
The last few weeks have been kind of stressful. Two Saturdays ago we were in Washington to celebrate my sister-in-law and my Mom's birthday. We had a a great time. We played that new dance game that is out for the Wii and it was hilarious! Jeremy won almost every song he did and I think it was driving some of my sisters nuts :) I wouldn't mind working out to that everyday. I'm so uncoordinated that I probably just looked like I was having a seizure. The next day I did some facials for some friends and family. It was a lot of fun and I am learning more and more every time I do them so it was great. That night my 10 yr old niece competed in Hurricane Idol (a fund raiser they do for Hurricane High Schools grad night). She has been competing for 3 years now and this was the first year I could make it. She sang "Suds in the Bucket", and I was able to do her hair and makeup. We had to tone down her lipstick though... she put on some pretty dark red and her mom said "no way"! She did awesome and made it on to the next round. Which was a week later (last Saturday) . When the competition was all over we got all packed to come home and realized that Jac's car seat was in my sister's car and she and her husband were on a date... they didn't get back till 12:30am and we thought that was a little late to be traveling so we stayed the night.
Sunday morning we received a phone call from my uncle in Randlett, his son had been killed that morning in a work accident. Cody was only 32 and such a fun, caring guy. I wanted to do something for my Aunt and Uncle and so I asked Jeremy if he would draw a picture of him and he jumped on the opportunity. My Dad said he would make a frame. I finally found a picture of him Tuesday night. His daughter had posted one of him and her on fb and so I printed it off and Jeremy used it. It happened to be the same picture his family used for the program. It was such a sad tragedy, but we are so thankful for the knowledge of eternal families. That there is life after death and that we will get to see Cody again someday.



This week we are packing and planning to go to Disneyland on Saturday. We are going to drive to Las Vegas on Saturday and stay with a friend of mine. Then Sunday we will drive the rest of the way and spend three days at Disneyland! We wanted to go before Jac turns 3 (he is free if he is still 2) and I am excited to see him when he sees Mickey Mouse. I will let you know how the trip goes!
Also some exciting news is that Jeremy's car is finally in the shop!!! I can't wait to have my car back!

Update: Eden competed in the finals for Hurricane Idol just this last Saturday and she won in her age division!!! She sang "Suds in the Bucket" again and "Black Horse and Cherry Tree". Congrates Edie, We love you!