Disneyland/California Adventureland

In January, Mark and I planned a trip to Disneyland for our family and kept it a secret from the kids. When spring break began I took the kids to visit Chris, Shae, and Lucy. Mark flew down on April 8 to join us. The kids were told it was because I didn't want to drive back home alone. On Sunday morning while the kids were eating breakfast Mark said, "Guess what!? We are not going home today!" Tyler's eyes got big with anticipation. Mark continues, "We are going to Disneyland!!" Now you would expect jumping and screaming from excitement right?!?!?! Well, the complete opposite happened. Tyler and Maleina just stared at us and maybe a few tears fell because of fear from the roller coasters. After a lot of convincing and encouragement from us and Chris and Shae (thank you) we were able to get the kids excited. Then I got the picture of the excitement I was expecting at first.


We had a wonderful time at the two parks. Monday night we ate dinner at Goofy's Kitchen which is a character dining experience. We had Minnie Mouse, Tweedle Dee or Dum, Mad Hatter, Aladdin, Jasmin all come to our table to visit with the kids. During our four days we also saw Goofy, Pluto, Mickey Mouse, Pinnochio, Geppedo, Chip & Dale, Donald Duck, Tinkerbell, Rapunzel & Flynn Rider, Snow White, and Aurora.


Tyler didn't ride Indiana Jones until our last day after a lot of pushing and it turned out to be his favorite ride. He loved anything to do with pirates and had a blast watching the shows Fantasmic, Fireworks, and his favorite World of Color.


Maleina was a little daredevil and rode any roller coaster that she was tall enough to go on. The first coaster she rode was in Toon Towne and she even got to ride in the front car. She laughed through the entire ride and the first words out of her mouth when it was over were, "let's do it again!" She also loved dressing up as the Disney princesses Rapunzel and Ariel. (Mom loved styling her hair like a princess also!)

Disneyland Pictures

California Adventureland Pictures

The Toy Story Gang!





The Ferris Wheel in the background we rode our last day. Tyler is slightly afraid of heights but we got him on saying we would only be at the top for a split second. Boy were we wrong!!! Someone lost their cookies while we were on the ride and just happened to be 180 degrees away from us which meant we were stuck at the very top for 25 minutes with no clue what had happened. Needless to say, someone was facing his fear of heights a little longer then expected!

Natural Phenomenon!

On Sat. Feb. 26 while I was shoveling snow my neighbor told me to look up in the sky. The most amazing natural phenomenon occurred around the southern end of the valley. My parent's home is only six miles away and they just had cloud cover so I am grateful for the opportunity I had of witnessing this amazing moment. (I don't remember what the meteorologist called this occurrence.) I know the bright spots are called "Sundogs" and that this phenomenon was possible by the rays of the sun reflecting off ice crystals in the sky.

Snow, snow, and more SNOW!!!!

The first of February spoiled me. It was nice spring like weather. Playing outside with the kids, taking them to parks and in general enjoying the lovely 40 degree weather. Then, the last part of February it dumped on us. The kids loved it and I took them sledding for Maleina's first time, and Tyler's first time of actually liking it.

Last Saturday I spent a few hours outside with the kids in the snow. We made 2 caves and Tyler made a snow recliner. It was a blast, but I must admit I am SOOOOOO ready for Spring to be here!!!!

Maleina's 3rd Birtjday

I can hardly believe that my baby turned 3 last Monday! For her birthday she wanted a purple castle cake. I decided to take it a step further and made the cake pink and purple checkered, thankfully it turned out and made a smile come on her face when she saw the actual cake inside was her two favorite colors.

We were lucky enough to have her birth mother over for a few days to celebrate her birthday with us. Maleina loved the attention she got from everyone and was delighted with her gifts.

Maleina is such a blessing in my life and brings joy to our family that was missing before she came along. I am grateful to her birth mother for allowing her to join our family and the close relationship we have with her.

Ski Trip 2011

I took Tyler night skiing for the Neighborhood Ski Night. He was scared at first and was worried that he would crash a lot. I kept telling him that it's okay to crash as long as he got back up.

Tyler was able to take a lesson that night and the ski instructor was very patient and used food to help them understand how their posture is supposed to look like: smash a grape between your shin and boot, make a pie with your skis to slow down or french fries to speed up! Apparently they didn't work on making S's going down the mountain. I found that out the hard way. I wanted Tyler to ski the whole mountain instead of taking off on the trails. I hyped him up and told him he could do it (he was skiing great). He must have a little of his uncle Justin in him, because instead of making S's he went straight down the mountain! He claimed he was trying to slow down making his pie shape but it didn't work out so well for him. He ended up tumbling in the snow head over heels a couple times, skis went flying off. Luckily he walked away with only a headache....phew! Tyler loved skiing and asks continually to go again!