Summer 2011

Wow I can't believe the summer has come and gone already! The last three months went by so fast for me it feels like just yesterday summer vacation began. We had a lot of fun the last few months.

In June, as a family we participated in our city's heritage days. Maleina ran a 1 mile race with her cousin Braxton. Tyler ran a 5K with Mark and me. It was exercising as a family and working on improving our time from the previous year. After the runs, we went to the parade and carnival.



With Grandma, we went did our annual trip to the zoo for a Zoorassic adventure. Maleina did not enjoy seeing the dinosaurs as much as Tyler did, but we enjoyed seeing the animals and spending time with grandma before she flew to California to see grandpa. When Mark and the kids went to get their picture taken with the Tyrannosaurus Rex, it roared and scared Maleina so bad she started screaming. I wish I was quick enough with my camera to have captured her face, it was priceless!

We took the kids this year up to the stadium for the fireworks in July. Diamond Rio performed and it was fun to see the fireworks that close. My parents' house is only a block away from the stadium but it was still fun to go and see them up there. My brother-in-law, Joe, helps make the fireworks and so many thanks to Joe and his family for putting on an amazing show this year!





The end of July and first week of August I took the kids with me to help my brother move from Nevada to Arizona. Not the best time to be moving....108+ degree weather was shocking considering the temperature was 75 when we left our home. I was glad we were able to go help him and his family. We had a lot of fun lizard hunting each morning when the kids woke up and going to their community swimming pool.

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.