Christmas in Disneyland

Oh how we love Disneyland! We spent two days before and Christmas day at Disneyland this year. We took all of the kids (Taylor too), my parents, and my brother Ryan and his kids. We had a blast. Just the warm weather alone was worth the trip! When we left Utah it was 12, in California the next day it was 75. Talk about a major difference! Disneyland was decked out for the holidays in true Disney style with huge Christmas trees, snow on the castle, and even Santa at the beach in California Adventure. The kids were amazed once again by all of the Disney "magic". They even make it snow every night on Main street. Everyone had a great time.
We hope that your Christmas was memorable and wonderful as well and that the true meaning of the season was in your heart. And may all of the holiday season be blessed for you and your families as well as the New Year.
We are sending out New Year's cards this year instead of Christmas cards because I wanted to include pics from our trip, so watch the mail for it.

We Moved

So this blog is almost a month late- Sorry- life has been crazy!! We moved at the end of November into a home in North Orem. Matt and Kim wanted the basement apartment, and well, having our own house is nice too! I have found things that I forgot that I had because it was in storage. LOL! Everything else (phone, email) stayed the same. The girls are now attending Bonneville Elementary. It's fun because I went to kindergarten at this same school and Jessica is even in the same classroom I was. Things are going good and we are adjusting to the move. Keep in touch.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I had to add a blog today just because I am very thankful for my family. We spent the day playing games at my parent's house and then went to Ryan's parent's house for dinner. The picture I included is from a couple of days ago. Taylor LOVES to eat and loves to put it everywhere! It was a cute pic so I included it. School has started again for me and I also started working part time on the Med/Surg unit at Utah Valley Hospital so life is just slightly crazy! Time seems to be flying by... I do have to say though that I am very thankful (especially today) for all that we have. I know that my family is blessed. Even on the crazy days, I don't have any reason to complain. I hope that your day was great and that you have taken the time today to be truly thankful for all the has been given to you. Happy Thanksgiving!

The Compassion of a Grieving Mother

I just wanted to share a quick story that happened in our lives this week. On Monday, Jessica came to me after school and told me that one of her classmates had died. He had been killed in a tragic accident in his own backyard. Her and I talked a little about it and then that evening we sat down with both girls to really discuss death. We gave Jessica the option of going to the viewing. I was a little apprehensive about taking her and made sure that both of the girls understood what they would see there. We explained that the little boy's spirit wouldn't be there, only his body in a casket. Jessica was steadfast in her decision about wanting to say good-bye to her friend, so off we went to the viewing. After waiting in line for about 45 minutes we finally approached the parents of this little boy. We introduced ourselves and I explained that Jessica had been in the boy's class. I was so incredibly touched when the grieving mother of this small boy took my daughter by the hand and led her over to the casket to see her friend. The mother didn't cry, she didn't act sad, instead, she took my five year old by the hand and explained to her that her friend wasn't really here. She explained to her that he had gone home to Heavenly Father and that it was ok. The exchange happened in a minuscule amount of time but I think that it will impact me forever. I cannot express the effect that this act of compassion had on me. The mere fact that this grieving mother, who had lost a son, was willing to take the time with my daughter to make sure that she understood meant more to me than words can ever express. I hope that one day I am able to be that compassionate. I know that I am not there yet- maybe one day- but for now I can look back at the true meaning of Christ-like compassion in a person that I should have been showing compassion to.

Hannah Montana

How can you describe excitement? Try taking three girls to a sold out Hannah Montana concert. We were lucky enough to get some of the very sought after tickets for the Hannah Montana show. The girls were able to go with their cousin Audrey and they all had a fabulous time. This was the first concert that any of the girls had been to. The concert opened with the Jonas Brothers- Jessica was not impressed by them and even went so far as to tell me, "they're stupid, where's Hannah?!?" I had to laugh. Thank goodness my 5 year old isn't boy crazy, right! It really was a great concert for the girls and an enjoyable mommy-daughter date(although expensive) The picture is of the girls outside before the concert in front of the Miley World bus.

Toilet Paper Picture

Most probably think this is crazy- and it is! But, my mom has a picture in her bathroom of each of her grandkids at age 1 playing with toilet paper. It's a cute decoration and fun to look at all of the kids at the same age. So we took Taylor's today. Now we just have to deal with him thinking that toilet paper is a toy!

CrAzY Hair Day!

The girls are doing their Say No to Drugs week at school and today is crazy hair day- I had to laugh when I got done with their hair and thought that maybe someone else could use a good laugh! (just don't tell the girls we're laughing!) I used craft wire to get their hair to stay up.

My Backseat Driver

The other day I was driving home from the doctor(again) and I was a little tired. Jessica was in the backseat and everytime she saw a speed limit sign she would comment about my speed and tell me I was only allowed to go 25 or 35 or whatever the speed limit was. She was nice enough to inform me each time my speed to her eyes went above said mark. I finally got a little perturbed and told her to knock it off. I told her that when she was old enough she could be the driver but until then it was my turn. She didn't even miss a step when she quickly replied, "but Mom, I'm your backseat driver!" I couldn't help but laugh.

Happy 1st Birthday Taylor!!

So our baby is 1! It's hard to believe that he isn't really a baby anymore and is moving into the toddler stage. He enjoyed his birthday and his party. The new toys are a great sorce of smiles for him.
At his party, Taylor was sooo cute when we gave him his own cake. He kept looking at all the adults with a look of "when are you going to stop me?" It was cute because he ate his cake very quickly. I think he was afraid we would take it away! He was also very excited about the bath in Grandma's sink afterwards- he LOVES his baths and this was extra fun to play in the water!
He is deffinately getting big! Since he has gotten the hang of walking, he has decided that he is as big as his sisters and he thinks he should be able to do whatever they do. The girls are getting their first taste of of a pesky little brother! He follows them everywhere and makes his opinion very know to them if they try to shut him out of their room. I have been telling them for a year to stop bugging him because he would get revenge. I just have to laugh when they get frustrated with him and tell them that they wouldn't leave him alone so he doesn't have to leave them alone! They love him to death though and can't stand it when he is outside their door crying and knocking. They always give in and let him come into play!
I am looking forward to the next year with Taylor! They grow and change so much in these early years and I intend to enjoy each stage- especially since he will very likely be our last!

Hives, Hives and more Hives!!

As many of you know (or don't know), Taylor has been a pretty sick little guy this last little bit. He started by getting a antibiotic resistant staph infection known as MRSA. They had to put him on very strong antibiotics and he decided after a week on them to have an allergic reaction. I just thought I would post a picture of him with the hives so that the moms could see what it actually looks like. I hadn't seen it until Taylor broke out with it and I'm a Nursing student! Unfortunately, Taylor actually became worse after this picture and his entire body was covered!! He is much better now (afer 7+ visits to the doctor).
Another thought- MRSA is a horrible thing to have and it is becoming more and more common. It seems to be very common in daycare settings or anywhere that a lot of people come together. If your kids have what looks like a spider bite and it swells and is very hot, take them to see your doctor asap. It will only get worse if it's MRSA and can cause tons of problems! Not to scare anyone but I prefer to know what things are and what to do about them.

Fall is Here!

Fall is here and thankfully so is the start of school! The girls are both enjoying their new classes. They have decided that they LOVE summer though. Especially after the summer we had. We went to Disneyland twice(the second time thanks to Uncle Ryan)! I know we're crazy, but the kids will always remember it.

This last weekend we went to the zoo. It was Taylor's first trip! The girls were very excited because Barbie, the Island Princess was there and they had their picture taken with her.

Taylor has decided that walking is the way to go! He is sooo busy! I am constantly chasing him around and keeping him out of things.

I am going to try to keep this blog current so wish me luck and if you have a blog be sure to send it to me and I will link it to mine!

Have a great day!

Disneyland 2007

So... we just returned from Disneyland!! It was magical, like always. We managed to keep the trip a secret from the girls until we were to St. George, Utah. It was a HUGE suprise for them... they thought we were going to St. George to see a play. The trip was great and we had loads of fun. Disneyland has a new feature called photopass- if you're going soon email me and i'll explain it. Jessica was rather disappointed that she was still not tall enough to ride California Screamin'- maybe next time... However the new Finding Nemo ride was right in Disney style. The girls loved it! Luckily we didn't have to stand in line for the normal 90 minutes. We went straight to the ride at opening and almost walked right on. Sun and Mon were great we walked onto almost all of the rides and watched Fantasmic!! (one of our favorites) Tues was a bit busier but the girls were pretty tired by then and didn't really care much. We took them to a Princess lunch and the Princess Coronation. All in all it was a wonderful vacation!! Hope all is well on your end!