Birthday Disneyland Trip (Back in September!!)

My birthday was September 22 and I turned 23 this year! Kinda crazy.

But what is even crazier is that today is now NOVEMBER 22nd and I am finally blogging about spending my birthday at "The Happiest Place on Earth"! :) This was a GREAT gift for me because I've never been to Disneyland on my bday before! Up till this year, I've always been in school over my birthday! Well, not anymore! (for now!) lol

We drove down Sunday the 20th and then did Disneyland on Monday and Tuesday. Then we drove back Wednesday. 2 days of Disney for 2 days of driving is ALMOST worth it in my opinion, but one more day would've been nicer!

But ... we still had fun anyway!

I got a birthday pin from the park--announcing to EVERYONE that it was my bday! Luckily they don't ask adults how old they are! (On kids pins they write down how old they are!) :) It was fun to see how many people I shared a birthday with at Disneyland!



Kamryn saw a bunch of balloons around and wanted one every time! I knew they didn't sell these small ones, but she doesn't care very much about the expensive big ones. So I went to a cast member and sorta pleaded for a small one. She was very nice and even somewhat humorous---and she went and got Kamryn a balloon! I had to pay with "a hug and a kiss" and then I could have it! :) I love Disney cast members! :) Kamryn was SO happy! :)



We went to lunch at Carnation Cafe on Main Street for my bday meal. If you have never been there...go! And then when you are there, you have to get the Fully Loaded Baked Potato Soup! It is to die for! :)
unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the soup... :(

But I do have pictures of:

Krista and Ryan being silly with their delicious Steak Sandwich!

Kamryn eating her PB and J brought from home!

And Ryan M. and I ... Ryan wasn't so keen on getting a picture taken of him! :) (but I had to document that he was there on this trip!!) :)


Kamryn LOVES Mickey these days.... probably because she was so exposed for the first year of her life! :) (Success!!) :) ha ha ha



In California Adventure, this trip, they had a little Snow White's Cottage set up for us to take pictures in front of. Kinda cute! (the boys weren't so into it... imagine that!) :)

Then Kamryn decided she had had enough... of everything!


That's better, Mom! :) (even just 2 days tuckered her out!)


And.....

Our Last Disney Picture of the Year!

5 Disney trips for Ryan and 6 for Kamryn and I. what a year! But it is already memorable! Hopefully it won't be TOO long before we return! :)

The Big Day!

We find out the gender in 11 days!!! December 1st!

Can you believe December is already that close?!!)

I already know what I think it is....
What do you think it will be?

Make sure to vote on the sidebar poll! :)

Aloha!

~~New Blog~~

I have been having a hard time getting to my blog to post and to report on life recently...partly because of time .... and partly because I didn't LOVE my blog...

But now I do!

I found this scrapbook kit for free online and it just speaks to my heart! I think I'll open my blog everyday now, just to smile (and hopefully to post...but we'll see!) :)

Hope you like it!

Aloha!

Journal Entry update!

So, it has been FOREVER since I last posted, and on Sunday our home teachers brought up keeping a journal... I kinda count my blog as my journal--it's definitely the easiest and most fun way for me to keep a "journal" of what is going on in our lives. However, if I only write about once a month or so...that's not really helping me, is it!? :) haha

So...quick catch up from the last 20 days or so. On Halloween Ryan and I moved away from Provo (hopefully for good) because we decided that it was time to move on from Student housing and the student life, since we aren't technically students anymore! So, with the help of both our families plus many other extended family members that are just wonderful!, we moved in last weekend. It went well...I wish I could say the same for the "Unpacking process" but that'll be well in a few weeks... hopefully! :)

After moving, I was worn out. Having growing pains with a baby growing inside me ... I was down for a few days. No energy whatsoever to do ANYTHING! :) haha Oh, the joys of being pregnant.

Then this past weekend, we babysat some of our friends' kids while they went with their older kids on band tour. We've watched their kids before, so it wasn't too bad. However, we quickly discovered that we lead a completely different lifestyle than they do. Not in a good or bad way...but we are just in a different season in our lives. (We have one toddler...don't get up early...bedtime is anytime after 7... etc.) They have children up at 6:30am, gone for school all day, a child in preschool some days, and children who want to stay up till 9:00 or so! :) It was a fun weekend, but I'm glad to be home and back on my own schedule!

The last thing I wanted to "journal" about the past week is about a boy in my parents ward. On Wednesday, Jared was missing after school. His parents called friends and family to try to find him. They ended up having the high priests and elders in the ward go out and help search for him around 9:00 that night. Not long after, we heard that they had found Jared and didn't need any more help searching. However, he had died. Turns out he went hiking up in the mountains and somehow he fell about 100 ft. I attended my parents' ward on Sunday because my mom (primary president) had their primary program yesterday. It was very touching because the theme for primary this year was "My Eternal Family". What a fitting subject for a ward and family that has recently lost a member.
I got to see Jared's parents and family at church yesterday as well... they seemed to all be okay. Sad, of course, but wanting to very much be a part of the ward and be with their friends and neighbors. They also reached out to the youth in the ward, explaining to them what really happened to Jared and letting his peers know that they are willing to be open and honest about anything they were wondering. I was impressed by their sincerity and willingness to welcome people in with outstretched arms...because that is what all their friends want to do for them too.

I don't know Jared very well, but I do know his parents fairly well, and my heart has been aching all week for them. In fact, I've been very sensitive to this whole thing...maybe more than I should...but I have had a difficult time getting over the fact that a wonderful and diligent and straight A student, 17-year-old boy from an excellent family really is gone. I don't have any doubt in my mind that he is with our Heavenly Father and furthering missionary work on the other side of the veil....however, my "depression" so to speak, is for his mother. No mother should ever have to lose a child. And this experience has made me wonder what I would do. Would I be able to trust that everything is okay? Would I want to reach out to others around me for help, (like this family) or would I naturally be angry and want to be to myself? I don't know...but it has made me think.

So...hopefully I'll get an actual Halloween post up so that pictures are included and everything soon...but this will have to do for now!
:)

Flu Flu Go away!

No time for a long post...but to finish off the Tahoe trip...

Turns out Ryan had the flu .... and then I got it Tuesday night... and Brandon got it Wednesday night .... and then Kamryn got it Friday morning .... and we left Saturday morning!

What a fun trip! :) jk

Actually....I'm really glad I went.
Tahoe is GORGEOUS. I got to spend time with family. I love having time away from real life (even if I am sick). And it was nice to have other people to watch Kamryn while I was sick in bed. My husband is the most amazing man to put up with 2 sick girls for the past week! I'm now finally getting over it...still hacking up a lung every once in a while...and Kamryn's fever has finally passed... But Ryan has kept this household going and kept me as sane as possible, wonderfully! :) I love you Ry!


PS... on a side note... my phone decided to quit on me while we were in Tahoe as well... so that means I lost some friends' phone numbers... email them to me again?!! :) I'm not sure quite yet what I'm going to be doing for a new phone...using Ryan's currently. I'll find out today if my card will work in an older one my dad had on hand! :)

South Lake Tahoe--Day 4

Here we are in South Lake Tahoe and have been here for 4 days now! Wow! It's going by so fast already... :( But it has been fun! HOWEVER, I haven't been great about taking pictures ... so the following are not my doing! :)

We got here Saturday night LATE ... checked in to the very nice Marriott Timber Lodge, and Kamryn and I were finally in bed by 1:30am Pacific time! It was a LONG drive...but not too bad. Kamryn has always been a good traveler so I've been lucky in that way! :)

Sunday we went to church with my Great Aunt Lori. (My dad's aunt). She lives here in Tahoe and we don't see her very often, but it has been so fun to see her so much over the past couple of days. After church, we came back to the Time Share to nap and then went to Lori's house for dinner. 3 of her 6 kids were there (Jeremy, Andy, and Alecs) with their wives, which was VERY fun as well because we REALLY don't know them very well. We had dinner, played games, and got to know our cousins more! :) It was a wonderful night (But unfortunately...no pictures!) :( (I know I know...I am a shame to the blogging world!) :)

Monday we hung out at the condo and then went to Lori's again for dinner that night. Not as many of her kids were there, but it was a wonderful dinner and again...the company is awesome! I'm just so sad that we don't see them all more!

Funny Story Moment!

Saturday night, we checked in and they gave us a unit on the bottom floor. We looked out the windows and all we saw was a concrete wall!!! Needless to say, we kept the drapes shut! haha But then we realized we couldn't get cell phone reception in that unit either! (which wouldn't work since Mom and Dad both needed to work on Monday) ... So my dad asked the front desk about switching units... Monday morning we packed EVERYTHING up again and moved up to the 4th floor!! We walked in and not only is the view better...but the whole unit is BIGGER!! So much more room!! So...although it was a pain to move again...it was definitely worth it! :)

Moving Again!!!

All our stuff waiting to get into the other unit!

Look how BIG it is though, behind Brandon! (The other one was probably 1/4 of the size in the front room. A cart wouldn't even fit...but Brandon and Kamryn were spinning in circles here!) :)


Kamryn LOVES her uncle Brandon! she has been laughing and laughing and laughing constantly for the last 3 days! He just knows how to get her to giggle! :)


Sad thing that has happened, however, is that Ryan is sick. (my brother Ryan) We think it's just a viral sore throat...but the poor kid is miserable! It's always not fun to be sick...but even worse to be sick on vacation! I'm just hoping and praying and doing everything possible to make sure Kamryn and I don't get sick! Hopefully it goes away soon!

It is BEAUTIFUL country here! You step outside and it smells like pine--reminds me of camping!! We haven't gone close to the lake yet because it has been so cold (but definitely pretty)

... yet it's not quite ski season yet, so there isn't snow. Just cold and rainy! Soon enough I'm sure it'll look like this! :)

Hopefully we'll take more pictures in the next few days! ... :)

We're off!

So, because it is fall break for the public school districts around here this Thursday and Friday, my parents decided to take the kids out of school for the entire week and go to Lake Tahoe. And because Kamryn is my full-time job and she's "glued to my hip" I can really go anywhere, anytime and not have to worry about anything. SO...Kamryn and I are leaving with my family today for an entire week! I'm excited to get away for a little bit.

AND ... (don't feel too sorry for Ryan yet) Ryan is going to come meet up with us on Wednesday or Thursday to also take some vacation time! He's been working very hard lately and needs a break! The nice thing is that this break won't require him to take any vacation days off work either! :) That's always good!

So...don't miss me too much while I'm gone...but I will hopefully have plenty of pictures and stories to tell when I get back! ;)

Love ya!