Disneyland Vacation Day 3

Day 2 in the park was so much fun! This was the day Joseph met a ton of Disney Characters. When we walked into the park there was Pluto. Joseph was so excited. He actually has started saying Pluto this week. He was so excited to see him. Then as we were walking further down Main Street Goofy came walking out. We didn't even have to wait to see him! Which is awesome. Now you have to wait in line to see the different characters. This actually a good thing. Then people don't but in front of you while you're waiting! Our first ride of the morning was the Jungle Cruise. Joseph loved this because he loves animals. He was is awe especially of all the elephants! He kept covering his mouth with one hand and saying oh and pointing with his other hand. Next was Pirates again. He actually did really well this time. He didn't really shake at all. Then as we were heading through Frontierland we saw Woody and Jessie. He was so excited to see Woody since Grandpa had bought him a stuffed one the day before. Then we headed for Toontown. He liked being able to be out of the stroller and run around. We even got to walk around Mickey's house. For lunch we ate at the Blue Bayou. This is the resturant that over looks the Pirates Ride. Joseph fell asleep on Daddy's shoulders on the way over which turned out great. He slept in the stroller the whole time while we ate. The resturant was dark and quiet. He slept for an hour and a half which made for a great afternoon. That afternoon we headed over to California Adventure where Joseph got to meet his favorite "Speed" and Mater from Cars. He actually squelled with delight when he saw them. Then Dave and I got to go on our favorite ride--Soarin' Over California. While we were on the ride Grandpa bought Joseph a Speed balloon and so did Aunt Ashlie. So we walked around the rest of the day with 2 huge Speed balloons and Joseph loved it! Then we hit Monsters Inc. which Joseph loved. He has seen that movie a million times. We also went in to find out which Disney Character we were most like. David was Aladin and I was the wicked witch from Snow White! I was so mad. I took the test again and got Jane from Tarzan, but it didn't matter because everyone else already saw me get the witch so I am now known as the wicked witch. We stayed at California Adventure untill it closed and then we headed back to Disneyland. We ran into Mickey and Minnie again and Joseph was excited to see them. We ended the night on Buzz's Astro Blasters. It was a fun day!

Vacation Day 2

Today was our first day in Disneyland! We had such a blast! Joseph was excited from the minute we drove into the park. He was excited about the parking structure beacuse we parked on the Mickey level. As soon as we walked into the park and on to Main Street we saw Donald Duck. Joseph was excited and kept hitting his bill. He couldn't believe his eyes! The first ride we went on was Pirates of the Caribean. Joseph started shaking on the ride. We couldn't decide if it was because he was excited or scared! Then I took Joseph to see Tarzan's tree house while everyone else went on Indiana Jones. After that we went on the Finding Nemo. It was the first time for all of us this ride. It was so cool. That's Joseph and daddy (on the left).We also rode on It's a small world. (That's Joseph and daddy on the boat after the ride on the right) It just barley re-opened. They added various Disney Characters throughout the ride. So we saw Ariel and Lilo and stitch, Mowgli and Woody just to name a few. Joseph loved this ride and kept pointing at everything that caught his eye. After we got off the ride we went into the gift shop (which are strategicaly placed at the end of all major rides!) and Joseph convinced grandpa to buy him a stuffed Woody doll. He hung on to him for the rest of the day. Sometimes he would have his arm around him in the stroller and other times he would be just holding his hand. He hasn't put him down all night! After lunch Joseph fell asleep. We were so relived because we knew he needed a nap to re-charge. So I sat with Joseph while he napped and everybody else went on Splash mtn. I actually enjoyed waiting with Joseph. It gave me a chance to rest my feet. I needed the rest! It actually hasn't been too bad being 8 months pregnant and spending the day in Disneyland. The key is just lot's of breaks and lots of water and lots and lots of potty stops! When Joseph woke up we went on the Many Adventures of Whinne the Pooh and then I took him over to Pooh Corner to see Tigger and Pooh. He got so excited to see Pooh. He wasn't afraid at all, which is the complete oposite of his mother at that age! He ran right up to Pooh and kissed him and hugged him. He loved it! Later in the evening we headed over to Fantasyland. It was time to go on some rides we could all enjoy! Joseph tried to pull the sword out of the stone but, no such luck! After Fantasyland we decided to leave and go get some dinner. On the way out we stopped to buy Joseph a Mickey Balloon like the ones they show on the commercials. Of course there was a line but Mickey and Minnie were also there by the firehouse. So we hopped in line. Joseph really lucked out because he got the last Mickey balloon and he was the last one to see Mickey and Minnie before they left for the night. He had a pretty exciting day for a toddler. It has been so fun to watch him as he sees everything. I can't wait for another day of fun tomorrow!

Disneyland Vacation Day 1

Ok so my goal is to take lots of pictures on this vacation and to post something everyday. But we'll see how that goes! Notice that I even changed the music on our blog page to Disneyland music. Anyway we survived our first day of vacation! Joseph did awesome on the plane. We flew South West. We had to land in Phoenix but luckily we didn't have to switch planes. Since we were the only 6 (we're here with my mom and dad and my little brother and sister) on the plane continuing on to California we moved up to the bulkhead seats which was awesome because Joseph could get down and play. When we got here we rented our car which David later had to take back beacuse it wreaked of smoke! They said it was a smoke free car but it was awful! We went and ate lunch at In-N-Out Burger which is one of my favorite places to eat when we go to California or Vegas. We checked into our hotel (Fairfield Inn Marriott--yes there was a Book of Mormon in the dresser drawer!) and found out that they could move us to an adjoining room with the rest of my family. That has made it nice. Joseph just goes between the 2 rooms to see who will entertain him. Christian and Ashlie love playing with him and he loves to be played with. We are also traveling with some family friends, the Bowens, Larry, Kelli and Jon. Jon is the same age as Christian. Kelli works for the airlines so they have season passes and come down pretty often so their old pros at Disneyland! For dinner last night we ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp. It was a cool resturant! They had Forrest Gump stuff all over the place. And the food was really good. Dave and I both got the Coconut Shrimp and it was amazing! Our waiter even played a Forrest Gump trivia game with us. It was pretty cool. That pretty much sums up our first day here. I can't wait to take Joseph into Disneyland today! He got so excited just driving by the park I can't wait to actually take him inside! (That's us at Bubba Gumps)

Happy Valentines Day!

So I've decided that Valentines Day is so different when you're a "grown-up" with kids. Dave and I decided not to really do anything special for Valentines Day since we are going to Disneyland in a week. Yes we are leaving a week from tomorrow! We did get Joseph some chocolate covered strawberries (thats him eating his strawberry) and I also got David some strawberries and David got me a half dozen of red roses. This is the first year David hasn't worked at the Cookie Store so I was excited to think he might actually be off on Valentines Day but Saturday's are his long days at work. He works from 7 in the morning untill 10 at night. I had to work that day as well. But it was ok because the thought of going to an overcrowded resturant and waiting 2 hours to be seated doesn't sound appealing to me at all. Joseph spent the morning with Grandma SoSo and Grandpa Terry while I worked. Then later that evening I went and hung out with my mom because my dad had to work. We went and picked up dinner from Rumbi's and just hung out. That night when we were getting ready to leave Joseph insisted on wearing his snow boots over his footy pajamas. So that is a picture of him when we got home. He's wearing his snow boots and snow hat. He has a binky in because he's ready for bed and he was just riding around the house on his little fire truck. He's so funny. He loves those boots! Tonight we went over to my parent's house for a Valentine's dinner. My mom made heart shaped pizzas and we ate on Valentines Day plates with matching napkins. Joseph's cousin Johnny gave him a hotwheels car and a Speed Valentine. It was a fun dinner. My mom is always thinking of fun holiday dinners. We always have a Halloween dinner every year too. After we left my parents house Joseph went to his friend Abby and Seren's house to give them their Valentines. He gave them each a chocolate heart. He already knows the way to a woman's heart! Both girls made him cookies and Abby colored a Mickey Mouse picture for him. It's been fun to live so close to 2 little girls the same age as Joseph. They actually play pretty good together. So folks that was our super exciting Valentines Day. There was no romantic dinner or expensive gifts but we were both ok with it. David did laundry this weekend and helped me clean the house and that is such a huge gift to me! Plus in another week we'll all 3 be on a week long vacation with eachother. I hope everybody else had a Happy Valentines Day too!

Doughnut Monster

Things have been crazy around here! We are getting ready for baby Anna! Only about 5 more weeks until she comes. I feel like we still have a lot to do to get ready! We're going to Disneyland in like a week and a half. I am so excited! So is Joseph. Everytime the Disneyland commercial comes on he gets so excited! He loves the Mickey shaped balloons. He is really been in to the movie "Cars" the last few days. He calls Lightning Speed because he has a little Lightning McQueen car that says "Speed, I am Speed" It's pretty cute. Today we had fun. Dave and I were both off work today so we got to spend all day with each other. We spent the majority of the day waiting for my doctor's appointment. My doctor was out delivering a baby. Everything is progressing fine. Just a few more weeks! On the way home we stopped by Dunford Bakeries to see David's Uncle Johnny and get a treat. Joseph loved his chocolate doughnut! You can tell by the Chocolate all over his face! Well that's all for now. We're on our way to our weekly Wednesday night game night! It's one of our favorite things about living out here!

Superbowl and Cousins

So we went to my parents house today to watch the Superbowl. It's not like any of us are huge Cardnial or Steelers fans but it's the Super Bowl so you watch the big game. Everyone was sort of cheering for Arizona--you know the whole underdog rising to the top. It was mainly just fun hanging out with my family and watching Joseph interact with his cousins. My parents set up a little pop up tent down stairs for the little boys to play in. They loved it. At one point the boys were down stairs just running around the tent and laughing the whole time. They actually played really well with each other tonight. Joseph has a hard time sharing sometimes! Joseph also liked playing with baby Eliza too. This really made me happy to see. He liked laying by her and he only tried to pull her hearing aids out twice! This didn't really surprise me because Joseph has a thing for ears. He loves to rub ears--especially when he is tired. If there is no one around he will rub his own ear until he falls asleep. He liked the baby. He put her blanket on her and he even tried to pick her up. I'm glad he interacted with her so well. As of today I can now say that I am having a baby next month! I have been nervous to see how Joseph would react but I think he'll be a great big brother. Later in the evening Joseph found Grandpa's treat drawer in his bedroom. He has recently learned to open it himself. We know when things get quiet this is probably where he is. Tonight he found a box of raspberry sticks that was 3/4 gone. He brought it out to the hallway where he and Johhny polished off the rest of the box. It was funny to see those 2 boys shoving the sticks in their mouths as quickly as possible. They were afraid someone was going to come and take them away! Those 2 boys sure know how to get into trouble! It's fun to have 2 little boy cousins the same age! The last picture is of Joseph watching TV with daddy after church today. He has recently started crossing his one leg while he watches TV