Finishing off our California Trip

The Sunday that we were in California we drove around to see 3 of the California Temples. We started by visiting the LA Temple and it's newly renovated visitors center. It was pretty neat.

We then drove to the Newport Beach Temple. This one was absolutely gorgeous.

From there we then visited the San Diego Temple. They were doing some work on it but it was still an incredible site and so wonderful to walk around the temple grounds.

Coronado Island was our next stop before heading back to our hotel. Such a fun drive, especially over the crazy bridge. 

We had such a great time exploring the beach, watching a wedding take place and taking some fun pictures.

We stayed and watched the sun set, it was magical and such a wonderful day as a family.

Aaron's parents then soon joined us in the following days. We celebrated Mum's 50th birthday at Disneyland and California Adventure and treated her to a delicious meal at Ariel's Grotto before then watching the spectacular 'World of Color' Show. It was incredible and so moving.

On our last day in Anaheim we took a quick trip down to Huntington Beach. We did not expect how chilly it was going to be but we still couldn't resist pulling out our swim gear. The kids ran around on the beach while Aaron and his Dad were brave enough to take on the crazy waves and tide. I tried going in with Beth but it wasn't long before a wave went right over my head and pulled me under. I was done then and quite cold. 

We finished off our trip in Palm Springs, it was so hot there you couldn't last outside for too long. Aaron even burn the bottom of his feet terribly near the pool causing huge blisters. He struggled to walk for a few days.

It was such an amazing trip and one for the books for sure!

More Disneyland

We had the luxury of going in and out of Disneyland and California Adventure as we pleased for 5 days. In four of those days we saw all the characters, rode pretty much all the rides and saw most the shows. It was nice to be able to take our time around the parks and not feel rushed. It was also nice to be able to go back to our hotel for lunch and naps and a swim in the pool before beginning our evening at the park. 

We had a lot of fun seeing all the characters. It was so fun to see the kid's expressions.

Seeing the princesses and fairies was another thing. Josh was in dreamland; he absolutely LOVED princess Tyona from "Princess and the Frog". She held his hand for the picture and he had the biggest grin from ear to ear. The following days there he kept asking when he could go see her again.

Now I couldn't believe how tall the princesses where. What is up with that? They all towered over me by a foot or more. I know that is not hard but come on, seriously, Aurora was like two feet taller than me :) The fairies were more my size...

Rachael would never fall asleep in the stroller but on certain rides like the train or Nemo ride she would crash. He favorite ride for sure was the Carousel, she loved it and it was a fight to get her off it. Josh says his favorite rides were Space Mountain and the Matterhorn. 

One night we ate dinner in the park at the French Market and I had the most delicious Salmon. I was quite impressed. I then stood reserving our spot for Fantasmic for 2 hours. It was insane but worth it. Aaron took Josh on Splash Mountain while I waited at chatted with some nice ladies.
The show and fireworks afterwards was a lot of fun.

First full day at Disneyland

We had spend the previous evening at Disneyland but August 20th was our first full day there. As soon as we stepped into the park Mickey and his gang came down main street. The kids were so excited.

We had a great time riding rides (including the tea cups as seen below) and the longest we waited in line was 20 minutes. It was a lot better then I had expected. There were constant shows and entertainment everywhere which was perfect as we ate lunch. It was so fun to watch the kids dance around.

We weren't as prepared for the heat so the first day we stayed hydrated with the most delicious (but expensive) raspberry and cherry lemonade slushies.   

We got to see Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger and Goofy.

As the evening hit we moved on over into California Adventure to watch the Pixar Play parade. It was probably the funnest parade i've ever seen. Josh was so excited to see all of his favorite characters. The water and bubbles were fantastic for a hot day.

Our drive down to California

On August 18th we left early afternoon and began our drive to California. We decided to break our drive up into two days and stay in Vegas that night. We only stopped once in St George where we quickly filled up our car and ate subway sandwiches for dinner. 


We arrived in Vegas just before sundown and checked into the Monte Carlo. The heat was unbearable, we couldn't believe how HOT it was even after the sun went down. The kids were so good as we walked 4 miles up and down the strip without strollers. Crazy is what you can call us, we were all soaked with sweat. We couldn't resist the cold water being sold for $1.00 and had to buy a few.

We had a great time seeing the cool lit up buildings. Elvis and Jack Sparrow were everywhere but we couldn't resist a picture with superman :) The Bellagio fountain show was my all time favorite. Especially because it was to the song "Time to Say Goodbye" by Andrea  Bocelli and Sarah Brightman.  Walking past Caesars Palace seemed to take forever but the kids had fun splashing in the fountains. We then made our way to Treasure Island to catch a glimpse of the huge pirate ship and then back to the Mirage for the volcano show.
We eventually slugged our way back to our hotel going through the cool (literally cool) gardens at the Bellagio and then crashed for the night. It was actually better then I thought it would be and I think it helped that we were out on the strip well before it got late and into the craziness. 

The next day we checked out and before beginning the rest of our drive we walked the opposite direction down the strip. It was even hotter than last night. We visited M&M world and checked out New York New York. We walked around Excalibur and then took the tram to Mandalay Bay. There we went to Shark Reef and enjoyed every minute. Josh and Aaron walked around with these information  phones while I walked around with Rachael as she pointed at everything saying 'wook' 'wook' and 'wow' (look  being one of her favorite words). We saw some cool sharks swim right above our heads and a load of other cool fish including piranhas, jellyfish and huge creepy creatures.

Once we made it back to our car we pulled out the nice ice cold cooler with drinks and lunches before hitting the road. We then drove the remaining 4 hours or so to Anaheim. We stopped once in Bakers California where we saw the world's tallest thermometer (sorry no pictures).


We checked into our Holiday Inn Resort and took a shuttle into Disneyland. We had 5 days in Disney and we decided to use that evening as one of them. We got right onto a bunch of rides including Buzz Lightyear and the Matterhorn. The best thing about the rides Rachael couldn't go on (which was only 5 or so) was that they do a switchpass. So Aaron and Josh would wait in line and go on the ride while I waited with Rachael. Once they got off the ride I got straight back on with Josh without waiting in any line. It was brilliant and Josh got to ride all the big rides at least twice.


Before leaving the park we went on It's a Small World. Seeing Rachael's beaming face reminded me of Josh at Disneyland Paris in 2008 when we took him on that ride. It really is a cute and fun ride for little ones even though the song is then stuck in your head for the next 3 days.

Real Salt Lake Game

We were invited to the RSL game on August 14th. 

It was my first time in their new stadium and we had so much fun! 

Sink or Float Experiment

This was one of our '60 days of Summer' ideas. After going through the items on the list they continued to test random items and toys to see if they would sink or float. 

The best was when they brought down armfuls of bath toys. Haha

FHE in the Canyons

9th of August some friends invited us to go into the mountains for FHE.

We had a blast and of course the kids loved it. What don't they love about rocks, dirt, sticks and streams :) 

Baking

I had an abundant supply of bananas that had over ripened. So I found a recipe for these delicious Banana Crumb Muffins. They have this cinnamon and brown sugar streusel topping. They didn't last long around here because everyone loved them. Delicious!

I was also given a few fresh zucchinis so I made these gorgeous zucchini cookies. A few years ago I was going through all my moms recipes and came across this one. It's yummy! They end up fluffy and cake like (a bit like pumpkin cookies) and the bit of chocolate in it makes them so sweet.

Two-tone banana bread

What else can I say? 

Oh and a chocolate-hazelnut spread is delightful on this.

Girls Camp

This year we were lucky and had girls camp the end of July. No Snow YAY!

Unfortunately I didn't take many pictures because we were having such a great time.

We had a large group of awesome girls, and leaders of course ;)

I had seen on a friends blog a cool hairdo she had done at her girls camp so we had to try it out. I think it looked pretty cool. What do you think?

Boating

Boating is for sure one of our favorite things to do in the summer.

Marshmallow Animals - Watermelon

We enjoyed eating a lot of watermelon this summer and yummy strawberry shortcake. Yum!

We also made marshmallow animals. It was so much fun and they turned out so cute we didn't want to eat them.

Remembering June

Just catching up on a few things from June I didn't want to miss blogging about:

BBQ

We had one our first BBQ's of the summer which was accompanied by rain. 

We sat on my parents patio and enjoyed watching the storm roll through. Once it was over there was a beautiful rainbow that filled the sky.

Puppies

Both sets of parents (well actually both mine and Aaron's youngest sisters) got puppies. Now no matter what house we go to there is a puppy for the kids to enjoy. No need for us to get one :)

Father's Day

We spent the afternoon outside at my parents house, it was a beautiful day.  I have some fantastic father figures in my life.

Scott's Birthday

My brother let us celebrate his birthday with him. Josh was so excited for Scott to open all of his presents and Rachael enjoyed cuddles with my mom. 

Youth Conference

I had the privilege to go with our youth on the Stake Pioneer Trek Youth Conference at This is The Place. It was a great experience and also a hard one. We had some great youth and awesome leaders of course ;) Unfortunately I didn't take many pictures as we were constantly busy but I will never forget it. For a couple days afterwards I was so sore from pulling the handcart up and down that steep mountain. The women's pull just about killed me. It was such a different experience this time now being a wife and mother as it was when I was a youth. Both times were definitely life changing experiences. 

Swimming

We love swimming and Josh took two sessions of swimming lessons this year. 

Fictional Characters

Some of my favorite fictional movie characters (in no particular order)

As my mother-in-law would say these guys are 'rather dishy' but it's their characters that I enjoy the most. I shouldn't have to explain if you ladies have watched these shows at all:

Now some similarities:

Two of them are from a completely different era.

Two of them are English (all four of them are English born in real life)

They are all very respectful and quite romantic
More concerned about the welfare of their loved ones
The list could go on and on

Now it wouldn't be any question as to why I like these characters because I have my own favorite that incorporated qualities from all four of the above.


AARON

No wonder I first fell in love... He's English :) Now a citizen but true English at heart.

He carries that 'old fashioned' tradition but is balanced by the modern day.  He is a romantic as well. 

My true love forever and always! Love you honey!

Twilight Saga

I am not a reader, never have been and so I swore I was never going to read these books. Just looking at them was enough to pass them up. Those books are HUGE. Everyone around me was constantly talking about how wonderful they were and I struggled to understand how a book could be so exciting.

Well I got a call one day from my aunt who invited me to go see the premier of Eclipse. She had one extra ticket and all my teenage cousins and my sister were going. I thought it would be so much fun to go with them so I agreed. Knowing that there were two movies before this one I knew I had to watch them so I knew what was going on (or at least have an idea). Well that did it for me. Even though the first movie was a serious under budget film I still really enjoyed it. The second was a bit of a downer for the most part but I loved it even more. Then Eclipse… I’ve already seen it three times. I LOVE it! I went to the premier, Aaron went to see it with me and then Nichole was dying to see it and I offered to go with her.
I really enjoyed the music in this one as well, especially the ending song (as why it’s on my blog)!

It was after I had seen the movies I was asking my sister 100 questions. I think this is one reason I have a hard time reading because I need answers to questions I have. I like to know details. So that’s when I decided I should try reading the books. Well that did it for sure. I read all four books (2500 pages or so) in two weeks. Crazy I know but I loved them! New Moon was probably my least favorite but I helped to explain things. My favorite for sure was Breaking Dawn. I loved it and can’t wait for the movies. The second half of the book is awesome so the last movie better be incredible!

So here I am – and I said I never would be…   A TWILIGHT FAN!

Oh and I know some of you may ask… I am….. TEAM EDWARD all the way!

What a Day

After spending most the week at girls camp I was so excited to see my family again. Yesterday we got back in the early afternoon and the rest of the day I spent with my kids. We had a blast outside and I just can't believe how hilarious Rachael is with the water. She hates the bath but loves the shower and the hose. Explain that one...

Today we spend most the day at Lagoon. We had such a blast there.

There was this building at Lagoon called Rock Chapel that was most fascinating to me. This building was originally located in Coalville and was built in 1863. It was used as a fort against Indians, a courthouse, jail, and schoolhouse until 1869. That year Brigham Young dedicated it as and LDS church. Inside it has so many neat things. We spent some time going through all the things on the walls and marveling at it's beauty.

Right before we left the park, Aaron won both the kids a cute stuffed animal by shooting a certain number of 3 pointers. We were so proud of him and the kids were so excited to pick out the prizes.

We decided to leave at just the right time as some dark clouds were rolling in. As we got home and ate dinner a serious storm came in. Unfortunately I had opened the windows in my room and in just a matter of minutes my bathroom floor was soaked. I couldn't believe how hard the rain and hail came down and the thunder shook our house a few times. Creepy!

Once the storm had passed Aaron took the kids out to sort out the damage from garbage cans tipping over and things flying away. They ended up having way too much fun out there splashing in puddles and playing with wet chalk. They were wrestling on the trampoline and as I went out to take some photos this is what I captured. 

LOVE IT!

Today was a wonderful day!