Saturday, August 31, 2013

Happiest Place

We have been planning this trip for a very long time.  We wanted to go to Disneyland when I wasn't pregnant or nursing, and when all of our kids were old enough to enjoy it.  We figured out a long time ago that the summer of 2013 was our golden opportunity.  We don't look as ecstatic as we should in this picture.  We had an AWESOME time!

We convinced my mom and dad to join us, which made it so much more fun (this was Star Tours - which the boys LOVED - we did it several times)! 

And Brady and McCall and James came too - making it way more fun than it would have been otherwise (notice Sam's crush on Minnie!  He didn't hesitate at all when Brady asked him to kiss her!).

It was a lot more fun to wait in line with buddies -- although I will tell you that we didn't wait in a single line for more than 20 minutes -- thanks to this program called Ride Max that Ben found.  This program asks you what rides you want to do, and the times you want to be there, and it gives you a schedule that minimizes wait times and walking times.  It was AWESOME!  It totally had us doing things in an order we never would have expected, and it had us sending runners to get fast passes at appropriate times, etc.  Let me tell you, on a July weekend at Disneyland, it felt SO good to be walking to the front of nearly every line, looking at everybody else who was waiting in 1-hour plus lines, wondering why they didn't opt to be as cool as us.  Yeah, leave it to my economist husband to find such a program (and check it out if you're going!  They have it for Florida too!).

We kind of took advantage of Brady and McCall's kindness and let them take our kids while we did a bunch of rides.   

Meanwhile, Brady and McCall won major brownie points with three of their nephews! 

   
Henry spotted Jolie's name on the ground among thousands of bricks!  She was an ambassador for Disneyland in 2012 . . .  


 . . . and she is still working for Disney!  She was able to leave her desk (inside Space Mountain) to join us for lunch and to dish out some insider tips.  Our boys idolize Jolie and still ask about which characters she has played at Disneyland.  

Henry planned ahead for the Star Wars Jedi Training, making this sign to ensure that he would get chosen as a volunteer.  He came up with the wording all on his own.

How could they resist such a sign?  He was chosen - of course! 

And . . . he got to fight Darth Vader.  Yep, that's my son. 

 Henry, Yo-da man!

More than one boy's dreams came true in Radiator Springs in Cars Land.  I will say it fulfilled my wildest dreams as well.  That Cars movie makes me teary-eyed at several points.  And thanks to Ride Max, we got on Radiator Springs Racers in 20 minutes.  It ruled.

Several minutes after leaving a gift shop, I discovered that Sam had shoplifted!  He had pulled both of these items off the shelf and successfully swiped them as we walked out of the shop.  He was pretty disappointed when we had to return them . . . 

 Meeting Mickey!

 This was the cute Anaheim house we stayed at.  I love staying in homes like this so we can all be together.  So much more fun than hotels!

There were a lot of stroller naps.  I got this dream stroller right before we left, and it turned out to be a major pain to bring (especially when we had to pay $200 to upgrade the rental car to fit it).  BUT I will say that I thought it was worth it to have a comfy, shaded place for the boys to rest on these intense days. 

Um, we couldn't help but reminisce about the good old days when we were two Layton High choir kids getting into the romance of Disneyland (and maybe, possibly holding hands on the Matterhorn?).  This place holds lovely memories for us, and we had fun introducing the magic of Disneyland to our children!

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Married!

Who is the lucky man who got to marry this beautiful girl?
???????

Yep, my awesome brother Tanner.  He's a married man!  And we are all pretty happy about it.  I adore Meagan!



That would be all four of my siblings and our spouses - married in the temple.  What a happy day!  Notice how Kati and McCall accidentally wore the same skirt!

Do we look like we could be related?

They had their reception in my parents' backyard.  Everything about it was completely adorable.  I love that Meagan's grandpa had a truck that matched the wedding colors!

I was so happy to be able to help out with these signs.  I like to do a little "chalking" now and then . . .

Lemonade stand

Ran by five very capable little boys who were basically shoving cups of lemonade into people's hands, even if they had already had 2 or 3 cups.  They also got unsupervised access to the candy supply while their parents forgot about them and chatted with guests.

Are you as in love with this as I am?

I will always love my parents' yard.  

It was the perfect place for a party.

Matching bike?  Of course.

Tanner really wanted to serve cereal and milk for the refreshments.  I think they appeased him by serving Fruit Loops as one of the ice cream toppings.

 Family pictures . . .





Me with my boys . . .

 and some bowtie pics . . .

A glimpse into Tanner and Meagan's future.

And a glimpse into the quirky, odd, hilarious, gut-busting time you will have if you get to spend time with my brother Tanner . . . who is now a married man.

Thanks to Ashlee Hair photography for the pictures I snagged.

Friday, August 23, 2013

Latergrams: In which we begin to settle in, and we discover that settling in takes a really, really long time

Moving is weird.  When we first moved into our new house, we had to wait for several days before our moving truck arrived.  This was the strange, awkward, life we had:


Then: 

 Two drawers full of kitchen gadgets accidentally left behind by the previous tenants = TOYS!!!  And by toys, I mean weapons.  Nice, considering the fact that we just found out our moving truck won't be here until Monday.  :(  #fivedaysofminimalism #pileofweapons #tendermercy?

Thankful for new friends that lent us a table and chairs and a BUNCH of fun toys that have kept the boys SO happy.  Sarah is a lifesaver! #theweaponsrest #newtoys #newfriends #happyday

Surprise!  They called last night to say they could bring the truck TODAY!  So much better than Monday.  #evenhappierday #tendermercy

 Welcome to the neighborhood!  #myneighborhood #leaveittobeaver #morningjog #ijustmightlikeithere

 We unpacked the potty today, and this guy wanted to give it a try.  First time ever, and he went Number One and Number Two twice!  #soproud #saycheese #tmi #pottygram

 Dressed for a boxing match, naturally.  #brothertime #summerboredom #gladtheyhaveeachother

 It appears that the Newsies are on strike.  Did I mention that there is a major Newsies obsession going on at our house right now?  There is a lot of reenacting going on.  #mythreenewsies #carrying the banner

 As you can see, unpacking is coming right along.  Henry's job today was to unpack that box of books and put them on the empty bookcase.  Thirty minutes later, he's still reading the book from the top of the stack.  #slowlybutsurely #reunitedwithhisbooks #alwayslostinabook

 Thirsty?  This fridge, and a stack of cups within kids' reach, are Henry's dreams come true!  #whoneedsacup? #newhousenovelty

 Ben: making my wishes come true for almost ten years now.  #handyman #gettingmeorganized #wishlist

 Leaving me.  #econconference #backtoboston #alonewithmyboxes

 Happy feet.  #newrug #becausebenlovesme #rugofmydreams

 By request, a picture of the whole rug.  It was a miraculous Anthropologie find.  It was the last 8x10 in the entire world, shipped to me from a store in Florida.  #rugofmydreams #boysnotincluded

 "Why they are chocwit guys on there, Mom?" #samspeaks #chocolateguys #mmmhmm

 Woke up and found their favorite person in the whole wide world.  #daddycomeshome

 Sam says, "I wanna wear a costume on the beach, Mom!"  It took me a minute to realize that what he wanted was a cute beach towel robe like his friend Charlie.  #firstchicagobeachday #beachcostume

Finished making this book for Tanner and Meagan's wedding just in time.  Can't believe my little brother will be married in one week!