Some of Our Favorite Rides

Waiting in line at Matterhorn Bobsleds.

Autopia at Tomorrow-land.

Mad Tea Party at Fantasy-land. I had so much fun with the kids, and I think they did, too.

C3PO at Star Tours

Buzz Lightyear at Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters.

Are We There Yet?

The kids were so anxious to get to the rides but we had to stop to get more pictures.

In the Very Beginning... (pictures)

Anxious To Get In...(pictures)

Our Trip to Disneyland!!

We had a really nice time in Southern California and it sure was a well-deserved vacation for all of us!! It was the weekend of 10/2 - 10/4/08. Because the kids didn't have school on Friday, and with Bryce working four 10-hour days a week, giving him Fridays off, the time worked out perfect for us to go and I didn't want to lose the opportunity! So as kind of a last minute plan, we packed up and went to Disneyland!!
Now to keep myself from babbling about everything we did, I've decided to ask everyone what their favorite and not-so-favorite rides were and here's what they are: Cheyenne's favorite - "Mad Tea Party" and "Dumbo the Flying Elephant", her not-so-favorite - "Indiana Jones Adventure"; Sierra's favorite - "Gadget's Go Coaster" and "Mad Tea Party", her not-so-favorite - "Indiana Jones Adventure"; Vaughn's favorite - "Autopia" and "Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters", his not-so-favorite - "Indiana Jones Adventure". He also said he enjoyed the Parade. Joey's favorite - "Matterhorn Bobsleds" and "Indiana Jones Adventure", his not-so-favorite - "Gadget's Go Coaster"; my favorite - "Indiana Jones Adventure" and "Mad Tea Party", my not-so-favorite - "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience". For Bryce, he pretty much enjoyed everything, even the parade! But I think for the both of us, and pictures will show it, as long as we could see the excitement on the kids' faces, that was the best part ever!! The disappointment was when we were told, after waiting for about 1 1/2 hours(45 min. of which we were standing), that the fireworks show was cancelled because of high winds. The kids were very disappointed, especially because they were cold, tired, and hungry. Speaking of hungry, we were wise this time than the last. We went to lunch at McDonald's which was right across the street from the park, and then when our evening was over, we picked up some food for dinner and took it back to the hotel to eat. We didn't dare buy food at the park! After looking at the price for a corn dog, about $7, we could only imagine what other things were. All in all, we had a real nice time. The best part of all for me? Spending time together as a family....PRICELESS!! It was SO worth it!

Famous "Randy's Donuts"

On our way back from Anaheim, California this past Saturday, we just had to stop and get some donuts from the famous "Randy's Donuts" in Inglewood, California. Randy's Donuts has been featured on the food network channel as having some of the best donuts in the U.S. And then of course, they have the biggest donut sitting on their donut shop...you can't miss it. So, on Saturday, on our way back home from Disneyland, Bryce suggested we go to this donut place and get some donuts, but more especially to get a picture of this big huge donut. I had an idea where it was because I had been to it a couple of times while I was on my mission. Inglewood was not one of my areas that I served in but I did serve in the area next to it, called Hawthorne, but there were Elders in our district that served in Inglewood so we got a chance to enjoy some donuts from there, and we also passed by the place a couple of times. I remember it being in a not so safe area, but despite that fact, Bryce was determined to go there anyway. After driving through some scary neighborhoods (we decided to take the side streets instead of the freeway because the freeway was backed up due to some big event happening that day), and it took a while for us to drive, we finally reached Randy's Donut shop. Bryce and the kids were amazed at how huge the donut was on the building, so of course we had to get out and get pictures of it. I'm sure people could tell we were not from there, you know..."tourists", because who else gets out of there car to take pictures. Everyone else just drove through the drive-up to get their donuts. After taking pictures, we ordered a dozen or so donuts of whatever we wanted. That was the best part, and the donuts were delicious!! That's exactly how donuts should be...when you order a maple bar, it should be filled with custard. I hate when you order stuff thinking it's filled and it's not, but these donuts were filled and they were great! I'll tell you what...although it was scary driving through the neighborhoods to get there, it was SO worth it!! Anything we'd do for a donut...and some yummy ones, too!! I'd do it again!!

Visiting with Kristi

Our friend, Kristi Schroeder, was in Mesquite this past weekend with her friend. When I found out she was in Mesquite, I started texting her. She told me how she wished she could come down to Vegas and see us. I told her that she was so close but yet so far! I really wanted to go and see her, and the kids wanted to see her, too, so after talking Bryce into driving some more (we had just gotten back from California the day before and he drove most of the way), we decided to take a drive up to Mesquite. It was so nice to see Kristi again! We picked her up and went to lunch at some Mexican restaurant. Although it was a very short visit, we still had a nice time, and the kids were so happy they got to see Kristi again!

All I Want for Christmas...

Cheyenne lost two of her teeth in the last couple of weeks. I'm glad I got pictures of her before she lost her teeth. I knew she would lose her teeth because they were both loose. So here's pictures of her before she lost her teeth, then when she lost her first upper tooth, and then when she lost another bottom tooth. So far, she has lost four teeth. She doesn't seem to mind so much because the tooth fairy gives her a dollar coin for every tooth she loses. It's funny, though, because when she talks and says "s" words, it sounds like she's lisping, but she thinks it's cool 'cause she says she sounds like Vaughn. She just has to be careful because she has a bad habit of talking with food in her mouth, and sometimes her food will fly out from the space in her teeth.

Slacking....

Okay, I've been slacking so bad in this so I'm gonna have to start from today and work back to what's been going on since my last post. It'll take me a while to catch up so bear with me!!

I'm BAAACK!!

First of all, let me apologize for "slacking off" on my duty as the publisher of our family blog. Things were so crazy and hectic during the last month...nothing serious...just summer "stuff" going on, making sure the kids got to "play" as much as they could before they had to go back to school. But now they're all back in school, since this past Monday, so I should be back on track again...I hope, anyway.

It's nice having time to myself again, but I miss the kids greatly!! I enjoy having them home, and I truly enjoyed having them all home for the summer. This was our very first summer since all the kids have been in school, that we've actually had all the kids off at the same time. Yes!! No "tracks" for us anymore, they are all on the "traditional" schedule. I thought I wouldn't like it, but after this past summer vacation, it was real nice.

We didn't get to go to any fun parks or water parks like I wanted to, like Disneyland or Sea World, because Bryce and Joey had two week-long Scout camps already planned, but the kids did go swimming a lot at our friends house, the Herberts. Thank goodness!! We also were able to go to Nampa, Idaho during the first weekend in August to attend my niece's baptism. That was probably our family vacation for the summer, because we actually left this State. We had a real nice time up there with my brother, Kaiana, and his family who we don't get to see very often.

Now the kids are back in school, Bryce is still busy working, and I'm home alone. But it's nice! I'll be posting more pictures up, and sharing more in detail some of our summer events very soon. I'm just glad to be back on our blog to catch you up with our family's "life". Hope you continue to enjoy all the happenings!! Love you all!