Vacation Fun

Wow, what a fun trip.

We headed out the day before Thanksgiving and made it to Las Vegas without any problems (remember the white out snow storm we had?). That night we ate at the world's LARGEST Benihana. 3 Floors of Benihana, it's crazy big.

We rode up the elevator (we ate on the 2nd floor) with a family that was from Japan, and our hostess was also Japanese, so upon exiting the elevator the hostess said in her Japanese accent, "Enjoy your mean." Chloe wasn't sure what she said and asked us, "Why did that lady just say whahianhaha." We all started laughing, even the family from Japan started laughing. The mom said to us, "Yes, we are hard to understand sometimes." Too. Dang. Funny!

The next day we visited with Devin's brother who lives in Vegas before heading out.

We finally made it to our hotel in California that night, and we didn't get lost this time. We usually take the wrong rode on our way there because Tom Tom (the navigation) says to stay right, but if you stay right, you end up merging off the freeway onto another freeway. What you have to do is stay right, but not all the way right and just not go in the left lane, because that one too takes you somewhere else. If you have ever driven to California, it's like Spaghetti bowl central there in some places.

Saturday we headed to Huntington Beach. Even though we have been to California many times, we never have taken the kids to the beach. They LOVED it. It was so beautiful and so much fun. It would be even more fun if we could play in the water. We are so heading back there this summer.

Sunday we spent the day at Knotts Berry Farm. Generally when we go to Knotts it is not busy at all, but because we went on a holiday weekend, it was more crowded than normal, and the cold front had caught up and it was pretty cold. Overall, everyone still had fun.

Monday started the fun week at Disneyland. The kids were so excited, mostly Chloe. She had talked about it for months and couldn't wait any longer.

We rode on almost every ride and had so much fun. The most memorable moment was Chloe meeting the Disney Fairies. Chloe is not your average 3 year old, she does not stop talking, ever, and she is not shy at all! She walked right up to Tinkerbell and started talking away, and Tinkerbell loved it.

Tinkerbell asked Chloe what her favorite ride was, and Chloe responded, "The Matterhorn". Tinkerbell told her she was so brave to ride such a scray ride, and asked if she was scared. Chloe told her that she wasn't scared, that she closed her eyes the entire time, and the yeti is just a giant teddy bear who says rarr and he's hungry. Tinkerbell asked what he ate and Chloe told her, spaghetti with meatballs. lol. Tinkerbell loved Chloe.

Chloe moved up the line to meet the next fairy and proceeded to tell her another story. Tinkerbell then left her spot in line to go to Chloe because she wanted Chloe to meet another fairy that was just coming out. (There is a 45 minute wait, so a bunch of people in line, and Chloe is taking all the time in the world, and the fairies are loving her!)

Chloe got to meet all the fairies and they told her to come back every day while she was a Disneyland to talk to them. It was so cute and fun.

I have so many pictures I can't wait to scrap more. Here are a few more layouts from our trip. You can click on them to enlarge them if you want. :)

We usually end up going to Disneyland the week of my birthday. It wasn't ever planned this way, this just happens to be the least busy time there. However, since Disneyland is the best place to celebrate a birthday, every year we have one character dining experience. This year we went to Goofy's Kitchen for dinner. It was so yummy, and it was a buffet. It was actually less expensive for our family to have a character dining dinner than it was for us to eat at Benihanas - in case you are wondering. :)

Can you believe we are already getting ready to plan next years trip. LOL. We love Disneyland!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are leaving to Las Vegas tomorrow, and then heading out of Vegas Thursday to go to Huntington Beach. We will spend some time there Thursday night and Friday. Then Saturday we are going to Knotts Berry Farm. We always have to go to Knotts at least once when we are there. Then Sunday through Friday we'll be having fun at Disneyland. We can't wait! So, Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Sadie's 3 Months

Sadie is 3 months old now, I can't believe how fast it's gone by. If only the rest of the baby weight I'm wearing would go away as fast. lol. (I'm almost there, don't get me wrong, just need to get rid of these hips!)

Sadie usually goes to sleep by 8:30 pm and use to only wake up once during the night at around 2 am to nurse, then go back to sleep until 7:30 am. But for the last few days, I'm saying growth spurt, she still wakes around 2 am, but then again at 5:30 am. The good news is, she does go back to sleep until 8 am, sometimes later if the house isn't to loud. But those 5 am mornings sure get me off track.

She is the most happiest after she wakes up. She is all smiles and coos and I just can't get enough of it. It just melts my heart.

We have learned that we can't put baby lotion on the bottom of her feet or the top of her shoulders, it just tickles her way to much, she starts crying everytime.

She loves to be propped up sitting, even though it's only for a little while before she tumbles over. If she gets too fussy, it's usually because no one is talking to her. She wants your undivided attention. She doesn't care to be held facing over your shoulder either, she wants to look outwards at everything going on.

She drools a lot, and always has and loves to put her hands in her mouth. I hate putting bips on her, but if we are home and no one is around, I'll put one on, that way when we do go out, she isn't all wet.

She doesn't take very good naps, she is a cat napper. And that sucks. lol.

We love her very much and can't get enough of our sweet Sadie, we are so thankful she is in our family.

Silly Chloe

My mom came over the other day to digital scrapbook with me, and Chloe really really really wanted to go to her house afterwords.

I kept telling her that she couldn't go over because she would get sad that she wasn't home with mom, but she kept coaxing. At one point, I'm not sure why, I jokingly said to her she wouldn't have any clean clothes at Grandma's house that if she went over to her house she would need to bring all her clean underwear.

Well, when the time arrived for my mom to go home, Chloe went upstairs and came back downstairs with all her clean underwear in her arms. lol.

I told her I was joking and that she needed to leave her underwear home. She got sad until Grandma made it better by saying she could still come over for an hour or two.

What a silly little girl!

ok, not the best picture ever, but hey, I had a baby in the other arm.

Madi's Baptism and Sadie's Blessing

Even though Madison turned 8 in October, our ward doesn't do baptisms until the Saturday before Fast Sunday the following month. So she had to wait, very patiently, until November 6th to get baptised and confirmed.

The day of her baptism we all woke up early, got ready and headed to the church at 9:30 am. Once we got there, she was just beaming.

We took pictures of her in her beautiful dress that Grandma Parker bought her, along with several family ones, and then her and dad headed to the dressing rooms to get dressed in the baptismal outfit.

After friends and family arrived at 10 am, we started with a song that she picked out, and then Brayden gave a great talk about baptism and the Holy Ghost. Afterwords we headed to the baptismal font to watch. She was starting to get nervous, but at the same time, you could tell she was excited to finally get baptised.

When she was done being baptised, I got to help her dry off and get back dressed into her beautiful white dress. We went back into the room we started in and finished with a Confirmation by her dad. Then we sang a closing song, another one that she picked out, and headed home. It was a beautiful morning!

We are so happy Madison choose to be baptised, I can't believe how fast my kids grow up.

Then on Fast Sunday Sadie got blessed by Devin, and it was simply beautiful.

Linda, Devin's mom, has given each of the girls their own blessing dress. She actually made both Madison's and Sadie's. She would have made Chloe's but was sick during that time so she ended up buying one instead. The best thing is that each girl has their own blessing dress to use with their girls if they wish, and each one has been different in the way it looks.

Sadie wasn't the only one getting blessed this day, 2 other beautiful baby girls were also blessed. However, we were told by many in the congregation that Sadie was of course the most beautiful baby they have ever seen (We get that told a lot since she has so much hair.); not only that, but we were told what a great blessing Devin had given her, and that it was very unique and different from the other blessing the other baby girls received.

So far, the beginning of the month has turned out great!

First Haircut For...

Chloe!

I know, she's 3 years old and has never had her hair cut, until now.

The only reason we haven't cut it was because it was so pretty long, and you couldn't tell it was uneven from it never being cut because she has those beautiful natural curls in her hair... but after Madison had her hair cut short, Chloe had been thinking about it, and so have I.

When we bath Chloe we always have to use 'big' people conditioner otherwise you can't brush her hair out. We usually wash it, then put conditioner in it, leave it in a few minutes, brush it out in the tub, then rinse it out. That way when we dry her off when she gets out of the tub, her hair isn't in big knots.

So, I finally decided to cut it, myself. Scray I know since I can't cut hair. But remember those curls, I figured if I did cut it uneven, no one would even notice.

Yep, I cut a little over 4 inches off her hair. But we love it! It's still long, easier to brush out in the tub and easier to do. The best part is, she loves it too!

Days Like This...

Cracked me up, I just had to post it. lol.

Halloween Stuff

Yes, I'm behind on my blogging, but Sadie is so cute, she's worth it. :)

Halloween this year wasn't celebrated as usual. We didn't have our Annual Halloween Party, and we really didn't go trick or treating either (thanks to our lovely down pour weather.) Instead, we visited a couple families homes and then went to the store and bought licorice and doughnuts and headed back home to watch classic Halloween movies. The movie we watched was the Creature from the Black Lagoon. The kids loved it, even though it was in black and white. Every time they saw the 'creature' they would let out fun shrieks, it was really funny.

On a side note, I wasn't even sure I would be able to get Brayden to dress up this year. He thinks he's too old. But after much coaxing I was able to talk him into it. He decided to go as a Skateboarder. While that doesn't sound too interesting, it actually was a lot of fun getting this perfect costume together.

We headed to the DI to find some 'skinny' jeans for him. We found some, however, they were girls skinny jeans, but oh so perfect! Then we went to Home Depot to buy some chain. His costume was perfect. (See pictures below.)

Even though we didn't do the regular 'Halloween' festivities, the kids still had fun.

Chloe had a Halloween party Wednesday before Halloween with her preschool class. She had so much fun. I was able to come the last hour of her class and take pictures. I loved watching her interact with the other kids and loved seeing her so involved in her classroom activities.

Then Thursday before Halloween Brayden and Madison had their Halloween Costume Parade, followed by the 5th and 6th graders dancing to Thriller. Now that was fun!

I was even able to get some Halloween pictures of the kids... although Sadie wouldn't cooperate in her Chick costume. Oh well.

Chloe the Kitty Witch.

Madison a Vampire.

And then Brayden, a Skateboarder.

Sadie's 2 Months

Wow, my little girl isn't really little, she's big, and she is only 2 months old. I took her in today for her 2 month appointment to get her vaccinations and was told by the doctor she was the size of a 4 month old! What? Seriously? lol. So I came home to compare my kids 2 months stats.

Kids Weight:
Sadie: 12 lbs 3 oz (95%)
Chloe: 11 lbs 8 oz
Madison: 12 lbs 2 oz
Brayden: 12 lbs 6 oz

Kids Length:
Sadie: 25 1/4 inches (off the charts, over 100%)
Chloe: 22 3/4 inches
Madison: 23 inches
Brayden: 23 inches

So really, she's not any heavier than the other kids, but definetly longer. It will be fun to compare her to the others as she grows. Brayden was 25 1/2 inches long when he was 4 months, Madison was only 24. So if she keeps getting longer, she'll definetly have them beat, especially since she is already over 25 inches. That's ok though, she can be tall like her mom. I guess when he was saying like a 4 month old, he was talking about her length.

Here's her new 2 month pictures. So cute!

A New Picture with My Dad

It's not easy getting everyone to smile at once for a picture... but I think we got one. Because this picture wasn't planned for, no one coordinated their clothes, which is why it's in black and white.

Next time we'll plan better and have a better location since this was just on a moments notice.

Madison is 8

I know, crazy right... Madison being 8 years old.

She turned 8 on Sunday, October 17th and was so excited for it to be her birthday. She had literally been counting down the days since October 1st she has been THAT excited. I am not sure if it's the actual birthday or being 8 and knowing she can finally be baptised. She is really excited about that.

My kids always get to pick any restaurant of their choice for the birthday, and this year Madison choose to go to Red Lobster. Grandma, Steven, and Rick came along.

Madison touching a Lobster from the tank.

Dinner was super good, as always. Both Devin, myself and Brayden choose the all you could eat shrimp dinner. They had 5 different shrimps you could pick between and you started with your choice of 2. Madison picked out the popcorn shrimp and Chloe, hating seafood had chicken.

Before heading home Chloe made a hole in the paper ring that holds the utensils, stuck her finger through it and said, "Look mom, a Super Villain with his cape." lol.

After dinner we headed back home to open presents and have a small piece of cake since we were all super full from dinner.

Madison had a great birthday. She even received a digital camera all her own from Grandma Hall, Grandpa Hall and Grandpa Evans.

The first day she had her digital camera she ended up going through the new batteries. We replaced them that day. lol.

Happy Birthday Madison!

Football's Over

I'm behind on blogging so I'm going to start at Brayden being done with football.

This year he had a different team with different players but still had a lot of fun. His team didn't win EVERY game like they did last year, but every team still gets to play in the Playoffs at least once.

The first playoff game his team won, so they got to play again. The second playoff game, they lost, but it was still a good game.

Here are some pictures from his last couple football games. And yes, I had to include some of Sadie, she is just too cute.

And these last 2 are from his last game.

Don't want to sound like a horrible mean mom, but I am glad football is over. lol.