disneyland - day 2

Our first official day at Disneyland was a huge hit! We got to see lots of characters and we made it through about half the park.

For dinner we had late reservations at Goofy's Kitchen. It was so great! There were a bunch of characters walking around to each table so that everyone had a chance to meet them without the craziness of the park. By the time we got to our table, Jack was totally worn out. He fell asleep at the table and we could not wake him up!

Monday was also Kyleigh's birthday and we celebrated in style!

Stay tuned for day 3 at California Adventure! If you want to see more pics you can visit my fb page.

disneyland - day 1

We arrived in California on Sunday afternoon and decided to head over to Downtown Disney. The kids each picked out a hat to wear and we wandered through the Disney shops. For dinner we went to a yummy pizza place. While we were there a cute guy in high school was earning extra money by making balloon creations for the kids. Grace and Kyleigh each had him make a princess crown, of course. Garrett got a ladybug bracelet and Jack got a fire breathing dragon. Hopefully, Carol took some pictures of those with her camera because this is all I have from that day.

best friends

Grace has such a sweet spot in her heart for dogs. She and Casey sit like this all the time. If Grace happens to go to bed and her door is shut, Casey paces back and forth until I open the door for her to sleep in the room. Sometimes she sleeps on the floor, but most of the time I find them snuggling together on Grace's bed in the morning.

garrett's baptism

About a year ago, Garrett started going to church with his friend Daniel. He was also in scouts with him. Then, a few months ago Garrett asked if it would be ok for the Missionaries to start coming by to give him the discussions.

He was very excited to learn about the church and made the decision to be baptized. After several scheduling changes and finally finding a date and time that everyone could attend, Garrett was baptized on Saturday February 26th.

Elder Koons and Elder Lewis are the sweetest missionaries that you could ever meet and we are grateful to know them. Garrett was baptized by Elder Koons and confirmed on Sunday by Elder Lewis.

Daniel is Garrett's best friend and I sometimes feel like Garrett spends more time with him than he does at our house! We are glad to have Daniel and his family live so close to us and be such a part of our lives. Grace plays with Daniel's little sister and his older sisters are our favorite babysitters!

baseball

This was the last game of this season. Even though it was not exactly a winning season, I think Garrett had a good time. He definitely improved his skill from the first game to the last.

This is the whole team, minus 3 players who did not make it to the last game. Coach Mike is in the center back, and Assistant Coach Steve in on the left in the back. These guys were really great with the boys and really took the time to help them to learn new skills. They also really stressed that it was more about enjoying the game than winning, which I think was important.

Of course, there was a pizza party and awards were given out after the last game. We are looking forward to next season and even more learning experiences for Garrett!

rawhide

Last night we went to Rawhide Western Town at Wild Horse Pass. It is and 1880's western town with shows, burro rides, climbing wall, stagecoach rides, train rides, and even a mechanical bull. It is set up like an old time main street with stores on either side of a dirt road-including a general store, jail, candy shoppe, and saloon. They also have a restaurant and live shows in outdoor theaters. The kids had a blast and we will definitely be visiting there again.

brothers

Even though there is a big age difference between them, Garrett and Jack are great friends. They can play together nicely (most of the time), they even ban girls from the room. Grace gets a little jealous when they do that though.

good morning