Family photos

After cutting down our tree we went to Wasatch Mt. State park to take our family photos for a Christmas Card.  It was pretty cold but we were able to get a few good ones in about 10 minutes.  I got a new wireless remote with money that my sister game me for my birthday so I used that and had the camera set up on a tripod.

Christmas Tree

Brandon planted this blue spruce 8 years ago in our front yard.  This year he realized it was probably going to be to big for the space and wanted to take it out and replace with something different.  We decided to cut it down for our Christmas tree.  It is huge!  We love it.

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with my family at my Mom's.  The weather was perfect, the food was yummy and the company was a lot of fun!!  We played a few games, told some jokes and just had fun hanging around.  I tried to get some family photos of Kathryn, Cole and Layni and the above photo of Layni was the best smile we got.  She has a cute smile but would not show me, she had just woken up from her nap, so maybe next time.  We went with my Mom and Nyman later in the evening to see Frozen.  We really liked it, especially the music.

Facetime Sunday

We facetimed Brandon's family tonight and the girls had fun telling all about our trip to Disneyland.  We drove all the way home yesterday.  Two hours into the drive Tabitha threw up, luckily I had a garbage bag and we were driving through a town with a Walmart so I ran in for more bags and supplies.  She threw up again as we were getting gas and I thought it would be a long drive home but she did OK for 6 hours and threw up again in Cedar City.  It could have been worse and we were happy to get home last night and be in our own beds.  She was totally fine today, so not sure what happened.  

Day #4

Tabitha and Brandon rode Goofy's sky school at least 3 times today.  Gabrielle and I rode Jumpin Jellyfish whenever they did the roller coaster.  

Brandon and the girls rode grizzy rapids just in time, right before it started raining!  Tabitha did not ride it the first day but really wanted to today, they had fun and did not get to wet.  

The first two days entering Disneyland we could not walk thru the Castle, they were filming The View.  We got this photo today without all the equipment that blocked the castle before.  Main street was really fun all decorated for the holidays.  We saw it "snow", which was fun as they turned on the castle lights when it got dark. 

We waited in line at Pixie Hollow to see Tinkerbell and Iridessa, the rain picked up while we waited.  It is always fun to see Tinkerbell and each time we have gone we have seen a different friend.  They are always so cute, fun and talkative.  We headed over to It's a small world to get out of the rain.  It was so cute, all done up for the holidays.  

The Cozy Cone, everything in Cars Land was so cute. 

We loved the new Car's ride.  This was taken off of the photo viewing screen with Brandon's cell phone.

Sully was standing here the first day we walked by but the girls did not want to wait in line to see him.  I thought it was cute and wanted a picture.  

We rode the swings at least twice today, the girls love them!

Our last day and we were prepared to stay as long as we would last.  We started out in California Adventure to get the Car's fast pass.  The girls and I rode Toy Story and  then Brandon and I each took a turn on California Screamin'.   Around 3 the rain was really making us uncomfortable and we were probably going to just leave but then we rode a few indoor rides, Mr. Toads and Pinocchio and then a roller coaster in Toon Town and watched Mickey's Magical Map and it rejuvenated us and we last until 9:30.  We rode Winnie the Pooh several times and did the Haunted Mansion and Pirates.  We finished the night with Monsters inc. and dancing at the Mad T party.  What a fun vacation, we had a great time!!  Tabitha was asleep in the stroller before we even left the park.

Day #3

 We woke up this morning and drove to the Disneyland hotel for breakfast at Goofy's kitchen.  Tabitha told Goofy that she had been riding his roller coaster and he started flying around.  We also saw the Mad Hatter, Cinderella, Chip, Baloo and Pluto.  Tabitha got down on the ground with Pluto and showed him her favorite move/pose he does.  We asked Cinderella her favorite mouse, she told us it is to hard to choose and the Mad Hatter's favorite hat was the one he was wearing.   It makes it more fun to interact with them so we learned to prepare ourselves with questions.

We then went back to the hotel and relaxed and played.  It was nice to have a day off from Disneyland, we were tired.  We drove to Crystal Cove State Park in the afternoon to the tide pools.  It was cold and the beach was practically empty but we had fun.  Brandon and the girls found hermit crabs and a larger crab that they fed to the anemone and the girls loved touching those.  We stopped for dinner in Newport beach and enjoyed a night swim at the hotel pool.

Day #2

 My Mom and I had to ride in the non turning tea cup but the girls and Brandon love to spin!

 The Matterhorn, Tabitha was a bit nervous, she looks super grumpy in this photo but had fun.  Both girls liked the ride, Tabitha wanted to do it again but we never did.  It was a lot jerkier then I remember.

 Tarzan's tree house

 The Haunted mansion was all decked out with Christmas decorations.  The ride was so cool and completely transformed to Christmas, I loved it.

 Splash Mt. (photo taken from the viewing screen at the exit with a camera phone)

 The girls love the silly symphony swings.  I tried to capture these photos of Gabrielle while the ride was going, I didn't feel that good and had to sit out the next ride!

The girls were both out pretty fast after leaving tonight, it did take us a while to get out of the parking lot due to the freeway being closed.

We started off our day today at Disneyland.  We raced right to Fantasyland and rode Peter Pan, Mr. toads wild ride, teacups and the Matterhorn.  We then went to the Jungle Cruise, Pirates, Haunted Mansion and Splash Mt. and Winnie the Pooh.  We walked over to California adventure after lunch and saw Disney Jr. live on stage show and then rode California Screamin' and Luigi's flying tires and then went to the Aladdin Show.  We have seen this show the last 2 times we were here but we really like it and it is good to get a snack and rest your feet.  We rode the silly swings twice, golden zephr, and goofy's roller coaster and then walked back over to Disneyland.  We did Nemo's Submarine which we have never done before, it was OK.  Autotopia, which the gasoline smell gives me a headache, but lots of fun and then Buzzlight year.  It was just starting to rain and Brandon and Tabitha ran over and got to ride the space rockets right before closing.