Disneyland!

Can I just say I LOVE DISNEYLAND! We have been home two weeks now and I still miss it. Jaxon talks about Disneyland at least two or three times a day and he saves any little bit of money he finds and puts it in his Disneyland fund. He has informed me, the next time he goes to Disneyland he wants to go for 100 days! I told him he is going to have to save up A LOT of money to be able to stay at Disneyland for 100 days, but he's convinced he can do it...I wish I could do it!

So, our trip to Disneyland was wonderful! We stopped at my parents' house in St. George on Friday then headed to Anaheim on Saturday...as soon as we got there...we headed straight to Disneyland! We spent six wonderful days there (will part of one day spent at the beach) and totally could have easily spent 3 or 4 more days there. I know not everyone likes Disneyland this much, but we sure do!


Our kids had such a great time! Jaxon and Brynn are pretty good ages to enjoy Disneyland...Jordan had fun, but didn't really know what was going on. Jaxon went on every single ride he was able to. His favorites were Tower or Terror, Big Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Mullholand Madness, Splash Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, Toy Story Mania, and Pirates of the Caribbean. He was really upset that he wasn't big enough to go on Indiana Jones, California Screamin' and the Maliboomer. The first time Jason took him on Tower of Terror I was worried he would hate it, but he came out and asked if I would go with him! He loved seeing all the characters. He even colored a special picture for Woody, Jessie, and Bullseye and gave it to Jessie when he saw her...it was so cute!

Brynn had fun too. She liked all the rides she went on too, but didn't have much of an opinion of what she wanted to go on...she was just along for the ride. It took her a little while to warm up to all the characters, but after the second or third day, she was okay with them. Her favorite part was meeting the princesses. They have a "princess walk" where you go in and meet three princesses. We went through that two days in a row and she was in heaven! She loved it! It was pretty cool because the second time we went through, the same Belle was there and she remembered Brynn from the day before and called her by her name. It was pretty cool! Brynn had a great time on her third trip to Disneyland!

Jordan had a great time too! He loved going on the rides and actually really like the rides that had small drops that he could go on...like Pirates and the Ferris Wheel in CA Adventure...you can get the "cages" that move or that don't move...we chose one that moved and I didn't enjoy it much, but Jordan sure thought it was great! I think he has a wonderful first trip to Disneyland!

We were lucky enough to be able to go with some friends or ours, so the first two days it was just us, then we met them there. It was lots of fun to go with some other super fun people!

We had a great time and are looking forward for our next trip...or maybe a Disney Cruise next year :)

Beach Fun!

While we were in California, we decided to drive about 20 minutes and head to Seal Beach. I am SO glad we did...the kids had a blast! It was the first time they had gone to the beach and couldn't get enough of it! Brynn was enthralled with the birds and couldn't stop talking about them. Jaxon was on a mission to find as many shells as he could. And Jordan just loved it all!

I hadn't really planned on us getting too wet, since it was pretty chilly and we got to the beach at around 9...not the best time for swimming. Well, the kids had other plans...well I guess I should say mostly Jordan had other plans. The others didn't get too terribly wet, but Jordan was soaked! He had such a great time playing in the sand and the water. He was so stinkin' cute! I couldn't get enough of him! there was a bit of a hill leading from the beach to the actual water...Jordan would get down on his belly, like he was going down the stairs to get down the hill...so cute!

We had a great time at the beach and hopefully we can go back another time when we can actually go swimming!

Big Girl Bed & Packing

We moved Brynn into her big girl bed last night and she's been doing awesome! I figured since she's potty trained now...I guess I better put her in a big bed so she can get out if she needs to so she can go potty. We had the bed in the garage for a while disassembled, waiting for a night Jason had free to set it up. Whenever we would go into the garage to get in the car, Brynn would sit on the edge of the bed and say, "Brynn's bed."

The night we set up the bed, the kids had fun playing on it and thought it was pretty cool. We kept the crib in her room, to use as a threat if she got out of the bed. Well, bedtime came around and I laid Brynn in her bed and she looked at me and said, "Brynn's bed outside," and pointed to her crib like she wanted to sleep in it. I explained to her that she's a big girl now so she gets to sleep in a big girl bed. She accepted that and went laid down and went to sleep. I expected a night full of her getting out of bed and crying and whining, but...she did SO well! She didn't come out at all, nor did she fall out of the bed. Today at nap time she even stayed in her bed and took an awesome nap! She can be such a sweet girl!
















I just thought I would throw these pictures up because they are so darn cute! I have been packing today to get ready to go to Disneyland tomorrow...well actually St. George tomorrow and Disneyland Saturday...Jordan thought it was so much fun to sit in the suitcase with his blanket...as long as he was entertained, I couldn't have cared less what he did! Such a sweet boy!

Naughty Girl!

We have been potty training Brynn for the past week...I HATE potty training! Anyway...tonight I was cleaning up after dinner and Jason and Jaxon were playing a card game on our bed and Brynn said she needed to go potty, so she took her potty into our bathroom and closed the door. Well about 10 minutes later Jason asked me if it was a bath night and I asked why. I walked into the bathroom to find this. She had taken Jason's gel and did her hair so pretty with it! She thought it was pretty fun. On the bright side...she did go potty!

Sledding Fun!

We are so lucky to have a fun park with an awesome sledding hill just steps from our front door! Jason took Jaxon and Jordan on Christmas morning and they had a great time. So the day after Christmas we decided to go as a family.

I was worried about how Brynn would do because she HATES the snow. It took her about two times going down the hill then she didn't want to stop! Jaxon was a crazy man and didn't want to go home...he would go down all by himself with absolutely no fear! Jordan loves the cold weather and snow (crazy boy!) and he loved sledding too! Although, after a little while he was done with sledding and just wanted to play in the snow!

This year we made sure to buy sled early! Last year we waited until the day after Christmas to try to find sleds and there were none to be found...anywhere! So we bought them this year before Thanksgiving...and I'm sure glad we did because we had a ton of fun!

Holiday Recap

FYI...I don't know what happened to my nice blog layout...I can't get my pictures to position correctly...I thought it was Internet Explorer, so I tried FireFox...but no luck, sorry for the crazy layout!

So, I have been terrible about keeping my blog updated, but here's a quick holiday recap...enjoy!

The week before Christmas we had a fun little get together at our house with some of my friends from high school. It was so much fun to see these girls and their families again...it always seems like way too long between visits!

We had a nice turkey dinner, played some fun games, had a little white elephant gift exchange, then we pulled out the chocolate fountain. The kids loved the chocolate fountain and ate so much I was sure they were all going to be very sick!


We had a great time and I'm so glad we were able to get together...thanks girls!













The day after that fun party with friends, we had our ward Christmas party. I was asked to help with the food for the party, so that meant that Jason had the unfortunate job of trying to keep the kids entertained until Santa got there...mind you the party started at 6 and Santa didn't get there until around 7:45. When Santa finally arrived, we had to stand in line for a while and the kids were done...considering their bedtimes are at 7:30...I was impressed they made it that far!
My friend had these cute reindeer headbands that entertained the kids for a little while...not long enough though!

When we finally made it up to see Santa...Brynn wanted nothing to do with him, nor did Brynn. On top of the grumpy kids I was forcing to sit on Santa's lap...I was trying to hurry super fast so the people behind us could have a chance and the result is this awesome picture that Jason snapped while I was trying to get everyone to look at the camera...awesome, right?






















Christmas Eve we had our traditional evening with my parents and sister's family. It was so fun! The kids had a great time playing, we ate great food (prime rib), had fun with the chocolate fountain again all with great people!

My mom always makes all the grand kids (7 of them) blankets and pajamas. The kids always get to open them on Christmas Eve (plus other presents!).




My kids loved their jammies, blankets, and toys. Thanks mom!



We had a great Christmas Eve and were so excited to see what Santa had in store for us the next morning!





Sure enough Santa pulled through and spoiled the kids way too much! It was really fun this year because Jaxon was really into it and was super excited to see what Santa brought. He really liked his Leapster (and hasn't stopped playing it since!).

Brynn loved her baby and her chapstick...but I must say a couple of the favorite things she got from the cousin gift exchange we did with Jason's family. She got lip gloss (that she kept putting on the whole time she had it while we were there, like 4 hours!) and a Dora water bottle. She always wants to drink out of a sippy cup, but we don't let her anymore...so she loves this!





Jordan was just happy to be able to eat candy at 8:00 in the morning! He got some fun books and other fun stuff. He got bored halfway through and had to go find Jaxon's toothbrush to play with (he love toothbrushes!).



We spent the afternoon with Jason's family at his parent's house. Unfortunately, I forgot the camera and didn't take any pictures...I have been horrible at taking pictures lately :(

We had a great Christmas and are so thankful for all the we have been blessed with! We were blessed to be able to spend time with wonderful family and friends! Thanks to all!

Temple Square

We decided to head downtown to see the lights on Temple Square last Friday. We stopped by Jason's work to pick him up and check out his new remodled office (it looks amazing!) and then our plans were to head to the mall, grab a bite to eat, look at the lights, and head home.

Well, we got downtown and realized the mall is no longer there (can you tell we are not downtown people? We go there like twice a year). So, that kid of messed up our plans...we headed to Trolley Square thinking there would be somewhere to eat there...well there wans't anything our kids would want to eat or that didn't have a long wait, but we did find Santa! Jaxon sat on his lap, as did Jordan, as long as Jason was right next to him. Brynn on the other hand wanted absolutely nothing to do with him...wouldn't get within ten feet of him! But for the past two days all she has been talking about is Santa and how she wants to sit on his lap...crazy girl!

We finally decided to eat at Noodles & Co. It had been forever since we had eaten there and it was yummy! The we grabbed some hot chocolate at 7-11 and headed to Temple Square. We looked at the lights which were beautiful, walked around the visitors center and had fun. It was freezing though! The kids had lots of layers and lots of blankets!

We had a lot of fun and hope to continue it as a family tradition...well not the part about planning to eat somewhere that no longer exists :)

Decorating for Christmas!

We finally decorated for Christmas last week...we were out of town right after Thanksgiving and had busy nights, so we finally got it done!

My kids had a great time finding all the fun Christmas stuff and I had a great time finding places to put all the stuff! Jordan had a great time playing with the bell ornaments and Jaxon was really worried about the star getting on the top of the tree. Brynn...well she helped decorate the tree a bit.

I love it when the kids help decorate the tree...all ornaments clumped together, but at least they had fun! I was worried that the ornaments on the tree wouldn't last for more than two minutes with Jordan, but he's actually been really good about it!

I love Christmas!

Thanksgiving

This year we decided to head down to St. George for Thanksgiving. We left the Monday before Thanksgiving and didn't come back until Sunday...it was a nice little vacation. My sister and her family came down the morning of Thanksgiving and we had fun hanging out with them and the kids had a great time playing with their cousins!

I didn't take too many pictures...don't know why, just didn't! But I did take some pictures when we went fishing at a little pond by my parent's house. The kids had a great time feeding the ducks...well the ducks didn't actually eat anything we fed them...darn ducks...Brynn wasn't too happy about that!

Jaxon caught a fish and was so proud of himself! Brynn wanted nothing to do with the fish...would get within about two feet of it and scream that it was icky, but she didn't stop talking about the "big fish" all night long! However, Jordan had no problems playing with the fish...he had a great time holding it and playing with it and getting fish "slime" all over him!

We had a great time hanging out with family, Black Friday shopping (the first time getting up early and going...not sure I'll do it again!), reading Hunger Games (great book!), eating (so much for the diet, right?) and just hanging out!

Thanks Mom and Dad for the great week of fun!

Better Late Than Never...

Well, Jordan's 1st birthday was on November 20th and I am just getting around to posting something about it...what a great mom I am, right?

We had a small party with Jason's family on the 18th because we didn't think we were going to be home on his actual birthday, but it turns out we were...oh well!

He had a great time opening presents, well actually he was kind of grumpy that night...but he still had fun. Jaxon and Brynn had a great time playing with cousins too!

The best part of the night for Jordan was the cake. I had big plans to make a really yummy, fun cake, but I had surgery on my ear two days before the party, and had to have a bandage on my ear, so I sent Jason to the store to get some stuff for the cake. He came home and told me he had made an executive decision and bought a cake...works for me! It was a lot less work!

On his actual birthday, we had a little party here at home with just our family. Well...Jason was really sick that night, so he was on the couch while Jordan opened his presents. He was atcually much more interested in sitting and standing on his presnts than actually opening them. But with a little help from Jaxon and Brynn, he got them all opened eventually. I'm pretty sure Jaxon and Brynn played with his presents a ton more than Jordan did...I guess that's what happens with you have older sibilings :)

I still can't believe my baby boy is one! Where does the time go? He is such a happy, sweet, fun little boy to have around our house! Here are a few things about him:

He is already walking and has been since he was about 11 months old (my other kids didn't walk this early!)

He can say quite a few words: mom, day, uh-oh, bye, hi, ball, boo, more, night-night, love ya (there are more I just can't think of them right now!)

He loves to read books...all the time!

He loves to give kisses...big slobbery kisses!

He loves to play with Jaxon and Brynn (as long as she's not trying to sit on him!)

He loves to play with the pots and pans while I am cooking dinner...at first I hated it, but now as long as it keeps him entertained, I don't care!

I love this little boy so much and am so blessed to have him in our family!

Old Navy Jeans for Boys...

I need to know if anybody else hates little boy jeans from Old Navy? Seriously...I got Jordan and Jaxon four or five pair each because I got them pretty cheap and figured they should be pretty durable, right? Well, after Jordan wore his a grand total of two times, they had holes in the knee. Granted, he was still crawling a bit at the time and we have a lot of tile in our house, so I blamed it on that and banned him from wearing pants in the house until he was exclusively walking (he now only has one pair of Old Navy jeans with no holes). Mind you, I pulled out some jeans Jaxon had when he was a baby from Target and they have held up great with Jordan wearing them just as much as he wore the Old Navy ones.

Well, today I am getting Jaxon's shoes on for school and what do I see...a HOLE in his Old Navy jeans! I know boys are hard on pants, but really...it's not like Jaxon has been crawling around on the floor and dragging his knee on the floor...I just don't get it! I drives my crazy!

Now I am going to have to fork our some more money to get some decent pairs of jeans for these boys who I don't think are extremely hard on clothing, but apparently they are on Old Navy jeans, or maybe Old Navy jeans just suck!