Christmas Part I

Sometimes the view is not very clear.  In life I mean.  I see things for how they seem right in the moment and not for how it may look in the future.

It seems I am interested in things that have no real importance.  Like the way the railing moves on an escalator.  It is interesting now, but it won't matter later.

I need to look at the big picture... the road ahead.... the path less taken.....what lies on the other side

My children who define who I am in so many ways.  I have a quote from the scriptures on my wall...." In your patience you possess your soul.  I read this every day to remind myself I need to do better.

There are not too many days that go by that I think, " Boy, that day sure went smoothly."  But sometimes I have a chance to look back and see that things are going a little more smoothly than I think.

HEADED FOR DISNEYLAND

 They only sat that good because Uncle Brent bribed them with a treat after if they would sit still.

 And here we are at the happiest place on earth.  Really?  Give me a break.  It's happy and all, but the HAPPIEST?  I don't think so.  I have so many friends who love love love Disneyland.  Personally I would be fine visiting this place about once a decade.  The kids love it though, so might as well have fun.

 None of us could resist using the phone in Toon Town.

 We fought over it just like we do at home.  Amazing!

 Colin is clearly too old to appreciate Mini Mouse

 Luke was dying to see Mickey, but once we got the chance he just wouldn't do it.

Apparently Mac is so well behaved that they let him sit at the front of the boat.

 
 This is Roxie waiting in line with us all for Pirates of Caribbean, which she totally enjoyed.

 They had Disneyland all spooked up for the month of October.  It was pretty cool.

 This by far was my favorite part of the entire day.  Luke loves cars and trucks.  The word love is an understatement.  I love that he loves cars and trucks.  I get a real kick out of it.  I'm a pushover for his love of vehicles so I often buy him little toy cars when we visit the store.  He is my shopping buddy after all.  I can't help but give into him on this one.  He is such a good boy most of the time and I love to get him cars.  So this was a real treat because he loves Lightning McQueen!

They say the average person walks over 7 miles a day at Disneyland so it's no surprise that Mac needed a break by late afternoon.  Disneyland is an experience all should have at least once.  I hope I don't have to experience it for at least another couple of years.




 On the way to Disneyland we stopped to visit my brother Brent and his family.  I took 20 shots of all these cousins and can you believe that this is the best one.  Roxie met her cousin Ellary for the first time. Turns out Roxie is not shy at all.

PLAY PINS!!!????

My Mother is an advocate of play pins.  I like them too, but don't seem to use them much.  I decided that if I had Roxie in the play pin all the time, I would never get pictures like these.

 I know Mom, I would have less to clean up, but still...tooo cute

 Yep.  She climbed up there by herself.  Oh, she can get down too. Impressive!

 Luke wanted a piece of the action too.

Yes, she's eating wet wipes.  I guess they don't taste so bad.  I know it appears that I neglect this cute little thing all day, but I really don't.  Roxie, you are such a light in my life.  You make me laugh all day long.  And just in case I forget and you don't remember, I want you to know that everyday I lay down on the floor and let you climb all over me.  We play and giggle.  I kiss you lots and I love every second of it.  Please stop getting bigger.

California Dreamin'

This is the San Diego Temple. Josh and I were married here.More like a castle really. I have been to this temple a lot. I went here as a youth to perform ordaninces. I went through the temple a year or so before I was married so I visited it often. And of course, this is the place where I met my in laws for the fist time on my wedding day. Talk about adding extra pressure to your wedding day.

We had a great day at Sea World... Oh, I need to mention something.  We got quite wet from not only the drizzily day, but we rode a ride called Ship Wreck Rapids.  Guaranteed to get you wet.  We rode it more than once.  So we are all wet.  It's 4 in the afternoon.  We want to head north 20 minutes to see the temple, visit my friend in Carlsbad who just had a baby, and see my sister-in-law Erin.  We figured if we went back to the condo to change and eat, this would take atleast an hour that we didn't have.  We stopped in a  Target store and bought Colin some house slippers since his shoes were soaked.    This will be important info for later. 

 Then we stopped at Tamarack Beach in Carlsbad.  This was a 15 minute drive from where I grew up.  It seems strange now to come here and think that this was a normal setting for me for years and now here I am at 35 with 5 children and I am bringing them to visit this same place.  I hardly think about it much when I am at home in the desert, but as soon as I am back on the beach, it feels so much like it was just yesterday.

 I don't know how to explain it really.  Southern California.  It's where I was for 20 some odd years of my life.  All I knew until I got married and my husband said he had to go to school at Utah State.

 I had never even seen snow when I was Luke's age.

 Or Mac's age.

 Now that I am this age,  I have seen enough snow to last me a life time.  Well, that's just my opinion.  I am still a California girl at heart.  I fear the ocean, but I love it at the same time.  I love the sunshine and the bit of moisture in the air.  I love the smell of the ocean and the pleasant breeze all the time.  I love that I grew up in a place that many think is paradise.  It is in some ways.  Now my own family is my paradise.  I love living in the desert.  With my family that is.

Back to the house slipper from Target.  On this particular stretch of the ocean front, there is no beach.  We are standing up up up on the edge of a cliff over looking the Pacific.  Colin accidentally kicked his slipper over the edge.  After much deliberation in Josh's brain, he decided to rescue the slipper.  It was successful I am happy to say.  We piled back into the suburban(which is too small) and were off for another adventure.

 Here's a little of what we have been up to in October.  Let's start with a little trip to So. Cal.  The place I grew up.  We barely fit in our car anymore.  Can you tell?  All we talked about the entire trip was how great it would be to have a full size van. 

 First stop... Sea World.  I know, it looks kind of like a cold day in the picture, but it wasn't.  It rained on us quite a bit that day, but it was great!

 Note the ponchos.  You can pick these bad boys up at the dollar store.  Two in a pack.  That's a steal.

 We got to touch the slimmy sting rays.  That was fun.

Still so much fun.  I realized at the end of the day that we actually had fun.  Everyone was good.  I can say I really had a good time at Sea World with five kids and a husband.

Deserving Vacation Time

 

ONE Suburban, FIVE Children, SEVEN Tote bags, ONE Stroller, TWO Bikes, ONE Ice chest,,TONS Of snacks!!!! 

One content baby, One bored 5 year old with a camera(maybe he wasn't bored), and one great driver.

That, my friends is all it takes for a successful vacation to Colorado.  We could have taken so much more, but decided to leave the kayak, fishing poles and other bikes home.  Glad we did.  And so it begins .  The first leg of the trip, only 5 hours.  Destination... Moab, Ut.  A place called Red Cliffs Lodge.  Prepare to pull out the large bills for this all Reclusive setting up the canyon from Moab perched right on the river.  The rooms are nothing to brag about, but the setting is one of a kind.  I'm sorry now that I didn't get more pictures of it.  Stayed one night.  After a great buffet breakfast overlooking the Colorado River we took a stroll around the grounds.

Not too shabby.  The weather was quite warm.  We did nothing but mess around.

Mac and Roxie were willing to pose for the camera, but do you think I could get all five kids together at once?

Not a chance.  Only three and their fighting at that..

Roxie is so sweet and has an unbelievably mild temper. She was practically perfect the entire nine days.

Luke....always messing around, but being good.  Always wants to give a sarcastic look.  He is so much fun.

What could entertain a boy better than a wooden fence?  Got to get one of those soon.

Then there is Celine.  She is practically perfect too, except when she's not.  She will hate me for putting this picture in, but I just had to.  I don't remember why now, but she got upset about something.  We all started teasing her and calling her a cry baby.  It was really quite mean and we are all working on the name calling thing.  It's just that she was so dramatic.  Boy did she pout.  Did I used to be like that as a young girl???Hmmm.  Not sure. Maybe.  This kind of behavior just proves that your a true girl. Right?  So she hid behind the wagon.  Still didn't stop us from getting the perfect picture.  Thanks Celine.  You made us all really laugh.  You are a lot of fun to tease.

Here is a partial glimpse of the place we stayed in Moab.  The river is right behind those trees. Highly recommend going there.

Teach Your Little Ones

I accidentally uploaded this picture.  I didn't mean to, but since I did, I think I will comment.  I was reading some other blogs regarding mother's day.  One in particular talked about how being a mother is not just about making sure all the needs of our children are met like bathing, feeding, eating, and all of that.  It is much more.  It is preparing them for their future.  When my children have messy rooms and they complain about having to clean up I tell them " What kind of mother would I be if I didn't teach you how to organize and take care of your things.  Your future spouse and or mission companion will thank me for this later."  I must teach them to be kind to everyone.  To respect others.  Be , helpful, courteous.  Everything in life is not easy.  Everything is not always fair or the way you think it ought to be.  The grass isn't always greener on the other side and so forth.  You must see past today.  Look at the big picture.  Then I see this.... my five year old spending quality time with my 9 month old.  Mac teaching Roxie how to play the DS.  I'm an awesome mom.  I am seriously giving myself a big pat on the back.  My kids are going far in life.  And my next blog shall be all about my wonderful Mother's Day.  Perhaps about all the great things my mom taught me.
 

Roxie Mae

I just like this one of Roxie.  I can't get enough of this little girl.