FINALLY!!

A few of my friends have now begged me to write a new post....no more hidden Mickeys! haha! I have really slacked in the Blog department. I have had so much to write about, yet no time to write.
I do need to go back to April when I attended Womens Conference with Andrea and Jen. Best trip EVER. Perfect company, perfect weather, perfect everything. Here we are with our friend Shawni who was working her booksigning there.
One of the best parts of the trip, besides the break I got from my kids and being spiritually and emotionally uplifted, was meeting Sis Elaine S. Dalton. She is the General YW President. She is incredible..a great speaker and very inspired. I felt like I was 14 yrs old when Andrea took my pic with her. But, seriously, she is Amazing.
Oh, I also need to jot down that Brandon and Robert attended the Priesthood Session of Conference this last April as well. They had an amazing time. Just the other day, Bran and I were talking and I asked him, "When do you remember a time where you know you felt the Spirit?" He quickly replied..."When the Prophet walked in the room at Conference." That brought me so much joy and tears....I will never forget that. I am so glad they had the opportunity to go. More to come...I have a ton to catch up on...

Hidden Mickeys

So, my kids saw the last post, and said, "Mom, what about the Hidden Mickeys?" what is a Hidden Mickey you ask....A Hidden Mickey is an image of Mickey Mouse concealed in the design of a Disney attraction (ride, resort, etc...). Originally, it took the shape of a head and ears silhouette, , i.e. one large circle with two smaller circled on top in the appropriate place, but Hidden Mickeys can take on many forms.

In designing, constructing or adding the final touches to an attraction, Imagineers subtly "hide" Mickey Mouse silhouettes in plain sight. Soon, it became a tradition, and as the word spread, Disney fans everywhere went on the search for Hidden Mickeys in Disney movies and theme parks.

So, we heard about this, bought this book........
and made a game out of it....it was fun! Ryan actually got pretty good at it! I'm not gonna lie though....some of them you would never have found unless you had the book! Just look.....this is on the Astro Blasters ride...ya know the Buzz Lightyear ride.....

Quick Trip

Randomly, I decided to take Cam, Mike and Ryan to Disneyland the week before spring break. I can't stand going to Disneyland when its crowded...so I pulled the boys out of school and took off with my sister after church last Sunday. My Mom joined us at the last minute. We had such a great time. I felt guilty leaving Brandon home but, it ended up working out great for everyone. Especially Robert who is NOT a big fan of the Magic Kingdom. Robert and Brandon had a great time together, they went to a youth fireside Sunday night and then out to dinner every night that week which was such a great bonding time for them. And, on the other end....Cameron and Michael had to hang out together, which doesn't happen so much when Brandon and their other friends are around. So, it was great for all.

Here is our TOP TEN MUST RIDE list;
1. Tower of Terror
2. California Screamin'
3. Space Mountain
4. Splash Mountain
5. Thunder Mountain
6. Midway Mania (see pic below :) )
7. Soarin' Over California
8. Astro Blasters (aka..Buzz Lightyear Ride)
9. Maliboomer
10. Matterhorn

It was a great trip!

Michael's Baptism

Michael has been so excited about his baptism. I love how my kids really have a desire to get baptized. Michael could not wait to become a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Michael has always had a love for church and the gospel. I really think it had a lot to do with his nursery teachers. (Thanks Kemptons) He loves church and he loves FHE. He loves learning from the scriptures and the stories in them. He retains everything he learns so well. I'm so grateful for his desire to learn the gospel.
His baptism day was so great! We had all of our family and close friends there. Quite of few of you all had already left when we took this picture,I feel bad about that...sorry. Funny thing about this picture. We asked this older gentleman to take this picture for us so we could all be in it..... turns out he was partially blind! So, we will just take this picture and be happy that we have it. haha!! I'm just so grateful for a loving, supportive family and close friends who shared this special day with us!

Incredible Weekend! (Catch-up Post #1)

So, I don't know, maybe I should actually write a post on this blog of ours! It seems like there is no time anymore! It is already the middle of February and I have not posted so much of our lives. So, over the next couple of days I vow to 'catch up'. Let's go back to December and our INCREDIBLE weekend.

Our neice Brittany got married in the San Diego Temple. It was an amazing couple of days we spent at my sister-in-laws home. As a family, we looked forward to this event. I got all the boys new suits and they were so excited to wear them. We drove over on Thursday and helped my SIL set up for the wedding reception in their beautiful home. They were married Friday at noon and it was such a beautiful sealing. Brittany was a gorgeous bride and Scott couldn't be more perfect for her. He just fits right into our family. Brittany is an incredible young woman. She was so prepared for this day, spiritually and really just so mature. The San Diego Temple is great, it has a little waiting room at the front of the Temple with a tv and church DVDs to watch. Our 4 boys watched Mr. Krugers Christmas and Legacy! That's how long they were in there!! Yikes! Cameron told me that the Temple worker came in to tell some other children they should try to be like these nice reverent boys (meaning our boys). Yeah, I know! Unbelievable! But, it just goes to show that the Temple is such a sacred place and our Heavenly Father's spirit dwells there. Once inside, my boys could feel that and were reverent and respectful of the House of the Lord. And...this might of helped too!
Here are some pics after Brit and Scott came out of the Temple.....




Here are some from the reception....Ryan and my neice Brinley were a definite attraction that night as they started out just sitting on the couch and then fell asleep..so cute!
This last picture is of Michael and Alyssa. Alyssa is such a cutie. She was one of Brittany's bridesmaids. Michael was INFATUATED (is that how you spell it?)with her! He followed her around like a stalker...hahaha! Anyway, turns out Alyssa is Ariel at Disneyland...she looks totally familiar to you now, huh?

I LOVE this time of year!

This is definitely my favorite time of year. I love the cold, and that everyone wears jackets and flip-flops. I love baking with my kids...taking treats to neighbors and just the excitement my kids get when they bake and take all the goodies around! This year in the month of December we have read a couple of books. The first one was 'A Christmas Bell for Anya' by Chris and Evie Stewart. Such a sweet story of how to remember the Savior this time of year..

We started reading 'The Christmas Jars'...we are in the middle of that one right now. But, our all time favorite this year is......'A Christmas Dress for Ellen'! Retold by our Prophet...Thomas S. Monson
What a great story of hope, faith, love and service! We cried! It was so sweet! We loved, loved, loved it!
Its such a great time of year, just the feeling of love and happiness and appreciation. An exert from this book tells it all......

"If there is one common denominator, perhaps it is this: Christmas is love. Christmas is the time when the bonds of family love transcend distance and inconvenience. It is a time when love of neighbor rises above petty day-to-day irritations, and doors swing open to give and receive expressions of appreciation and affection. If to our Christmas gift list is added the gift of service-not only to friends and family, but also to those who badly need help-then our giving can be complete. "

Merry Christmas to all.....

Happy Birthday Ryan!

(Special guest blogger...sister)

It has been too long since my sister has posted a blog. And to be honest, I don't even know what to discuss! I will say this, however. Last week was Ryan's birthday! He is beautiful and everyone's favorite for sure. He absolutely adores his mama and does not like to share her with anyone! Since he turned one, we have had dinner at Mango's and then gone to see the temple lights. This year was no different (except his birthday was on Sunday so there was no Mango's). We had dinner and opened his presents. When I (Jaime) got to the house, he was all about the bike his parents had bought him. He was so excited about it. And then he opened MY gift. A Wall-E that transforms into a cube! I didn't think he would love it so much but he most definitely did. He took it with us to see the lights and he even managed to transform it silently while we were in the room with the Christus statue. At one point in that room he looked up at me and asked, "Jaime, why isn't Jesus speaking"? It was hard not to laugh. He is awesome! Unfortunately, my gift was trumped by Joshy suzuki's gift a few days later! Something called Bakugans...I'll never forgive him for trumping me. (Just kidding) My sister and her family look forward to this Friday when their niece Brittany is sealed for time and all eternity to Scott. I will make sure she updates a lot sooner in the future! I know I missed a lot of events! Hope everyone has a safe holiday!