The Drive Home

We left pretty early on Tuesday morning to get home. We went over to the beach and walked out for some pictures, which I can't seem to find. Then we drove up through Santa Monica so the kids could see the L.A. Temple and we could take a family picture in front of the temple. We then stopped in Hesperia for lunch and met up with Aunt Leslie and her girls at the In-N-Out there. The rest of the drive was long and tedious. We probably watched Frozen about twenty times. The last picture of Annmarie is when we stopped at a Walmart in Mesquite Nevada to buy some dinner and she had managed to turn herself completely around while buckled into the shopping cart. She was not happy being strapped in her carseat for such long hours on this trip. Oh, we didn't take Annmarie to Disneyland. She got to stay and play with her cousins and Aunt Kaori all day, which was nice. It was a quick, although long at the same time, trip. Glad the kids got to experience Disneyland, but not sure I'll ever do that again. They can experience future trips to Disneyland with band, choir, orchestra, or dance groups. And save up and pay for it themselves. :)

Disney for a Day

We decided to surprise the kids with a trip to Disneyland over their break. We decided on a Friday afternoon. Corey had several days off in a row and the kids were out of school for a time, plus we had some extra money from tax return. We bought tickets through In-N-Out, which offers a small discount. Plus, it was an opportunity to take Margrethe to Disneyland here in America. We didn't tell the kids, but got everything ready on Saturday night to drive out Sunday morning. We did the usual Saturday routine, as if we were going to be going to church on Sunday morning. But on Sunday morning, we woke them up early, told them to pack a bag with two outfits and pajamas and gather their bedding. We ate breakfast, loaded the car, and headed out.

The worst part was getting through Las Vegas. There had been a fatality on I-15 earlier in the day and the freeway had been closed for hours, so it took us three hours to get from the southern part of Las Vegas to Primm, Nevada. We were very late arriving to Aaron's house in Redondo Beach. We had hoped to arrive around 6 or 7 pm but didn't get there until about 9:30. The kids were exhausted, so we ate fast and put them to bed. They still didn't know what our plans were for the next day.

In the morning, we got up, ate breakfast at Aaron's house, and then went to In-N-Out University to pick up the tickets and take a tour of the university. Then we went to Anaheim and Disneyland. The kids were very excited. Even more exciting was that Nana was able to come down from Apple Valley and meet us there, surprising the kids with seeing her as well. We took in as much Disneyland as we could that day. We ate lunch before going into the park, as Nana had packed us a lot of food but we couldn't take it in. Then we split up and went on rides, met again, then split up again, went on more rides, etc. We didn't get to go on some of the big ones, like Space Mountain and Big Thunder Railroad because of the lines and closures, but we got in most of what we wanted to. Indiana Jones was closed, but Star Tours was awesome, as usual. We stayed until about 9:30 pm. Jonah was exhausted and super grouchy, plus we had to drive home to Utah the next day, so we decided to leave. We were able to catch a firework show that they were doing on our way out though, so that was pretty cool. And Travis even lost a tooth while we were there. When we got back, he got a note from Tinkerbell and an extra dollar because he lost his tooth at Disneyland.

I'm glad the kids got to experience Disneyland, but I don't know if it will be in any future plans. Not enough bang for the buck, in my opinion.

In-N-Out University

On our to Disneyland, we stopped at In-N-Out University to show the boys where Dad goes for some of his trainings and also to show them the LEGO In-N-Out models in the foyer of the University. They loved the LEGO models.

We also stopped in at the company store and got a few things, then headed over to the site of the original Number One to take some pictures.

Here is a picture out front of the University before we loaded the car back up and headed to Disneyland.

More Temples

When the kids went off track from school in the middle of March, we had enough money and Corey had some days off, so we decided to hit Disneyland for one day. On the drive down, we stopped in St. George as part of our "Temple Tour of Utah" to see the temple there.

St. George Temple

We stayed at my brother Aaron's house in Orange County, and decided to drive north to Santa Monica on our way out and stop at the Los Angeles Temple so the kids could see the temple where we were married nearly thirteen years ago.  

Look at how our family has changed in the nearly thirteen years since it began right here!

Six Kids

I was playing around with my new phone and noticed that all of my kids were sitting in the family room watching TV, so I took a picture.  Six kids just doesn't look like that many to me in this picture, but they are all there.  When they are getting along, six kids really isn't very many.  It's when they are fighting and screaming or running around all over that it seems like way too many!

Annmarie is ONE!!!

My last baby turned one on March 14th.  She is just growing up so fast.  We had leftover cake from Jonah's Michelangelo cake, so I scraped the frosting off and redecorated it to look like a rainbow.  We also baked some mini cupcakes that we frosted white to make look like clouds.  I think that in the future, we will have to do a cake for Jonah and a pie for Annmarie, since March 14th (3-14) is "Pi Day".  But at least we made it work this year and didn't make too much cake!

She loves spaghetti, so I cooked spaghetti for her birthday dinner.  I always let the kids choose their meal, but she's too little, so I chose for her.

Here is the rainbow cake.  Eliza had the idea to make her a rainbow, and that was even before we decided to repurpose the Michelangelo cake.

Here she is reaching for her cake and candle.

Birthday presents.  I have learned since my first that it is pointless to spend money on a 1-year-old.  She got a couple of new toys (one was the puzzle you see) and some new clothes, which were needed.

Can't believe my baby is ONE!!  Such a bittersweet day.

Big Three-Year-Old

Jonah turned three! He is obsessed with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and wanted a Michelangelo cake. I decided it would be easiest to just do the face. He loved his cake.He also loved his presents...a Spider-man LEGO set, a Little People school bus, and some Michelangelo paraphernalia. 

Jonah loved blowing out the candles on his cake.  After watching all of his siblings do it the last year and finally understanding what it's about, he was really looking forward to it.

We just love our little redhead Jonah.  He's such a fun addition to the family!

Biggest Sister

The biggest sister is Margrethe, our Norwegian daughter. The kids have been loving having her here. She has been a great addition to our family.

Annmarie loves playing with her.

So does Snoopy.