Kid's Visit December 22-December 26, 2017

Friday, December 22nd

Liz and I flew to Dallas and picked up the kids at about 8:00. Our flight got in to Las Vegas at 12:00am Vegas time on the 23rd and we got back to the house a little after 4:00am.

Quote of the Day - Trey: Liz showed us a really cool picture of a Star Destroyer some one had made of ginger bread since we were going to be making ginger bread houses. When Trey saw the picture, unimpressed he said, "Yeah, but there's not much candy on it. It's all about the candy, Daddy."


Saturday, December 23rd

When the kids first woke up, Judi was so excited to see them, as usual. She read books with Trey and Shelby and then the kids all went outside. Lizi and Judi went right to the sandbox to play, Shelby went straight to Daisy and laid down by her and pet her, and Trey found the kickball and football. Trey, Shelby and I threw the football around for a while and had so much fun. I would throw over-the-shoulder balls to them as they ran to catch them. They also went down to the clubhouse and played on the flying saucer. Lizi and Judi went inside to play with the playdoh machine at this time. We then got our bikes out and rode down in the pit and through the grape arbor. About 3:00, we started getting ready for our family pictures which we had taken by Rachael Pimberton at the Colina Tinta subdivision in Hurricane. The pictures turned out really good! When we finished, we came home and turned on the Vikings game. They beat the Packers 16-0. Trey watched the whole game with me and Shelby watched the first half. Jenna, Lizi, and Judi organized all the presents under the Christmas Tree and then Shelby, Judi, and Lizi started forming the cardboard for their gingerbread houses. Once the game was over, Trey ran over and worked on his as well. We then decided it was time for bed.

Sunday, December 24th

We slept in a little and then I went to choir practice and the kids came an hour later to meet me at Church. After church we had originally planned on going sledding but decided not to due to the lack of snow we have gotten this winter. So instead we had the most fun back yard football game ever! Shelby and Trey agreed at the end of our trip that this was one of the most fun moments! First, Trey, Shelby, and I practiced our over-the-shoulder catches again. Trey, Shelby, and I then played Liz, Jenna, Holli, and Rob in 2-hand touch football which ended in a 14-14 tie. Trey caught a great touchdown and Shelby made some great catches as well. It was so fun! Lizi and Judi played in the sand box while we played our game. After our game and after dinner, we came in and started decorating our gingerbread houses with candy. After decorating our houses, we went to St George to look at the famous castle house decorated with Christmas lights. It was amazing and looked like Small World from Disneyland. We had some hot chocolate and then headed home. Once home, we got ready for bed. Jenna, Shelby, Trey, Lizi, and Judi, all camped out in the living room by the tree. Once they were asleep, Liz and I did our traditional "Green Beard" and brought out the Santa presents.

Quote of the Day - Lizi: Jenna got in the driver's seat of the van to drive us all home from church and Lizi asked, "Does Jenna have her driving degree?"

Monday, December 25th

Christmas Morning! Trey woke up at 6:00am and was promptly sent back to bed. Shelby, Trey, and Lizi all got up around 7:30 and we waited for Holli and Rob to get to the house from their hotel. Everyone was up and at the house around 8:00am. We took a few pictures in front of the tree before we started. After pictures we did our "Green Beard" treasure hunt which the kids had fun doing. We got our candy and then started opening presents. Shelby didn't know what her favorite present was when asked but she got a My Life doll, pizza shop legos, a Disney memory book, personalized calendar, slippers, Disney pins, and Tsum Tsums. Trey's favorite present was a Monorail. He also got a football, personalized calendar and puzzle, grossery gang figures, football and baseball cards, Disney Pins, and Tsum Tsums. Lizi's favorite was an amusement park lego set. She also got a My Life doll, personalized calendar, Disney Pins, and Tsum Tsum's. We were done unwrapping presents by 9:30am and the girls immediately started playing with their legos while Trey started putting his Monorail together. We took a break to go outside and play catch with the football. Shelby, Trey, Lizi, and I all stood in a square and passed the ball around. We got to 27 caches in a row! We came back in and resumed playing with legos and the Monorail. The girls brought their legos over to Trey's Monorail and created a Disneyland in our living room. Shelby got her monorail out and I got mine down from the Disney room and so we had 3 monorails going on the track! At 2:45 we headed out to go see the new Star Wars movie - The Last Jedi. Trey and Shelby really liked it and are big Porg fans! They both said it's their favorite Star Wars film ever! When we got home, Rob, Holli, Trey, Jenna, Liz, and I started a Monopoly game while Shelby, Lizi, and Judi played with the Monorail and legos. The power then went out for 2 hours so we lit candles and Trey, Lizi, and Judi sat on the couch and played the Ipad while Shelby and I played the Ukulele. When the power came back on, we decided it was time for bed.

Tuesday, December 26th

The last day is always the hardest. Knowing all day that later that day we have to go to the airport seems to make time fly by even faster and gives all of us a since of desperation that we need to do everything we possibly can as fast as we can so we can fit in as much as we can. That was no different for me today! We woke up and had some cereal and then went outside to play catch with the football. We then came inside and played a few games of Stratego. First Trey and I played while Shleby, Lizi, and Judi played with the Monorail. After 3 games, Shelby came over and she and Trey played 2 games. It was so fun to watch them play! We then had Pizza for lunch and then went out side to play catch with the football. We also rode bikes in the pit and played by the clubhouse. Shelby even got to hold our rabbit, Flower! We got finished packing up and then headed for the airport at 4:15pm. Holli and Rob went with us since their plane left a couple of hours after ours. We sat in the terminal for a couple of minutes together before our plane left and then boarded the plane. None of us slept for more than about 20 minutes. We talked about Star Wars, and all the fun we had in Utah together. We got to Dallas about midnight Dallas time. I miss the kids already!

Kid's Visit October 20th-October 23rd, 2017

October 20th: 

Liz and I met the kids at the Dallas Airport at about 9:00. Shelby and Trey came running through the airport to give me a hug. Trey almost knocked me over! The kids were ready to come to Utah! Lizi asked if could "go to Utah now." So we went through security and got to our gate. We practiced shuffling and then played UNO and "Go Fish." Our flight left about 10:45 and arrived in Las Vegas just before midnight, Vegas time. We got back to our house just before 4:00 AM.

October 21st:

We arrived at the house just before 4:00 AM and went to bed. Judi was so excited to see the kids and followed Trey around like a puppy dog in the morning! After we ate breakfast, we went to the Copper Rock golf course (where I work) and hit some shots on hole #7. The kids also had fun playing in the sand box and having an "Easter egg hunt" by trying to find all the balls that we hit into the desert. After we had fun at the golf course, we went to Walmart to pick out pumpkins to carve. Trey decided that he didn't want to carve one. We got home and set up the tables in the back yard and chose what pattern we wanted to do. Shelby chose Tinkerbell, Lizi chose a Mickey Mouse ice cream bar, Jenna chose some ghosts, Judi chose Minnie Mouse, Liz chose a haunted castle, and I chose the Cheshire Cat. While we carved pumpkins, Trey played outside on a new swing we set up by the clubhouse and inside on his Ipad. After carving pumpkins, Trey, Liz, Jenna, and I played knock out while Shelby, Lizi, and Judi played in the sand box. Trey did really good in knock out eve winning a couple of games. Shelby also loved spending time with the pets, feeding the rabbits from her hand and loving on Daisy. We came in and ate dinner and watched the Swiss Family Robinson before getting ready for bed.

October 22nd:

We got up, got ready for church and ate some breakfast. Poor Shelby is one of only 2 girls in her rowdy Sunday School class full of boys. Trey has Sister Arscott as his teacher. Lizi said that her teacher was awesome because she got candy! When we got home, Trey went for the pogo stick and increased his record to 1749 jumps! I think he got a little scared from the day before when Jenna got 500 jumps, sort of close to his old record. Lizi and Judi flew a kite and Shelby did a photo shoot with Jenna so they had some pictures for their room. They also did a short webchat with their mom. We came in and had lunch and played the piano for a little while. For lunch we made a blueberry pie for Trey (his favorite) and a pumpkin pie. The kids wanted to trade pins so we got our pin boards down from the wall and traded pins for a while. We then went back outside where Shelby loved on the pets and played in the sandbox with Judi and Lizi. Trey, Jenna, Liz, and I played knock out. During our game, the girls started riding bikes and when we finished our game we joined them. They had fun making stop signs, speed limit signs, and even a gas station sign and parking places. At one point Smokey looked like a crossing guard and Trey laughed so hard as Smokey stopped traffic! We then came in and had dinner and watched the Mighty Ducks. After the movie, we lit our pumpkins and got ready for bed.

October 23rd:

We woke up and ate breakfast. We had to leave for the airport at 9:00am. The kids asked if I was flying on the airplane with them back to Texas and were so excited when I told them I was. We did our Magic card trick and played UNO and Go fish. We had a fun visit and I'm so excited to see them for Thanksgiving!

Summer 2017 June 13th-July 6th

June 13th
Liz and I arrived into DFW at 4:30pm and waited to meet the kids until 9:40pm. Our flight left at 11:10pm. When the kids arrived, they were all so excited to go to Utah! Since the checked bag was 3 pounds overweight, we stuffed some of the weightier items in our carry-on bags. I sat between Shelby and Trey and Lizi sat by Liz, something she loves to do since Liz is the one that packs all the snacks. Lizi slept for a long time, Trey for about an hour, but Shelby and I didn't sleep at all, although we tried. Once we realized that we weren't going to be getting any sleep, we just talked for about 2 hours. It was fun! We arrived at our home at about 3:45am on the 14th.

Quote of the day - Shelby: "Don't worry Daddy, I'm still sportsy."

June 14th

Despite getting home at almost 4 in the morning, the kids woke up around 8:45 and were ready to play! We first went out to the yard and Shelby picked and ate some apricots and we petted the animals (Daisy, Lyndee, Chewey, and Smokey) and then came inside for breakfast. After breakfast, we all started working in the sand box, digging out all the hard dirt so we can get new sand in there. All the kids worked so hard and I was so proud of them! After digging for about 2 hours, we laid t the water slide and then we took a break and went to walmart for toothbrushes and to get supplies for a new water slide we're making. When we got home, we had grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch and then Shelby and Lizi played with legos and Trey worked on his pin board (Liz made him a bigger one so he had to transfer all of his pins). We then went back out side and Shelby, Judi, and I played in the clubhouse while Lizi played in the Sand box and Trey hit golf balls into the pit. We then started digging in the sand box again and put dirt around the edges of the water slide and began filling it up with water. I think Trey was the first one to try it out and we all played on the water slide for about 3 hours. Trey and Judi were the last ones off of it! Shelby and Jenna retreated to the trampoline to dry off. Liz got a little cold so we got her a towel to dry off. Trey and I then played a couple of games of knockout on the trampoline before we all came in to have pancakes for dinner. After dinner we all played inside working on legos, pin boards and playing star wars with Trey's lego set. We then watched Disney cartoons. Donald Duck seems to be everyone's favorite to watch, and Shelby especially likes his Grand Canyon cartoon.After Disney cartoons, we said prayers and Lizi informed everyone that she was hungry (as she always is) :-). We then all went to bed.

Quote of the Day - Shelby: "I love Utah life. It's relaxing and fun."

June 15th

We started out by eating breakfast and then playing outside. Shelby and I dug out the sand box to get it ready for the new sand coming tomorrow. I was so proud of how hard Shelby worked! Lizi and Trey gave each other wagon rides and we all played a game of kickball. We then went  to town to order the sand for the sand box and came home and rode bikes to the mail and then went down the water slide. After the water slide, we ate lunch and then went back outside to do wheel barrow and wagon rides and play kickball. Shelby and Lizi set up a real kitchen where they would take our order and then serve us the food we ordered. We had our choice of watermelon, apricots, tuna, skittles, spice drops, and candy canes. It was a lot of fun to have them "make" the real food in their play kitchen. We also played ladder ball and did some more work in the sand box. We came inside to watch Zootopia and then had dinner and ice cream. After we ate we played Scene It and then went back outside to give wagon rides. We came back inside and looked at and traded pins. Trey and Shelby also set up pinpics accounts. We then said prayers and went to bed.

June 16th

I went into work for a couple of hours in the morning but when I got home we all ate breakfast and then went out to work in the sandbox (get it ready for our new sand) and play out side. This morning Trey really worked hard with me to get another 10 or so wheel barrow loads of dirt out of our sandbox. I am proud of how good of a worker he is! We then played on the water slide for a couple of hours and then went to pick up Jenna from work. We came back and Trey and I went down the water slide while Shelby and Lizi got their "store" ready to give out some more food. They made creative questionnaires asking if we wanted wagon rides or wheel barrow rides (we had to check a box indicating which one). We then came inside and Trey and Shelby finished adding all their pins on pinpics and then I helped Lizi set up an account and add all of her pins. The kids went outside while I finished doing Lizi's pins for her and the next thing I knew a water fight had broken out and soon Liz was right in the middle of it being attacked from every side! It was fun to watch and just as I was about to get involved in it, the sand truck came and delivered our sand. The kids had so much fun playing on the big pile! They built splash mountain and then Shelby and I dug a tunnel through the sand big enough for Chewy, Lyndee, and even Judi to crawl through! After we played in the sand box we watched Moana and ate dinner. Then it was time for bed!

Quote of the day- Trey, while digging the old dirt out of the sand box: "I'm having a little bit of fun doing this, but mostly I'm sweating."

June 17th

We all had cereal for breakfast and then went out and played in the sand box. Trey and Lizi made pirate ships and castles and had "wars" by making an enemy castle and then throwing sand balls at the enemy castle and then at theirs. I went out there after I was finished eating and made my own castle and did the war with them. We then all went to Home Depot to get paint for Jenna and Shelby's room. Liz, Jenna, and Shelby painted the walls and I think the color turned out to be a little more purple looking than they expected. While they painted I played princesses with Lizi and helped Trey set up some of his car stunt tracks. Shelby took a break from painting and she and I played the "Heart and Soul" duet and the "Peanuts" song on the piano. We then went out and played on the water slide for an hour or so. Trey and I have fun trying to keep each other from flying off the end into the mud and rabbit pellets. Today he tried to slow me down and I was going so fast that we grabbed each other's hand and I pulled him so hard he flew through the air for a few feet! After the water slide, we ate left overs for lunch and then went back outside and had a big water fight - Jenna and Liz against Trey, Shelby, and me. Lizi played in the sand box and Judi didn't want to get squirted. We all got soaked and had so much fun. After the water fight, Trey, Shelby, Jenna, and Lizi played oreo on the trampoline with the sprinklers going (we moved the tramp to the lawn yesterday while the sand truck delivered our sand). Then, after moving the trampoline back to the rocks, Trey and Jenna beat Liz and I in a game of kick ball. We knocked down a lot of apricots off the tree which, in our rules, gives them a run for each one we knock down while fielding (and we knocked 10 off!). While we played kickball, Shelby and Lizi played in the sand box. After kickball, we came in and watched Star Wars Episode 4 and had pizza for dinner. After the movie we went back outside for about an hour and started building Disneyland in our sand box, while trying to keep Daisy from lying down on the parts we had already made. We then got ready for bed.

Quote of the day - Trey while watching the Millennium Falcon getting drawn into the Death Star said: "Man, I bet their ears are really popping!"

June 18th

Father's Day! It was such a fun day! We went to church in the morning. Trey really didn't want to go to primary because there were a buch of kids that he didn't know. I remember feeling the same way when I was his age so I understood exactly how he felt. Well after church he ran up to me so excited and told me he loved it! Shelby, on the other hand, was in a class of rowdy boys and wasn't as sure about it. Lizi was ok with it but said it was boring. After church we came home and they gave me cards they made for me. Lizi made me the cutest card with "Bill" from Alice in Wonderland on the front. She did such a good job drawing him! Shelby made me two really cute cards, one with Mickey Mouse that said, "No matter where I go in the world, or what I do, I know one thing for sure...your love will follow me." That card also had a drawing of a Disney sign that I ended up buying at auction a week later. The other card she made was a cookie that said, "I love you to cookie heaven."

June 19th

The kids had a lot of fun today jumping on the po-go stick. Shelby was doing really good, setting the record of 72 that everyone was trying to break. The kids also had a lot of fun being buried in the sand box by Alley. At first Trey was going to be a storm trooper but alley didn't know how she was going to make one so she told Trey that she was going to do a mermaid tail for him. Trey hasn't moved that fast in quite a while!

June 20th

June 21st

Trey broke the po-go stick record today. Actually he shattered it! He got to 1,100 and he stopped on his own with out falling off! I'm so proud of him because when we first started jumping, he wasn't as good as Shelby or me but he never gave up and he succeeded in breaking the record. We also had so much fun playing with the marble game today. At first the kids were setting up two towers but I showed them how to do four towers and they played with them for hours. Trey, Shelby, and even Lizi for a little while kept stats on which marbles would win the marble race. I think Trey must have filled about 20 pieces of paper with his stats! It was so fun to see them keep stats since I did the same thing when I was their age.

June 22nd

We decided to hike down to the river today. Shelby and Trey wanted to hike Molly's Nipple but Lizi wasn't too keen on the idea so we compromised and had fun at the river. We actually hiked first over to an old grain storage building and a "fort" of sorts made of volcanic rock. We then hiked the river all the way over to where we normally hike down to it. Shelby and Trey had fun trying to swat wasps with my hiking poles while Lizi and Judi happily ate all the snacks on the river bank that Liz packed for everyone.

June 24th

Trey really wanted an ant farm so when we woke up he wanted to go to Walmart to try to find one. We laughed at this since every time we told him previously that we were going to Walmart, he would voice his displeasure. So we ended up driving into St George to find an ant farm and came home and tried to find ants for it. The kids also had a great time playing in the sand box. We soaked the sand box with water and the kids loved playing in the water and sand.

June 25th

After church we came home and the kids and I watched a little bit of the Disneyland Auction that was going on on the computer. It was fun to see how into it Shelby and especially Trey got! They really wanted a Splash Mountain warning sign but it got too expensive to buy. I did end up getting a Fantasyland/It's a Small World directional sign. As I was bidding on it Trey was with me and would jump up and down and squeal a little when we were the highest bidder. When we won it he jumped high, let out an excited, "YES!!" and gave me a high five. We also had a fun time playing in the sand box for most of the day.

June 26th

June 27th

June 28th

We woke up early to get an early start on our drive to California. Shelby, Trey, and Lizi sat in the far back and slept and played on the tablets for most of the way. We stopped at the Van Eaton Auction house in Sherman Oaks to pick up the Disney sign that I won in the auction. It was fun to see the Disney memorabilia there. Then we went to the Tropicana Hotel across the street from Disneyland and checked in. We handed out tickets which were mailed to us this year and did our "pin draft" which was a lot of fun. We walked to Down Town Disney and over to the Disneyland Hotel to recreate some pictures that my mom took of me there when I was a kid. We got back to our hotel and went to bed early.

June 29th-July 1st

July 2nd

After a long few days at Disneyland, we slept in for a while. We checked out of our hotel at 11:00am and headed for Huntington Beach. It was a crowded day at the beach but the kids had a lot of fun. Shelby and Trey boogie boarded for a while and then we all tried to build walls to block the water. Lizi and Shelby started one by them selves. Soon Trey wanted to do one so he built one in front and to the side of the girls. A large wave came and completely destroyed Trey's wall and damaged the girls' so Trey decided to go help them with theirs. We left the beach at about 3:00 and started the drive home. We stopped to eat at the IHOP in Corona and made it home just before midnight.

July 3rd

When I looked out the window I noticed Liz running as fast as she could across the lawn. That definitely peaked my interest so I went out to see what was going on! There was Shelby and Judi also running. Shelby was practicing for the 4th of July race! So then Trey and I jumped in and we all had races, getting ready for tomorrow. Lizi even ran a couple of practice races.

July 4th

We woke up and went to the 4th of July parade which the kids love since the participants throw out candy and other things to them. After the parade we walked over to the games and races. The kids were all both nervous and excited to do the races! It was cute to see Shelby and Trey stretching and warming up before their race! Lizi was the first to go and she won her race! It was the second time she won her race! Next up was Trey who finished 3rd, and finally Shelby who also finished third. We then went to play some games - a fishing game, putting game, football throw, and water squirting game seemed to be their favorites. Each game would give them tickets for participating which we redeemed for prizes at the end. We came home and played outside for a short while before we realized that we needed to get snow cones! After snow cones, we came home and Trey and I played catch while Shelby picked grapes and Lizi played in the sand box with Judi. Trey and I worked on his curve ball which he picked up really well! I absolutely love playing catch with Trey! I also threw some balls to Trey which he hit really good! I haven't ever seen him hit the ball so well before! Shelby wanted to play catch after Trey and I were finished. So she and I had fun playing catch until one of my knuckleballs dropped and hit her right on the foot! The kids then had a web chat with their mom and they made cup cakes with Jenna as well. Once it cooled off, we went back outside and played in the sand box until it was dark enough to light our sparklers. We then watched the Hurricane fireworks from our back yard and went to bed.

July 5th

We got up and ate breakfast. After breakfast we played outside for a bit - Shelby collecting and eating grapes that probably weren't quite ready yet, but she was so excited to try them; Lizi and Judi played in the sand box, and Trey rode his bike down into the pit. We also set up a slip and slide on the grass and the kids enjoyed playing on it, especially after I turned on the sprinklers too. We came in to watch Mulan II since it was 106 degrees outside and then we went to pick up Jenna from work. When we got back home we had lunch and went back outside to play - Jenna with Lizi in the sand box, Trey played volleyball with Judi and I and Shelby rode her bike down into the pit and around through the grape arbor where she would stop to pick and eat more grapes. We then all played the most fun games of Ultimate Frisbee. We probably played about 4 games and had so much fun we forgot about how hot it was. I then gave all the kids shoulder rides which had us all laughing! Trey asked me again to play catch with him again which made my day! We played a game where we pretended that he was really pitching to batters and had to think about what pitch to throw so they wouldn't be expecting it. Lizi then asked me to help her build Disneyland so we built the Matterhorn, Tea Cups, Alice in Wonderland, and Small World (Jenna and her had already made the Castle earlier). We came in and watched Brave, which was a little scary in parts for Shelby and Trey even though they picked it out (scary movies don't bother Lizi at all). We then got their things packed up and got ready for bed.

July 6th

We got up a little earlier than normal so we could head to the airport. After eating breakfast, Shelby said an extra goodbye to Daisy, whom she's really grown close to, and we loaded up the van. On the way to the airport, Shelby and Trey got car sick pretty bad so we stopped to get them a 7-up which seems to help them. On the flight, Lizi wanted to sit by Liz and Shelby and Trey wanted to sit by me. Lizi had a little girl that was flying by herself sitting next to her who was nice initially but who became a little "crazy" as the flight went on. Trey and I played Color Switch on my ipad and Shelby slept. When we got to Dallas, we met their Mom and Steve and it was fun to watch Trey so excitedly show his Mom the video he took on his tablet of Splash Mountain. Due to lightning, we had to wait an extra 30 minutes for the bags to be unloaded from the plane. When it was time to say goodbye, Trey's was a little bit tearful, Lizi said that she wanted to stay in Utah, and Shelby gave Liz and I HUGE hugs! I had such  fun time with the kids this year!!

*Note: Although I updated this post every night, for some reason it never saved properly and every day after June 17th was erased.

Spring Break 2017 March 4th-March 11th

March 4th - Liz and I left home on the 3rd at 10pm to fly out of Las Vegas at 1:00am on the 4th. We arrived in the Dallas airport at 5:45am and waited there for Keri to bring the kids to the airport. They got to the airport at about 9:30am and our flight left at 10:45am. Lizi wanted to sit by Liz and Trey and Shelby wanted to sit by me. After flying into Vegas, we arrived home at about 3:30pm. The kids came in first I showed them the new Disney room. Then they checked out their rooms. Shelby and Jenna discussed what they wanted to do to their room and Judi had fun up on Shelby's bunk with Shelby and even Jenna climbed up there too. Trey, Judi, and I played some basketball in Trey's room with the little hoops hanging on the closet doors. Shelby came in and joined us as well. I gave the kids their presents - Shelby a Monorail, Trey legos, pictopia, and star wars hot wheels cars, and Lizi a large lego set and shopkins. They played with their toys for quite a while and then we ate mac and cheese for dinner, checked out the back yard for a while and played a game of kickball. Shelby and Lizi played in the sand box while Trey, Liz, and I played (knock out) basketball. We then came in and looked at our pin boards and got ready for bed.

March 5th - We got up and went to Stake Conference at 10:00am. I sang in the choir and the kids did a good job of listening and doing their Disney word searches that I gave them. After Church we came home, got changed and then packed, ate a quick lunch and headed on our way to Disneyland at about 1:30pm. We stopped in Barstow for gas and hit traffic before that in Jean and Primm. We arrived at the hotel at about 8:45pm. We stayed at the Disneyland Hotel in the Frontier tower on the 9th floor, rooms 74 and 84. It was fun to see the big replica of Thunder Mountain in the lobby of the Hotel. The kids looked at that for a long time. We got to our rooms and I surprised the kids with pins to trade at Disneyland so we did a pin "draft" of sorts. Everyone got 15 pins. We walked through downtown Disney to trade a few pins and to take it the magic of the Disneyland Resort. We ended up coming back to the hotel, ate dinner, and went to bed around midnight.

March 6th - The park opened at 10:00am but we had a magic hour at CA Adventure so we got there at 9:00am but most of the rides were still closed so we ended up heading back over to Disneyland about 9:45 and got there right when it opened. The lines were very long to get in, stretching well over half way through the esplanade toward CA Adventure. The first ride we went on was Autopia, followed by Small World. We went on many rides, had lunch at the Golden Horseshoe where we also saw the Golden Horseshoe stage show. After lunch we went on more rides and saw the Main Street Electrical Parade at 6:45. I started saving seats for it at just a few minutes after 5:00pm. It was awesome and the opening announcements brought tears to my eyes. We stayed at Disneyland until the park closed at 9:00pm, then headed back to the hotel for dinner and bed.

March 7th - Got to Disneyland at 9:00am (actually about 8:45) and went on some rides in Tomorrowland and Fantasyland since those are the only two lands that open early. We enjoyed lots of rides and had lunch at the Tomorrowland Terrace. We watched the Jedi Training Academy which was the first time I had seen it. We took the Monorail to Downtown Disney to the Pin shop, and then went to CA Adventure for a few rides and saw Frozen. It's growing on me. Aladdin was such a fun show I knew it would be hard to replace. It was fun to see the progress that is being made on turning the Tower of Terror into Guardians of the Galaxy and over in Disneyland to see how the Rivers of America and Star Wars Land are coming along. We came back over to Disneyland and enjoyed some more rides and again watched the Electrical Parade until closing time at 9:00 when we headed back to the hotel for Dinner and bed.

Quote of the day/funny story: Trey - While we were at Disneyland, the kids usually kept their lanyards on with their pins so if they came across a pin trader they would have them ready. This cause their pin backs to fall off at times, which created a "mad hunt" for the small, black pin back on the ground. While waiting in line at Hyperspace Mountain, Trey darted toward a small black object on the ground that I assumed was a pin back he had dropped. I turned and looked away for a moment and then when I looked back at Trey I noticed he was chewing on something. Realizing that he didn't have any food I became curious as to what he was eating - and where he got it. I asked, "Trey, what are you eating?" As he chewed, the expression on his face turned to one of concentration as he responded, "I think it's a chocolate covered raisin...yep, a chocolate covered raisin!" So that was the small, black object he was after on the floor!

March 8th - we got up and checked out of the hotel and then headed over to Disneyland for our last day. Trey, Shelby, and Lizi really wanted to go on Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain and Judi wanted to go on Small World and some of the Fantasyland rides. So I gave Shelby a phone and told the kids to stick together and text me with updates. I told them that we would meet them at 11:30 at the exit to Thunder Mountain. I was so proud of them! They knew exactly where to go and stuck together so well. At 11:30 we met up and headed to Tomorrowland where we went on Autopia again and ate lunch at Tomorrowland Terrace again. We went over to CA Adventure again for a little while (we all like Disneyland way better) and then came back to Disneyland to stay until the park closed at 9:00. We didn't watch the Parade tonight because I wasn't sure if the kids would want to again. As we saw it going by, Lizi said in a sad voice, "We didn't see the parade tonight!." I am so glad she liked it! One fun thing we did was crossed over the Disneyland Railroad tracks to the other side at the New Orleans Square Train Station. The Disneyland Railroad is closed until this summer and once it reopens, this area will be off limits. In fact, this was the first time ever that people have been able to get to the other side. I'm not sure the kids understood the significance now, but hopefully they'll understand it more as they grow older. We left Disneyland and I walked over to get the car to bring it over to IHOP and meet the family to eat dinner before getting on the road. After ordering our food, I gave everyone their pins and then we ate and left for Utah, getting home at about 6:00am the next morning.

March 9th - We all slept in till about 11:00am when we all drove Jenna to school and then came home to eat breakfast. After breakfast, Trey and I played basketball while Shelby, Lizi, and Judi rode bikes. we then all went into the back yard where we played in the clubhouse and sand box before starting a game of kickball. After kickball, we came inside and played with the legos and monorail and then ate lunch.Trey, Shelby, and I then played with the Monorail some more while Lizi and Judi played with melty beads.The kids then wanted us to open the Christmas presents that they brought for us. They were so thoughtful! We then went back outside to ride bikes down the hill into the pit and set up the trampoline. We then had Pizza for dinner and watched a movie - Melody Time. After playing with toys for a few minutes we got ready for bed.

Quote of the Day: Shelby - "I'm glad we have a zoo." (referring to our two rabbits, 3 dogs, 2 cats, and fish.

March 10th - We woke up and ate cereal for breakfast. We then went outside to play on the trampoline, in the sandbox, and to ride trikes down the hill into the pit. The kids had so much fun seeing how far they could get their trikes to go and Trey, especially, had fun going over a bump down the hill and flipping his bike! While Shelby and Lizi played in the sand box, Judi and Trey went to the trampoline but Judi didn't like anyone jumping on it while she was on it because she was still a little unsure of it so while she was walking around on it, getting used to it, she told Trey to sit over to the side, which he did so patiently! Trey and I then had fun playing knock out on the tramp. We came in for lunch and then played inside with Shopkins, Legos, and the Monorail.We then all got our pin boards out and traded some pins and rearranged the pins on our boards. We had dinner and watched Aristocats and then got ready for bed.

March 11th - This, as always, was the worst day of the trip - the day we have to go back to Texas. We woke up and had breakfast and played for just a few minutes outside before we loaded up and drove to Las Vegas. We got on our plane, which left at about 1:00pm. Lizi sat by Liz again and Trey and Shelby sat by me. We got in to Dallas and waited about 30 minutes for their mom to arrive. We had such a fun trip! I can't wait for summer!

Quote of the Day: Trey, as he looks back and forth at all the cereal boxes on the table after finishing one bowl of cereal: "Ok, who's next?"