California Family Vacation: Day 4 - Disney's California Adventure

We started off our fun with going to Disney's California Adventure.  We were going to start our day going to the Car's Racers ride, but they were not open yet, so we decided to start at Soarin' and we were glad we did.  We were able to get right in and it didn't take very long.  

After we walked past Grizzley Rapids and went to Car's Land to ride on the Radiator Springs Racers.  Allie didn't want to single ride it, because she is still a little scared to ride it without holding my hand.  So, the three older kids' single rode the ride while the rest of us waited in the line.  They were able single ride the Car's ride three times while we waited to ride it once.  We then had Allie 

go with the three older kids to ride Mator's while Tony, Margie and I single rode the Car's ride again.  

We then all tried to go on Luigi's ride, but it broke down and we decided not to wait.  We did end up coming back to try and ride Luigi's three other times and it broke down each time we were in line waiting for the ride and never ended up riding it.  

So, we decided to do Mater's as a family.  It is always super fun, and the wait isn't normally very long.

We then all went over to Avengers Campus and did single rider on the Webslinger ride.  We really take advantage of the rides that Allie will single ride.  We ended up doing this ride twice this day and never had to wait very long in the single rider line.  

Now it was Toy Story's Midway Mania time. We all love this ride.  Some wanted to do the Incredicoaster, but for some reason they didn't, but Allie went on the carousel and loved it.  Everyone who wanted to ride the Incredicoaster was able to at least once.  We took the girls on some of the smaller rides after lunch while Margie went with the boys on the Incredicoaster.  

We had tacos for lunch, and they were so good.  We then went on Ariel as a family before splitting up.  Tony and I took the girls on the jellyfish ride and then tried the fried cheese on a stick we'd been wanting to try.  I didn't really like it.

After our snack we went on the Emotional Worldwind ride.  The line was a little longer than we wanted, but we waited, and the girls liked the ride.  By this time Margie and the boys were done, so they met us at the end of the ride and then we all moved on to more fun rides.

We decided to do Soarin' again and to wait to see Pluto.  Pluto is Tyler's favorite character, and he looked up when he would be out so that we were there and first in line.  Pluto is always fun to get pictures with.  It made Tyler very happy, especially with his Pluto shirt on.

We rode more rides and had fun enjoying DCA.  We didn't get park hopping passes this year so, we stayed at DCA all day.

We ate dinner at Smoke Jumpers by Soarin'.  It was nice to be able to eat inside where it was warmer, and the food was pretty good.  

We then did more rides and enjoyed the park.  We found Captain America and Tyler wanted a picture with him.  We waited in line, and it was well worth it.  The kids liked talking with him and everyone was so nice.  I was glad that Tyler got to visit with a few of his favorite characters (especially since he'll not be coming for a couple years).

After dinner we were going to ride the Incredicoaster and Toy Story Mania and we noticed a bring light crossing the sky.  It was really cool, and we got a couple pics of it.  We found out later that night that it was a SkyLink satellite that was being launched into space.  Really cool to be outside to see that in person. 

After we got off of the ride Ariel, Tyler got a text saying that his mission call was in.  We were very surprised because we thought if it came that week that it would come on Tuesday.  So, Tyler then had to make the decision of when to open his call.  I can tell you now that after much thought he decided to wait until we got home so he could open it up in front of his friends and family.

We had pretty much done everything that we had wanted to do, multiple times, by 8:00 pm so we decided to get some popcorn and walk back to our hotel.  It was a great day at the park.  It was busy, but not terrible.  We watched the wait times and didn't have to wait too long in lines.  A great way to start our theme park adventures.

California Family Vacation: Day 3 - Church, Homework, & Temple

Sacrament didn't start until 10:00 am, so we had plenty of time this morning to eat breakfast and get ready church.  The kids started some homework and then we all went to sacrament.  It's a good thing we got there early because the chapel quickly filled up with tons of families visiting Disneyland and the local members.  The members were very nice and welcoming.  It is always so nice to see like-minded people going to church on vacation.

After church we went back to the hotel and changed our clothes.  We went and got some lunch and then Josh, Allie, and I got dropped off at the hotel while the rest went to the swap meet.  Allie and Josh worked on homework, and I got us all ready for our day at DCA tomorrow.  The others had fun at the swap meet and Tony actually found Allie a really cute Alice in Wonderland Loungfly backpack that he bought her for her birthday.  

After they got back, we all went to the Newport Beach Temple. Unfortunately, the gate was locked so we couldn't walk around the temple, but we enjoyed the beauty outside the gates.  We then drove around Newport Beach area to see the water and then drove back towards our hotel to get some dinner.  We went to a BBQ place, and it was really yummy.  After dinner we went back to the hotel and rested for the rest of the evening.  It was a lovely was to spend our Sabbath day.

California Family Vacation: Day 2 - St. George to Anaheim, CA

The breakfast at the hotel wasn't very good this morning.  Some found things they liked, others did not.  We all lived though.

We had no problems driving to our hotel in Anaheim.  We actually had very little traffic like we usually do.  So, we made it to our hotel in record time.  We got there before our check-in time, but we lucked out and they had a room ready for us.

After we got unpacked, we walked over to Downtown Disney.  It was really busy.  They had long lines just to go through security.  

We decided to get dinner first at Earl of Sandwich.  I was able to find us a table that would fit us all and we all enjoyed our yummy dinner.  We all like the food at Earl and we look forward to eating there every time.

After dinner we walked around Downtown Dinner.  We walked in the stores and then tried to go on the tram for a roundtrip ride.  When we got to the tram, they seemed to be having issues and it was taking a long time, so decided not to go on it.  Allie and I were a little bummed, but also didn't want to wait for whatever was going on with them.  

We then walked back to our hotel and got ready for bed and ready for going to DCA the next day.

California Family Vacation: Day 1 - Home to St. George

After the kids got out of school Margie came to pick us up and load up the van.  Once we were all loaded, we drove down to St. George.  Luckily the weather was good, and we had no problems driving down and getting to our hotel.

We decided to just walk to the Black Bear Diner for dinner.  It was located right by our hotel.  We had a good dinner and then a silly photo shoot with all the bears outside.  Megan enjoyed kissing the bear and thought it was so funny.

We then checked out the pool and found a million kids already in the pool, so we decided to not join that chaos. So, we hung out in our rooms instead.  

Jr. Prom for Tyler

Tyler had a good time at Prom with a nice girl named Ashley.  They went to the Planetarium and then to a church to play games in the gym.  When they were done, they took their dates home to get ready for dinner and the dance.

Tyler got picked up by his buddy and they went and picked up their dates.  After everyone from their group got together, they went to the Capital to take pictures.  After pictures they went to dinner, I think at Chili's.  Then it was dancing time.  After the dance they took their dates home and got home before 11:00 pm.

Tyler said that they all had a good time and was glad that he went.  He wanted to take a different girl that he likes more, but decided he wanted to take her to Senior Ball.  I hope he still likes that girl then.  I am glad that he went with a friend and had a good time.

Megan got Braces

Megan has joined the cool kids and got braces.  She has a tooth that is growing in funny, and they wanted to get her braces started before he got worse. She was a little nervous about getting them on and didn't really want to, but I know that she will be happy when it is all over.  

January Happenings

Our ward no longer takes the kids to the temple every Friday morning, so I had to make an appointment for them to go.  This was Josh's first time being able to do the baptizing, so I went with so that I could see him do it and so that I could baptize me for the dead.  He stumbled a couple times, but besides that he did a great job.  It is so fun to see our kids hitting these milestones.

Megan has been wanting a jean jacket, and we found one at Sam's Club that she liked.  She looks super cute in her jacket, and she loves wearing it.

Tyler and Josh went to a Jammie Region Dance with some friends and had a great time.  They really enjoy going to the church dances.  

Rebekah had a fun dinner activity for her birthday.  Tyler said he had a great time with his friends.

Granger published their Sterling Scholars pictures on their social medias and put up the students pictures up on the windows of the Alumni Room.  It was fun to go to Tyler's National Honor's Society meeting and finding his face on the window went we walked in the building.  Sterling Scholar for Computer Science for Granger High.  We are so proud of him.

Tyler's Ask and Answer to Prom

 

Tyler's Mission Paperwork

Tyler has been working hard on submitting his mission paperwork.  He got his physical, dental work completed and blood work done.  He filled out all the paperwork and added his handsome picture before clicking the submit button.  I had him pose for me to take a picture of him clicking the button.  We are so proud of him for making this decision! 

Trip to BYU Idaho

We got an appointment to tour BYU Idaho and decided that Tony, Tyler, and I would the day before and make a little trip out of it.

We dropped the three younger kids at Margie's house and then made the drive to Rexburg, Idaho.  We checked into our hotel and then drove around the town to check it out.  We drove around the campus and snapped a picture of Tyler in front of the BYUI sign by the Administration Building.  

After we drove around campus and the main part of town, we decided to pick up some dinner.  We decided a local pizza place by our hotel sounded good.  We thought we could eat there, but found out it was take-out only.  So, we ordered the food before Tony took Tyler and I back to the hotel.  Tony then went and picked up the food when it was ready.  It was pretty good pizza, and we were glad that we tried it.

After we ate, we got into our swimsuits and went down to the pool to enjoy the hot tub.  It was a big hot tub with good jets, so we enjoyed our time relaxing in the hot water.

We showered and then went to bed.  In the morning, we enjoyed the hotel breakfast before checking out of our hotel.  We had extra time before our appointment at the University, so we went by the temple and got a couple pictures.  

We then found where we needed to park and got checked into our tour.  We were the only ones there, so we got a personal tour.

Our tour guide showed us a little slideshow about the university before taking us on a fun cart ride around campus.  It had plastic sides to keep us warm.  Tyler sat by the tour guide while Tony and I sat in the back seat.  

She took us all around campus.  She took us in some of the different buildings and we even got to go into the large conference room that looks very similar to the conference center.  That was super cool.  

The guide spent over an hour with us and answered all of our questions.  We were all very impressed with the campus and Tyler felt very good there.  So much so, that we went to talk with the financial aid office and to talk with the counselor's office.  

The counselors were so good to talk to.  It was nice to hear them bring up faith and relying on the spirit when making a decision.  We all left there feeling very good about the school and excited for Tyler and his future colligate plans.

We then left Rexburg and stopped at the Costco before heading home.  It was a great little getaway, and we were very glad that we all went.  I think Tyler will be very happy at BYUI someday.