Disneyland on the fly....

When we found out Jesse got his new job, we knew that our plans of heading out to Lee and Maria's over spring break were history. Jess had about 2 weeks before he would start, so we thought since he wouldn't be able to take any time off anytime soon, why don't we head out now? Then we started thinking even more, and we thought, what if we surprised the kids and went to Disneyland? Heck, why not? We called and got the last room in the hotel we wanted, scored some awesome deals on tickets, and everything just fell into place. So we waited until the day before we were going to leave until we told the kids. I had this crazy idea, and luckily it worked. I got some helium balloons and put them in this huge box. The box wouldn't close so I put paper over the top and taped it. It turned out to be even better that way!

I left it on the front porch and Jess knocked on the door and the kids ran to the door and found the box on the porch. When the kids started to rip off the paper the balloons flew up and out and this note was attached to the bottom. of the strings.
The kids were pretty confused at first, we had to explain it a couple of time! Maddi didn't think it was possible. Andrew was just super excited about the balloons at first until he finally figured out what we were saying. And then he got even MORE excited! He's been begging to go see Nana and Papa. So the kids got their rooms cleaned and we all got packed. The next morning we loaded up the car and off we went!
We spent the first night at Lee and Maria's so we could visit and the kids could swim and then headed to our hotel the next day. We LOVED our hotel (thanks for the recommendation Cristy!) it was right across the street! It was literally a 5 minute walk (if that) to walking through the turn style. We could run back if we needed and naps and meals were a breeze. No loading up the car and paying to park, no taking apart the whole stroller to ride the monorail, no walking ten years before we even got to the gate. It was awesome. (In some ways is was closer than when we stayed at California Grand!) Also can I just say that going in February was the best? We hardly waited in line and we would ride the same ride over and over again if we wanted. Not to mention most days I was in capris and flip flops. So yeah, Disneyland in February rocks.
Here's our first day:

Bug Land or whatever it's called. Yeah... we were the only ones on the ride.
Side note: Dave Foley played Flick in A Bug's Life (the main ant guy), and he did the voice for this ride. Why do I know that? Cause I've always been a Dave Foley fan, I think he's hilarious. This information is important later....
Maddi and Papa
Getting onto King Triton's carousal.

After Toy Story Mania. It was AWESOME! I lost track how many times we went.

Ahhh!!! We're in a box!!!

Mr Incredible with Mr Incredible.

Stitch put Andrew's book on his head and he thought that was pretty funny.

More to come later!

Two Things

You may have noticed already, or maybe you haven't but here's some news and then a clue to a BIG and MAGICAL post coming here soon! These pictures are huge clues! Ok so the news: Maddi and Andrew BOTH got glasses on the same day! Apparently Maddi has my eyes and Andrew has Jesse's eyes. Which pretty much means they are blind as bats. They are loving being able to see better. Don't they look awesome?

Fancy Valentine's Day

Valentine's this year we made extra special. Jesse and I went out the Friday before to Chef's Table to not only celebrate Valentine's but to celebrate his new job! For those who don't know, Jesse has been hired as an Interaction Designer for the LDS church! Way better pay, way better commute, it's exactly what we needed at the right time. He's so excited. He started at the beginning of Feb. and is LOVING it!
We wanted to spend Valentine's day with our little family, and we figured since it was on a Monday this year, why not combine it with Family Home Evening? So we had a Fancy Smancy Valentine Dinner. For the lesson part, we learned about polite dinner manners. It was really fun and the kids were totally into it! The day had started out not so great since we had been at the dr's for the babies and Andrew since they all had croup. Which is why they're all in pj's!

Getting ready to eat! Right as I took the picture Jesse said " Ok let's say the prayer" and look at what Emmy does! She's so stinkin cute!

LOL! Andrew cracks me up!

Bawhaaaahhaaaaa! Took a surprise shot!

We had Shrimp Scampi (which Maddi ate most of) Steak, Bernaise sauce, mashed pototoes and steamed veggies. It was divine.

Andrew loved it!

She thought Andrew was weird.

Some one rang the doorbell!

YAY! Valentine's for everyone!

Happy Valentine's Day

To the best Valentine I could ever wish for!

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving this year, we went to my parents house. We spent the night before and luckily the babies did pretty well. For some reason this year, everyone felt the need to wear green. We're still not sure why, it was totally not planned.

The Kitchen was totally hopping

Why does Laura looked scared in all of these pictures?

It was a pretty good looking turkey!

Jesse and I were on Turkey duty

Rebecca and Richi doing homework

Sometimes a man just needs to be alone.

The main event. It was very yummy! I swear we had more pies than people.

Christmas Dinner Outtakes

Sorry, but these were too funny not to share.

Firsts

I started school at UVSC the semester after my mission. On the first day of classes my mother, who at the time worked as UVSC's catering director, was giving me a tour of her facilities and introducing me to her staff. After meeting a dozen or so people my mother took us upstairs to have lunch at the Valley View room. After grabbing something to eat we went to go pay for our meals. I made my way up to where my mother was standing, next to the cash register, where she was talking to a dark haired young woman with the most beautiful green eyes I'd ever seen. I walked up to my mother, knowing full well she'd introduce me to her. Her name was Lisa, and she was a caterer who worked as a cashier part time. I wanted to play it cool, because that's what you do when you meet a pretty girl, and nothing says "I'm cool" more than an apathetic "Hey." Unfortunately that didn't seem to have the desired effect, in fact it seemed to have the opposite effect. I figured I'd try again later.

Fortunately later was only a few hours later that day. I had diligently arrived to my anthropology class 10 mins early and was able to score a front row seat. I had set out all the things I needed for the class: my book, note pad and my trusty dictaphone (wouldn't want to miss something important.) While the classroom slowly filled up, I started looking around to see if there was anyone I knew in the class. While I was scanning the room who should walk in the door but Lisa. For the briefest moment our eyes met, I thought she might come sit next to me..seeing as the whole front row was still open. Oddly, she went straight to the opposite corner of the room. I figured my "Hey" was still bothering her so I thought I'd try again the next day.

I think this is a good time to note that although it may seem childish, some guys like to tease girls, its a way of letting them know you like them, this is often refered to as "flirting" apparently Lisa was unaware of this or immune to my teasings. For weeks after that first time we met I would go get lunch on the days she was cashiering. Some days I would have to take an inadvertently long time picking out my lunch just to wait for her line to die down so it wouldn't look so odd getting in a line when there were other cashiers with no line. In fact there were many times where I would make sure I was the last person in her line so I could talk to her longer. Each time I went through I set the tease-ometer from stun to kill. Unfortunately it didn't seem to effect her. I started thinking she probably had a boyfriend...because who could resist such excellent teasing? In fact she was meeting a young man quite frequently for lunch, and they sure had a great time together. This was a stark realization. I wasn't sure on how to proceed. I figured I'd have to wait a few weeks then try again.