The Land of Disney!

Just after moving, we took advantage of Dad's last days of freedom and went to Disneyland! Here we all are posing with Pooh Bear. My kids loved climbing on this for some reason.

And lucky us, Wade's parents joined us for the second time. They were wonderful. We couldn't have done it without them! Grandpa, Connor and Dad all smiles on "It's a Small World!" You have to go on it, right?Kaelene posing for us in front of Big Thunder Mountain. This was her favorite!

Elise having a great time with Grandma. Elise grabs her ears for comfort or when she is tired! I'm betting she's tired this time. It is so cute!

Connor and Kaelene LOVE Mickey Mouse! I think Kaelene was trying to curtsy here. ???

Grandpa giving Kaelene is boost so she can see "The World of Color" show. This was unbelievable, well worth staying up for!

Connor and Mom moseying along on "Splash Mountain.

Kaelene and Elise are so lucky to have tall men in their lives. They enjoy the parade so much more from these heights!

The last night we were there they had a street party. They had these cameras that projected you onto this screen but you were all wavy and psychedelic. It was pretty cool.

Goodbye Disneyland, hope to see you again soon!

Get Your Kicks...

On Route 66!

We now live close to Route 66 and on our way we saw such beautiful countryside. Dry, but beautiful. The kids watched cars like a gazillion times and tried to guess where 'Radiator Springs' is.Does that look familiar?















And no, this isn't the Grand Canyon. Just a random canyon in the middle of nowwhere. Pretty gorgeous, right? Not to mention the little girl is pretty cute too!
















We had fun hiking all around. The kids started to get even more excited to get to our new desert home! Connor, Dad and Elise taking it all in.











This picture isn't spectacular, I just wanted to prove that I was there!











Here's Copper and Kaelene stretching their legs after many hours in the car!

It's So Hard...

'To Say Goodbye'

The Boyz II Men really had it right... cheesy but right. Anyone that knows me, knows that I loathe goodbyes. I'm just not good at them. My ugly cry sometimes surfaces. You know, the one where my face wrinkles up in a way that can only be compared to Gollum. Sigh....well anyway, here is a pic of some great friends I met at the park the day before we rolled out of town on June 11. (Pictured, left to right: Summer Gunn with baby Avery, Angie Poulson, Sarah Childs, Me, Valerie Buman, Carolyn Hanson, and Jen Brewer) Taken by 5 yr old Ben Brewer!

Another friend Adrienne Dangerfield came later. We've been friends since 2003, which is a long time for an area so transient.

I had to get this picture of Summer and I. She is more stylish than I, but it was so funny that we wore the same skirt that day. FYI, it was really windy that day, my skirt was doing its own thing.






I love you guys!

Arachnaphobia

Get a load of this beauty! This is what I saw my dog sniffing on the patio of my new house. Wade and Connor said they had seen one the night before but didn't know what it was. It looks like a scorpion without its stinger. They are called Sun Spiders and they are nasty. According to my bug guy (yah, I called the next day!) they aren't poisonous, their bite just hurts like non other. And according to wikepedia they can get up to 4.5 inches (leg span) although snopes says up to 6 inches! My little friend was as big as my palm! Isn't that lovely?

So when did you say you were coming to visit?!

Ward Talent Show-Take One

Back in April... our ward put on a talent show. My little family always wants to participate. Last year, Connor and Kaelene did a stand-up comedy, Kaelene sang a spanish song while Wade played his guitar. This year Wade couldn't attend (he was off taking his final boards...he passed...woo hoo!) So Connor, Kaelene and I all did something. It was fun. Here is what Valerie Buman (baby bear), Angie Pulson (momma bear), Krystine Greer (papa bear), and I (Goldie Locks) put together. I should mention that this skit/song was originally composed by my always cool sister, Pam and her jazz group in High School. We tweaked things a bit, but we had fun with it.

We Made It!

Hi everyone, we did make it to our new home...I'll post pics as soon as I (and when I say I, you know I mean Wade) download the pics. Love to all! Steph

The Darndest Thing!

Some random musings of my kids:

Kae: (upon pulling up to a friend's house) "Mom, are we in the country or are we in the suburbs?"

Elise: (after hearing Kaelene request 'something sparkly' for clothes that day): "Mom, me (meaning her), NO PANTS!" Spoken like a true girl, she refuses to wear anything but a dress or skirt. And she finally found the words to express it!

I love my kids and I love being a Mom!