Disneyland at Christmas!

Again, I neglect my packing for a few minutes ... Here's the Disneyland update I know you've been dying to see.

Here we are at the entrance - how many photos are taken here each day, week, month, year???


On the train.


William stopped over in Toon Town while Sarah waited in line with me at the Princess Fantasy Faire. I tried to get Sarah to go with Daddy and William, but she was adamant that she wait for the princesses. William LOVED Toon Town - well, at least before the masses overtook it.


Meeting the Princesses. All of the princesses LOVED Sarah's dress (made by her ever-talented Aunt Valinda.





We were at the Fantasy Faire at the same time as the Royal Coronation. Loved it. William got up and danced with the princesses. (Sarah watched from the sidelines)


But don't worry, she was all for taking her picture on the throne and posing with her favorite princess.



This is how Roger and William passed the time while Sarah and I talked to the princesses.


After we had our princess fix, we headed to Toon Town to ride the roller coaster. Unfortunately, by this time Disneyland was pretty much at capacity. We had to wait 45 minutes for the rollercoaster. And sadly enough since I am pregnant I can't ride this ride. But the workers were nice enough to let Roger ride with Sarah and then let William do a quick trade off. They both LOVED it.



Then, our favorite King Arthur's Carousel. The kids got to go on it twice while Rog and I switched off waiting in line for Rapunzel.


William got a little sleepy at this point so we let him sleep it off in the stroller while we saw Snow White's wicked stepmother, Rapunzel, Mrs. Claus, and Pluto, had lunch in New Orleans Square, watched the Christmas Parade and met Tinkerbell & Terrance. (I know, he missed out on a lot, but really, we were all happier because he napped.)









By the way, Sarah LOVED watching the parade. She especially loved seeing the princesses dance with their counterparts. Prince Charming, Prince Phillip, the Beast ... oh how romantic!



He woke up just in time to meet Santa. Oh what a sight! Sarah quite calmly asked for a Tinkerbell toy while William screamed in Santa's other ear.



And a picture in front of the castle.


Just before leaving the park for a break, Roger took him on the Autopia ride. HE LOVED IT!


While Sarah and I took a nap at the hotel, William and Daddy went to CPK to get us dinner. (We were NOT doing another Disneyland line for food!) We took a couple of hours off from the park and as irony had it, William fell asleep again as we entered the park and watched the fireworks.


Sarah loved all the extra attention and the extra rides. Roger and I did the parent swap with Sarah on the Astrorbitor and Buzz Lightyear rides. She also got to go on Autopia again (we did a fast pass) and she braved the Matterhorn.

William woke up in time for the Storybook Canal, Casey Junior Train Ride, Dumbo, Teacups and Small World. Yes, the best time to do kids rides are from 10 pm until midnight. And for the record, the Teacups were hands down William's favorite ride.



All in all it was another successful Disneyland adventure. I may be able to convince myself that we will wait to go again until baby girl is almost 3, but I don't know if I'll be able to wait 3 years!

Dance take 2

Sarah participated in another dance class these past couple of months. Her teacher, Miss Angela, was just perfect for these girls. They had a blast dressing up in tu-tus and dancing around. Lots of fun memories.





Here's an excerpt from the performance.

Caroling

I joined my fellow Relief Society sisters for an hour and a half of caroling on a chartered cable car this week. We had a blast and definitely got into the Christmas spirit! I'm sure going to miss these girls.

A laugh

So I realize this is totally "white trash" but I couldn't resist ... Enjoy!



Taken at a Burger King somewhere between Anaheim and St. George. Who do those kids belong to, seriously?

Visiting Trina

Playing catch up while taking a break from packing ...

November 23, 2010
Trina and I go way back - as in high school. (OK, so it wasn't THAT long ago, just you know 10+ years) Trina moved down the street from me when we were juniors and we spent our senior year together on the seminary council. We roomed together for a semester in college - the semester she fell in love with Jason, her now husband. A couple of years ago, Facebook brought us together again and we've stayed in touch through our blogs. When Roger and I decided to make a quick Disneyland trip on the way to Utah for Thanksgiving I thought it would be a great opportunity to catch up. (Trina lives about 20 minutes away from the happiest place on earth - lucky, I know.)


We had a great morning chatting while the kids played inside and out. Sarah and William LOVED playing with their new friends.


Trina made some yummy sandwiches on her fantastic homemade bread (yes, Roger said it's OK if I learned how to make her recipe.) Trina's cookies were also a hit. As you can tell from the above picture ...

We loved our visit and can't wait to get together again soon!

Malissa & Kaden

On our way back from Thanksgiving we brought a truck along with us. Roger inherited the "family truck" from his brother - he was super excited to have a truck so he could work on the house. Malissa and Kaden volunteered to drive back with us from Utah - a normally 11-12 hour drive. I refuse to drive on the Sunday after Thanksgiving so we left early Monday morning. Unlucky of them (and us) the almost 20-year-old truck couldn't go as fast as my Sienna. We were going 65 most of the way, that is until we hit the last 150 miles and then we were going 45. But make it we did. We pulled into the Apple Tree House (our new home) around 8:30 pm. We had left Utah at 4:30 am PST. Doing the math ... um ... we were driving (with a few stops of course) for 16 hours. The truck barely made it into the driveway. It gave one last lurch and died when we got there. Heavenly Father definitely answered our prayers to get that truck there! No more. No less. We unloaded the truck and most of the van with stuff that needed to stay at the house and then piled into the van for our drive into the city. We pulled into our alley on Washington Street at 10:30 pm. Whew! An 18-hour-day complete. Malissa switched off with me as driver and Roger drove the truck the.entire.way. We were all happy to see our beds that night!

To make the trip worthwhile for Kaden and Malissa, we did a lot of tourist-ing.

We went to the Academy of Sciences on Tuesday. I don't know why I didn't pull out my camera? But to the Sciences we went. After I dropped Sarah off at school I dropped Kaden and Malissa off at the Wharf. They did the Wharf and China Town before walking back to the apartment.

On Wednesday, we went to the free hour at the Japanese Tea Gardens.





Free day at the zoo. Our last time as San Francisco Residents. We saw lots of animals and enjoyed the petting zoo.




And one last ride on the Little Puffer.



We didn't make the Alcatraz boat so off we went to explore Muir Woods.



Thursday Kaden and Malissa went to Alcatraz, the Exploratorium and Feeding the Ducks at the Palace of Fine Art. We also met up with Roger for Zachary's Pizza in Berkeley before going to the Apple Tree House. Malissa and I (well, mostly Malissa) painted the first coat of paint on the built-in bookshelves in the playroom.



And Friday was ballet and working on the house.




On Saturday, Roger went out to the house early to work on some things while I went to work at the Carters. Malissa was super helpful watching the kids and making my sweet potato dish for the ward party. After a couple of hours, I picked up the crew at our apartment and we made one last trip out to the Apple Tree House. Malissa worked on touch-ups on the bookshelves while Rog and I cleaned the carpet in the front room.


Are you tired yet? I know I am just re-reading all of this! A few hours later we headed back into the city. Rog dropped the kids and me off at the ward party and took Kaden and Malissa to the San Francisco airport. He rejoined us later and we had a great time at the party. Sarah loved seeing Santa again and again asked for a Tinkerbell toy.


What a week. We loved having Malissa & Kaden visit and hope they come again soon!