Disneyland: Day 2 (California Adventure!)

On this day, we spent most of the time at the California Adventure Theme Park. On this day, we mastered the art of using the "Fastpass" and "ParentSwap" to our advantage. I am pretty sure the only ride we had to wait in line for the entire time was for the Toy Story ride! (which, by the way was well worth the wait) We had a great time doing adult roller coaster and rides, along with all the fun things for little ones!

Our first stop of the day was at the Playhouse Disney show! My girls love everything about the morning Disney shows and it was so fun to watch them watch their favorite cartoons come to life!

Kelly and Maggie and also the kids watching the show!

Meeting some characters and enjoying a snack!

They just couldn't resist the little water fountains!

A Bug's Life portion of the park!"

After the Swensons left, we had a little bit of time to kill before we were meeting up with some other friends for dinner, so we decided to go and do the obligatory ride of "Its a Small World!"

Disneyland: Day 1

Thursday night we head out of town to L.A. By this time, our girls know that we are going to California and are going to visit some friends, but that is the extent of our explanation. Thursday night, we get to the place we are staying and hit the sack. Before doing that though, I ask Gracey, "Do you know where we are?"

Gracey says "Cafornia" (yes, I left the 'li' out on purpose because that is what it sounds like when she says it!)

I say, "what else is in California?"

G: "I don't know."

Then I tell her that we are going to Disneyland in the morning!

If you know Gracey well, you know she gets really excited and makes a funny noise that has kind of become a family joke. If I could describe it with letters, it would be "Eeeeeeeee" but coming from the depths of her throat and sounding like she was just punched in the stomach!

We had a lot of "EEEEEEEEE" going on!

Anyway, we went to bed, woke up early, and got a great start to a fun-filled day.

It was great day. We had a great time with the Swenson's and the Larson's! We have really missed them since getting out of the army and it was great to enjoy the weekend with all of them.

For now though, I will let the pictures do the talking.













This last shot is one I took while figuring out a setting on my camera. I am glad I took it because it shows our group! Corky and I have 2 kids, Swenson's have 3 kids, and the Larson's have 5. That is 10 kids, age 8 and younger. Let me tell you, for as big as the group was, the kids were so great!!! The older kids really helped with the younger ones and all had a great time. We had so much fun together!

Yippee for yards!!

It all started over a month ago when Corky and I started prepping our back yard with a sprinkling system. Lots of raking, digging, pushing, pulling, and all that other fun stuff that comes along with the lovely Arizona clay! FINALLY this weekend, we were able to have some sod brought down to us. Jared, my older brother, helped us out in a serious way. We had to order the grass from St. George because there aren't any sod farms close by, and the one we were going to go through in Las Vegas fell through. So Jared helped us by picking up our rental trailer, going to the sod farm to load the grass, then driving it all the way to Kingman. Since he was coming, my mom and step dad decided to follow as well to spend the weekend with us. We love having company, and even better, my mom got to play in a softball tournament with me on Saturday.



It was a great weekend! The weather was excellent and we kept busy. Between games we were home helping Corky lay the grass! The girls had a blast with Grandpa Ron, Uncle J, Sierra, and their dog. As you can sort of see in pictures, the girls were filthy!



Everyone was so worn out but it was so worth it.

We have made full use of our lawn the last 3 days. We have enjoyed picnics, running around, and spreading out blankets to read books. Most importantly, Corky and Gracey have been practicing their golf swing!

One year older and wiser, too!

Yesterday, Corky and my girls treated me to a great day. The girls actually slept in until about 7:15am and behaved rather well all morning. Minimal fights, lots of playing, and lots of cartoons. Of course, some duties of motherhood don't stop just because it one's birthday. Breakfast and lunch needed to be made and laundry needed to be done, but I didn't mind.

The only pictures that were taken were at dinnertime. I was in the mood for pizza and so Pizza Hut was my restaurant of choice (the deciding factor being the free coupons we had for the girls to get a free personal pizza). Let me tell you, after years of not having Pizza Hut, it was so good!

Emily and Gracey took turns taking pictures.*


The night ended with Corky, Gracey, and Emily going shopping for a few gifts. Corky said it was all Gracey's idea to get me make-up, so he let the girls loose in the make-up aisle. They each ended picking up some lip-gloss (they know me well) Gracey choosing a lemonade flavor and Emily choosing Strawberry Lip smackers. Who do you think has used it more today? It's okay, I can share.

Corky picked out a new crock-pot for me. I have been in desperate need of a new one. We were already outgrowing my tiny one that I received as a wedding gift, but we were making it work just fine until a few weeks ago when I totally ruined it. The food boiled over, scorching every bit of the electrical part of the crock pot. All the scotch pads in the world couldn't save it.

Thanks Corky, Gracey, and Emily for a great birthday!

*Do you notice my white face mask? I played softball all weekend was real good about applying sunblock except I didn't get high enough into my hairline! Happens every year!

The progression of a flower-picker!

This little lady is loving all the spring flowers that have been blooming lately. Thanks to the season, my dining table has been adorned with fresh flowers for almost 4 straight weeks. From my sweet husband picking me up some Easter Lilies (my favorite) a few weeks ago, to my visiting teacher bringing me a fresh bouquet from her garden, then to all the wildflowers and weeds that are most often brought in as a gift by a certain 4 year old....I love them all!

A few weeks ago I looked out the window to see Gracey beginning the process of gifting me with flowers. I hid on my mom's balcony with my camera to capture the sweetness of it all that morning.

The gathering of the flowers. Notice the pile on the ground? Apparently those ones weren't good enough.


Oh wait! There's a good one that can't be passed up!


The trek to the balcony, bouquet in tote!


The presentation!


And finally, the beautiful display. Perfect amount for an often neglected ice cream sundae dish!

Just because my blog feels lonely, it told me.

I don't have a lot to say, but I am sure this will still end up being long. I am a rambler. Anyone who knows me knows I can talk a lot. So let us just see where this goes.

We have a had a great time the past few weeks. We have managed to go to Phoenix, where Corky took the GMAT and we visited with his family in an all-too-short weekend. We also have gone to St. George where I had a great time with my family. As much fun as it is to get away, it is good to be home. I missed 3 Sundays of Primary in a row and was feeling very disconnected and was honestly missing the kids. It was a nice break and I felt re-energized, but I did miss them. For more reasons than 1, I know this calling is for ME right now. Anyone could do what I do as a Primary President, most people would probably do better. I am nothing extra-ordinary in my calling but I am reminded each week in the tiniest of ways that this calling was given to me, FOR me right now in my life. I am grateful. I am humbled. Most of all, I am really excited because for the first time since I have had this calling, I have had a full roster of teachers.

Corky and I joined a co-ed softball team recently and are having a lot of fun. I either play right field or second base, and I am not particularly excellent at either of them. It has been a really long time. Last night, playing right field, I was literally praying with each batter that the ball wouldn't come to me. My depth perception with pop flies is really, really rusty. My hitting though has been consistent and that is happy news. Our team won and Corky and I have a good time playing together. Times like these though is when I miss living closer to family. I am afraid our babysitters (or their parents) are going to get sick of us asking to babysit so often.

I have ice on my knee right now thanks to softball. A lot of people probably don't know or don't remember that about 4 years ago I had to have my knee completely redone. They had to break my my tibia and re-align my knee. It was a mess and extremely painful. Corky was in Iraq at the time and Gracey was a very active 8 month old. It was a blessing that it all happened at that time because I had so much help from my family. (Thank you Family!) Anyway, long jogs don't cause pain in my knee but I will tell you something....running those bases in a full on sprint and turning those corners does a number. I am pretty sure that my knee thinks it is 80 years old. It is incredibly stiff and painful.

As much as I would love to continue with my rambling (I wouldn't really) I will spare you all. Thanks for tuning into tiny bits of my life.

That "Dam" Traffic

Yesterday, my girls and I thought we would get a good start on the holiday weekend by going to St. George a day earlier than normal. We decided to go over the Hoover Dam since it is usually the fastest way to go, but only as long as you don't have traffic. I was sure that we were a day ahead of the holiday traffic, not to mention it was still early in the day, we would be fine.

The drive was nice and smooth. There were hardly any cars on the road....until 5 miles BEFORE the dam! All of the sudden we were at a complete stop. I was stressing because I had to pee, Gracey had to pee, and Emily has only been completely out of diapers for 5 days now. So we wait it out. Meanwhile, I am searching for diapers for my girls to pee in if we get desperate, even contemplating the use of an empty Tupperware bowl that I was returning to my mom!

Finally, after 40 minutes and moving only about 1,000 feet, I decide to turn around and backtracked 100 miles to Kingman. I didn't even go home. I immediately just took another route to get to Las Vegas. We did stop in Kingman to go to the restroom and to fill up the gas tank. (My girls were so patient!) I told Corky that there is nothing like filling the car up in Kingman.....and then filling the car up in Kingman only a few hours later!

So what should have been a 3 1/2-4 hour drive, turned in a 7 hour drive.

I will also report, Emily stayed dry the entire time. I stayed on top of that by stopping 3 different times, but I was so proud of her.

And my final comment/question - What in the world did we do as kids without portable DVD players? What a life saver!!!!!!

Those baby blues.

Sometimes I am crazy, busy, tired, non-creative, and boring. Those are a few words that I would use to describe how I feel some days.

Then sometimes happiness, love, humility, and gratefulness just don't seem good enough.

I love those moments that words just cannot describe.

Oops!

I will start by saying how much I really love conference. I love hearing the talks and reading them later on, and this weekend I am especially glad to finally have DVR because I can re-watch them.*

I am sure people can relate to this more than I really think. You know, trying to concentrate on these beloved leaders and drink up every last word they have to say, knowing someone will say something that is just for you. All while trying to play referee to the two little ones that seem to have a fight over everything they can get their hands on. Then you laugh (and roll your eyes) at yourself because while a church leader on TV is encouraging patience and love, you are screaming "BE QUIET!!!!! YOU'RE DRIVING ME CRAZY!" Yep, that was me. After the first session was over, which I am pretty sure I don't even remember who spoke, I got up and said to Corky sarcastically, "Well that was a good session!" He nicely reminded me that this is just our life right now. I gladly accept (on most days).

So for the 5th and final session of conference, we put the girls down for a nap. Corky and I were excited to have some quiet time to be able to finally focus and listen. Can you guess what happened?? Our quiet 2 hours of spirituality turned into a 2 hour nap. We both woke up during the final choir song and I couldn't believe that it was all over. Something about those General Authorities slow and soothing voices always does it. Apparently President Monson spoke because when I woke up, Gracey was sitting quietly and patiently at the table coloring and she told me that she had just watched him talk.

Of course, as soon as conference was over, both of my girls sat through and watched the entire movie of "The Other Side of Heaven" with us.

*So "re-watching" is probably not the right word. Truth be told, I will be watching some for the first time!

Let it be known

Emily has been using the toilet every day this past week! It is still sporadic because I haven't had the time to dedicate my focus only on her using the bathroom, but we are pretty excited. Only about a month ago she wouldn't go anywhere near the toilet. Out of the blue she changed her mind and began to just sit on it. That was cool with me, it was one step closer. But finally this week she began to actually do something....#1 and #2 in fact! (she'll love reading that when she is older!)

I realize full well that this might not last long and it still may be a while before she is out of diapers. I am just excited to see some kind of light at the end of our Huggie Tunnel!

The circus came to town.

Talk about rickety! Holy moly!

We picked up some free tickets to the circus that was in town yesterday, a whopping 5 dollar value for the kids. What we got free was made up for in price for the adult tickets. Oh well, live and learn.

This little circus quite literally was falling apart. You all know what the "Wheel of Death" is right? That ball that the motorcycle guy rides around in? After only a few short seconds of being in there, one of the stability beams came down. Luckily, nobody was hurt and my children weren't traumatized!

We enjoyed watching Gracey laugh hysterically at the clown that only knew enough English words to go along with his jokes. We also found out that Emily wants no part in eating cotton candy. And lastly, that I can barely handle the tight rope walker. One false move and that could have been really bad.

But the girls had a good time and that is what matters most.

Shake and Bake!

This last weekend my sister Bailey, and her husband Skyler came for a visit. I didn't tell the girls that they were coming so it was a fun surprise. Friday morning I asked Gracey and Emily to go into the guest bedroom for me before we ate breakfast. They were confused but minded well and were so excited to see who was visiting!

We loved having them here. Gracey and Emily adore them and we had a good time hanging out, eating good food, and playing.

We were sad to see them go and thought it was super cool of them to visit us in Kingman.

Before the meals, we had to do some re-arranging so that Gracey and Emily could both sit by their aunt Baye.

Just as they were about to leave, Emily got this real sad face and said to Bailey, "I wantch to come witch you!"

"Shake"

"And Bake"

Whole Wheat Pizza

This was so good. I am telling you, the best homemade pizza dough I have ever tasted or handled. And I have experimented with plenty, trust me on that one. Never until now have I fallen in love with any of them.

I got this recipe from the beloved AllRecipes and only tweaked its baking time slightly. As far as the ingredients go, they didn't chance at all.

Here is the recipe for you all to enjoy. (with my changes included.) For the original baking times and directions, just click here.

Whole Wheat and Honey Pizza Dough


INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp)
1 cup warm water
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon honey


DIRECTIONS

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
In a large bowl combine flour, wheat germ and salt. Make a well in the middle and add honey and yeast mixture. Stir well to combine. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours. The dough will rise while the yeast is still warm.

After the dough has rested for while, roll dough on a floured pizza pan and poke a few holes in it with a fork.

Bake in 425 degree preheated oven for 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from oven and add toppings. Bake for another 10 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown!

If you need proof, here it is.

Emily thought it was "finger-lickin" good!


Skyler kept trying to steal Emily's pizza.

The addition.

When I first walked through this house a year ago, I hated it. I suppose hate is a strong word, but I didn't want it. It wasn't an ugly house or anything, it just didn't have a pantry. Getting out of the army and being somewhere more permanent, I was on a crusade to build my food storage and have room for it. So when this was house #1 out of 11 houses we looked at in a single day, I gave it no thought. It didn't have a pantry....I didn't want it.

Turns out, we didn't fall in love with any of the other houses. So we went back to California totally stressed and worried. To make a long story short, after much prayer and answers, we KNEW this house was right for us. The big compromise?? Build our own pantry.

It took us 8 months to get to actually doing it, but it was worth the wait. The builder admits he thought we were crazy and didn't know what we were talking about when we described exactly what we wanted. Happily, he is just as pleased as we are with the results. To everybody that has seen it, it looks like it was meant to be there all along.

So here are some pictures of the process.

*warning* This post is totally boring for the non-enthusiasts.

These were the begginnings. There was no turning back.


It was looking almost finished here. They had just gotten the shelves up and it needed to be painted to match the rest of my borings walls.


The painting.


And finally the finished product (plus a super cutie that was coloring this morning when I took the picture.)


And to show how it matches the rest of our house. This is our guest bedroom that is just opposite of the pantry. The shelf on the top is what we wanted the pantry to match. (and also Gracey. Pictures are always cuter with kids in them!)


Then this is standing in the corner of my living room. That same shelf is in my living room.


From this spot you can see all 3 of those shelves and suprisingly it is more symmetrical now than before. Needless to say, I am HAPPY!

Jailbirds

Last week, Corky occupied the girls while I cooked dinner by sending them to jail!! He would handcuff them with neck-tie, toss them in the slammer, then wait for the escape and do it all over again.

Corky was a good warden, feeding them "jail food" while they were there!

(sweet, fuzzy pictures right?)

Blast from the Past!

Today, as Corky and I were doing what we could to clean out the garage, we only had a few distractions.

Please, everybody tell me they remember roller blades.

I haven't worn my rollerblades in over 6 years....and even 6 years ago the rollerblades were feeling a little "old school!

Corky was an avid roller blader throughout his teenage years and is praying for the comeback!



It was like riding a bike, you just don't forget!

I may or may not have worn my rollerblades around my house for a good hour after this while the girls napped!

A trip to the mountain.

We had a wonderful Saturday!!! I will just start with that.

We got a lot of things done around the house, prepared a picnic, then headed up the road only about 5 miles to enjoy some snow. I keep finding more and more reasons to love where we are living, or at least reasons to reaffirm that I do like it most of the time. There was still snow up in the Hualapais but it was 55 degrees and warm! Since all the picnic tables were covered we just ate in the car.

The girls had PB&J, Corky and I had tuna on whole grain. And we also had Go-Gurts! (like you care, I know....but I just want to remember for some reason.)



Then our girls went sledding until they were soaked!





And then they both threw tantrums when it was time to go. Corky and I just laughed.


It was still a really fun time!

Gracey, the protector!

This morning, after getting the girls dressed and ready for the day, I decided to put a movie on for them. They chose "Monsters Inc" for the millionth time. It is a good one.

After showering and doing my make-up, I came in to see how they were doing. I laughed out loud when I saw this.


Gracey said she was protecting Emily from the scary monsters and Emily was just laughing and laughing about it. These girls absolutely crack me up. I am so happy they are friends. (most of the time)

Gosh, I love these ladies.

They are my favorite.

(photo taken Saturday on the Las Vegas Temple Grounds)

What are the odds?

We had heavy snowfall once again here in Kingman. (And when I mean heavy, I mean 5-6 inches!) The snowstorm we had here in December pretty much happens....like, never! So to get two snowfalls in 2 months makes me think that Kingman doesn't suck so bad! While it has taken some time, I am finally relenting to the fact and admitting that I actually REALLY like it here. And the snow helps.

After the last storm I realized how unprepared I was for the girls in case of an emergency. I decided that even though we live in a desert, I need to make sure my girls have warm snow stuff every year. We are lucky to have some ski-bibs from my cousin that Gracey has been able to use, but Emily had nothing. The day after the storm, I went to Kmart and bought Emily a snowsuit that should fit her for a couple of years and got Gracey some warm mittens.

Needless to say, yesterday was TONS more fun for Emily than the last time.

Kind of makes you think "I can't put my arms down!"


Emily actually got to enjoy sledding this time. Her and Gracey went up and down that hill for an hour and a half.




Then they cried when I forced them to go home but were really hoping that they could build a snowman. So we came home, stripped in the garage and put all of our stuff in the dryer. As soon as Corky got home, we put on our snow stuff again and built a snowman.

The snow melts fast in these parts....we have to cram all the snow activities into one day. :)




Meet Norman. Or like Emily calls him "Mormon"!


While I was running the bath water, Corky was making sure the girls were nice and cozy while warming their feet. (I missed the part where he put their frozen feet on his stomach trying to warm them....maybe we should invest in some snow boots!)