Our 13th Anniversary

Yesterday was our 13th wedding anniversary! I love him more and more with each passing day. He started out as a mystery to me, a stranger.....this tall, dark, handsome man, somewhat quiet and reserved. However, as I started discovering all of the intricate pieces of him, I fell in love with him. I saw a man who would open my car door and take me out for a drive with all of the windows rolled down because he knows that I love car drives. A man who listens to me talk on and on about anything for hours just to spend time together. A man who wrote letters for me from the very beginning, that I still cherish to this day.

As we started out as strangers, we quickly grew into a couple, fell in love, got engaged after 6 months of dating, and 11 months after our engagement we  were married.  He is my best friend, one I can trust and confide in.  He is also a wonderful father to our 3 girls.  A man who would sit up all hours of the night rocking our babies back to sleep until he himself also fell asleep in the rocking chair. A man who works as hard as possible to take care of his family, to put food on the table and keep a roof over our heads. A man who remembers the important things, and always holds my hand, who unwittingly cracks himself up, and always knows how to bring a smile to my face.

We have celebrated successes, comforted each other through failures. Celebrated new lives born, mourned loved ones lost. We have had job changes, housing changes, location changes. There have been lots of changes over the years. But I’m thankful that our love for each other hasn’t changed. It has only grown and strengthened, and he is still the only one for me. I have never felt my love for him waiver. There has never been anyone else on my mind or in my heart. There has only ever been him! I love him more than words can express, and I am SO thankful for him.

I want to thank him for always being a supportive husband, for always encouraging me in everything that I do. Thank you for always being a positive role model for our kids. You are loving and nurturing to them and even though you work long hours and late nights you are still very involved in their lives. Thank you for choosing me. I hope we have many more years together...Happy 13th Anniversary!
 

Disneyland

We surprised the girls with a trip to Disneyland.....they were sooooo excited!

On Saturday November 29th we headed to Saint George to stay with my parents for a night. The following morning we ate breakfast and headed to California. The drive was insane. What was supposed to take around 6 1/2 hours to arrive took about 9 because traffic was so bad....

We checked into the Disneyland Hotel and headed up to our room. We had an awesome room in the Fantasy Hotel on the 4th floor, room 2235 to be exact. It was perfect! It had a view of Downtown Disney and we were able to see fireworks from our room every night IF we didn't want to watch them in the park...

This Gingerbread house was in the hotel lobby:

This was the headboard to our beds. It lit up and played "when you wish upon a star." The girls loved it!
                                     

On Monday we were able to get early entrance to California Adventure and we took turns on the new Cars Ride Radiator Springs. Aaron went with Emma and I waited with Livi and Abby (she was too short to ride). Then when they finished Livi and I went and rode while Aaron and Emma stayed with Abby. I am SO glad we got there early enough for fast passes, because that was the only time we were able to ride it. It was fun to ride once with fast passes, but I would never wait the typical 2 hour wait to ride it without fast passes, that's crazy to me.

We spent the majority of the day at CA. We were able to meet Daisy Duck:

Abby got to meet her FAVORITE cartoon character Doc McStuffins. Abby was so happy that Doc gave her a check-up...

On Tuesday we decided to do Disneyland, and I was able to snag fast passes for the girls to meet Anna and Elsa. As of right now, if you don't get fast passes for them, then you don't get to see them at all. I had to run (walk briskly) in the park to a fast pass waiting line that was located behind the castle and I ended up waiting for about 20 minutes to get fast passes. Aaron walked with the girls and the stroller while I ran. It was worth it in the end, because the girls were so happy that they got to meet them and they got to see Olaf too.

Olaf

On Wednesday we were supposed to go to SeaWorld, which we had tickets for. The girls said they didn't want to do SeaWorld because they wanted to do Disney and California Adventure. So, Aaron and I were OK with that. Neither one of us wanted to drive to San Diego after the horrible traffic experience we had getting to California. So I called the travel agency I booked with and had them cancel and refund our tickets to SeaWorld. We then extended our park hopper an extra day, which surprisingly was CHEAPER than our original tickets to SeaWorld. It was a rainy day at the park. There were a few showers. So during one of the bad rain showers we went to the movie theater that was at Downtown Disney and we all saw Big Hero 6. The kids loved it, it was a cute movie which we will be buying when it comes out on blue ray.... After the movie we went to the parks, but we were prepared. I had purchased rain ponchos before we left because I was watching the weather forecast. There were a few more rain showers, BUT it wasn't bad if you had ponchos. The rain cleared out the parks and the rides were basically walk on rides, with very little waiting---like 5 minute wait at the longest. We met Captain Hook on this rainy day:

On Thursday we spent the majority of the time at Disneyland. We got our souvenir shopping done on the very last day. With 3 kids I am sooooo glad we stayed and did another Disney/California Adventure park hopper instead of SeaWorld. We barely got everything accomplished that we wanted to. Definitely plan at least another 4 day park hopper next time and MAYBE a day at SeaWorld....the girls were so happy that they got to meet so many different characters. The only main character we didn't get a picture with was Donald.

On our first day there we got to eat at Goofy's Kitchen, which the girls absolutely loved. The characters came around to everyone's table and visited with the kids for a few minutes, so we had to take some pictures...

The lobby at The Grand Californian Hotel:

 A REAL 6 foot gingerbread house:

 Here are some more pictures from our trip:

We are big Nightmare Before Christmas fans. Apparently Jack and Sally don't come out much together, because Sally's make-up is very time consuming. So when we saw them out together we HAD to get pictures with them.

On Friday we checked out and headed back to my parents house in Saint George. The girls were so excited to tell grandma and grandpa about their trip. On Friday night my mom took me and the girls to the Dickens Christmas Festival at the Saint George Convention Center and Saturday morning we headed home. The girls loved looking at all the different booths.....we had a fun trip....

We also have decided when we go back to Disneyland we will definitely be going during Christmas time again. We all just loved the atmosphere and decorations during the Christmas season...

Christmas Tree in Cars Land

Halloween...

Halloween this year was on a Friday. I knew Aaron would be working late so I decided when the girls got out of school we would head up to Papa's house and visit for a little bit, so that's what we did. After spending some time there the girls and I went and picked up some dinner from Carl's Junior and headed over to Mandi and Chris's house.

We ate dinner and then at about 6:30 we all went trick-or-treating. I think the girls had a blast trick-or-treating with their cousins. Aaron ended up getting off work earlier than expected and he was able to meet us and trick-or-treat with the girls for about 45 minutes. It was nice having him be able to come, since we didn't think he would be able to. The girls ended up with a ton of candy. It overflowed their buckets, so we poured all their candy into a pillowcase. We then decided to weigh it, and it was roughly 11.5 lbs. We had a ton of candy. Quite a bit of it I sent with Aaron to work to give out to his coworkers. It was all the candy we don't eat. Like Gobstoppers, Milky Ways, Baby Ruth's, Mounds, and 3 Musketeers. I have a feeling we still have too much candy and most likely won't ever get thru all of it, but the kids had fun. That's the most candy we have ever gotten. As a matter of fact I don't think my sisters and I ever got that much growing up...

The girls each picked out their own costume this year. Here is Emma as Queen Elsa, Livi as Princess Anna, and Abby as Doc Mcstuffins...

Our upcoming Disneyland trip...

Aaron and I have planned a trip to Disneyland (a 3 day park hopper), and also to SeaWorld, and the kids have NO idea. We have been keeping this secret for quite awhile now and it is soooo dang hard. I had to book our reservations after the kids went to bed, because it seems every time I got on the internet one of the kids would walk up behind me and I didn't want this surprise ruined....

We will be stopping in Saint George on our way there to spend the night at my parents house. The kids will have fun spending some time with their grandparents. They think visiting their grandparents is all we are doing. However, the next morning we will be on our way to California. We were originally going to just drive to Disneyland and have them be surprised when we checked into our hotel. However, now that Emma is reading so well and she is in 2nd grade, we knew that wouldn't be an option the second we drove into California. I am sure there are billboards everywhere for Disneyland in California and I know Emma would figure it out quite fast. So with that option scratched out I decided I would write a little poem for Emma to read aloud to her sisters. I have the poem broken up into paragraphs and each paragraph is on a separate piece of paper, so Emma couldn't skim to the bottom and cheat lol....here is what I have come up with so far:

Dear Emma, Livi, and Abby, 

What will you do today?

Go to school, do homework, and play?

Or maybe get in the car, and drive away somewhere far?

We are going away to a hotel to stay,

And you will have some very fun exciting days.

It’s a place where you all want to go,

Where there isn’t any cold white snow.

It’s a place in the west with a very big castle,

And getting there shouldn’t be much of a hassle.

There are rides and parades and fun to be had,

And you will get to go with your sisters, mom and dad.

The place has a great big mouse as a pet, 

So tell me now, have you guessed it yet?

We are going somewhere grand. We are going to.....Disneyland!

We packed our bags from our house, now let’s go see Mickey Mouse...

The car is waiting, so hurry, get dressed...

We are visiting Mickey, Minnie and all of the rest.

I might make a few changes here and there but that is pretty close to what it will say....

I am sooooo stinkin' excited. I have been to Disneyland several times growing up, and several times since being married. Only once since having kids though, and I was 6 months pregnant with Abby at the time. However, I have never been during the holiday season and I am so excited to see all the holiday decorations. holiday lights, and holiday parades. I just hope it doesn't rain...

These are pictures I took off of google that shows the Disneyland Castle all lit up for the holidays:

and here is a picture of It's a Small World ride all lit up:

Goodbye to our beautiful Nana...

News about our Nana....
Nana's health deteriorated fast,  unbeknownst to us. At first the doctor's said she will be around for at least 5 years and if she was lucky then she might even make it to 10 years. Then they changed their opinion and said she had 6 months - 1 year. Then they changed their mind again and said she only had a week or two left with us. We saw her the Saturday before she passed away (October 11th) and she seemed to be doing pretty good.. However, on Friday October 17th, Aaron, me, Mandi, and Chris stayed the night at Nana's and Papa's house because hospice said she was fading quickly. Our girls stayed at Mandi and Chris's  house with Chris's parents and sisters. She passed away on Saturday October 18th at 1:15am with the 4 of us (and Phil) by her side.

We all got to say our goodbyes, which I am sooooo thankful for.  I loved and still love her SO much. It was so hard to see her breathing slow down and to see her take her final breath. However, I am soooo thankful for being there when she passed. I am glad I could be there for her final moments on earth and her final moments with us. She loved her family so much, and we loved her so much. She always put family first. You could call on her anytime, day or night. whenever you needed. She truly was an angel on earth. I could have never asked for a better mother-in-law. She was the best.

Phil had Aaron and Mandi plan most of the funeral. I tagged along when I could. We had to make arrangements with the funeral home, pick out a casket, a headstone, floral arrangements, and write an obituary. It was the hardest thing I have ever been thru. I have never been this close to anyone that has passed on. She was a Mother to me. Always treated me with love and kindness from day 1. It has been so hard to see her health decline. The girls loved her soooo much (I did too of course), but it is so hard to talk about death to the girls with someone they were so close to. I think Emma and Livi realize that Nana is gone from this earth forever, but I don't think Abby does. I know they are upset, but I don't think they know how to cope. I have told them that it is OK to cry, but we have to remember all the fun times and happy memories we have of Nana.

I miss her sooo much. It has been so hard to visit Papa the last couple days and go into their house and not see Nana. I walk in and expect to see her walking down the hall, standing in the kitchen, or sitting on the couch. It's not the same without her, nor will it ever be. There's a huge hole in my heart. People who have lost loved ones have told me it will get easier with time, BUT I just don't see how. The only thing that makes me feel better is thinking that the reason she HAD to leave us was because her grandson Joshua needed her up there in Heaven with him. I HAVE to believe that, otherwise I get upset knowing she has 5 other grandchildren down here on earth that needed her too. Her funeral was beautiful. It was a beautiful sunny day, and no need of a coat. That's the type of weather she would be working in her garden in, which she loved to do. She would've loved today's weather. She looked so beautiful, but she always did. I will always love her and miss her and think about her every day.

Nana holding Emma in the hospital

 Nana holding Livi in the hospital

 Nana holding Abby in the hospital

and here is another one of her holding Livi. I love this picture because Nana is looking directly into the camera.