You Gotta Love Southwest!

I'm supposed to be at the airport right now - all by myself, reading a book and maybe splurging on a Vanilla Bean or Caramel Apple Cider from Starbucks. But, alas, I'm not.... here's the story -

Back in September my cousin, Heidi, called me to see if I'd figured out what I was getting my mom for Christmas. Of course, I don't start shopping that early, so I could say, "nope, not a clue!" Well, she had this brilliant idea - we buy tickets for us and our moms to Time Out for Women and we make it a Girl's Only Escape Weekend. So, through weeks of planning, we decided to meet in San Diego today (Jan 31) to spend the weekend in Southern California and go to TOFW. Our itinerary was to fly into LAX today and then spend tomorrow at Disneyland. On Saturday we would go to TOFW and do a session at the San Diego Temple. Then we would fly home on Sunday. It was an excellent plan and the moms were THRILLED when we unveiled the plan on Christmas.

So fast forward 4 weeks and it was Monday night. I'm cooking dinner and get a frantic call from Heidi (who lives in Ohio). She just found out that Deseret Book cancelled TOFW because it would conflict with President Hinckley's Funeral Services. Apparantly, many of the "presenters" wanted to attend the funeral. Anyway, this put us in a real mess. They rescheduled TOFW for the weekend of May 10. So, my cousin and I both got on the phone to see what it would take to change our airline tickets to the correct weekend and cancel hotel reservations. The hotels were very understanding and one (which was supposed to be pre-paid, non-refundable) let us cancel and not charge us for it. United Airlines on the other hand made Heidi's life a nightmare. She couldn't fly Southwest because her airport doesn't service them. She is going to have to pay almost $200 to change her airline ticket to the new weekend. I, on the other hand, called Southwest, explained the dilemma and they said, "no problem. We've cancelled your reservation (2 days prior to the flight) and put a credit for the ticket price in your account. When you are ready to schedule the new flight, call us back and we can apply your credit to the cost of the new ticket." How's that for service? And I bought the cheapest ticket available online... not the refundable one. The one with the most restrictions! You just can't beat that for customer service!

So, I'm sitting here, trying not to daydream about my completely kid free afternoon at the airport... 90 minutes on a plane (all by myself)... and a great weekend in Southern California with my mom, cousin, and aunt. Instead I'm planning the tiling job we are now hoping to get done this weekend, since I'm suddenly available. Of course, Eric is sick, so it may not happen, but I'm going to need a big project to take my mind away from dreaming of Southern California Fun!

And I'm NEVER again going to buy tickets for a TOFW event unless it is in Phoenix. We hoped that Deseret Book would be willing to give us a refund on our tickets and let us attend in May free of charge to offset the cost of changing our travel plans, but no deal. When I called to plead my case, she patiently explained that they had already received several requests from others in the same dilemma that we were in and they had a strict "no refund" policy! What a load of (insert your own expletive here) !!!!!

I knew I liked this guy....

I recently bought a book at Sam's Club by Glenn Beck, called An Inconvenient Book. I really LIKE it! Glenn Beck is a convert to the church and conservative and on TV everyday (I think it's CNN, but I can never remember....) On top of all that he's very entertaining. He likes to make jokes, poke fun at people and get in their faces... that's why the following video was so touching!

Bed Head

This is what Brayden's hair looked like after his nap yesterday .....

I think Eric is jealous - he has no hair and all his boys have more than their fair share!

Beloved Prophet Passes On....

The official Church press release on LDS.org :

"Beloved Church President, Gordon B. Hinckley, Dies at 97 in Salt Lake City on 27 January, 2008. President Gordon B. Hinckley, who led The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through twelve years of global expansion, has died at the age of 97. President Hinckley was the 15th president in the 177-year history of the Church and had served as its president since 12 March 1995. The Church president died at his apartment in downtown Salt Lake City at 7:00 p.m. Sunday night from causes incident to age. Members of his family were at his bedside. A successor is not expected to be formally chosen by the Church’s Quorum of the Twelve Apostles until after President Hinckley’s funeral within the next few days. "

For the full story, click here: http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/beloved-church-president-gordon-b-hinckley-dies-at-97

It was sad news last night when we heard about President Hinckley passing away. I sensed at the last general conference that his time was short. He didn't give the usual "opening" and "closing" remarks and his talk was very short. He was a great man and will be missed! Although it's sad news that he is gone, it makes me happy to know that he's finally been reunited with his wife, whom he loved more than anyone. Here's an excerpt from her funeral (almost 4 years ago)....

"When in some future day the hand of death gently touches one or the other of us, there will be tears, yes," said son Clark B. Hinckley, reading a letter his father wrote his mother after nearly 60 years of marriage. "But there will also be a quiet and certain assurance of reunion and eternal companionship."

That's what it's all about, right? Being reunited with our loved ones for eternity. That's what makes this journey we call "life" so worthwile.... Sheri Dew had this to say at Sister Hinckley's funeral and I think it applies to both of them. I don't think she would disagree.....

“When I learned that Sister Hinckley had slipped through the veil, I had a flood of emotions, but through my tears I also felt a sweet jubilation. I couldn’t help but think, she did it! She did what she came here to do, and she did it magnificently, for she left everywhere she went and everyone she met better than she found them."

A Great Weekend!

This weekend has been much anticipated by Eric and I for a couple weeks now. We babysat overnight for some friends on their anniversary, so they offered to repay the favor for us, even though our anniversary was last month. Well, hey, 15 years is a big one, so we decided it definately couldn't hurt to celebrate twice!!!

I used our Hilton Points (Eric accumulates them when he travels for work) to book a room at the Hilton Squaw Peak Resort in North Phoenix (for the locals, it's on 16th street, just north of Glendale Ave.) It was a fun place and would be great to bring the kids in the summertime. There is a HUGE water park area behind the hotel! We went out to dinner at Cheesecake Factory on Friday night, and Eric gave me my Valentine's Day gift 3 weeks early - a new 8 GB ipod Nano in RED!!! I LOVE IT!!! He wanted me to have it on my upcoming trip next weekend... (more on that later this week...)

Saturday, we went Geocaching for the first time. Eric got a portable GPS unit a few months ago (one of those "necessary" purchases when you are a scoutmaster!) and we've heard how fun geocaching can be. We found a "cache" in NE Scottsdale, that was in the desert and you could ride bikes most of the way. So, we took our bikes and headed out there... boy was it "out" there... probably 5-6 miles North of Frank Lloyd Wright and 7-8 miles East of Scottsdale Rd. We had a great time, burned lots of calories biking on a sandy, dirt road, and found the cache very easily! If you want to learn more about "geocaching" go to this website to read all about it: http://geocaching.com/

It's always nice to get a break from the routine to refresh and recharge! It's even better to have unlimited time to talk with your spouse and not be interupted by kids... oh wait, we did get interrupted on Friday night when Taylor sent us several text messages asking us when we were coming home... we answered back, "NEVER!"

Of course, we were kidding.....

Glendale's Got Game

Yes, the superbowl is coming to Phoenix.... well Glendale to be specific. This is the first time the valley has hosted the superbowl since the 90's and definately the first time post 9/11. For the last year, our news have been giving us tidbits on how we are getting ready for the big day. Glendale has never hosted before, so they are really excited about it all. We've heard some of the goofiest news stories about gearing up for the big game, such as how the airports will accomdate all the private planes and leer jets coming in for the week (because you know that only the SUPER rich can afford superbowl tickets), and how people in Scottsdale and Paradise Valley are renting out their homes for the week at the modest price tag of $1,000 a night. (These are Blackhawk type homes... my house would probably only go for a couple hundred a night....) and how Scottsdale is literally cleaning every street in the busy shopping districts so it looks clean (and they are putting extra cops in the area to keep druggies and hookers out of sight from our out of town guests)... but I think this story takes the prize... who knew that Glendale would have to worry about this.... click below to watch the one minute clip about Glendale preparing for the "Big Flush".... it's pretty funny!

http://www.kpho.com/video/14513283/index.html

Too bad I'll be leaving town next weekend to meet my mom, cousin and aunt in Southern California to attend Time Out for Women in San Diego! I'm going to miss all the excitement!

Personal Hygeine 101

We all know that moms wear many hats. In any given day, I'm a chef, chauffeur, cook, maid, organizer, tutor, etc... etc... But there is one area of motherhood I seem to have failed. My kids don't have any concept of personal hygeine whatsoever!!!

Two days in a row this weekend, my 13 year old son has left the house for the day without brushing his teeth! This is GROSS! He has dragon breath when he hasn't brushed his teeth. Isn't he supposed to be impressing girls at this age? Maybe this is a good thing for me because the minute a girl gets close enough to talk to him, he'll send her screaming for the hills with his breath! It's not just the teeth, either. He has zits already, but he won't wash his face unless we NAG him. And Eric NAGS him constantly!!! Eric had really bad acne as a teen and doesn't want our kids to go through that, but they just don't seem to care! And, even worse, the other day Eric asked Taylor if he'd remembered to "D-up" (that's our nickname for deoderant), and the 13 year old boy said, "I didn't do it today because I took a shower." HELLO??!!??? What have we been teaching our kids over here??? It seems to be the case with all the kids here... they could care less about it. Megan has to be reminded every day to "D-up", even though she's been using it for quite a while! She's also been known to leave the house without brushing her hair.... and getting that girl to take a shower! She hates doing it, yet once she's in the shower, she spends 30 minutes doing who knows what! Ian hates to brush his teeth, and will often lie and tell me he's done it when he really hasn't. He is also notorious for taking a 30 minute shower and coming out of the bathroom with dry hair that smells dirty. Yes, you understood that right... 30 minutes and not a drop of soap touched his body! Does anybody out there offer some kind of "doomsday" class about personal hygeine? I think my kids need to be scared spitless - every othe technique on earth isn't doing a thing!!!

Okay - rant over - it seems to be the popular theme of the day on blogs I've looked at this morning! :) On the plus side, the phone guy came out and fixed my phone yesterday. He was supposed to charge me $50 for the job, but since it took him 5 minutes, he gave it to me as a freebie. He even told me what to tell the Cox Customer Service person who would call to do a survey on my experience with the repairman. Can I even remember what was really wrong with it, let alone the cover story? Heck no.... will I give him a "10" for a job well done? Absolutely!

You're Allergic to WHAT?!?

I have a lifelong history of allergies and asthma. Yes, it sucks, but it's life - what are you going to do? I first developed allergies and asthma as a kid and I remember using medication for both all the way through high school. Then, I left for college and living in a new state after 18 years of the same thing gave my body a break. My A & A went away. Gone... but my allergies didn't come back until I'd been in a 2nd non-home state for almost 3 years. Turns out I really had a problem with the orange stuff that grows on the Utah mountains in the fall. It's gorgeous, I know, but I'm allergic to it! So, we graduated from BYU and moved back to CA... no allergies again for a couple years. This was great! I'm thinking that maybe I "outgrew" them and it's a thing of the past! Then, one year, I get sick. Really sick... bronchitis that later becomes walking pneumonia... and then the doctor asks me if I'm an asthmatic. "No," I say, "well, I had asthma as a kid, but it hasn't surfaced since high school...., so I must have outgrown it!" The dr. laughs... and says, "you don't outgrow asthma. Once an asthmatic, always an asthmatic!" Great, Im thinking.... we're together for life! But then, once again another move to another state and I get a repreive. Not much, but a little... of course, AZ is an allergy hotspot, but it's supposed to be great for asthma because of the dry air. Humidity is an asthmatic's worst enemy! But after being here almost 3 years, my allergies and asthma are worse than they have EVER been in my whole life. I've been sick and miserable all winter (since September) and I can't figure out what triggered this sudden onslaught of misery! Then it hit me.... the guinea pig! We got a guinea pig in August for Ian's 7th birthday and I'm totally thinking I'm allergic to him. But he's so darn cute! So, will I sound like a complete pyscopath if I call my doctor and ask if there is an allergy test for guinea pigs??? And even if there is a test out there for it, and even if it comes back positive, what am I going to do about it? Get rid of cute little Tony (whom EVERYONE in this family adores?) Of course not...... any advice out there???

I love to scrapbook....

It's a daunting task that I've created for myself... back when I had two kids I started scrapbooking, so it seemed logical to make a book for each of them. Then I decided that when they were grown AND responsible I would give them the books I've toiled so many hours over. Then it dawned on me that when I gave them their books, I wouldn't have any to look over, so I started a set for me. So now that my family has grown, I've taken on 5 sets of scrapbooks. Yes, I'm crazy, but I love doing it. No, I don't think I'll ever switch to digital scrappin'... there's something very theraputic about the actual cuting and pasting. Bloggin's my digital scrapbook, anyway! Every Friday morning some friends and I have a standing "date" with the stickers and trimmer. This last Friday I started our trip to Disneyland 2 year ago... yes, I'm behind, but I'm slowly catching up thanks to our Friday morning sessions. I put together a Disney page that I LOVE.....

This layout captures my style. I like to keep it simple - solid color paper, a few stickers, but not too many and LOTS of photos. The pictures are what it's all about! Now I just need to make four more just like it!

Journal Jar

This week, I've been cleaning out drawers and cupboards that have been collecting stuff (aka junk!) and found a "journal jar". It's a quart sized mason jar with a million strips of paper on it that has questions that you can answer than will help you put together an interesting story of your life. I've decided that once a week, I'm going to pull out a slip of paper and blog my answer.... here goes:

Question: Were you ever in a play? Which one? When?

Short Answer: Yes, Snow White, 5th grade.

Long Answer: So when I was in Elementary School (Eugene Padan Elementary, aka Padan) we had the most amazing music teacher. This was before California Education had to cut music due to lack of funds. Her name was Mrs. Blair. She was also LDS, but I don't think I knew that while I was in Elementary School. Anyway, every year she put on a big musical production and she called the club that sponsored these events "Kids R Music". We all had these totally 80's tshirts with a cool 80's logo on them... and I was always involved in the show, but never on stage. I sang in the chorus mostly. One year, my brother (Adam) tried out for a speaking part in the play (Snow White) and landed the part of Bashful. Isn't that cute? He actually did a really good job, but didn't really "speak" that much, because you know Bashful was really shy. I don't remember how it actually happened, but Mrs. Blair needed extra kids to be on stage as forest animals. No speaking required, just being cute, etc. So, I did it. I can't remember if someone came to me and asked me to do it, or if I volunteered of my own free will and choice, but in the end, I was cast as a "skunk". If I had known the ramifications of that for the rest of my life in Elementary School, I would have backed out and never gone back. The other kids were bunnies, squirrels, deer, etc. and yet Mrs. Blair thought I could handle being a skunk! (Maybe she knew I had "tough skin" even back then, and thought I could handle it!) Anyway, I spent 2 hours on the stage being a skunk. The most memorable moment for me was after Snow White had eaten the apple and we had to go and find the dwarves... we got to pull and tug them across the stage to go find Snow White. A good friend of mine was cast in the role as Dopey. We teased each other about the play for years... she called me "skunky" and I retorted right back with "at least I wasn't Dopey!" I'm sure my mom has pictures somewhere from this event - especially since both her children were on stage performing together - something that never happened again! What did I learn from this experience? Stay behind the scenes - it's a much better place to be!

My phone hasn't rung since Tuesday night....

... when the Direct TV guy was here installing our new High Def Satallite stuff... sadly, I didn't even realize until last night that we were having phone problems! So, I've been phoneless for over 2 days and didn't have a clue - if you've been trying to get in touch with me, I still have email and check it frequently and I can always be reached on my cell. For now, I'm going to enjoy the quiet bliss that not having a phone can bring! :) Now I just need to make a "No Soliciting" sign for my door....

I can't take credit for coming up with this one....

Can't Decide if you want a Mormon President?

Or a Black President?

Or a Woman President?

Introducing Gladys Knight - a Midnight Train To Georgia we can all get behind!!!

I saw this on a blog a few weeks ago (can't remember who it was to give credit to...) and LOVED it! Don't forget to vote in the upcoming Primary Elections!!!

Foot In Mouth Disease

One of my favorite movies is "You've Got Mail". One of the conversations in the movie I love most is when Meg Ryan is confronted with a "horrible, mean" person (Tom Hanks) and can't come up with any nasty retorts to the snide remarks he throws her way. Later she emails him and confesses that she's never any good at "comebacks" in that situation. He confesses to her that being able to be "mean or nasty" isn't good either- it never makes you feel better when you tell someone off. Later in the movie, she finally gets to tell him off good and proper and she discovers that he was right - afterwards she felt terrible. It wasn't worth the glory of the moment....

I find I'm often in the situation that she found herself. I never know what to say in the heat of the moment to tell someone off when they really deserve it. But, just as Kathleen Kelly (Meg) discovered in the coffee shop, being rude to people never makes you feel better, even when they deserve it!

I never like to admit this about myself, but I think deep down I am a "peacemaker". I would rather die than intentionally hurt someone else's feelings! When I was younger, I had very tough skin... it took a lot for someone to hurt my feelings. I think because of that, I can accidentally "push the line" too far with people. Sometimes my "jokes" or "sarcasm" cross the line and it's at those times that I wish I could crawl into a hole and die!

What's the point of this long ramble??? All day, I've had the feeling that I may have hurt someone's feelings, but I don't know for sure.... I just have this feeling in the pit of my stomach and I'm not even really sure who've I've offended (if it's anyone at all!) But confession is good for the soul, and maybe because I've posted this for all the world to see it will help me check my "sarcasm" a bit more and use a bit more restraint in potentially hurtful situations! Remember that old adage - Think before you Speak!

Blog Language

I learned a new word today - "blurker" - based on the context it was used, I'm assuming it means "blog lurker" which to me, means when you read a complete stranger's blog (and even go so far as to read the comments... gasp!) Yes, that's what I was doing! I regularly read about 14 blogs of complete strangers... I've found their blogs through friends of friends of friends.... am I the only one out there who does this? And to answer one allegation thrown my way, I DO NOT spend hours on the computer every day... I wish I could, though!

One other thing - people like Drea, Hillary, Connie, Kayla.... how do you customize your background? I've been on a website today that gives "step by step" instructions and I still couldn't get it right! ARGH!!! Please help!

Lists

I'm a list person. I have gotten in the habit of making lists every night before bed for the next day. If it's not on my list, it probably won't get done. There's no guarantee that everything on my list will get done in any given day, but when I don't make a list, nothing important gets done at all!

Here's a sample list of what I need to do tomorrow (Tuesday):

• Laundry
• Watch Katie Jones at 9 a.m.
• Finish Taylor's quilt
• Reschedule RS meeting (yes, Dez, if you are reading this, I need to push back to 7:30)
• Wait for Direct TV to come and install high def satalite in my house, yay!
• email Jon (Eric's brother that wrote the awesome story on Eric's birthday - see blog on 12/17/07 and scroll to bottom submission from Jon) - it's his birthday
• Research ideas and hotels for date night with Eric on 25th
• Make calls to schedule Visiting Teaching
• Take Ian to soccer at 6:00 p.m.
• RS meeting at my house at 7:30 p.m. (a clean house would be nice for this, but not essential!)

Renewing my Spirit

Some Sundays are better than others. Today was a good one, and it was even our first week with 9:00 church! Anytime I get to sit through all of Sacrament Meeting without taking Brayden out into the hallway is a complete success in my book! I really enjoyed the talks in Sacrament Meeting, which were based on a conference address from Daniel K. Judd (a member of the General Sunday School presidency). He used to teach at Ricks College and Eric and I both took at least one class from him. I'm pretty sure I took at least 2 or more of his classes and really enjoyed them all! Tidbits I gleaned from the talks today:

*Take time to think about what you learned from a lesson or talk that wasn't spoken outloud.

*If you are listening to a talk or lesson with the spirit, even if the material is delivered poorly, you will feel the spirit and learn something.

*Remember times when you feel powerful manifestations of the spirit - those times will help you when you are struggling later on.

We also had an awesome RS lesson. (Not to slight our Sunday School teacher at all - his lessons are always excellent, but I missed most of it today because I was in Primary helping Ian give a talk.) In Relief Society, we talked about the First Vision. We shared powerful experiences relating to the First Vision. I talked about the two times I've been able to visit the Sacred Grove in person. I remember the first time I went as a teenager. I really had no idea what to expect, but I think in my mind, it was a small stand of trees (a dozen or less) and I expected some kind of bench or plaque marking the exact location of Joseph's vision. Not so... the grove is acres and acres of forest and the church has wound paths and benches throughout the entire area. It's more beautiful and peaceful and serene than any place I've ever been to before (outside of the temple.) Words cannot describe the feeling you get when you visit. I'm really fortunate, because being a native Californian, traveling to upstate New York isn't something you do every day. I've been to the Sacred Grove twice and I can't wait to go again!

Dirty Jobs

It might not be worthy of a visit from Mike Rowe, but today the kids had to go out and scoop poop. This is the most dreaded chore in all of the Wanlass Household. Today it was especially bad since it's probably been piling up for 2 months!!! I'm guessing there was enough to fill an entire shopping bag from Target - gross! Job well done guys!

Visiting Debby and Family

On Saturday, before we came home from Anaheim, we made an overnight stop in San Bernardino. My aunt, Debby, lives there with her family. They don't get many visitors and on the Rossiter side of the family there is no one in Southern California left. It's kinda an interesting set up - my cousins are the same age as my kids. My dad married young and had a family young, but my aunt married just a few months before I did. She has a 13 year old girl and an 11 year old boy. We loved just hanging out at their house and having a day to totally relax. We watched movies, talked, and the girls did art while the boys played with air soft guns. I think Brayden was thrilled to be not stuck in a stroller or car seat. He could just walk around the house and play (and jump all over her furniture!) I always come home with at least one (or more) really good recipes. My uncle is Filipino and a fantastic cook - this trip he wrote down the recipe for Korean Beef - he'd made it for us the last time we were in town. One of these trips I'm going to have to get a lesson in making Lumpias. Yum!

On Sunday, we went to Sacrament Meeting with Debby and Kaydee and then headed home. It felt like a long drive, but it was less than 6 hours. We were all exhausted, but so glad to get home. Nothing beats sleeping in your own bed after a week on the road! We even had a suprise package in the mail from my ex-sis-in-law that had videos and Kinder Eggs in it! Awesome!

Rain is Good at a Theme Park....

.... if you want the big crowds to go away! Friday (our last day) was a good day because rain threatened all day. It didn't actually start to rain until dinner time, but we were able to squeeze in a lot of rides and have short lines most of the day. It's a Small World - no wait, literally, we took 18 poeple and walked right on the boat. We only waited 10 minutes to meet Mickey (in past years, I've waited 30-45 -60 minutes for that honor!) I think the highlight was the Jedi Training Academy (thanks Sheri for recommending it!) Ian actually got picked to join the stage and he got to "fight" Darth Maul. It was great!!!

Just after Jedi Training Academy finished up, the rain started. Some adults (the ones who don't like roller coasters) went back to hotels with the small kids and the rest of us stayed to hit the big rides one lst time. We went on the Matterhorn, Space Mountain, Star Tours, Big Thunder Mountain, and Splash Mountain/Haunted Mansion.

Highlights for everyone:

Eric: having someone to go on scary rides with - siblings in law Molly and Alan both like scary rides. Normally he is doing those solo. I think his favorite ride is CA Screamin' - which Taylor and I both like as well.

Christy: hard to pinpoint, but I love Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and the Matterhorn. I really LOVED watching Ian fight Darth Maul in the Jedi Training Academy. I also really enjoyed the Electrical Parade (brought back so many childhood memories.....)

Taylor: Favorite ride was CA Screamin'. He loved hanging out with his cousins and getting to use some extra fast passes with his dad and uncle on the last day.

Megan: being joined at the hip with her cousin, Lyndi, and learning that she does like some roller coasters after all. Her favorite rides were Soarin' over CA and Space Mountain.

Brayden: meeting Mickey Mouse (he's a huge Mickey Mouse Clubhouse fan), riding his first roller coaster (Gadget's Go Coaster) and loving it, and riding the Dumbo ride. He also loved the Redwood Creek and Boat play area in CA Adventure.

Ian: Jedi Training Academy, Autopia, Space Mountain, Mulhollund Madness. He enjoyed playing Hide and Seek with all the little boys during lunch at the picnic area. See below video of Ian fighting Darth Maul:

What We Take For Granted.....

Before I finish my Disneyland monologue, I feel it important to deviate today...

One of my greatest fears in life as a mother is to outlive my children. One of Eric's co-workers and his family were on the bus that crashed in Southern Utah the other day. Click here for full story: http://http//www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,320566,00.html

Eric and others at work spent most of the day trying to track down his whereabouts and to find out if he was okay. The first thing they did find out is that his son, Reese didn't survive the crash. They knew that Maurice was in a hospital in Southern Colorado in critical condition and that his wife was okay (a broken leg or arm, but no other serious injuries). By the end of the day, they were able to find out that Maurice had a few broken ribs and a lacerated liver, but would survive. How they will get over the shock of Reese's death, I just don't know. Reese was 12 years old and their only child. I've cried a lot in the last day, just thinking about how devastating this will be for him and his wife. Eric's right-hand-man was very tight with this family and is trying to find a flight to Colorado today to be with them while he's still in the hospital.

I guess the reason I felt the need to blog about this was that I've been thinking alot since yesterday about the things we take for granted. How often do we get irritated or annoyed by such simple things (like a door ding in our car door or having to wait a long time to get a table at a restaurant....) Life really is too short to spend so much time in a bad mood. Today I've decided to make a more conscious effort to be happy and grateful (even when circumstances around me aren't good). I don't want my children to remember me as a grumpy mom. I don't want to remember the times I lost my temper and yelled at my kids, especially when I could have handled the situation better. And I don't want to ever be in the situation where I have to think, "Can you believe the last thing I said to this person was.... (something negative....)?" We all know that death is inevitable, but last night it reminded me just how fragile life is. I want to enjoy every last moment of it!

California Adventure

Day two of our Disney Adventure was more relaxed. Eric and I let our kids sleep in that morning since California Adventure didn't open until 10 a.m. We did get a couple phone calls that morning at 8:00 a.m. from the rest of the family wondering where we were! They were mostly up and out at least an hour earlier (or more) than we were, but that's okay. I really wanted to stay late enough to watch the Electrical Parade at the end of the day and if we'd pulled them all out of bed super early, they may not have lasted that long!

The day started with our Breakfast Comedy Hour with our Brother-In-Law Alan - joking about the craziness in the hotel breakfast area. I can't even begin to retell it, but it was hilarious! Maybe his wife will blog it, but she was a bit grumpy that morning, so she didn't find it as funny as the rest of us! No joke, there was a black lady in her pj's and a shower cap, loading up about 10 plates full of food - then 20 minutes later, she was back for more!

So, we headed for CA Adventure and got fast passes for the best ride in the park, Soarin over CA. Then we went to the Redwood Trail area and let the kids (and dads) run wild for probably about an hour. By this time, it's already time for lunch. Then we came back in the park and did Soarin. Eric's parents had never been to CA Adventure and they LOVED this ride. We also did the Bug's Life kiddie rides and the Ferris Wheel. We spent most of the afternoon hitting rides on Paradise Pier but we never made it to the Hollywood Backlot. (Monster's Inc was closed and only 2 people really wanted to do Tower of Terror.)

I pretty much spent most of the day on park benches while kids played in the kiddie areas, but that's okay. Disneyland is my park, CA Adventure is just a place to go to get a break from the crowds at Disneyland. I'm not into the crazy rides and am happy to pass on most of them. I did do California Screamin' which is awesome. I'm not into anything that's crazy high in the sky or has a free falling element. On the other hand, Eric LOVES California Adventure. He loves crazy roller coasters and even CA Adventure doesn't have enough to satisfy him. I think they build CA Adventure for people like Eric, who tolerate Disneyland because their kids love it, but really want to go on some BIG rides.

The highlight for me was at the end of the day - Disney's Electrical Parade. I haven't seen this parade since I was a kid and it was awesome. Everyone loved it - even with the pyscodelic 80's music that goes with it! I could have lived without the teenagers who walked up behind us just as it was starting and had every wise crack in the book to make.... oh well, you can't win them all, right?

The Happiest Place on Earth????

So, Wednesday we got up bright and early - we Arizonians had the advantage of the one hour time zone change, so all of us were up early and ready to go.

We got to the park about 8:30 and it looked promising.... not to many crowds - yet. By noon, the place was packed!!! All in all, we had a good day, but here are some of the more interesting things I remembered hearing (and saying) throughout the day as we went along:

-- "At this pace, each ride is going to cost $10 a piece......"

--"Why do they call this the Happiest Place on Earth? It's more like the Crowdiest Place on Earth."

-- "We'll NEVER come back during Christmas season again!"

--Megan (after driving the Autopia ride), "Mom, will I ever be able to get a Driver's License? I stink at driving!!!"

-- "Ashlyn, you'd BETTER know where Dallyn is!"

-- Grandma: "I want to do the [Davy Crockett] Canoe Ride. If that old lady can do it, so can I!"

--"Kate, don't you want to go find the princesses? Then you have to eat your lunch and stop crying!" (Meltdown ensued from the unwanted "handstamp" at the front gate.)

-- "I'm just going to wash that flippin' hand stamp off her hand so she'll shut up...." (Only I'm not sure he said "flippin"......)

-- Ian (after buying his $24 Jack Sparrow pirate sword), "Mom, I'm not going to tell Dallyn or Ethan that I have a sword."

-- "I have to go to the bathroom...." (5 minutes after we just made a potty break!)

-- Grandma: "Where's Ethan????"

-- Lyndi (after being offered a starburst in the Space Mountain line): "I'm waiting to eat until after I go on the ride!"

-- "If you don't stop whining, I'm going to beat you with a rubber hose!"

-- "What's for dinner?" (at 3:00 p.m., then again at 3:30, then again at 4:00... and so on.....)

-- After Grandma rode Star Tours: "Can I have one of those motion sickness thingies???"

Postnote - even though we all said some crazy things in the heat of the moment, we did have a good time together!!!! I'm not sure we'll ever attempt the large group attendance ever again, but we could definitely handle it with just one other family at a time! Aside from all the adult frustration, the kids had a BLAST!!! The three older girls were ABSOLUTELY inseparable!

Highlights for the day - meeting Jack Sparrow (his mannerisms were amazingly movie-like, even though the man under the mask was definitely not Johnny Depp), running around on the Pirate Island (formerly Tom Sawyer Island), watching the fireworks and getting snow on Main Street.

Rides we went on: Buzz Lightyear, Star Tours, Autopia, Space Mountain, Rafts to Pirate's Lair, Haunted Mansion, Tom Sawyer's Riverboat, the Disneyland Train, and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. This is all we accomplished in a 12 hour window before we camped out for the fireworks and snow.

Note to the Family: Please add funny "quotes" you remember from the day in the comments section - my memory tended to retain more of the negative comments and I know there were lots of funny "one liners" out there that day! :) I will continue to add things as they come to mind... share the Madness! I'd really love to hear an account of Alan's impressions of the hotel breakfast! That was hilarious!

Unexpected Reunion

I've been itching to go to Disneyland for at least 6 months now.... It's my most favorite vacation destination (so far....) and I drag Eric to Anaheim about every other year. So, when my hope for an October trip fizzled out (due to a YM's trip to the Grand Canyon), I came up with the plan to go after New Year's. The kids don't go back to school until the 8th, so there should be plenty of time to squeeze in a Disneyland visit, right? So, plans started and Eric and I decided not to say anything to the kids about it - suprise vacations are always the best! He mentioned we were going to his brother and they realized their kids are out of school that same week, so they decided to join us. We've been trying to coordinate a Disney visit together for years, and this was our best shot! So, we extended an open invitation to the rest of the family and got a couple more takers - Eric's sister Elise (and her family) and their parents. The total headcount would be 18. Eight adults and 10 kids (ranging in age from 13 to 1). I will admit, once the plan was set in motion, I did have some reservations about how this would all work out - 4 families, 4 or more agendas, so many kids.... etc.... but it ended up working out okay. So, we told the kids a couple days in advance we were going to Disneyland, but didn't tell them more than that. They didn't know their cousins were coming too.....

Fast forward to January 1st - we were on the road by 9:15 and heading to Anaheim. Everything went smoothly until we hit a backup in Palm Springs. The freeway was at a dead stop and it took us well over an hour to go 5 miles. There must have been some big ATV convention in the area, because every other vehicle on the road was pulling toys - atvs, dirt bikes, etc. We even saw an old 80's model suburban that had been "modified" for atv-ing. I didn't have the camera with me, but got a picture of it with my phone - if only I knew how to transfer phone pictures to my computer......

Even with our traffic nightmare, we were the first to arrive at the Homewood Suites in Garden Grove. I highly recommend this hotel for anyone traveling with large families! We have stayed there 3 times and LOVE it! We checked in, got the kids set up watching TV in the room, and headed back down to watch for the family. Taylor was the only one who suspected something was up because he had been watching a movie on Eric's phone in the car when our brother in law, Alan, sent Eric a text about their "arrival time". They were thrilled when the cousins walked through the door.....

Later we went out to eat at Red Robin (in our hotel parking lot) and let the cousin's open their "partner presents" from Christmas... it was mass chaos in my hotel room, but we ended up moving rooms before bed, since our A/C was broken. So after we partied with the family, we got to move to a brand new clean room! It was no easy feat trying to get our kids to bed that night after a long day in the car and a suprise reunion with the cousins, not to mention the anticipation of Disneyland the following morning.... Benedryl was our best friend that night!

Stay Tuned for Day 1 at Disneyland... the Happiest Place on Earth????