Disneyland 2011

Ever since I can remember, I have wanted to take my kids to Disneyland. This year we FINALLY made it! It worked to our advantage that our kids are a bit older as they were both able to ride everything-no one was too short. We made the long drive to California in one very long day. It seemed like we would never get there! We decided that since we had just spent so much time in the car, we would have an "easy" day for our first day of the vacation. We got to the hotel and took the kids swimming, which they loved. The next day we explored Anaheim a bit and drove to The Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific. It is a pretty cool aquarium and definitely puts the aquarium in Sandy to shame. We all had a great time there and were able to see all kinds of stuff. We were even able to touch small sharks. Pretty sweet since sharks are my favorite animal. After the aquarium, we went to Bubba Gumps restaurant and the kids loved it there. The next 3 days were spent in Disneyland, including one of those days that was Jaden's birthday. It was amazing to watch the kids faces totally light up and just see pure happiness from them! Jaden was so brave--he went on the Tower of Terror! At the time he said he hated it, but now that we've been home for a bit, he says it is his favorite ride. Lexi says her favorite is Splash Mountain. We made some memories that I hope I never forget. After having such a great time at Disneyland we decided we would take it easy for our last day before having to drive home. We drove back to Long Beach and went on a harbor cruise--it was short and sweet, but very fun. After having such a great time in California, we headed home the next day. We made the drive home in one day as well. I haven't been too fond of driving after the marathon drives we did on our vacation. We've been back for 2 months, so I've been a bit of a slacker getting this posted. I took a ton of pictures, but I'll try to narrow it down, so there aren't a million of them here!

I'm really grateful to have such an amazing family to go through life with!

Halloween 2011

This year for Halloween, my father in law had a big backyard BBQ. Joe was able to buy some premium burgers from his work, Red Robin, so it was pretty sweet! In total, probably about 300 people came over. Because we were busy helping with the BBQ, Joe's brother took the kids trick-or-treating; they had so much fun! I went to the kids parade at school earlier in the day and was only able to get a few pictures as they ran by. Lexi was an angel and Jaden was Wolverine. Joe and I didn't dress up, so I just added a few pictures of us from the day. I'm so happy I have such sweet children, it really made the day a breeze!

Easter

We had a great Easter. Joe's dad was nice enough to get the kids some very cute church clothes, so we decided to have a family photo shoot. I don't know why, but we have hardly any pictures with all 4 of us together, so I was excited to get a few of those.

Valentine's Day

This year Joe had to work on Valentine's Day, so we celebrated a day late. We went out to eat at Red Robbin and got to spend a few awesome hours ALL ALONE! We don't get a whole lot of time with just Joe and I, so I love it when this happens. Neither of us go for the traditional sentimental gifts most of the time. It's not that they aren't cute, but I like to give him stuff he really wants instead of something that is just appropriate for the holiday. Anyway, I gave Joe some XBOX Live points that he's been wanting. He was such a sweetheart and took me shopping for a new purse. He doesn't like shopping, so this was awesome. For the kids, we gave them each a small box of chocolates to celebrate the holiday and they each had a Valentine's party at school. I got to help Alexis make a Valentine's Box this year which was a lot of fun. I hope your Valentine's Day was as enjoyable as ours.

Joe's Birthday: The Big 27

Joe's birthday was about a week ago. He had to work, but we definitely made the best of it. He's been wanting the Kinect since before it even came out. So, he finally got one along with a couple of games. If you know Joe, you know he LOVES to dance. One of the games is a dancing game and it is so fun to watch everyone play it. I look like a nutcase with no rhythm, but Joe looks amazing playing it. I'll try to take a picture of him playing.

I am so proud of him and am so appreciative of everything he does for our family. I hope you had a great birthday babe!