3rd day at Disneyland

What a fun day it was on our 2nd day at Disneyland, 3rd day in California. It was nice and overcast the whole day. Gotta love it!

Dumbo ride...Emma loved it.

The Storybook boat ride was so amazing. It had all the miniature versions of the castles and buildings from the different Disney classics :)
Visiting Tinker bell and her friend
Tinkerbell herself signing Emma's little book
Disney Club house show was a HIT! We have video of it that I will post later.
The most amazing dessert ever...Beignets!! Holy cow, words can't describe how delectable these were. We went to the shop twice to eat them.....
The excitement of Disney Main Street
Ok this picture is not great, but it's from during the firework show and Dumbo and Tinkerbell flew through the air...AMAZING!! It was truly magical.
Piece of Disney trivia. At the firehouse on Main Street ,there is a window on the top floor that is always lit up. That is where Walt Disney's apartment was...they always leave the light on. Pretty cool huh?
This is the day after we came home. Emma has learned to enjoy her princess dresses and jewerly more since her magical disney experience :)

2nd day of California/DISNEYLAND!!!

Oh my, oh my, we had the time of our lives at Disneyland. It truly is a magical place. :)

"its a small world" was our first ride just before we met the beautiful DISNEY princesses. Emma LOVED the ride.

She wasn't quite sure what to think of meeting Snow White at first. She was cute.
She was warming up to the beautiful Sleeping Beauty.
Just before approaching Cinderella, I explained to her that she was the princess with the mice that make her pretty dress. She knew right away who I was talking about (we watched the movie the night before we left) and went right up to her and gave her a hug.
She even got a kiss on the cheek from the Princess. All the princesses were so good to her. She also got all the princesses autographs in her little book I made her before we left.
TOON TOWN!
Emma had so much fun with Goofy. She kept pointing to his nose and getting a kick out of him.
This picture is classic and really shows the fun they had for a couple minutes. Awesome!"MIMI" Yes Emma learned Minnie Mouse's name very quickly. She kept saying it over and over. When it was our turn to meet Minnie at her house, she went right up to her to hug her.

signing her autograph book
Emma playing in Minnie's kitchen. Isn't her little house adorable? I couldn't get enough of it. We could've stayed in there all day.
In Mickey's house they had this TV playing all the old school mickey mouse cartoons...LOVED it. Brought back memories. :)
Mickey Mouse was SO good to Emma. He sat down with her and socialized and visited with her. Regardless of the long line, he took his time with her. So awesome.
TOWER OF TERROR...Holy Crap, that was nuts.
See..you'll see on top of the float, it's Mandy Poppins, I mean Mary Poppins. Loved seeing her, I've always wanted to be her.
Emma plugging her ears in some of the louder parts
Oma, Uncle Dylan, and Aunt Britta on the tea cups!
Mr. Toads wild ride...classic!
Cool picture Derek took that evening.

Stay tuned for more pictures....

1st day of CALIFORNIA/DISNEYLAND trip part 1

We flew into California on Monday and spent the day at the beach and also grabbed a yummy bite at the famous "In and Out." Also, drove by the Newport Beach Temple to show Derek's family since they've never been to it before. You can tell by Emma's face here that she is just SO stoked for the fun adventure that's ahead of her :)

She LOVED the sand. It was from one end to the other on her.

Dylan the Rock Star

Dylan had his annual talent show at Canyon View Jr. High this week. He got to participate several times. First he performed a Māori Haka dance with a few friends. Then I got to tell about his service project and he got to perform a guitar solo. A ward friend gave Dylan the guitar and he's been playing with it a lot and wants to take lessons soon. To finish off the show, a bunch of the kids had an "Air Band" and put on a great performance. We had a great time watching the show.



Here's a video of Dylan's drum solo from last year:

4 years ago today!!

Journal write: MAY 10th, 2005
OUR FIRST DATE!

What a fun night!! That Derek guy that was in my health and Institute class last semester asked for my number last class. I was so happy because he's a great guy. We finally went out tonight!
He picked me up and we went to a Thai Restraunt (Thai Chili Gardens) for dinner. Then we met up with his friends at the bowling alley (Miracle Bowl) and we played about 7 games. I beat him once. We were tied once and the rest of the time he beat me :) Holy cow my arm is tired. But it was fun getting to know him more. Things I learned about him.
-Served a mission in Venezuela. He went a little later, so he's my age.
-oldest of four. His youngest brother has down syndrome and knows sign language.
- loves all types of smaller sports like ping pong, bowling, ultimate frisbee, frisbee golf, snow skiing, etc...
-loves 80's music :)
-his Mom is German, his Dad works for Delta Airlines.
-He wants to study graphic design
Anyways, that's just a few things I learned about him.
It was so cool because he was really interested in me and my life as well. Not too many guys I've gone out with before are that interested in me. He was paying all the attention to me, even more than he was to his friends :)
We went to go get a drink at 7 eleven afterwards than he took me home. He turned off his car and walked me to the door (I always get nervous for this part) But we got up to my door and after we finished what we were talking about, I thanked him for taking me out and I gave him a hug. I told him we should do something again and he said, "Yeah, we should go watch a movie or something."
YAY!! I hope he asks me out again.

HAPPY 28th BIRTHDAY DEREK!!!

*28 things I love about Derek......
1. I love how excited he gets watching something interesting and educational on Discovery channel, like "Time warp", or "how it's made", etc....
2. He is quick to help if anyone is in need. No questions asked.
3. He always puts the toilet seat down
4. when he randomly grabs me and starts slow dancing with me and humming one of our songs, "Close to you" sung by the Carpenters.
5. He is quick to say "I love you"
6. love how he quietly encourages Emma on a daily basis to come give mommy kisses and hugs. She does it.
7. when we drive by a fancy, sporty car and he starts rambling on in a foreign language of the kind of engine and power the car has. Then breaks out in the Tim Allen grunting noise.
8. whenever we're watching an intense movie that may have guns, he ALWAYS critiques how their using the gun..if it's being used right, or if it's a movie based in an earlier time period, he lets me know that that gun didn't even exist back then. It's always good to know for my g-whiz collection.
9. love that he's sensitive.
10. He is such a kid. He loves legos, toy cars, race tracks, etc...
11. how hard working he is to provide for our family.
12. brings me flowers spontaneously. My favorite ones are the ones that he and Emma pick and bring back from playing from outside. Priceless.
13. he's a great brother and son.
14.The best dad to our little Emma. I love how he is with Emma. And how she looks at him. She is definitely a Daddy's girl.
15. Willing to watch "Steel Magnolias" with me at least once a year. Thanks babe
16. love the clicking sound in his throat that he makes when he's laughing so hard, nearly peeing his pants.
17. loves how he is with kids. They love him. Especially his younger brother Dylan, and our nieces and nephews.
18. always willing to clean the dishes after dinner.
19. how embarrassed he gets being center of attention :)
20. honors the Priesthood which he holds.
21. how SMART he is. He always LOVES to learn.
22. loves how excited he gets over anything related to technology.
23. how he can read a 120 page manual to learn about the camera. I throw the manual down after reading 3 sentences. :)
24. How motivated he is in training for the marathon coming up. WAY TO GO BABE!
25. He is one of the most patient people I've ever known.
26. he puts up with all my questions about his opinion on my crafty projects :)
27. How supportive he is. Especially playing Mr. Mom for 4 months while I was in school.
28. He is the most genuine, loving person. He truly is my best friend. I love you sweetie. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Daddy-Daughter Field Trip

Derek checking in. This week we took a little field trip to Hill Aerospace Museum in Ogden along with Emma's friends Brooke and Ava, and their dads, Dallas and Isaac. We took one of the CNG
vans that we had in inventory so that the we could all go in one car.

These three little girls are best friends and they thoroughly enjoyed themselves. It was so funny seeing them get so excited to be sitting in one row in the van.

The girls had fun together and the dads had fun looking at all the great military hardware.

Emma probably had the most fun playing outside in the gravel.

A neat old B-17

A lot of walking for a little girl but she seemed to enjoy it and hardly wanted to ride in the stroller at all.

Posing in front of an F-4 Phantom.

One of my favorite planes, an A-10 Thunderbolt "Warthog". (Insert Tim Allen "Arh Arh Arh" sound here.)

A B1-B Bomber.

Two out of the three crashed in the car on the way home. Not Brooke though. (Blatently stolen from Dallas' blog)

We wished we had more time to spend at the museum, and I would recommend it to anyone who is remotely interested in aviation or the military.

It was so fun driving around with all of us in the van that we started thinking up other family activities to give us a chance to throw all the car seats in there and do this again. Maybe we'll even let our wives come next time. :)