Isabel 4th Birthday

Happy Birthday Isabel!

(Birthday pancake breakfast)

It has been the fastest four years of any of my children!  She seems to grow up way too fast and she seems so mature for her age.  She is all girl and I love it. 

 (Isabel and her cake)

 For her birthday she wanted a Barbie princess cake and I was happy to make it for her.  On her big day we had a quiet family party( my favorite kind truth be told). Later that week we had some of her friends over for her very first "friend" party.  

At first I had planned to have her party at a splash pad, but when the weather turned cooler I had to throw together a party at our house.  Now looking back I'm glad that we did, it was a really fun party.  We had a Tinker Fairy theme( because boys are tinker fairies too) and she loves Tinker Bell.  She got to dress up like Tinker bell, we made bird feeders, went on a "lost things" treasure hunt and played fairy games like fairy freeze tag. 

The decorations we made.  

Isabel helped me make Tinker Bell's house. 

It was a lot of fun!



Making the hanging bird feeders!

The lost things treasure hunt.

Spring Break California Part II

California Adventure

~Day 2~

We were planning on going to Disneyland both days.  However, we all had never been to California Adventure and thought we would give it a try.  It was new to all of us.  It was a ton of fun to explore!

We went on Monday and there was hardly anyone there.  Really this is the best time of year to go!  We Started with Soarn' Over California, and it was a great way to start the day.  It made us feel like we were birds.  Next we all got wet going down the Grizzly River Run.

After we were all pretty wet, so we headed over to "a bug's land" to dry off and eat lunch.  It was so fun for the kids.  There weren't any lines and they could just go on the rides as they pleased.  Each took an "adult buddy" and rode to their hearts desires!  We even went back in the evening and it was super cool in the dark! 

Ashton and me on Heimlich's Chew Chew Train. 

You really smell the cookies and watermelon!

Grandpa and Izzy on their ride.

We all felt like little ants.  This is looking up through the clovers and grass at the Tower of Terror, which we rode later that night.  Super great ride!  Loved it!

The kids got to meet Chip and Dale.

Everything was made to make you feel small.  The benches were made out of pop cycle sticks and there was a giant water foucet!

The other big hit was the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail.  The kids could just run, climb, and swing for hours.  While us adults took naps, sat, rested, and played right along with them.

This is Ethan climbing the rock wall!

One of the highlights of the day was our ride on "California Screamin".  This was Cole's first time on a roller coaster. He said he fainted, but I think he just closed his eyes.

It was a great ride! 

This was the first group to go!

The day was filled with so much fun we weren't sure we were going to make it to the end.  Right before the park closed they had a water show.  Called "World of Color", is was well worth it!

~Day 3~

Before we headed home, we went and had lunch at Downtown Disney and walked around the shops.  The kids pick out a few more souvenirs.

Ashton chillen on some ears.  What a cutie!

It was such a fun trip!

Spring Break in Califronia!

For our Christmas present to the kids this year we decided that instead of toys we would give them a trip to Disneyland.  We live so close now, just 5 short hours away, it just makes it so easy to go.  Well it was a blast!  We all had a wonderful time.  My parents came with us and it was so much fun to share this exciting trip with them.   I hadn't been since I was a teenager and I had forgotten how much fun it really is.  However, going as a parent and seeing it through your children's eyes...well that is truly special! 

                                 Disneyland

                                  ~ Day 1~

 

Our first stop was Adventureland and taking our first ride on the Indiana Jones Adventure!  It was great, a first for all of us.  Isabel and Ashton were too young so they got to go up into Tarzan's Treehouse, which was new to all us as well and was a lot of fun for Izzy, she just loves Tarzan!

Then if was off to New Orleans Square for our favorite ride...Pirates of the Caribbean!

After catching other classic rides there we hopped on the Disneyland railroad, one of the kids highlights of the day.  

                                                            

 

The Train ride.

In line for Thunder Mountain, what a great ride.  Izzy went, but she'll tell you that was not her favorite!  Hey, but she went and didn't cry...she's my brave little girl.

Ashton's favorite was the "horsies", the Carrousel.  Really all the rides were fun for him and he didn't want to get off any ride we went on. 

So we hit the Mad Hatter and tried on some hats.  That day was Ashton's birthday so we had to get this picture with the birthday cake hat.

Ashton picked out a Tigger baseball cap and Isabel just had to have her own set of ears.

She really wanted these ones... 

As you can see she just loved them!

Well as I was taking this picture guess who walked right past us....

YES!!  Nicholas Cage!!!  My mom and me got all star struck!  We followed him to the story book ride and snapped a few pics.  I really couldn't believe it, it was the first time anything like that has happened to me.  I felt bad, he is just a person after all.  It made me glad that I am not famous and could enjoy Disneyland with out people gawking at me.

Pixie Hollow 

Isabel wanted to meet really only one character.  It was Tinker Bell.  The lines for meeting characters were all really long, and this being new to me I couldn't see what the big deal was about.  I wanted to go on the rides.  However, after seeing these ladies take the time to talk to my daughter and seeing her eyes all light up with amazement.  I caught the fever and wished we had got to see more.  It really is such a fun thing to do with your kids!

We ended the long day with the fireworks show, which was truly amazing!  Disneyland really knows how to put on a show! On our way out we couldn't leave without a visit to the Enchanted Tiki Room, so we finished off singing with the birds.  The kids loved it, another great classic!

We can't wait until we can go back!

Ashton is 2!

I can't believe my baby is 2! 

These two years have just flown by.

He is such a cute little boy and we just love to have him in our family.

Happy Birthday!

 Who needs a utensil?



His party was spent in the hotel the night before his birthday. 

We opened presents and had cake.

We were in Disney Land on his big day. 

What better way to celebrate your birthday than going to Disney Land!

Dance It Up!

Izzy had her first dance class this winter.  It was tons of fun watching her learn ballet and tap.  Today was her recital and it was a crack up. 

This is her cute little class.   

Feller's Cake Bake

Okay, so I know I'm not the best blogger and it has been forever sense my last post.  Well tonight I finally got all my pictures I've taken off my camera.  There was a ton, I put it off way too long.  Well I'm not going to go back and post all that has happened over the last five months, I'm just going to start with the last thing. 

In our new ward I am the Cub scout master. 

Okay...stop laughing...I knew I couldn't avoid it forever.  I do have 3 boys after all. 

Well last Friday was our Blue and Gold Banquet and Feller's Cake Bake.  Kev and Cole got to make a cake together.  It was so much fun watching Cole and Kevin make this cake and they did a great job.  It was really hard staying out of the way, even when they almost forgot to add the oil, but they remembered and the cake turned out great.  Their cake was the first to be all eaten. 

It helps to add a lot of candy! 

 Yes, they are wearing different clothes, it is hard to fit in cake making into a dental students schedule.  They made it over two days.



 Cole testing the candy, he knows that the cooks always get to taste test!

 "The Snorkeler"

We had a Hawaiian themed Blue and Gold so all the cakes went with that theme.

It was a fun night...But I'm really glad it's over!



Colorado or Arizona??

Yesterday afternoon we had a storm rip through here.  It had Kevin and I wondering if we were some how still  in Colorado.  It started out like a regular thunder storm  until just after lunch hail started to come down.  I was amazed! 

We live in the desert now, it's not supposed to hail, right?  Well I was wrong.  It continued to rain throughout the afternoon and the streets started to look like lakes.

At one point we thought we had seen the worst of it, but we were wrong.  At about 5:45 pm we started to hear a horrible sound coming from the roof.  We looked outside and this is what we saw.  More hail, but not like before and not like any I had ever seen in Colorado.  It was huge!  I know Colorado can produce hail like this and even bigger, we had just never seen it before.  Funny we had to come to Arizona to see giant hail...who would have thought?  

This is after it had melted some.  They were bigger, they just melted really fast.

(that blue dot at the top of this picture is a tennis ball, just to give an idea)

Lucky for us our house and cars lived through it.  However, other people weren't so lucky.  Our neighbors had broken windows, dented cars, holes in the stucco.  Some friends and neighbors had hail crashing through their car windows, it was crazy!