DISNEYLAND 2013

Our yearly ventures to Disney was amped up this year! Celebrating our 10 year anniversary and my 30th birthday gave us an extra reason to live it up. We kept it a secret from the boys, until Thanksgiving day when Buzz and Woody called the boys on the phone and told them "We'll see you real soon!" Dawson put the clues together and before they knew it we were on a plane to California!

The entry way inside the Disneyland Hotel

The light up headboard that plays music
 

We opted to stay at a Disney property this year and it was AMAZING. In years past we've just stayed at a less expensive hotel across the street, which is totally what the plan is in the future, but for this special trip- it was so fun! They greeted us with celebration pins, a photo souvenir package and more goodies. The boys also LOVED the heated swimming pool...okay, so did Daddy.  The first day in the park was indeed a magical one. Since I was in high school, I've wanted to dine in the private and exclusive Club 33 inside the park. As luck would have it, a connection was made with a member and she was able to get us reservations! We spent the morning riding some rides and visiting our favorite characters...then the magic began!

Just outside the famous door, 33 Royal Street

In front of the famous glass elevator

Carter picking his lunch, he decided on Mickey Shaped pasta

His fancy fruit bowl

The harpsichord Walt Disney bought for his wife

Sparkly, delicious desserts!

Overlooking New Orleans Square

Needless to say, it was an amazing meal and I was so grateful to Jason for funding the endeavor and having as much fun as I did! After the club, we finished out our day with a visit with the mouse himself! Classic Mickey this year, never gets old watching the boys high five this cute guy!

The next morning, we were able to visit the park an hour early for their "magic hour" so we were up bright and early with room service for breakfast. A first time room service experience for the boys- they were in shock that people just bring food up to your room! Carter LOVED his Mickey waffle (hence the declaration "MOM, TAKE A PICTURE!"

 As part of our extra magic hour, we were able to get in line for the Radiator Springs Racers- the new favorite ride of the Rasmussen crew. It was so cool to see it finished- we saw Cars Land in construction, but haven't been to California Adventure since it's completion. The boys loved seeing the movie come to life- Carburetor County did not disappoint!

Yes, I believe we are the only park goers who let their 8 and 6 year
old children ride in strollers.

Happy Jason with his turkey leg!

Keeping in tradition- Daddy takes the pictures, mommy rides the teacups!

Who says cookies aren't a part of happy (maybe not balanced) breakfast? They were certainly spoiled with churros, toys and treats for 5 days! On the second to last day, we all woke up with terrible colds! YUCK! It didn't dampen our Disney spirit though! We watched the Christmas parade and hit all our favorite rides a few more times. Carter was super brave and went on everything this year! Dawson hit a Disney milestone, being tall enough to ride every ride in both parks...he has waited to ride Indiana Jones forever, it seems. It was pretty fun to watch his reaction. On the last day in the park, just on a whim, we decided to attend the Jedi Academy. Its a cute show where kids are picked out of the audience to go through a Jedi training, with the chance to fight Darth Vader and Darth Maul.  Dawson has been old enough and lucky enough to be selected before, so we were crossing our fingers that Carter would have a chance. And as it happen- BOTH boys got picked!

 

 

It was an exciting and perfect ending to our amazing vacation. Even though we missed having Beckett with us, it got us all the more excited to bring him next year. He was spoiled by grandma's, aunts and cousins back home so we were okay letting him sit this one out. Not a day went by that we didn't thank our Heavenly Father for the means to take such a trip and for the blessings and freedoms we enjoy to travel with our children. Hopefully they understand that we love them and will always work hard to provide them with opportunities like this. Some of mine and Jason's fondest memories and children, were on family vacations. Big or small, exotic or remote- we both valued our time in our parents' homes and cherish those memories. Our hope remains that our boys will appreciate the value of hard work and will work hard in their futures to make their family dreams come true, too! It was truly a magical trip and I'm so grateful we came home to a safe Beckett and a home decorated for Christmas! It was a perfect segway into the Holidays! 



Carters Army Party and A Day Out!

 

For Carter's 6th Birthday, he picked an Army theme. He loves camo clothing, but admittedly, we don't own any. I started putting ideas together in my head and consulted a couple of party blogs...but in all honesty, kept it pretty low key (okay, low key for me).  We spent some time at the Uncle Sam's Surplus store in Orem and found some cool things for the party favors. Each child got a US Army patch that had been worn by a soldier and a 50 cal rifle bullet casing. Jason also stopped by the National Guard recruiting office in Spanish Fork and our neighbor happened to be the recruiter working that day. He hooked us up with some mini footballs, pens, stickers and gave Carter a pretend Army tool set. SUPER nice of him! I bought the tins at the dollar store, spray painted them, added a strip of camo colored duct tape and they turned out better than I envisioned- no Pinterest to thank on this one! A neighbor of mine did the cake and exceeded my expectations, completely! It was perfect!

 

The recruits played a series of games, all related to their "Boot Camp" training. Such tasks included:

A strength Test (Tug of war)

Endurance (Relay Race)

Wounded Solider (toilet paper bandages)

Bombs Away (to test precision)

Push Ups

Conduct (how neatly they ate their cake)

 

We all laughed pretty hard, great coordination Carter!

His perfectly bandaged arm!


It was a great party and I hope each little recruit had a wonderful time! Among his gifts included: legos, nerf guns, candy, cars, board games and books!

 

The next day (Saturday, November 23rd) We got to spend the day with Papa Chuck and GrandmaTerri. We went to one of the boys favorite places to go crazy and run around. They played and bounced and had a blast. Beckett was fearless as always and jumped off the trapeze and big trampolines for the entire hour and half we were there. It was exhausting just watching him! He unfortunately picked up some kind of bug and later that night and still today (Sunday) has a fever and an obnoxious rash. Poor little guy! :(

 

Carter won't be joining the circus anytime soon- we feed him too well.

Dawson mastered the back and front flips!

Jump, bounce, laugh, repeat.

"THE WEE, MOMMY! THE WEE!!"

Before the day got too late, we made trip to the mall for grandma and papa to buy Carter his birthday present at the Disney Store. He's been eying the Iron Patriot action figure there for months...you can only imagine his excitement once it was finally his! After that, we hit up a new restaurant in Spanish Fork, not far from our house- the HuHot Mongolian Grill was awesome! Beckett finished an entire bowl of egg drop soup...who knew? 

 

AND...

If that wasn't enough excitement for one day, Papa got his Christmas present early from Grandma Terri... we went in the car as they met and picked up the newest little furry friend in the family-

Meet, Toby.

Is he not the cutest little thing ever?? Welcome Mr. Toby!

Coming back to the blog?? Why now??

Oh boy. I have got to get it together. And one point in the last year, I actually thought about deleting our blog. Then it dawned on me- this really should be a digital journal. Even if nobody else in the entire world cares what I write...I want it for posterity. I want to record the good and the bad. Not just the highlight reel stuff...however, we are pretty blessed and our lives are pretty wonderful. From here on out, its a weekly goal of mine to take more pictures on our camera and not just on our phones. I love you Instagram, but you're making our camera feel really unloved! I will hopefully publish our blog and do a much better job!

So.

Lets see where I left off and see if I can't make some kind of culmination of events without writing for hours on end. After all...almost 2 years has gone by...

BECKETT:


FIRST BIRTHDAY

WON THE CUTEST CUTIES CONTEST IN UTAH VALLEY MAGAZINE

 

This child. He is by far the most spirited of our three!! 2 years old and full of more energy that should be humanly possible. He makes me laugh, cry, wonder, analyze and giggle on a regular basis. His personality is amazing. He crawled at 6.5 months and walked just before 10, crawled up chairs and onto tables well before his 1st Birthday. He keeps us watching (and waiting) for accidents on an hourly basis. With 2 concussions to his name, he is certain to be a child that keeps our medical deductible on the brink of achievement. I entered Beckett in the Spanish Fork Baby Contest {see picture with balloons} and he won the most creative costume. His entrancing little (actually giant) blue eyes makes him the target for cheek pinchers everywhere we go. Not a single day goes by that he isn't complimented or smiled at by strangers in the store. When he was just about 15 months old, he started blowing kisses to those strangers, particularly the elderly people we'd meet in stores. "He's a little charmer isn't he?" "Look at those darling eyes," "Oh my goodness, what a pretty girl!" Yes- he used to get that all the time...thankfully his gun and car sounds throw them off now...he is selective in who he hugs and loves to kiss his brothers goodnite. He's a good egg...I know it deep down. But getting him 100% verbal will be quite honestly, the most frustrating, fun and demanding part of parenting thus far!

 

 



We entered him again in the SF Baby Contest and he won best use of theme, which was "Pride and Progress." I slaved over his little costume, with the help of my dear friend Raychellene. It was absolutely darling on him. Who says I can't play dress up!? He is a tough little guy, resilient and strong most days. He is an excellent napper and eater too. Some of his favorite foods currently are: banana peppers, sliced turkey, pepperoni, string cheese, soup (particularly Kneaders) popsicles, chocolate, bacon, sausage and spaghetti. Beckett ADORES Mickey Mouse and watches it religiously. Mickey was one of his first words, actually. We can't wait till he is old enough to join us on our annual trips to Disney!  He was worth the wait!

 

 

CARTER: 

KINDERGARTEN PICTURES, 2013

 Our little C-Bone! Carter wears his emotion on his sleeve- for sure! He's very easy to read...if he's mad- you know it! If he's happy- he's REALLY happy. If he's tired, he puts himself to bed...if he's hungry he digs through the cupboard or fridge and indulges in what treasures he finds. We've sat and just watched him eat, bite by bite. Animated faces and sounds with each one...he's quite the character. He is joined at the hip with his patient older brother, eager to be just as good at the video games, anxious to read just like Dawson, etc. He is an expert snuggler and very timid with 'normal' things that little boys usually love. He hates spiders, creepy things, bees, the dark or 'scary' rides. He likes being home, he likes staying in and getting into his jammies as early as we'll let him. Carter and Beckett can be the best of friends and the WORST of enemies. Oh man...I have broken apart little fist fights already! Carter won't hit unless he's provoked and then all heck can break loose. I guess the year of karate as taught him not to take it lying down! We have to remind him to keep his temper in check and ask him if being mean is a trait of Jesus or Satan. He is quick to forget what he was mad about and most of the time lets go. He is the PICKIEST eater of our kids and very, very rarely does a meal get set on the table that he doesn't make a face at. He's been bribed, begged and pleaded with to eat his food and it drives us crazy. But when there's something he likes- he is the first to shout praises to the chef! He loves tacos, spaghetti, pizza, green peppers, apples, turkey and chicken nuggets. He loves taking baths by himself and for the most part, shows the most independence of the boys. His current career ambition is to be a race car driver, scientist and owner of Coke-a-cola.

 

ENJOYING DISNEYWORLD!

"LOOK MOM, BACON!"

THIS KID LOVES ITALIAN FOOD

HE WANTED TO TAKE THIS HOME SO BAD!

 

DAWSON:

 

I might totally be speaking only for myself, but I think mother's have a special bond with their first child. I know I certainly do with Dawson. We speak to each other silently, all the time. With certain glances, certain eye movements, hand squeezes- we just get each other. Maybe it will happen in time with the others, but I love watching Dawson grow into the most amazing young boy. He fills our home with so much joy. He is smart, so faithful, so goofy, delightful, kind and tender hearted. Dawson is sometimes very critical of himself and cried the first time he missed a word on his spelling test (its only happened twice). He is an extremely self motivated child, with major ambitions to make something of his future. Jason and I ask ourselves on a regular basis, what we did to deserve such a wonderful kid!? His baptism was a special day. He cried, we all cried. He has an incredible testimony and asks so many questions during our daily scripture study. We love his responsible, caring and sweet spirit and I'm thankful every day that he came first! HA!

GETTING IN A LITTLE MEDITATION BEFORE HIS 7TH BIRTHDAY PARTY

AWESOME LITTLE SOCCER PLAYER- WHEN HE WANTS TO BE

BAPTISM PHOTO

 

 Some FAMILY highlights!

- Jason and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary in August, although our "gift" isn't happening until next week!



- I turned 30 in September and Jason threw the most amazing surprise party, with a 1920's theme. It was awesome...he flexed his party planning skills and totally made my knees weak!
- I finished my 6th trip to Orlando for Miss America's Outstanding Teen in August, I love being a volunteer in the Miss America Organization
- Jason has lost weight and gained muscle with his new found love for CrossFit!
- We spent a week in Orlando in 2012 visiting Disneyworld- we loved it, but admittedly love our Disneyland more.
- Jason bought another new motorcycle...he's now teased as we call him the Ducati Hottie.
- Jason was released as the ward financial clerk, after almost 4 years, then briefly served in the Primary, now loves serving as the Young Men's 2nd counselor.
- I was called back to teach Relief Society, then was called to be the Primary Chorister...for one week. Now I'm facing the first Stake calling as the 2nd Counselor in the Relief Society...I HOPE I DON'T STINK AT IT.

MY AMAZING PARTY!

HALLOWEEN 2013



TOOK THE FRONT RUNNER TO SLC, VISITED TEMPLE SQUARE