M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

To write this post seems overwhelming to me. We did so much that I can hardly remember on what day we did what and what all we did...but I'll try!!

Greg and Jamie (Scotts sister and her husband) decided to take their kids to D-land for spring break. They asked Missy (Scotts other sister) if she wanted to go with them. Of course, she said yes. We were talking on facebook and Missy said that we should go along with her. I said I wish we could but we just cant..... and then I thought...well heck, why cant we? Theres no reason why we can't and the kids would LOVE IT! So I said ok...we will go!! Called Jamie and asked her if it was alright if we tagged along. She said sure... I hope she wasnt just saying that to be nice lol.

A couple days later I went to the Disney Store in Orem and got the kids some shirts and autograph books. Later that night we gave them to them and told them that we were going to D-land. Their reactions left much to be desired. They basically just sat there looking at us. Jentry kept saying... "yeah right, Im confused mom". And Ty said.. "Mom, you said we don't have enough money for that..do we have enough money now?" LOL. As the thought sank in more throughout the night they got more and more excited. THANK GOODNESS!!!

Scott wouldn't be able to go with us with it being such short notice. But that was ok. I figured if we wanted to do anything we were just going to have to do it. But on Saturday when he went to pick up from one of his doctors he found out that that doctor would be gone that whole week. That doctor rarely just takes a week off without notice so I saw that as a sign!!! Scott still didnt think it would be possible for him to go. But hours before we were to leave he asked his dad if he thought it would be ok and off he went to get packed!!! YAY!!! That made Jentry super happy. When I had told her that her dad wasn't coming at first she thought it was a total joke and at the bottom of our list of things to pack I saw that she had written "Dad needs to come". So this made her super excited that he was coming!

We left on Easter night and made it to his Grandmas house in Cedar City. We spent the night there and then got up super early (4:13 am) and off we went to CA. Scott was a little nervous with the drive and I dont think we have ever stopped so many times for gas. He just wanted to make sure we wouldn't run out...and we didn't. When we were getting pretty close we were going through some mountains and it was JUST POURING!!! It was a huge rain storm. But by the time we had made it all the way to d-land the rain had cleared and it was just a little cool. Nice jacket weather.






We got into the park at about 1pm and went to a Hillbilly Comedy show. The girls and their cousins were able to get the box seats (is that what its called?) So a lot of the time the comedians would go over there and talk directly to them. They thought it was pretty cool. Then off to our first ride, Thunder Mountain.



This is where everything is just kinda smushed together. We did lots of rides and had lots of fun. Lets just say that.

Chase did think that Pooh's Honey tasted good!


And it was nice that when we got sick of the kids we could just lock them up for awhile!



The next morning we went to a character breakfast. It was a little pricey but well worth it. The characters (Minnie, Captain Hook, Fairy God mother, Perla (mouse on Cinderella) Chip, Tigger, Eeyore, Geppetto, Max (Goofy's son) )would come right to our table and get pictures with the kids and sign their books. The kids loved this!!! And it was an awesome breakfast. Brinley thought it was super cool when she went up to get a drink and asked me..."Mom, can I get juice or chocolate milk" and I told her she could get both! She was super excited about that!!!

















We went on lots of rides that day (and everyday!). Greg was awesome and went around each morning picking up fast passes for us so we really didn't wait in line very long for the bigger rides. It was awesome!! They know just have to maneuver Disneyland! And thank goodness, I would have been totally lost without them!

I think we rode Splash Mountain (Brinleys favorite ride) and Buzz Lightyear (The Boys' favorite ride) 100 times each! It didnt get suuuper busy until closer to the weekend.





In the park the boys were a little bit more shy of meeting the characters. But by the end of it when we met Mater, Lightening and Buzz, Ty was so excited that "Im not shy amymore!"















One of the nights just the girls went to the Princess Dinner at Ariel's Grotto. That was probably the fanciest dinner I'd ever been to (and the most expensive) but the girls had a great time and its not something we will probably get to do again. So we splurged. Jamie did the girls hair all princess like and even had a princess dress for Brinley.











Nate got picked to do some Jedi Training and did an awesome job. He beat Darth Maul. (sorry if I got that wrong..Im not very well read on my Star Wars characters)






We went to the Bugs Life 3d show. That was pretty cool! They had a stink bug come out and spray us and you got a big whiff of stink bug, an acid bug thing come spray us with "acid" Spiders come from the ceiling, termites crawl under your seats...and a lot of other fun things! The kids loved it. We also went to see the play Alladin. That was great!!!


One cute thing about Brinley was whenever we passed a character that was just walking around she would dart out and go hug the character. It was so cute. When we first walked into the park Mickey and I think it was Pluto were out walking around... Ty looked at them and said... "Oh mom, thats just guys in costumes" But when we went into the Buzz Lightyear ride and they had a mechanical Buzz talking he looked up at me and said "Mom! Thats the real Buzz!". I thought that was so cute!!!

By the time it was time to go home I think everyone had had their fill of Disneyland!! I was amazed at the detail they put in on the rides. Its not cheapy Lagoon details. It's amazing!! They built a whole Hotel for the Tower of Terror (My favorite ride). Everyone at every ride was in uniforms that fit the theme of the rides. The story book rides were awesome. Jentrys favorite was California Screamer. Every night they did a firework show that was to Disney Music. They even had a REAL tinker bell that flew from one end to another. It was amazing!!!

The best part about the whole thing was coming back to a clean hotel room everyday. That part I miss!!! I didnt have to cook all week. Awww, thats true vacation!!! We totally wore the kids out. We would come back in the middle of the day and let them nap for a few hours and still by the end of the night they were zonked!!!


I was also shocked when we came home and Scott didn't say..."We are never doing THAT again." I thought for sure we had killed him off with all the driving and walking. But he has even said a few times... "next time we go....." Im sure that wont be soon...but that gives us hope!! :)

Happy 75th Birthday Grandma Hayward!!!

My grandma celebrated her 75th birthday this March! We all went to Brick Oven to celebrate. It was a good time!!! LOTS of laughs and lots of food. What could be better? (It didn't hurt that we went to one of my favorite restaurants. I LOVE THEIR SALAD BAR!)

Here's Grandma with a few of her daughters. Aww, they are so cute.



I love this kooky bunch.

Ice Skating

Even tho I didn't get any real good pictures of this. I still want to document it. We went ice skating with Scotts family. The girls were so excited. The boys were too even though they had no idea what ice skating really was. It was cute to get them little skates and to see that they actually COULD walk in them. I was impressed. The first time around the rink Scott took Chase and I took Ty. Boy was THAT a work out. He had gummy worms legs and I had to bend over the whole time trying to keep him up. I was surprised we made it around. And of course, he wanted to go more. So we did. After going around a few times I was ready to fall over. Its hard trying to hold up a four year old who is mostly complaining and won't do anything to help out the matter. Finally we were able to get one of those ice skating walkers. He did better with that. And by the time we left both of the boys were loving it! We will have to do it again. I always tell myself we are going to do it in the summer when there arent SO many people there....but then always forget.

Just wanted to add...

Some of my favorite pictures of her in her baptism dress. We had been waiting for nice weather to take her pictures...but we weren't getting any. Finally one day there was SUN!! So we hurried and got her hair all fancied up (Thanks JAMIE!!) and went and found a place behind Crisps (grocery store) to take her pictures. The sun was almost going down so it was a little shadowy...but I think they turned out cute!!

Here is a slide show of all the pics if you are bored...
http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?token=972938849805%3A1419974594&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharer YOu might have to copy/paste

Brinleys Baptism

WHAT A DAY!!! (in so so many ways!)

The day started out good. We all woke up and started to get ready for Brinleys big day!! When we were about finished Scotts mom and dad showed up with his grandma! Grandma had to go to the bathroom. After awhile Scotts dad suggested that Scotts mom go help Grandma. She was taking awhile. Next thing I hear is Susan asking Brinley, "Where is your dad? I think Grandma is having a stroke." Grandma made it up the stairs. I gave her a big hug and told her to go get better. When I was done hugging her and looked back at her face I could see tears in her eyes. THAT DID IT!! I could not stop bawling from then on out!!

This was about 10 minutes before we left to go to the Baptism. Scotts mom was supposed to give a talk on Baptism and his dad, a prayer. I told Scott to call the Bishop and ask him to give a talk. He said I couldn't do that 10 minutes before he was supposed to be there! I said, "Yes we can! That's his job!" Am I right?

So we got to the baptism! Brinley was so excited. I don't think she even noticed that anything was going on. Which I am very glad about. To her...grandma had a stroke? Ok, whatever THAT is!!

We had so much family at her baptism! It was great! I really REALLY appreciate everyones efforts to get there!! THANK YOU! You made this day so very special for her. Everyone mentioned how she was just beaming!!

The bishop did a great talk! (Especially for spur of the moment!) Brinleys BFF, Heidi also did a great talk on the Holy Ghost!! Brinley is so cute about Heidi. She loves loves loves her and Heidi is so cute just to love her back!!! Heidi is my cousin that just recently got married...so a little bit of an age difference there...

After her baptism we came back to have lunch! Not everyone could come back with us but we still had a house full!!! Wowzers! I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted too. I kept forgetting about taking pictures. But, I did get a few.

I'm so proud of my Brinley Boo!!! She is such a cute girl to have in our family! She keeps us on our toes!!

Grandma is doing great! It was what they call a "mini stroke" She was even able to come back later and have lunch with us. Which I loved!! Im glad I got to have her all to myself and get to talk to her. Instead of all the hussle and bussle there is when EVERYONE is there.

Brinley Turns EIGHT!!

Where are these years going? In my head, Brinley should still be three. Thats where I remember her the most and thats where I think she should stay!!! But I guess she has other plans.

We have been busy looking forward to her baptism so her birthday kind of snuck up on me. So at nine pm the night before Jentry and I took a trip to walmart to find her something for her birthday. She wanted a table and chair set and I found a cute one there. I knew it might be a little bit small for her (the ages were 3-8) but we decided to get it anyway. I was right. It was a little too small for her...but she doesnt care...she loves it. She also got an ipod shuffle that I didnt think she would really like all that much (hence why I went out at 9 pm to get her something else) But to my surprise she LOVES that too.

We did our traditional wake up at 5:30 am before Dad goes to work. She then snuggled in bed with me before it was time to go to school. I love that girl. She can be my biggest challenge and my biggest self esteem booster. Shes always telling me how much she loves me. I love her more then she will ever know.

That night we went out to dinner with my parents and sister and brother at none other then Sizzler! I think that is becoming a tradition too. She loved her birthday! Happy Birthday My Sweet Boo!

Valentines Day!

I HEART VALENTINES DAY!!!

I love the colors of Valentines. I love walking into the stores and seeing red pink and purple hearts. I love making sugar cookies. I love eating sugar cookies. I love leaving valentines at the door for the kids! I just LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!

Ty was so excited for it. He was so excited at the thought of someone leaving something at our door and running away. He was hoping for days afterwards that it was still Valentines and would check the door all the time hoping that something was left there. So cute. Im glad someone enjoys it as much as I do.

The girls decorated cookies after church. The boys did too until they started licking their fingers. Then they got kicked out. Don't worry neighbors...you didnt get any of those cookies.

Just want to document this....

...in case we have to copy it when Brinley gets into 6th grade. LOL. Isnt that awful...
Anyway, Jentrys greek project for 6th grade was that she made 3 pop up books. She did a pretty cute job on them! She got her artistic ability from both of her parents. We are so proud.

Then she did a report on the Trojan War. You could do this project or a science project. We chose the easiest we could. We are like that. And dang proud of it!

Lookin good

The girls went in for their yearly eye exams the other day. After they got their eyes dilated they got these "awesome" glasses. I just had to take a picture. Brinley looks a lil like Stevie Wonder, wouldn't you say?

Jumping Jacks...

On New Years day I thought it would be great fun to take the kids to Jumping Jacks! I had three free passes to Kangaroo Zoo! And Jumping Jacks is close!! What a cheap New Years activity.

Do you see the problem here!?

I knew my passes were to Kangaroo Zoo....but that just didn't click in my head that that wasn't where I was taking the kids.

I got there... showed the lady my passes and she said "These are to Kangaroo Zoo." And I said "yes...they are. And we are not at Kangaroo Zoo." DOH! Luckily it was cheap day there and we got in for $4 a person and Chase was free. The kids had a great time! Especially Ty and Brinley!! Jentry was a little "scared" (don't tell her I told you!) of the big slide. But after all of her siblings went down a few times...and she got teased by us...just a little... she went down!!

It was super duper busy that day but everyone still had a great time!

Ty holding up the line


Brinley going down



Chase working hard to get up the stairs



And Jentry just being cute.

One of my most very favorite things about the Christmas Season...

Is getting cards!! I love it! My mom and I have a "competition" every year to see who gets the most. She hasn't won yet. Muwa ha ha ha! I think this year must have been my all time high! Thanks to all of those who sent me cards this year! Especially if you sent me one and all you got in return was an empty envelope. Jentry was helping me with cards this year and when she left in the middle of doing them I thought she had put cards in all of them. Obviously she didn't. I got a few calls saying... "umm... thanks for the envelope."

You're welcome.

I love that the McHargue family gave me three cards! One from each of them! I love that Grandma Hayward sent me two. She must have forgotten she sent me one already...and a few days later I got another one from her. If you dont see yours up there...well thats because you didnt send me one! Whats wrong with ya!?

Christmas 2009

We had a great Christmas this year!! My parents and brother had to work Christmas Eve but not Christmas day so they came strait from work to wake up the kiddos.



At about 10...or 11.... my sister showed up and we all went down to open presents!



My brother was real fun! He acts like working 12 hours and then coming to my house for Christmas without any sleep was hard...this was him most of the day..




What a party pooper....

We then went to my grandma and grandpas and then later around dinner time we went up to Scotts parents!

The loot
Jentry Brinley Ty Chase and the Families.

Christmas Eve

I love Christmas Eve. My very favorite tradition is getting to go to Grandma Haywards house for dinner! I love getting together with my kooky family!! I was sad that Mom, Dad and Todd couldn't be there this year! They were missed!!!
My favorite photos of the night were when we got a picture of each kid with the coal.

Brinley was SUUUURE this was going to jinx her and she was going to get a lump of coal for Christmas so this face is alllllll her! Cracks me up whenever I see it. We get this face a lot!






After that we came home to open PJ's and blankets and read the "Christmas Story" (Luke 2) And then off to bed!! Or that was the plan. The girls had a really hard time falling asleep. Mom and Dad were up until 3 waiting for Santa.

"Are you happy at me?"

Chase has been Mr Grumpy pants lately. He loves to scowl at you or tell you he doesn't like you. He likes to be defiant in every way he can. If you ask him to do something he will ALWAYS tell you No! I can tell the 3's are upon us. 3's are always worse than 2's at this house!!!

But my favorite phrase from him is when he knows I'm mad and he will ask me.. "Are you happy at me?" Or when he knows he has done something good he will ask me that too. I think it is so so cute! How could I not be happy at him when he asks me that!!