Happy Birthday Emery!!

Well, I was hoping to get this post done in Dec...but that didn't happen. Emery had another birthday and now I can't believe my baby is eleven. She is such a great kid, you really couldn't ask for a better big sister and daugther. She has a great sense of humor and is very responsible and helps me out a lot. Here are a few snaps from her birthday. She loved her new radio if you couldn't tell from the pictures. The rest of the pictures are from the family party we had for her the following Sunday. We were so blessed to have almost all of our extended family here for dinner, that made Emery very happy.

Maggie

Sunday we drove to Redding to pick-up our new edition. Yes, I am that crazy, and believe me I have been questioning myself a few times. Her name is Maggie and she is 6 week old golden retriever puppy. So far at home she has been great, sleeping and hanging out in her crate without too much crying and also going to the back door when she needs to relieve herself. Rex is still checking her out, but I think he is enjoying having another one of his kind around. Sometimes he will growl at her when she gets too close to his food. I just laugh because in about a month or so, she will tower over him and he will be pretty powerless. But Rex is a good dog and I know they will become buds.

The kids love her and I'm not sure I will be ready for half of them to go back to school, they really help a lot with entertaining her.

Welcome to the family sweet Maggie....now no more chewing on things that don't belong to you!!

California Adventure Park~Final Day of Fun

Our last day of fun was spent at California Adventure Park. My first thought about going to this park, was we wouldn't need to spend an entire day here, but guess what, we did. We arrived around 10:00am when the park opened and left after the World of Color show around 10:00pm, it was a long day. We started over by California Screamin and got our fast passes for that ride and Toy Story Mania. Both of those lines were super long.

While we were waiting around for our passes and checking out a few stores, we ran into our cousin Cacey Klein and her family. It was fun to see her and her beautiful children, both of them adopted. It was nice to have a chance to catch up for a few minutes. Look at the sea of people behind us in this picture, there were people everywhere. At one point we lost Kya for a few minutes, which was nerve racking, but he did the right thing, found a popcorn stand and stood still until we found him. Way to go Kya!

Here is everyone in there Mickey hats still smiling, that's a good sign.

Brody was excited to see Lightening McQueen there....we ran over and snuck a few pictures in while everyone else was finishing lunch.

We spotted Chip and Dale on the way into the "It's a Bug World" area. They were pretty funny to watch. They took Lucy's hat off and started to fight over it, she was so embarrassed, it was great. Check out the picture one of them (I can't tell them apart) is covering Brody's eyes. He thought this was so funny.

The last time we went to Disneyland I caught strep throat, so I was really hoping to be healthy and good to go this time. But unfortunately I had a horrible cough....most likely bronchitis. I wasn't alone Brody had it too and Landry was starting to catch a cold as-well. So I didn't get much sleep at night and this picture really shows that....I looked terrible, esepcially sitting next to my beautiful girl Kelci!! All-well inside I felt great, I love being with my family and enjoying them. No matter where we go, it is a great time. I wish my sister Stacey and my Dad were there as-well, but it wasn't meant to be this time around. We will do it again though. Thanks so much mom, we will never forget it.

Disneyland Day 3

I took about 400 pictures during our time at Disneyland, so choosing what to share takes me forever...I know what a surprise. Our next morning back to the park we spent a lot of time on Main Street. There were several characters popping out all over the street and of course the kids were so excited to get there autograph books signed. Luckily Disney is so smart because they bring out several characters at once to stagger the crowds a bit, so waiting wasn't too bad.

Here is the only family picture we took the whole time, proof we were all there haha. Brody has major hat hair, I made him take his beanie off because it was a little big and this is actually our Christmas card picture...sorry to ruin the surprise. Although I ordered those cards and haven't actually received them yet, so will see if we will be sending any out. Note the sweatshirt Bryan is wearing, it's a North Carolina Pembrooke State sweatshirt (even though I don't think it's a state school anymore...anyways). He was stopped so many times while were at the parks, people wondering if he was from there, went to school there...he was loving it. (This is where his Dad played baseball in college)

This firehouse picture is for me mom....see mom I told you I would take one for you!! Haha. I actually went inside for the first time and it was very cool. Disney is full of nostalgic representations, and I think they do this because it makes you feel good. The old times were some of the best times, a simple time and it's nice to see it around you...the firehouse was full of antiques, which I love looking at.

Merry Christmas from us and the infamous Mouse himself. This picture bugged me all day though after we took it. My flash didn't go off and so that is why you can see the people in the front, but not in the back!! Such a bummer.

Love these kiddos.....it was so much fun spending time with them and listening to all there laughter and craziness.

Landry rode the carousel while the others were on Dumbo and for the record, he hated it. He looked so sad and was crying the whole time...poor guy.

I love my mom, she has such a kind heart and is always thinking of others. Check her out below on the Big Thunder Mountain. I still can't believe she got on the ride, but she did and had a great time. Emery also rode this ride and it was her first roller coaster, she was hooked and probably could have rode 10 more times, if the line wasn't so long.

After some of us went on the Haunted House, we headed to Splash Mountain. I asked Brody if he wanted to go on it and he said sure. I even showed him the people going down the big drop and he didn't mind at all. I was secretly hoping he wasn't tall enough for the ride, but he was....they should have some sort of parent pedal on that height thing. We went ahead and wrapped him up in a poncho and he left with Ang, Keianna, Jenae, and Kya. After the ride, he said he didn't like the big drop...and still to this day he talks about it. He is so crazy sometimes.

One of the prettiest things at Disneyland during the holidays is Sleeping Beauty's castle. Every night they take a few minutes and dim all the lights around the castle, play beautiful music and began to transform the castle into a magical winter wonderland, it even begins to snow. The kids were amazed, just the look on there faces was perfect. Isn't Ang so cute with her winter hat on, we had matching ones. You know, so we could be twins. Haha!