I honestly can't remember if March came in like a lion or a lamb but I do know that for the majority of the month we have had very cold weather - even some snow. It left me longing for warm breezes playing in my hair and sunshine. I wasn't the only one. We were all feeling vitamin D deprived. We started talking about getting away partly to celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary and partly just to have a family vacation. We had to take several things into consideration.
First Lance had been doing HCG weight loss program again and didn't want to be on vacation while still in phase one, two or three. Second we really wanted our friends the Zeller's to join us, unfortunately that wasn't meant to be: Scott got a new job opportunity at that time and so they couldn't come. Third, Lance's parents decided they wanted to join us and use it as a chance to visit Carolyn's family who live in and around the LA area. That through another curve ball our way - who would take care of the pets while we were away? This is no small undertaking around our house because as Lance likes to chant - we have 2 dogs, 2 cats, 9 chickens, a frog and a fish. Thankfully my nephew Brandon agreed to house/pet sit for us. We are so grateful that he was willing to take on that task. Hopefully he doesn't regret it!
So once all was set with the pets we got everything planned for our trip. Jake and Carolyn left on the weekend before we left in order to visit Carolyn's only living brother and then met up with us at our hotel in Anaheim when we arrived on Tuesday. We drove it all in one day which wasn't too bad. I was a little nervous about doing it all in one day but the kids are older now and did really well. The hotel we stayed at was the Raddison at Buena Park and it was right by Knotts Berry Farm so about 20 minutes from Disneyland via a hotel shuttle. It was a beautiful hotel with great rooms, a pool and a free delicious hot breakfast buffet every morning. The parking was free too as well as the shuttle to Disneyland. The catch was that the shuttle had to be scheduled well in advance so you had to plan out your day and not deviate from the plan. The only day that was really a problem was Friday - the last day we were at the Park. We were all really tired but had to wait several hours for our assigned shuttle time.
The Park days had their ups and downs. Hannah and Asher are now at an age to want to try the more adventurous rides and roller coasters. JJ on the other hand refuses anything that is remotely fast and had to be forced onto some of the rides. By the end of the three days in the Park we pretty much gave up fighting him on it and he sat out with Grandma Carolyn while all the rest of us including Grandpa Jake went and had fun on the rides. It made me sad that JJ would stubbornly let his fears stop him from having a good time but he didn't seem to mind that much so I guess it is my stubbornness that makes me still be bothered by it all. He missed out on the super fun Radiator Springs ride which I highly recommend (especially if you go early in the morning and get a fast pass for it).
Speaking of fast passes - we learned a bit more about using them this time around. We didn't realize until the last day that you can actually get additional fast passes before you use up your existing fast passes. If we had figured that out before we would have been able to squeeze in just a little bit more but even as it was we were exhausted by the end of the day and our (or should I say my) feet were KILLING.
For this trip I made Hannah and Asher (JJ has out grown this now) autograph books so we spent some time each day trying to get autographs from some of their favorite characters. The very best experiances we had with the characters were the last day in California Adventure - nearly no lines and the characters were super fun and friendly. The worst had to be either waiting for 2 hours to see the fairies in Pixie Hollow and then have Asher decide he didn't want to interact with the at all AND standing in a long line to get Goofy's signature only to have him leave just as we got up to him. The Mickey's house line was long but we kind of expected it. We didn't even try to do Minnie's house and were glad we didn't because we walked right up to her in California Adventure! Over all it was a great trip.
We loved visiting with the Teverbaughs on Saturday and Sunday. The Easter Bunny even found us Sunday morning! While at Norma's house the kids fell in love with her puppy Sadie. She is an adorable tiny chiweenie with such a sweet personality. I am grateful the kids got to meet some of their Teverbaugh cousins and I hope we can do more family fun together in the future. Here are some of our favorite pictures from this month:
Night at the Hutchings Museum!
All ready for Spring (and church)
JJ didn't want to be in the picture but Minnie persuaded him. Asher was sitting with me because he had a stomach ache - guess he inherited my easily upset tummy.
The Pooh Bear ride was one of the few that we got Grandma Carolyn to ride.
Asher and Hannah weren't to thrilled with this ride but I was proud of them for trying it out. Grandpa Jake looks like he is taking a nap in all the ride photos!
We all LOVE this ride! (despite the look of terror on the kids faces)
Hannah after riding Splash Mountain. She is our thrill rider.
Playing marbles with Paula and Vicki at Norma Teverbaugh's house. It was great to spend time with these great people.
Easter Bunny found the kids all the way at Aunt Norma's house.
The one ride Grandpa wanted to do was the train around Disneyland.
We caught Peter Pan as we were walking.
The kids in their Easter clothes with Aunt Norma's puppy Sadie.
Saying goodbye.
Have I mentioned how much I love southern Utah? Well I do. It is so beautiful there.
Hannah accidentally had Mickey sign on her Donald Duck page. That made Donald a bit miffed.
Practicing the Frozone slide
Don't tell Grandma that I didn't crop this picture. She gets made whenever she finds out that I have put any photos of her on the internet but this one is not so flattering of her ;)
Asher regressing . . . could JJ squeeze Asher's butt any tighter?
Best Ride EVER award goes to Radiator Springs!
Tink was bugged that Asher wouldn't get in the picture and she kept teasing him and calling him out. Unfortunately that does NOT work on him.
Random cat sighting in California Adventure.
Cutest facebomb EVER! I had no idea until we got home that we had timed this just right.
Hannah at a spa date with me before we left on the trip.
This is the cover of Asher's autograph book that I made. I simply bought two packs of castle diecuts from Hobby Lobby and had Lance take them to work and drill holes in them with his fancy schmancy hole punch. Then me and the kids decorated the covers and some of the inside pages with scrapbook paper, chalk ink and stickers.
Hannah's book - I used rings to keep the pages together but you could easily use something else to bind them.
February was bitter cold and brought several big snow storms. I don't think we are going to be hurting for water in the mountains this year. In fact I am wondering if there will be flooding this spring. February marks a bittersweet milestone for us. One year since my mom passed away. The sting of her passing is easing but the ache of missing her remains for me. Every day of this past year I have thought about her and wished she was still here for me to talk to and spend time with. She truly was my best friend even when we didn't see eye to eye or frustrated each other. There have been so many moments where I almost picked up the phone to call her only to remember that she's not there. Lots of people tell me things like "oh she is still watching over you". But I just haven't felt that way. There is a huge void in my life without her and nothing can really fill that spot. My kids miss her greatly too. All year Asher has talked about her, remembering things about her and things they did together. JJ and Hannah have been less verbal but both have talked about missing her at different times. Often when Hannah is sad she goes in her room and wraps up in a particular blanket that was my mom's and tries to seek comfort in that. I thought about doing something in special to mark the day of her passing but decided for my own emotional stability I needed to treat the day like any other. I would rather celebrate her life with happy memories of her, rather than her death. That day was not one I like to relive although there was a certain amount of peace and comfort that came that day. Maybe it was fitting that she passed so close to Valentine's Day. She truly loved her family with a fierceness that I am not sure all of us still completely comprehend.
Here are some other happenings in February that I want to remember:
Asher was so proud to share his painting of the solar system. I love that he included BYU on it!
This is Hannah's best friend Abbie. She came over for a late night and they played dress ups and put on a "play". Asher was a good sport and played the prince in their play.
Yet another photo of Jax! He was the most annoying puppy for the first year of his life but as he turned 1 he has morphed into a sweet, albeit somewhat over enthusiastic, member of the family. I keep thinking that the kid's interest in him will wear off but it hasn't yet. They love him more everyday and still fight over him.
Our family weathered one of the most heinous experiences I have ever had to deal with. Hannah came home from school with lice. Not just the eggs, full grown, wiggly, disgusting critters crawling around her hair. We tore her room apart and cleaned everything. Washed all her clothes, including the clean clothes in her drawers. We boxed and bagged up everything we couldn't sanitize of her stuff and even much of the boys' stuff. We washed all the bedding for everyone's beds. It was quite an undertaking. I was never more grateful for Lance. He took a bunch of the really bulky items (pillows etc) to a laundromat (FYI there is no laundromat that we could find here in our town, he had to go two towns over to find one). I treated all the kids hair and my own (since she and I use the same brushes). We didn't find lice on anyone else's hair but hers. I found out that I am allergic to the anti lice shampoo. It gave me an asthma-like attack. I had to treat Hannah's hair a second time the day after because I still found live ones. I have since scoured her head for any sign of them pretty much every day (it's now been about 3 1/2 weeks so I am pretty sure we got it taken care of). I keep having Lance check mine because just thinking about it makes my head itch! Thankfully he never found anything. I think that she must have gotten it from hanging her winter coat close to someone else's coat who had it. That is the only explanation I can come up with. The coat hangers are only about an inch apart from each other so all the heavy winter coats have to be smooshed in together. It was a horrible experience for Hannah, me and Lance. Hannah hated missing school but I wouldn't let her go back until I was absolutely sure she was free of creepy crawlies. We have kept it on the down low because we didn't want people to be mean to her because of it (even though it is in no way her fault). I debated whether to even mention it here but it was a big part of what happened to our family this month and hopefully no one will judge us harshly because we fell victim to the vermin.
This is her on one of the days she was home from school and feeling really sad. She said Jax snuggling with her made her feel better.
One of mine and Lance's favorite things to do is to double date with our good friends the Zellers. It really doesn't matter what we end up doing because there is always great conversation and lots of laughs. This month we headed up to City Creek with them to order a new suit for Lance at Mr. Mac and then ate at Cheesecake Factory. It was super delish. I highly recommend the Bang Bang Shrimp! And of course the cheesecakes were divine. These pictures don't do them justice. My phone battery was almost dead so this was the best I could get.
I made the kids school valentines again this year. I am not sure it ended up being that much cheaper but it was fun.
This is JJ's - it says Aww . . . looks like someone needs a "pug"! I used a picture I took of Jax on one snowy day. JJ was ecstatic that everyone in his class would get to see his pug. On Valentine's day I helped out in Asher's class party and then later JJ's class party. As we were heading home we saw our interim principal (our other principal fell recently and broke her leg and later found out that she has cancer, so sad.) Mr. Miller in the hall and JJ ran up to give him one of his left over valentines. Come to find out - Mr. Miller has a female pug name Roxy. It was quite the bonding moment for JJ. He LOVES Mr. Miller, and I must say that I think everybody at the school feels the same. He is great. I hope we get to keep him.
This is a terrible picture of Asher's valentine but it says Valentine, you are just write! He helped cut out the hearts and tape them on the pencils.
This is Hannah's - her says Make no mistake you are my favorite valentine! That is an eraser glued to the paper. I found out I had to use tacky glue because glue dots didn't work.
JJ's class had to make valentine boxes and then they were "judged" at their valentine party. We helped JJ do this really simple shoe box turned in to a Lego brick! He was pretty happy with it but it was no where near as elaborate as some of the boxes I saw. I have no idea how much time some of those parents put into making boxes!
I don't do a whole lot for Valentine's day for the kids but I did a little felt bag for each of them with two little toys, a box of candy and a small stuffed toy that they can clip to their backpacks. JJ got a digital watch which he adores and wears everyday and a Lego mini figure box. Hannah got an earring and necklace set and a Lego Friends mini figure. Asher got a Yoda figurine and a Lego mini figure box.
For Lance I got a BYU hoodie and a book and some candy. He brought this vase of my favorite kind of roses and a balloon and a card to work which was so special! He also got me a "happy light" to help me get through these dreary late winter days.
Something about this picture of Hannah practicing piano just gets to my heart. I am so proud of my kids desire to learn new things.
If I didn't know this dog I would swear he was getting mauled to death by a 6 year old but honestly he "laps" up the attention and comes back for more over and over. He is a people loving dog. He really wants to be with us (preferably on us) all the time. The kids take turns having him sleep in their beds at night. When he can't find a person to snuggle with he tries snuggling with the cats (that doesn't work out in his favor most of the time) or with Abby (who still gets annoyed with him but is tolerating him more unless he has her favorite blue rope toy, then all bets are off)
A couple of my besties (Leslie and Michal) did dinner with me one evening this month. Both of these amazing girls have lost a parent and are very aware of many of my feeling dealing with the loss of my mom. We decided to go to a place that Michal had been to before and liked called Shabu Shabu in Orem. I was really intrigued by the concept. There are four pots of boiling water built into the table and each of us ordered different things to cook in our own pot of water. It was pretty tasty until we notice a bug walking on the table and then a second one. Ya, they were cockroaches. SOOOOOO gross! We killed the ones on our table and showed the waitress, she was chagrined but did NOTHING. She didn't even take any money off our bill. Needless to say we won't be going there again and I wouldn't be surprised if the place goes out of business pretty darn quick. I saw a third cockroach on the floor as we were leaving.
In other crazy occurrences at our house our cat Bo decided that the small plastic container in the kitchen cabinet was a good place to take his afternoon nap. The dogs tried to tell me but I don't speak dog.
Jake and Carolyn invited the kids over to take advantage of the snow while it lasted on the slope down to their walk out basement this month. The kids had a blast and thankfully no one rammed into the columns at the bottom of the hill. The following is a video I took of Jake sledding with the kids. I don't think he ever grew up! Amazing memory for the kids - they are so proud of their heart transplant grandpa who isn't afraid of a little snow or a brick column or two.
Jax loves a good patch of sunshine so this boy decided to lay down with him.
Here's wishing and hoping for sunshine and warm breezes to come and stay for a good long time! (looks like I got my wish at least for the first day of March!)
Posts
