Disneyland and San Diego

We go to San Diego every year but the kids are little enough that they haven't quite caught on to that tradition yet so we decided to "surprise" them this year. After staying up for hours packing all night so the kids wouldn't see, we woke them up in the morning and told them we were going somewhere for a surprise. Jess wanted to wait until we actually pulled up into Disneyland for them to figure it out so we didn't tell them anything about where we were going. We flew out of Idaho Falls so on the drive there we were all trying to guess where we thought we were going. Ellie was so funny. She was saying places like "Blackfoot! Wait! I know! Malad!" She was excited to go anywhere! When we pulled into the airport they were excited to see we were flying somewhere. When we were driving to our hotel the GPS voice said, "Turn left on Disneyland Drive.'' Jess and I thought for sure they would figure it out so we turned around to look at their faces. Nope. Still no clue. We finally had to help them out a little bit but once they knew they were at Disneyland they freaked out and were so excited. (Oh ya, Kameron was a total bear on the flight there. Not that we expected anything different!)

Something about this castle. Have to stop and take a picture in front of it every time!

Kaden was so excited to do this Jedi training. You have to jump up and down and be really loud to get picked and that is so NOT Kaden. So I put him in a Star Wars shirt that day hoping it would help. He got picked and loved every second of it.

Night time firework show, another must. We stayed on the resort this year so I was able to go back and have Kameron take naps and bathe the kids at night before the firework show. So nice to be so close.

Kameron loves to say cheese for the camera!

Another Disneyland must. Mickey Mouse ears. Much to Jesse's dismay :)

It was so hot the second day we were there! In California Adventures they had some little water parks for kids. It was the most fun poor Kameron had all day. He was pretty much stuck in a stroller for two days except for the carousel and the teacups. He got completely soaked and finally had a smile!

After two days at Disneyland we went down to San Diego for Jesse's conference. Usually the kids have a quiet day at the beach. Not this year. Kameron smashed their sand castles and threw sand in Ellie's face. Never a dull moment!

This picture sums up what Kameron thought of the beach. He hates sand. He was constantly trying to wipe it off his hands and feet. When we all walked out onto the sand he stayed back on the cement and wouldn't walk on it for a while. And then the waves would come and he would scream at them. My poor baby.

Definitely not Kaden and Ellie. We always have to drag them away.

San Diego Zoo. I'm actually lucky I have this picture at all. I lost my camera at the zoo and a good samaritan turned it in to lost and found so I got it back. Yeah! Oh ya, and the zoo was awesome.

Kameron hated his mustache. It didn't last very long. I thought it was super cute. After posting about our vacation I realized there isn't a single picture of me on our adventure! I guess I need to pass the camera over more often! I promise I was there!

Casey and Shane

My little sister Casey got married 12 days later to Shane Humphries. They are an awesome couple and he is so good for her. All of my sisters were her bridesmaids. She had a beautiful outdoor wedding at a church in the country. Unfortunately since I was busy chasing kids around and being a bridesmaid I don't have many pics of her wedding yet.

But she was a gorgeous bride and I am so happy for her. All of my siblings are married now and I must say we have all made perfect choices. But nobody's as lucky as I am...

Jeff and Anna

My little brother Jeff got married on July 30. I can't believe he's married. He picked an amazing girl named Anna Belnap and we all love her. She fits perfectly in our family. They had a beautiful wedding. They were sealed in the Idaho Falls temple in the morning and then had a reception that night.

These are my grandparents from Arizona. I only see them once a year. I don't have any pics of them so I made them pose for me. They are amazing people.

Since we had tons of family and kids at my parents house waiting for the reception, my parents were kind enough to rent a huge jumping water slide. The kids loved it. Me and my sisters were dying laughing at Ellie because she had a monster wedgie the whole time!

The reception was gorgeous and Jeff and Anna were so happy. It was a perfect day.

Kameron and Ellie dancing. Awww! What a gentleman! Ya right. Everyone who knows him knows that's a joke!

Bear Lake and a broken arm

We make a trip to Bear Lake every year. This year was much different than any other year! To start with, the lake was VERY high so all the beaches were under water so we didn't even go to the actual lake. We stayed at the KOA which luckily had tons of stuff for the kids to do so we still had tons of fun. Tami and her kids came with us and tried out our new trailer. It was our first time using it and to start it off right, we punched a hole in the side of it while we were putting out the slide out. Oops. It totally crunched the electrical box and left a gash in the siding of the trailer. Needless to say Jesse was NOT a happy camper! (Ha! No pun intended!)

The KOA had cool bikes to rent and a big jumping pillow that the kids loved to play on. Things were going great.... until Kaden and Brayden thought it would be a good idea to jump over the cooler. Ya, Kaden didn't make it! When he tried to jump over the cooler he landed on his arm and ran over to me screaming at the top of his lungs that he had broken his arm. Well, earlier that morning he had fallen off his bike and insisted that he had broken his back. So I didn't believe him. The poor kid was up all night "trying to get his arm comfortable" and in so much pain. So first thing in the morning we drove him to Bear Lake Community Care and got an x-ray. Sure enough...

It was broken. I felt awful. Poor Kaden. I guess I'll try harder to believe him next time. We had a fun time still. We went to Minitonka Cave which was really interesting. Very cold inside. The kids did really well considering there are 888 stairs!

Tumbling

The kids are in tumbling this summer. It was Kaden's idea. He is really into Star Wars and thinks it's so cool that all the Jedi's can do flips and back flips so he wanted to learn how. He does really well and tries really hard. Ellie... not so much. She doesn't listen to her teacher very well and kind of gives a half effort. But she loves to go and has fun on the tramp!

This is Kaden attempting a hand stand!

This is Ellie in the middle of a cartwheel! I love it!

Here's Kaden doing a flip on the tramp. He tries so hard to land on his feet!

And here's Ellie doing a handstand. It is fun to watch them try so hard and get better each time. I think I'll put Ellie in dance for the fall. Kaden will stay in tumbling for sure. He can't wait until they teach him how to do a back flip!

July 4!

We just stayed in Pocatello this year for Independence Day. We went to the parade in the morning which was LAME! There was a total of about 12 floats. It was over in like 15 min and we had to sit through a rainstorm while we waited for it to come. Blah! Kids didn't really know the difference though.

We went up to the fair grounds to see the fireworks. We just sat in the back of Jesse's truck so we had a quick getaway and weren't stuck in traffic for hours.

Then we lit off our own fireworks. The kids didn't get to bed until 12:30, the latest they have ever stayed up. Kaden still talks about it!

My baby girl is 5!

I can't believe Ellie is five already. Here's my typical birthday list of things we love about Ellie:

1. She HAS to say "byeloveyouseeya" with a kiss everytime someone leaves or she is in tears. Sometimes it's frustrating when I'm in a hurry but I know someday I'll miss it.

2. She says the funniest things like, "Mom, my nose be's squeaky when I'm in bed." She can always make us laugh.

3. That girl can sleep! This is one I especially appreciated when she was little. She is still my best sleeper sometimes sleeping for 13 hrs.

4. She is such a good friend to her brothers. She can be a big kid and play with Kaden and then turn around and play baby games with Kameron. It doesn't phase her at all that she's the only girl!

5. Ellie loves to be tickled. If you do it wrong, don't worry, she'll tell you. She'll sit by you and stick her arm on your lap and say, "Tickle me." It's more of a demand than a request really. She likes them "softs" not scratchy and will make you do it until your arm is dead.

We love you Ellie Bellie!

Here is the front of Ellie's cake....

And here's the back! I have now vowed to never make another birthday cake ever! Everytime I make one it is a DISASTER. This one was no different. Everytime I turned around more of the cake would just crumble away! Kaden said it was "the dumbest cake ever." I totally agreed. Luckily it didn't bother Ellie a bit and she was just happy it had Tinkerbell on it.

And of course to hold with tradition we went to Texas for dinner. They didn't sing to her like they usually do and she kept asking when they were going to, so I sang to her all through dinner. I'm sure the people around us didn't enjoy it as much as Ellie did!