Happy 1st Birthday Brendan

Hannah & Joshua with 2 of their Arizona cousins-Ashleigh & Robert

Christmas Day

The kids with Grandma & Papa

This day after Christmas we want to wish a Happy Birthday to our nephew, Brendan, who turns one today. Don't worry, when I wish the adults happy birthday I won't put the age! Can't wait to meet you some day-maybe October 2009 in Anaheim, CA???? Hint, hint to your parents.

We went to my sister's house for Christmas and had a nice time & dinner. The kids are enjoying all their gifts right now. It was pretty much a Star Wars Christmas for Joshua. He has decided he wants another Star Wars birthday party in May. I got a globe I have been wanting for a couple years now. It is awesome but I don't expect anyone other than homeschooling moms will understand my excitement over a globe. Part of our Disneyland annual passes were gifts too & that gift will keep on giving too. Thanks to both our sets of parents for your gifts-they rock!

It rained most of the day & night which I quite enjoyed. After we got home we watched one of the many movies we got. Sometime when I wasn't looking Todd posted the entry below mine. I told you you'd be able to tell the difference between our postings. I hate to push his down more so please read on after this one. For someone who doesn't always have a lot to say it's worth a read. I have to add it's pretty darn nice to have a hubby who puts up with me day after day as well. I thank God for that Roadrunners hockey game we both attended in 1994....

Todd's Holiday (holy-day) Thankful List

I'm thankful this year for everyone who has chosen to replace "Merry Christmas" with "Happy Holidays". Thanks for reminding us that these are "holy" days, especially the one set apart to celebrate God Himself becoming flesh and blood in a little stable in Bethlehem a couple thousand years ago.

I'm thankful that God has taken care of us through 8 months of unemployment. I've had a perfect opportunity to prove my trust, and I sure wish I'd done a better job of it. I've seen God miraculously provide, I know He will work everything together for good, and yet I am still plagued by doubt and worry. Which makes me thankful for God's unrelenting grace and forgiveness.

I'm thankful for all the time I got to spend with my family this year (an upside to unemployment).

I'm thankful that I have no clue what I will be doing in 2009. Will I be working a city job, delivering pizza, mowing lawns, graphic design, prepress, or just relying on real estate? Or something I can't even imagine yet? I'm certainly not stuck in a dead-end job or even a boring life! God is keeping things fresh and exciting (in a scary kind of way).

I'm especially thankful for my family. They are a gift I could never have deserved or earned. A wife that can put up with me every day is pretty special, and kids as smart, healthy and loving as Hannah & Joshua are a blessing beyond words.

Happy Birthday Jesus. This is a holy day, I pray that everyone who reads this will stop to thank you for coming to earth and dying that horrific death to pay the price for all of our shortcomings. Please grow our faith and be at the center of our lives, and thank you in advance for whatever 2009 brings our way!

Merry Christmas Eve

We get a private Meet & Greet with a character because of our Disney Visa card. We did this twice during this visit. Once with Pluto & the other with Chip & Dale. You get a free 5x7 photo each day you do it. Those were the only characters they had lined up otherwise I'd have wanted to do it every day. One year we got Mickey & Goofy.

This was one one several goofy pictures of the kids on the sailing ship "Columbia". It sails around Tom Sawyers Island/Pirates Lair. We also went on the Mark Twain Riverboat. It was the first time we did either one of those in all our visits.

This picture is in front of Santa's Reindeer Roundup aka Big Thunder Ranch. It was a contender for our Christmas card picture. Inside the ranch was not as fun as I imagined. The kids did not want to wait to see Santa & only Hannah would stand with Mrs. Claus (who had no line). They charged ($5 each) to decorate cookies which I remember as being free around Halloween time & that included a craft too. They had at least one turkey that had been pardoned by the President. They had live reindeer which as you can imagine did not give the place a lovely smell. 10 minutes and we were outta there. Good photo op out front though!

Hannah & Joshua with the Walt & Mickey statue & Sleeping Beauty's castle behind them.

Another picture from Santa's Reindeer Roundup

We want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas tomorrow. Hopefully you all got your cards but I know some of you may be getting mail a little slower than usual. Stay safe as you prepare for Christmas. I'd glady take a little of the weather from you if I could. Todd had to work part of today but the kids and I have been busy making cookies,fudge, & birthday brownies. We usually make a birthday cake for Jesus and eat it for breakfast on Christmas morning & sing Happy Birthday to Him before presents. This year we picked birthday brownies because we thought Todd would prefer it over cake. We usually open one gift on Christmas Eve so we'll probably do that after dinner. We will be at my sister's house tomorrow & are praying there's not too much snow to keep Grandma & Papa from coming.

Wherever you are tomorrow we hope you enjoy your time with family and remember the reason for the holiday. Don't leave Jesus out of His birthday celebration!

Happy Birthday Jim! and some more Disney:)

I'd like to say Happy Birthday to my brother if you ever visit here. Just know I hope you had a good day.

The family picture above is on Hannah's favorite ride-Grizzly River Run. We only went on it once this trip because no one likes to be wet AND cold. We went without a stroller this year so my plans of always bringing a change of dry clothes along could not be upheld this visit. Hannah was disappointed but the nice Australian family across from us took our picture before we went down the river. My speculation that "they" can control the rapids so you don't get soaked in the winter months was off base. While I only got a little wet Todd did not fare as well. Hannah was pretty wet too but her silky Jasmine costume dried a lot faster than jeans. A cast member confirmed it as well. We will make up for the lack of rides on it next year when it's warmer.

Joshua with Chip & Dale.

Don't ask me which chipmunk is which. Todd told me how to tell the difference but I forgot-something about their teeth.....

Hannah as Tinkerbell with Tink herself

Meeting Tinkerbell in Pixie Hollow is new this year so it's our first time to "see" her other than on a parade float or flying over the castle. You also get to meet one of her pixie/fairy friends. We got to meet Silvermist which happens to be Hannah's favorite pixie next to Tinkerbell. Joshua has a favorite pixie too-it's Fawn if you want to know. Tink's home is where Ariel as a mermaid in her clam shell used to be.

I love this picture of the kids. So cute. It was a tree outside the Disneyland Hotel. We didn't stay there but I have no problem using their tree for my photo ops.

Grandma & the kids-another cute picture!

This was at a pizza place in Downtown Disney. Yummy pizza. Thanks to Grandma we ate there twice!

More Fun Pictures

Here's Todd & the kids with their fancy cookies Grandma bought. When cookies cost as much as they do at Disneyland then I take pictures to remember the moment-not to mention my good looking family in the shot! I opted for a Mickey shaped ice cream bar later while Todd, Hannah, & Grandma went on California Screamin'.

The kids with Donald Duck. Donald is a hard character to find. This is only our second time seeing him in our 5 visits.

Of course we need a picture with Mickey & Minnie.

A teacup the whole family can fit in!

Every year we get a picture in this Dumbo. It's something I have to do-like a "Disneyland growth chart". This is the first year we didn't all fit in it. Sad.

I just wanted to post a few more pictures today before going to work. I have so many pictures I'd like to share. Keep in mind I won't be updating like this all the time. Todd worked on our vacation video this week & of course we've watched it several times. We started school back up yesterday but will be doing more fun stuff next week for CHRISTmas.

Hannah Rocks the Jedi Training Academy

Hannah got picked for the Jedi Training Academy & got to fight Darth Maul. I have no idea how to make the pictures come up in the order I want them so here they are anyway:

Hannah after she got her certificate.

She was so nervous that she wouldn't get picked before the show. I was so glad when the Jedi Master said "the girl in the blue shirt & pink hat". She didn't need too much training as she and Joshua fight all the time (with lightsabers I mean). Joshua was still not brave enough to try to get picked but maybe next year. They are outside right now playing "Jedi Training". One of them is the Master Jedi & they pick students from the imaginary crowd as well as their sibling. Then the Master teaches all the right moves to fight the imaginary Darth Vader & Darth Maul. They already have a plan to wear matching Obi-Wan costumes if they still fit in October. Hannah has a Padme costume that might be too small by then. I figure that Jedi Master won't be able to resist picking a Padme out of the crowd. Not many girls come dressed up for that show.
I remember a couple years ago when we were watching it when Darth Maul came out to glare at the crowd & Joshua was wearing a Vader cape & red lightsaber sticking up. Darth Maul walked by us and tapped his lightsaber to Joshua's lightsaber in something of a bad guy high five. Joshua thought that was cool and how it "didn't even kill me".
Good times, good times.

More Disneyland pictures

Me,Grandma,& Hannah

Me & Hannah on It's a Small World

Todd & Joshua-this picture was taken at Joshua's request. It was during lunch at the Jazz Kitchen Express in Downtown Disney. My handsome guys!

Joshua & Grandma on the new Toy Story Mania 3D ride. We love that ride. It's too bad the lines are so long since it's new otherwise I could ride it over & over again.

Todd & Joshua on our first ride of the trip-Big Thunder Mountain. It is also Joshua's first time on this coaster. He said he didn't like it but later in the week went on it again. He did the same with Splash Mountain & now likes all the mountains-yeah! This picture was obviously "before" the ride started.

Disneyland 2008!

We made it to Disneyland for our 5th annual family vacation. We got annual passes through a special deal in California Costcos thanks to some help from 2 very special friends-Amanda & Belinda (thanks again!). We have wanted to upgrade our hopper passes for a couple visits now in order to get 2 years out of the passes but have never done it. Costco had a deal if you bought the Deluxe Annual Pass (the pass we'd need)you got a $50 gift card to spend in the parks so buying 4 passes got us $200 in gift cards. This became our lunch money all week. So my 2 wonderful friends picked up the passes for us when they went to CA a couple months ago. Our next trip is planned for October before these passes run out.
We had a blast-of course. It was nice to see the Christmas parades & snow but we enjoy the less crowded fall time better. Todd's mom met us out there for 4 days of our visit. Hannah has now gone on every ride because she was brave enough to try the Maliboomer this year & liked it. Joshua was much braver this year too except he waited till the last 2 days to get really brave. He likes all the mountains-especially Space Mountain. By our last day he was brave enough to try Tower of Terror & California Screamin'. He says he did not like those but maybe he'll try them again next year. He hated Mulholland Madness last year but loved it this year so there's still chance. I do not prefer CA Screamin so I was slightly disappointed when he was tall enough to ride & I had to go too. I can't let a 5 year old be braver than me. I actually like every part of that coaster except the upside down part. Everyone says it's so quick but it seems like forever to me.

This was in front of a tree in the California Adventure Park

Thanksgiving 2008

We had a yummy Thanksgiving with my parents (Grandma & Papa) and a couple friends. Todd cooked. I cleaned. Then we went to watch the Cardinals lose at a friends house. I got up early to get some deals at Wal-Mart for myself & friends. Nothing terribly exciting. Hope your Thanksgiving was blessed. We have been very thankful this year for God's hand in our lives.

State Fair 2008

We went to the State Fair on October 22nd with HEoS. Todd got to go with us this year-last year he had to work. Todd is in charge of "art" class as most of you can guess why. I can handle cutting & gluing but actual art is pretty much stick figures & coloring in the lines for me. Hannah entered her drawing at the fair & the picture above is her with her displayed artwork. We were both very proud. Joshua refused to participate so maybe he's inherited my lack of art skills. I think he may try next year since he's seen his sister get a ribbon & how it's displayed for all to see. She got a participant ribbon but of course I think she should have placed.

Here's a close up of her art. We want to frame it and hang it up somewhere.

Todd with the kids while we wait to get in. Their tye dye shirts were another art project.

Joshua on the ferris wheel. He's so handsome.

I took lots of pictures but this is the only one I'm actually in. I guess I should have asked Todd to take it since he & Hannah were on the other side but we tend to take a lot of pictures like this. The kids each got 3 free rides by reading 3 books & it was $1 ride day so we bought a few extra rides. Todd & Hannah who are both braver than me went on some crazy rides while my less brave sidekick & I watched. I have never actually thrown up on a ride but some of those rides they went on might have had that effect on me. Crazy. I just don't like going upside down. They went on stuff that was going up & down, round & round, & upside down-at the SAME time. I AM glad Todd has someone to go on those rides with though-someone other than me!
We had a fun day and we'll be there again next year.

Hannah's 9th Birthday Party

Our beautiful 9 year old Luau girl
The picture above is from
Hannah's luau birthday party. She's a planner like her mom (also inherited from Papa I think) so originally she wanted this theme for her 8th birthday party. Plans got sidetracked when she was bitten by the pirate bug so number 8 was a pirate party complete with a treasure hunt at the park. So this party was 2 years in the making. God knew what He was doing too because I got a lot of luau party supplies cheap at a store that was going out of business. Sad for them but good for me as I bought this stuff a few months before Todd got laid off. Funny, huh?

Limbo anyone?

Joshua using his Jedi moves on the starfish pinata

My favorite part of the party was the beach cake. I used a few borrowed ideas & some from my own head. All of Hannah's friends & 2 cousins are on the cake. I cut out their heads from pictures and glued them on twist tie bodies & put them on various areas of the cake. Those fancy candy stores at the mall sell all kinds of "beach" type gummy candies. There are sharks,fish,turtles,octopus,whales, & rings for the innertubes. They also sell M&M type chocolate candies that look like rocks to make the fire pit. I used pretzel sticks for the limbo, striped gum for beach towels, somewhat melted starburst to form surf boards, paper umbrellas,& an upside down sugar ice cream cone for a volcano. Hannah loved it & that's what matters most.

Ocober 20, 2008

Hannah & Joshua at Johnny Rocket's
On Hannah's 9th birthday she got to decide where we went for lunch. She chose Johnny Rocket's at Westgate. If you are not in AZ that is an area next to the stadium the Cardinals play at as well as the arena we sometimes see good hockey teams play against the Coyotes-like the Blackhawks & Penguins. After lunch we walked over to the water thing-whatever it's called-where water shoots up to music. Hannah got her free Cold Stone ice cream & we stopped for a gallon of ice cream for the rest of us on the way home. As already noted in a previous post we stayed up late to see meteor showers. Later in the week she had her Luau party. These pictures are from her actual birthday with just us. I felt the need to go this far back since it is her last "single digit" birthday:( My final thought on that is "Lord, come quickly!"

Most people don't know Joshua can be quite a ham-I have more pictures to prove it!