"THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH"

We just got back from Disneyland! We had a blast! With the exception of Tom who informed me when we got home, that he hates Disneyland. Who hates Disneyland? I think I enjoy it more than the kids. Anyway, it was a great trip. We went with the JHS drill team. We stayed in one of the Disney hotels. I was totally excited about staying so close. There is a special entrance through the California Grand Hotel that we got to use. We went back to the hotel every afternoon - the kids swam, we ate lunch for cheap, took naps. It was perfect! When you stay at one of the Disney hotels, you get to experience a "Magic Morning." On Tue, Thurs, Sat, Sun, guests get into Disneyland an hour before anyone else. They open Fantasyland and Tommorowland. We did Fantasyland in 30 minutes walking right onto all the rides. It was sweet! We did have to get there by 7:00am, but it was worth it. The kids were giving me a bad time. They said, "mom, you don't get up at 6:00am for anything!" I knew I would get a nap in the afternoon. We had 4 day park hoppers. They keep adding new rides and adventures so that people need to spend this many days in Disneyland. When I was a kid we did Disneyland in a day. What happened to those days? There were a few new attractions this year. Morgan wanted to go to Pixie Hollow and meet Tinkerbell and friends. We stood in line for about 45 minutes. It was fun! The Toy Story ride was a 45 minute wait also, but worth it. It was great! I hate lines, so we did a lot of fast passes. Early morning was best. Being in Disneyland before the gates opened got us on the big rides right as they opened. We saw lots of characters. I love the characters. At one point Cody told me I was a picture freak and wouldn't pose with some of the characters. He sure is photogenic when I do get him in a picture. A perfect smile. We came across Cinderella in California Adventure and waited only 10 minutes. This saved me from standing in the princess line later. We got pictures with Handy Manny, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Pluto, Sully, Cinderella, Goofy, Chip and Dale. And we saw many more... My favorite rides are Space Mountain and Tower of Terror. My kids love Space Mountain and Soarin' over California. Cael was tall enough this year to go on almost everything. We made him go at least once on everything. He chose not to go again on a few. His very favorite ride was Sourin'. The weather was perfect (73)! I love fireworks and parades. I watched the fireworks show 3 nights. It was awesome! We happen to walk by as the parade was starting and since you can't really go anywhere, we stopped and watched. The Fantasmic show is amazing. All of the characters are in this night show with fireworks. I told Morgan I was glad she got to meet her favorite princesses last year and she said "mom, I saw them yesterday"(in the show). I was feeling bad that we didn't make time to meet all the princesses and she saw them from a distance and was happy. We did splash mountain at night right before we went back to the hotel. It was the perfect time to get wet and there was no line, so they let us stay on and go again. Morgan tried to duck her head way down behind the seat so she wouldn't get wet and got a big bruise on her forehead. So if look close in some of the pictures, you can see the goose egg on Morgan's head. Morgan got sick the last night and threw up in the restaurant. On our way home, Tom, Cody and I were all sick. Good thing we had a garbage bag in the van. It was the longest ride home ever. I am ready to go again next year! I just need to talk my husband into it. I'm sure one of the groups at JHS will be going next year.

Morgan's Moments...

Morgan has had a very eventful month. A couple of weeks ago we signed her up for a cheer leading clinic at JHS and she got to perform at halftime at a Basketball game. She did it with her friend Makayla and they both had a blast! I was a very shy child. She is not and doesn't get nervous performing in front of people. I am very glad she is like her father in that way.




Morgan is in the middle being silly...


Morgan is on a competition dance team with Ultimate Dance. She is on the Pewees team and they only practice an hour a week. Misty is amazing with the girls. They had their first competition last Saturday at Thanksgiving point in the Show Barn. THEY WERE AWESOME!!! They ended up taking 1st place on their Sea Cruise dance. They performed I hope you can dance and were amazing. They took 1st place again and then also had the Novice overall high points out of 62 teams. We were very pleased and excited! We are looking forward to the next competition. The dance company took overall best dance studio in two categories. Way to go Ultimate dance!

TAGGED!

I've been picture tagged. I like this tag. It's easy and fun to look at old pictures. Anyway, this picture is of Cael and his cousin Drew playing in the sand at Bear Lake, July '07. I trained all my kids at a young age to look and smile big. My 11 year old(teenage attitude)is rebelling at smiling for pictures anymore.

I am going to tag Mikelle L., Christina T., Angela A., Kristin B., Misty A., Jamie A. Look at your 6th picture file, post the 6th picture and tag 6 people. Have fun!

PROMOTION!

Tom received an awesome birthday present last week. Last Tuesday, he was appointed the new PRINCIPAL of Jordan High School. Way to go sweetheart - you have worked hard! With the school district split, his principal was appointed the new assistant Superintendent. Tom has been the "acting" principal since November. He went through an interview process and got the promotion. He has a great report with the faculty and the students at Jordan High. He loves his job! He loved high school when he was a teenager, I guess he can't let go! It must keep him young at heart! We love going to football and basketball games at "dads" work. He works hard and we enjoy the perks. We get to chaperon the drill team to Disneyland in March. Go Beetdiggers!!!

FABLEHAVEN

We had an exciting morning on Monday. Brandon Mull, the author of the "Fablehaven" books came and talked to Harvest Elementary. He did a great job promoting reading and using your imagination. The students were able to get their books signed by him. My kids were all excited. Originally we were told the signing would happen before the assembly. I made sure that my kids were to school early and they were fourth in line. He was late and so the signing happened after he spoke. Of course I showed up and watched the assembly. Someone needed to take pictures of my kids getting their books signed. I will admit I am a little star struck. My boys got his first two books for Easter last year. Tom and I read the books during the summer and loved them. I am really excited for the fourth book to come out March 29th. They are really good books and I would recommend them to everyone(young and old). Anyway, I had an exciting Monday. Brandon Mull looks really young. I would guess he is younger than me, which freaks me out because I'm not that old.

CHRISTMAS PICTURES!!!

We had a wonderful Christmas!!!

Christmas was wonderful! The kids are all spoiled rotten. Tom is home during the holiday break. It is really nice having him home with the kids. It becomes a two week party. Tom's sister and family live in Missouri and they come for about three weeks during the holidays. We do a lot of fun stuff with them. This year we went and saw two movies (The Tale of Despereaux and Bedtime Stories). Bedtime Stories was my favorite of the two. We had game night, a WII party night and went sledding. I read a book and took baths. The kids and Tom played video games and watched movies. We stayed up late and slept in late. It was a very enjoyable two weeks. I was a little depressed on New Year's Day knowing that our vacation was coming to an end. I stayed in bed the Monday the kids went back to school(denial). It didn't take long to get back into the routine. Now I can't believe that January is half over.