Thursday, January 17, 2013

It's time to get spiritual...

   Most of you know that unlike the majority of the world, I like to keep my religion and my political beliefs private. I'm not saying I don't ever talk about or share these things, I absolutely do with people I trust, and when I know that it isn't a discussion inspired by contention. I just don't like to post these things all over facebook, I won't jump into an argument with any willing person over these two topics, and I don't always wear my feelings or opinions on my sleeve. This isn't because I am embarrassed or unsure. One of my reasons is I believe everyone has the right to believe as they choose.  I am not going to push or shove my beliefs on church or state on all of my acquaintances or even strangers, because everyone has that right to believe what they choose.  The primary reason, I don't go public too often is because my feelings about my religion and my freedoms are sacred to me, and I am not going to put it out there for others who will attempt to tarnish something of such value to me. That's not to say I never voice my opinion, those that are close to me, those I trust, can all attest to my willingness to share and discuss. My hope is that people will see what I believe and who I represent by my actions, and that by my example they will understand who I am following and what I know to be true.

      As I mentioned sometimes those barriers are dropped and my heart will be exposed.  In September, shortly after our move to Visalia I met a wonderful woman and her three little girls. Brittany was a fellow soccer mom on Isabel's team this last season, and she and I hit it off at the first game. She was a sweet, kind and caring person and a great mom to three darling little girls. Unfortunately, Brittany was going through a horrible time in her life -I won't say anything about her horrible husband that had just walked out on her and their daughters- but, through her trials she was still happy and fun to be around and still fulfilling her role as mother. We never really talked about religion- remember I don't wear it on my sleeve- I do think she knew we were Mormon. Toward the end of the season, we invited Rebecca to spend the night and Saturday seemed to be the night that worked best. I asked if it was okay if Rebecca came to church with us, since this is what we do every Sunday. Brittany said of course and we made plans.  The day before Rebecca would be spending the night, I had a constant thought in my mind that I should invite Brittany to come co church with us. I ignored the thought, because we had never talked about church and I barely knew her. The day of the sleep over the feeling still would not go away and it was putting a knot in the pit of my stomach. I knew I had to do it, but I took the chicken way out... I texted her. To my shocking surprise I received and immediate response, "Yes." I was giddy and shocked that she accepted the invitation so easily.

      I am not going to go into all of the details of how her conversion took place, but I will mention the high points. 

1. Brittany attends church tells me it was normal and not what she expected (she was raised in an anti-Mormon type church). 
2. Tells me how her girls love the primary music and keep trying to sing the songs. I get her a primary music CD. 
3. Calls and asks if I will explain the Articles of Faith songs that are on the CD. (I know she's golden right?)
4. Attends church a few more times.
5. Says she loves coffee too much to give it up after a word of wisdom lesson. Calls the next day and tells me she gave it up. 
6. Goes to Halloween party and more church. 
7. Says she's not ready to meet with the missionaries, calls two weeks later and asks to meet with them. 
8. Meets with missionaries, asks tons of questions, knows so much already, and offers amazing prayer during second discussion. 
9. Commits to baptism, even though family and friends offer to abandon her if she makes the choice to be baptized. 
10. Decides after a lot of prayer to let her daughter be baptized with her.
11. Get's baptized, receives the Holy Ghost, and is working toward the temple.

       Clearly, you can see that this conversion had nothing to do with me ( or the other awesome women in my ward who jumped in to help and befriend Brittany so easily). I was only the Lord's tool to offer her what I knew.  Brittany was prepared for the gospel.  Her heart is good and pure.  She is open minded.  She is obedient. Before she even began talking with the missionaries she was adjusting her life to coincide with what she was learning on Sundays.  She told me once, "I just feel like I would be a hypocrite if I drank a cup of coffee and than came to church, knowing you don't drink coffee." I am in awe of her obedience and faith in the Lord. She is strong, she overcame every obstacle Satan laid in her path, knowing it would make her life harder, because she wanted to choose the right. 
    While sharing the gospel with others is supposed to be to the benefit of those we share it with, it is an immense blessing in our own life for so many reasons. As I answered Brittany's questions, I had to consider and reaffirm with myself what I knew to be true.  Some of her questions required me to search, ponder, and pray about the answer the Lord wanted me to give to her, causing me to grow even closer to my Heavenly Father. She gave my fasting and prayer a greater purpose. As I sat in on her discussions, I was often overwhelmed by the Spirit as my testimony confirmed in my heart what the missionaries taught, and as I watched her countenance change and fill with the knowledge of her Heavenly Father's love for us. Watching Brittany's strength and watching her life evolve, gave me the desire to be a little better and improve my daily life so that I could be that much closer to my Heavenly Father. As I prepared a talk for their baptism day, I took time to really think about the Holy Ghost and all that he blesses me with daily.  And as I watched these daughters of God come out of the water after their Baptism, the radiance on their faces, confirmed further that this is the true Church and that through this gospel we can find happiness that is eternal. 

    I am grateful for the opportunity I had to step out of my comfort zone and extend that invitation that is often so scary.  I am grateful for these new friends in our lives. I am grateful for my life long knowledge of our Heavenly Father's plan for me.  Hopefully, next time I won't be so hesitant when the Spirit is giving me that nudge to share something I hold so precious and sacred with someone else. I still don't think I will be facebooking my testimony of the gospel, but I might be a little quicker to share what I know with those that become a part of my every day life.

This is Brittany and her three girls (Rebecca, Emily, and Piper) the day of their baptism.

This is our two families on their big day. Left to Right: Landon, Ryan Mia, Isabel, Mandy, Rebecca, Brittany, Emily, Peter( Brittany temporarily has three brothers that are foster kids), Piper, Anthony, and Luis.


Posted by at 8 comments:

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

We Wish You a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year...

For the first eleven years of our marriage, Ryan and I have switched back and forth between families for the Christmas holidays. Christmas 2012 was our first year alone and we absolutely loved it. Not that we don't love our families, but we were so excited to start having our own family traditions, not to mention the kids were getting a little old for us to still be trying to transport Christmas back and forth.  We did still get the needed family time, Grandma and Grandpa Kuhn came up and spent the weekend before Christmas with us, and Grandma and Grandpa Larsen came up for a few days the day after Christmas. It was so nice to have our parents and come and spent time with us in our new city.

On Christmas Eve, a sweet family in our ward invited us to their house for Christmas dinner. There were several families there and a ton of food. We were able to sit down for a traditional Christmas dinner, the kids were able to play together, and we read the story of Christ's birth from the scriptures. It was a lovely night.

On Christmas Even night, Ryan and I laid in bed completely giddy. I think we were more excited for Christmas morning than the kids. We knew our kids were going to be thrilled the next morning and we were excited to begin all of the traditions we had planned with the kids.

Now, prepare for a plethora of pictures.


Mia, our four year old going on sixteen. Desperately wanted boots for Christmas. She was so excited when she opened them. I think she wore them for several days no matter what she was wearing.
Notice the sweet hair do. One pigtail in and one out.


Izzy is starting her first season of softball this year. She was thrilled to get her glove.


The coveted Giants World Series sweatshirt. I think I see this on him every other day. Pretty soon, it is going to start walking on its own.


Ryan and I decided to take the trampoline plunge this year. Santa brought the big trampoline as a present for all three of the kids this year. Our neighbor stored the boxes in his garage, several weeks before Christmas (very kind of him, since there were two 75 lb boxes). On Christmas Eve night that same awesome neighbor and the two Senior Missionaries came over and helped Ryan build the trampoline in the dark. The missionaries had a great time, they said it reminded them of the year Santa brought their kids a trampoline. While they were in the back they could hear the Christmas anticipation occurring  When we returned from Christmas Eve dinner, my kids were beside themselves because Buddy the Elf, had moved while we were gone. He was now stationed in front of the fireplace holding a sign that said, "Welcome Santa." Then they checked out the computer to see where Santa was, when Ryan informed them Santa had been to New York, Mia proceeded to scream, "Santa's in our country, Santa's in our country!" It was then a whirlwind of putting on pajamas, brushing teeth, and putting out cookies for Santa. All mixed in with a lot of giggling and jumping. Once they were in bed Ryan snuck outside to complete the trampoline. Thanks to our Elves they had it up in about an hour and a half.
Now, I have to make a confession that is going to make me sound like the absolute worst mother on earth. There was this part of me that couldn't wait to have my kids come out Christmas morning and panic that Santa hadn't brought them anything... I know.... I'm awful.  However, my kids are better than I give them credit for. They woke up at 6:30, pretty decent time. In Visalia we get a lot of fog so it is still pretty dark at this time. When we came out in the living room I realized the kids might not see the trampoline right outside the living room window, but we had them come out and hoped for the best.


Mia comes out and goes straight for her stocking.  The other two you can tell are looking around wondering where there presents are, but say nothing.


They dug into their stockings and were super excited about everything. Mia even screamed over her "Brave" underwear.  They spent about thirty minutes going through their stockings and still said nothing, no tears, no fits, no asking where their presents were.  When they were done and sat down to open the presents under the tree, Ryan and I looked at each other wondering what we were supposed to do. After a while I looked out the window and said, "What the?" They looked at me and said, "What mom?" I pointed out the window and said, "What is that?"  All three of them jumped up and looked out the window and in unison screamed, "IT'S A  TRAMPOLINE," and then bolted out the back door.


Unfortunately, it was so cold they didn't last very long. Throughout the entire day, they would play with their toys for thirty minutes and then go out and jump until they couldn't feel their feet anymore. It was awesome. Ryan and I were thrilled that we had found something they would love so much.

When they came back in from their first trampoline outing I asked Landon, "How come you didn't say anything when there were no presents from Santa under the tree?" He looked at me and shrugged his shoulder, "I don't know, I thought maybe I hadn't been very good this year."
I have the best kids ever. How many kids would come out Christmas morning and not say a word when the presents they expected weren't there? There were definitely some naughty moments this year, but they were dang good kids too.


 Ryan and I are not huge turkey dinner fans. It's so much work for food Ryan and I really don't care that much for. So for years Ryan and I have always said when we were on our own we would come up with our own Christmas dinner tradition. While trying to decide what this meal should be this year, Ryan gave suggestions like tacos and hamburgers. I explained to him that it had to be a meal that we don't normally eat, so that it would still be a special meal. Eventually, after many of Ryan's ideas were vetoed, we agreed on a three course fondue dinner. The kids LOVED it. They are constantly begging us to do it again  and I remind them that this is going to be our Christmas tradition.
It was a wonderful and relaxing day of playing with toys, jumping on the trampoline, playing together, watching new movies, eating good food, and laughing. It was everything Ryan and I had hoped it would be.


The past several years my friends and I have planned really fun adult only New Years parties, but this year we decided to do a kids party. My kids are finally getting old enough that I can't get away with putting them to bed at normal time after a special dinner. 

We had each of the kids pick their favorite treat, snack, or appetizer and we made a buffet in the kitchen. This alone was exciting to the kids to be able to walk in and out of the kitchen any time they wanted and eat whatever they wanted. Every hour a different mom was in charge of some form of entertainment for the kids. I went first and did a series of "Minute to Win It" games. They were pretty awesome if I do say so myself.


Here is Izzy and Haley playing Temper Tantrum, they had to hold a pedometer in their hands and lay on the floor throwing a fit, and who ever had the most steps on their pedometer won. Izzy didn't, let's just say she wasn't the happiest camper for a while.


This was the Breakfast Scramble, they had to race to build a puzzle made of cereal boxes. Will and Addy were troopers.


Andrew and Landon were the Dizzy Mummy victims. They were doing the best they could to spin, but their partners didn't know how to give slack. Sarah and I eventually took over.


They don't really look like mummies, but they are dang cute little boys.


Separation Anxiety, the kids had to sort out the colors of a bag of Starburst. This was a good one for little kiddos. Mia killed this game. Look at her go, double handed.


Landon and Andrew again, playing Bucket Head. They had to catch ping pong balls in the bowl on their head. This is not easy considering the little girls throwing them. If this were an Olympic sport Landon would be competing.


Melissa did freeze dance and it was awesome. I love this age when they don't care how the look while they dance in front of groups of people. My friend Melody's little guy Hunter who is not even two, was killing it. We laughed so hard he would freeze every time the music stopped.


Melody had the kids decorate sugar cookies. This is always a hit with the kids. Jessica's little boy Eli, circled the table looking for an empty chair and then would jump up and eat whoever's cookie was sitting there. IT was hilarious.


Here's the crew. I will do my best to go from left to right: Back: Jack, Andrew, Dallin, Mia, Zoe and Will. Front: Addy, Landon, Izzy, Amelia, Claire, and Hunter. Not shown: Ellie, Levi, Jackson, and Haley.


Happy New Year! There's nothing better than Martinelli's Apple Cider when you are young.


Here are the mom's that rocked the New Year's party. Left to Right: Sarah, Tracy, Melissa, Mandy, Melody, and Sexy Jessica in front. I love these girls. I think I could have fun with them picking my nose. 

While the party was a hit, I have to admit I prefer an adult New Year Party. Christmas can be the kids holiday and New Year's can be the adults.
Posted by at 3 comments:

Sunday, December 2, 2012

I'm Thankful for My Family

       In all of my prayers, every holiday, every time I'm at the temple, and every time we gather, I am deeply grateful for my family. My husband and my children are my greatest treasure on earth, and even beyond that I have been blessed with goodly parents, sisters that I adore, in-laws that make us complete, nieces and nephews that crack me up, and aunts, uncles, and cousins that have been such fun since childhood. I know that this is truly a gift that not everyone has, and this Thanksgiving holiday as we gathered with our Larsen family I was overwhelmed with the love of family.
       All of the siblings were there for Thanksgiving this year at Grandma Rose Larsen's house - when Mia first learned  that her full name was Mia Rose Larsen, and that we were all Larsen's. She started adding Rose Larsen to the end of all of the Larsen families names. Hence, Grandma Rose Larsen. Everyone in our home has now adapted to this and they are now Grandma and Grandpa Rose Larsen. Ryan's younger sister Natalie and her family will be moving to Rexburg, ID for the next few years and it is our last time we would all be together for a while. Family pictures were a must, and we will just say that with eleven grandchildren under the age of eight it was an adventure.

 Top Row: Lisa and Erik Larsen, Danny and Ali Kiehn, Ryan and Mandy Larsen, Pete and Natalie Martins.
Bottom Row: Andrew Kiehn, Landon Larsen, Taylor Larsen, Linda Larsen, Mateo Martins, Claire Kiehn, Jim Larsen, Grant Kiehn, Mia Larsen, Isabel Larsen, Elaina Martins
Little Chairs: Makenzie Larsen and Chris Martins

            The Larsen family loves to cook, bake, and eat, which makes Thanksgiving a fantastic holiday. Linda (my mother in-law) is a fantastic cook and requires it's presentation to be just as spectacular.  She spent days preparing and slaving. Lisa (my sister in-law) makes a delectable apple pie which is a holiday requirement for the rest of us. On Thanksgiving day there was a lot of preparation to be done and only one kitchen. Graciously, Lisa, Ali, and I volunteered to leave all of the children with the husbands and grandparents and we made the sacrifice of going over to Ali's to work on some of the dishes. It was a blast we prepared two side dishes, made some adorable treats for the kids (shown below), and we might have had some time to chat... a lot. It was some good times.


 The tiny kids table. Minus Mia and Elaina (who was sick)


The bigger kids table.  Oooh, they even got stemware and candles. They are moving up in the world.


Some of the adults. My mother in-law's friend Cate was also there for the festivities.


Me and my man. I just love that guy.


Ali, the last one to make her plate.  She is also the creator of the fun turkeys we made for the children.


Ali was in charge of preparing a kids treat. I would have made some cupcakes and called it good. Ali is the super aunt that wanted to make it fun for the kids. This is what she, Lisa, and I assembled when we were in hiding. I mean helping.


Landon with his turkey.


Izzy barely able to resist eating the sugary goodness.


Mia had fallen asleep earlier and had to eat hers all by her lonesome when every one else was done.


They loved their turkeys.


           To ease our finances in the Larsen family, the cousins draw names for a Christmas gift exchange so that we don't have to make purchases for all of the family members. Each of our children buys one gift and we call it good. My kids absolutely love going out and picking a gift for their cousins. This year we decided to exchange at Thanksgiving while they were all together so they could see their cousins get their presents. It was a lot of fun, they took turns handing their presents out and watched each cousin open their gifts. I love this tradition.


Claire got Mia a Squeekies princess castle. She was super excited, until we told her she couldn't open it until we got home since there were a million little pieces.


Izzy got a Wii World Zoo game from Mateo. She was devastated there was no Wii to play it on at Grandma's. I highly recommend this game by the way. My kids absolutely love it.


Taylor bought Landon a balloon launcher. He thinks it's awesome. Ryan and I hate it because it makes this super loud squealing noise.

         Whenever we go up to San Jose, we always try to get over to my Aunt Ginger's house. We just love her and her family. I was living with them when I met Ryan, so I am kind of super indebted to them. My cousin Jason and his family are close to ours. We go camping together and always make an effort to get our kids together. Landon adores their boys. Saturday morning we headed over for some breakfast, Auntie always makes us food. She is so awesome. 


Left to Right: Jon, Landon, JayRay, Mia, Jayden, and Izzy. They are all getting so big so fast.


          The Kuhn family has a tradition of seeing a Christmas movie the day after Thanksgiving. I try to keep it going even when I am with the Larsen family. I remember when we were kids we went and saw a movie with all twenty something of our cousins one year. It was awesome. There may or may not have been some chanting going on before the movie started. And now it's the next generation, we saw "Rise of the Guardians," with some of our family. It was a lot of fun.


In the theater: Izzy, Claire, Mia, Jayden, Jon, JayRay, Landon, Andrew, and Ryan.

        After the movie we went to In N Out for some lunch and then headed over to check out the construction of the new 49ers stadium.  It is massive.  Landon was so excited. He is a huge 49er fan. The kids looked at it for a few minutes and then spent a half hour running around in a gravel parking lot. Who needs Disneyland these guys were completely enthralled in this vast space.

  L to R: Andrew, Landon, Jayden, Jon, JayRay, Claire, Izzy, and Mia

          It was a wonderful few days spent with some wonderful family that I love dearly. Sure there are hiccups in our adventures and time together, but they can't get in the way of all of the fun and laughter we share together. 
Posted by at 4 comments:

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Soccer Finale

         To put your kids in sports or not to put your kids in sports that is the question... for most. Not for us. We have always known our kids would be actively involved in sports. Ryan and I both played sports and we think it teaches kids discipline, commitment, hard work, teamwork, losing with dignity, and it gets them off the couch and making friends. Plus, kids that are actively involved in sports are less likely to get in trouble. That's enough for me.
        We put Izzy in soccer when she was five and the child had a natural gift we had been unaware of previously. She can play defense or offense and is really good.... when she chooses to be. She has now played four seasons and attended a UK soccer camp (she didn't go to the UK, their coaches came here.) We were worried she wasn't going to get to play this year, because sign ups were long over by the time we knew we were going to be in Visalia. She got put on a wait list and then their ended up being seven girls on that list and Pink Lightening was created. These little misfits ended up being phenomenal. They lost two games (I won't mention that it was the two games we missed :)), tied one, and won every other game. The girls on the team worked so well together and ended up being really good friends. The coaches were amazing. We went from buzz ball players on the first practice, to passing and playing positions. The parents were awesome we all got along and had so much fun cheering on our girls.
    Three things that made soccer even more awesome this season than past seasons were, one, Target started making really cute knee socks that we could use as soccer socks. She was a little fashionista at practice. A new sports bottle that they can drink out of and also sprays their face. The girls would sit around spraying each other during practice until they were saturated. Three, the soccer facility in Visalia is phenomenal. It is enormous, well kept grass, the fields are lined with sequoias, and real bathrooms instead of portable potties.
     The end of the season is so bitter sweet. On the one hand you are glad to have your Saturdays back. No running to practice during the week. And no searching for cleats and a ball on Saturday morning. On the flip side, I miss this family outing, supporting one of our own. I love cheering the girls on, not just mine, but all of them.  Plus I love watching my children developing their skills. I'm sad that it's over. Our free time won't last for long though. One of the other player's dad is a girls softball coach and wants Izzy to play. Izzy is thrilled she has wanted to play softball for a while, but I steered her toward tennis for her off soccer season sport. This dad is so great, and wants to teach Izzy to pitch so I guess we will give it a whirl. We are also going to let Landon take a break from swimming to play a baseball season.Hopefully that goes well since he only ever played one season of t-ball before he started swimming year around.


This was Izzy's second season in pink. Every girl's dream.

Team pictures, minus one. I think it's impossible to get them all posed for the camera.

Snack time is always fun.

One of Izzy's three goals in her final game of the season.

And another. Yes, I'm a proud Mama, but it's my blog so I can brag all I want.

End of season soccer party. The team (minus one). We are so sad to say goodbye to these people that have become our weekend family.
Izzy and her good friend Lilly, who is also in her class at school.
Izzy looking super excited over her trophy- not really

Posted by at No comments:

Mia's Thanksgiving Feast

   As I have mentioned in other posts, Mia LOVES preschool. For weeks her class has been preparing and freezing food for their annual Thanksgiving feast. Mia would come home every day and tell me what she made, pumpkin bars, corn muffins, beef stew, and fruit salad. She loved cooking and knowing we were going to taste what she made. Then as the day approached she started telling me she didn't want to go on stage. I figured it had to do with her being shy. This was not the case.  When I asked her why not she said, "You guys are going to eat all of the food I cooked, while I am singing and I won't get any." Her teacher and I both reassured her that we would not eat until she was sitting with us. This was enough to appease her. She was so excited to wear a dress and her church shoes to school. She asks me to wear these things to school at least once a week and then has a melt down when I tell her no. She was all ready for the Thanksgiving Feast.

 Mia in her pilgrim attire.
 I was amazed by how many people were there. Every preschool even t I went to with my other kids was just a room full of moms. This was huge, siblings  grandparents, moms and dads were all there. I was really excited Ryan was able to take an extended lunch and come.
 Mia and two of her friends, Georgia and Grace.

I don't know if you can tell which one is Mia, but she is the one in the middle with her fingers in her mouth. She is really shy and when she smiles she covers it up by putting her fingers in her mouth. She kept looking over at us while they were singing with the biggest grin ever. It was so cute.

Posted by at No comments:

Legoland or Lame-O-Land...

      We finally made it to Legoland. Last year for Christmas the kids Grandma gave us money to buy tickets to Legoland, which the kids were ecstatic about. The money got put in the bank and then life got busy and we never took the kids. Ryan and I felt guilty for not taking the kids, but unfortunately the money was used for bills when Ryan was working without pay last winter and spring. Ryan and I thought we were in the clear once we moved to Visalia, because then we could just tell them it was too far away. They weren't having it, their persistence continued.  They said that we could go when we visit Grandma in L.A. I knew we were going to have to take the kids, but unfortunately I am married to a man who can not stomach spending that much money on an amusement park. Oh the dilemma.
      One morning, I was walking out of Mia's preschool when one of the mom's stopped me and asked, "Hey, I have five tickets to Legoland we aren't going to use. Do you want them?" I think I heard the choirs of heaven singing when she asked this question. I answered that, "Absolutely we do!" Ryan was happy we didn't have to spend the money, the kids were jumping up and down when I told them we would be going in two weeks, and I got to work making cookies for my wonderful, and generous friend.
         After some serious counting down to our trip, and a long night of trying to get excited children to sleep the time had finally arrived. The kids were jittery as we stood in line fifteen minutes before they opened. They were studying the maps, and making plans.
         It was a perfect day at the park. They weather was a perfect seventy-two degrees. The crowds were small. We didn't have to wait in a single line. We got there at 10:00 and we were done by 3:30 and we had gone on every ride. Yep, you read that right, we were able to experience the whole park in just over five hours. After about an hour of going on rides, Ryan leans over and asks, "Are you sure this isn't Lame-O-Land instead of Legoland?" He just kept saying over and over again, how glad he was we hadn't paid for this. Legoland is fine if you are a Lego enthusiast or have small children. The kids had a great time (but would rather go to Magic Mountain or Disneyland if given the choice), so I told Ryan he had to suck it up and be happy that his children were happy- even though I was thinking the same thing. When we went on the biggest rollar coaster in the park, Izzy got off and said, "Mom, that was my favorite ride. I actually felt wind on my face."  One of the coolest parts was looking at all of the structures and sets made out of Legos (California landmarks, tons of Star Wars scenes, and other city landmarks.) Even though the pace was killing Ryan and I it was time spent as a family and the kids were so grateful to have gone.
 Landon driving his Lego car. Every kid loves driving cars and this one was even better than Disneyland because they weren't on tracks

The girls and I on the log ride.


Ryan and I took one look at how wet everyone on that ride was coming off and decided the kids could go by themselves. They were able to spray the water and it drove under some water sprays. The best part though was that there were water sprayers on the outside railing and you could spray the riders. Ryan and I went to town hosing down our kids as they passed us. Ryan was giggling like a little girl. The kids were not thrilled when they got off and were soaking wet because of their parents.



 This is the kids after the water ride. Mia was still pouting.


The munchkins getting ready to go on a a miniature version of Tower of Terror. Landon and Izzy were so cute with Mia while we were there. They kept helping her on and off of the rides and making sure she was okay. 
 The kids posing with Chubakah and R2-D2. Those are both made out of Legos.
 Ryan and the kids as we were leaving the park. Mia was crying because she didn't get any Legos... or because she was exhausted.
 The kids with Captain Rex also made out of Legos.

 It's hard to see them because of the shade, but they were most excited to pose with this life size Darth Vader also made of Legos. 
  
Mia was a ham all day. Every time we took her picture she would pose and scream, "Cheeeeese." Then when we finally asked someone to take our family picture she wouldn't turn around. 

 Landon and Isabel in their helicopter, that just went up and down on that pole. Super exciting! (Can you sense the sarcasm?)
 Mia riding a horse.
 Izzy shooting water at some Lego statues.
The kids when we first got in the park. Of course they were mad we made them stop before they even went on a ride.

    As lame as the place was for Ryan and I, I am so happy when I am with my family. Ryan makes me laugh and we had tons of fun mocking together. When my kids are happy I can't help but smile and my heart warms. I truly am blessed to have a family that I not only love, but I really like being with them.
Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Comments (Atom)