Baltimore, MD to see Aunt Lindsey

Our flight from Atlanta to Baltimore was quite the opposite from our flight to Atlanta. Instead of sitting in the airport for 8 hours, we arrived just as our flight was starting to board. Close one!!

One of our favorite things to do with Aunt Lindsey is eat at Chuck-A-Rama (all-you-can eat buffet restaurant). There aren't any Chuck-A-Rama restaurants by Lindsey, but there is a Golden Corral, which is very similar. We had a great time visiting and catching up over dinner. In fact, Lindsey and I were having such a good time talking that I wasn't consciously aware of the fact that my kids were arriving with dessert after dessert after dessert... That night they were both a little sugar crazy, but we made it through.

 We were able to meet one of Lindsey's best friends, Della, and visit with her a little that first night. Then we drove to another friend's house who had offered to let us all stay at her house while we were there (including Lindsey!). She was absolutely the kindest person I have ever met! She also eats the kind of diet I have been trying to adopt, so I really enjoyed talking to her about meal ideas.

The next day, our host loaded us up with fruit to take on our trip into Washington D.C. Morgan and Brynne absolutely loved riding on the metro. Unfortunately, I failed to pull out the camera when they were "surfing" and swinging on the center rails and such. I did get a good picture of both of them on the metro with Aunt Lindsey, though. :)

 After grabbing a bite to eat (where I found out McDonald's salads aren't that bad), we began our tour with a visit to the Air and Space Museum. Everywhere was really crowded, but the girls still enjoyed looking at the various exhibits. Here we are with Aunt Lindsey in front of some of the hanging planes. I'll admit we took this one for Lee. :)

 Brynne tires easily when we walk a lot, so we opted to see many of the sights from afar. Below are some pics of all of us in front of the Capital Building and the White House.

 

 

 

 As we walked back toward the museums, the girls enjoyed running and jumping on the cement wall. I was sad I wasn't able to get a picture of Brynne coming towards me (I did get one of her jumping away from me) until I discovered that you can see Brynne jumping in the background of this picture of Morgan. Talk about two for one! (And yes, all this running and jumping occurred after Brynne's feet were so tired that I had to give her a piggy back ride...)

 Waiting for a chance to cross the street...

 Our last stop was the Natural History Museum. Melissa had been a real trooper staying in her stroller the entire morning. We decided to let her out once we got to the museum. Does she look excited to be free or what?

I snapped this impromptu shot while Melissa and I were riding up an escalator at the museum.

 There was a short period of time where Melissa wanted to hold both Morgan's and Brynne's hands. I managed to get a picture of the three of them looking at one of the displays.

 This picture is really, really blury, but I wanted to throw it in here anyway to show that we were at the National Archive, where National Treasure was filmed. We passed by it on our way to the metro as the sun was setting.

 Another bonus of where we stayed was that our host has a daughter who my girls absolutely loved playing with! She too was so kind and sweet! She heard that my girls like pancakes, so she made pancakes for everyone for breakfast (to go along with the staple green smoothies). She also made some cooked muesli for me when she heard me saying I like it. Here's a picture of her daughter and Brynne cooking breakfast.

Before hopping on our late afternoon flight on Saturday, we planned to go to the aquarium in Baltimore. Just as we were finishing getting ready to go, we discovered that someone had bashed in Lindsey's window in the middle of the night. We're certain it was a random act, but it made it so we couldn't go to the aquarium. Thankfully it wasn't as devastating to the girls when they realized they could stay and play with our host's daughter a bit! Lindsey took this picture just before cleaning up the last pile of glass. The vandals completely shattered her driver's side window.

Our host was kind enough to let Lindsey drive her car so she could still get us to the airport. We hit up Golden Corral one more time for good measure (and to make sure everyone had full tummies until the next time we could get food), and then headed to the airport. We once again made it just as the flight was boarding. Thankfully, we got on the flight and managed to get home without any other difficulties. As luck would have it, Lee's flight landed just a few minutes before ours, so he got to our gate just as we were getting off the plane.

It is always so much fun to spend time with Aunt Lindsey! She was so nice to take a day of off work and show us around D.C. a little bit. If my kids had it their way we'd live with Lindsey's friend and her daughter, and be with Aunt Lindsey all the time. :) Definitely a fun Spring Break!

BYU vs. Virginia Tech Basketball

While we were together with my family just after Christmas, a group of us went to watch a BYU basketball game. The first half was really exciting as Tyler Haws scored 29 points. (He went on to score 42 total.) The second half put most of us to sleep, but it was some fun, quality family time! And those of us who are BYU fans were glad to see BYU win. :)

Adam, Isaac and Brynne (in a later picture) thought the game was a cover up for getting some Lindsey-time! She flew home from Maryland and was greeted by some very adoring nieces and nephews.

Lee, Brynne, and me at the game. Brynne really enjoyed watching the first half. She also really enjoyed the yummy goodies our nice extended family kept providing - popcorn, ice cream, pizza. Score!

I took a couple of pictures of the next crew: my dad, Zane, Brandon, and Alyson. This was my favorite picture of everyone except that my dad wasn't looking at the camera. I said, "Dad, you were watching the game!" He replied with, "Well what do you think I came here to do?" Quite funny. :)

Adam laid (is that the right word?) on Lindsey's lap the whole second half of the game. Then in the van on the way home, Isaac snuggled up to Lindsey for the whole drive. Brynne was happy to get one side of Lindsey's two sides any chance she could.

Brynne, Lindsey, and Adam walking back to the car after the game:

I must say I really enjoyed the game. Reminded me of the MWC game my dad and I went to in Las Vegas where Jimmer Ferdette scored 52 points. I so love being part of a family that loves sports!

Christmas Eve 2012

This year we invited my parents and my sister Lindsey to join us in Spanish Fork for Christmas. It was only the second time in the 12 years Lee and I have been married that we have had Christmas at our house. Since Lee is usually gone to work (which was the case this year, as well), the girls and I usually pack up and go to someone else's house for the holidays. I will admit I really enjoyed staying here this year!

We began our Christmas Eve festivities with some cookie making and decorating:

In case you were wondering what Melissa was doing while the rest of us were decorating cookies, she was trying diapers out as hats:

Then we acting out the Christmas story while my dad read from Luke 2. Morgan's favorite thing to be is all the animals in the story. In this picture, she is a donkey carrying Mary and Jesus (too big to be concealed under a shirt until (his) birth...) to Bethlehem.

Joseph (we were a little short on males for our production...), Mary, and Baby Jesus (along with a sheep in the background):

An angel of the Lord:

The narrator:

Just before the 3 kings (Lindsey) arrived, Morgan favored us by playing "We Three Kings" on her cello:

 Baby Jesus wasn't quite sure what to think of the gift being offered (him) by the Wise (Wo)man:

I'll admit the Nativity is never boring in our house. I always hope that in the midst of the fun, the kids are able to appreciate the events that took place. I am grateful for the chance to pause and remember the Savior, His birth, and all that His life makes possible for us.

Disneyland 2012

(My pictures all loaded randomly, so they are all out of order. Still cute, though... :)

The girls and I just got back from a last-minute trip to Disneyland with my sister Lindsey! A lady in my ward had some Disneyland passes with one day left on them that she offered to anyone who wanted them. Hello! I'll take them! Lindsey and I split the cost of gas and hotel, making it a fun and inexpensive trip!

Here is a picture of Brynne on It's a Small World. 

She wanted the pretty flowers in the background.

Morgan and I rode two rides by ourselves. First thing in the morning we rode Thunder Mountain Railroad, and then later in the day we rode Splash Mountain.
That's where this picture was taken:

Melissa did SO good on the trip!! She wasn't on her regular schedule at all at Disneyland, but she was almost always happy as could be. (Rumor has it she got sick of the Ariel ride in California Adventure the second time around with Aunt Lindsey.) I got WAY too many cute pictures of this girl! If you can blow this picture up,
you can see her bottom teeth that are working their way up:

Lindsey took the girls on rides during the times I fed Melissa (except for the one time when Brynne rode the Carousel while I stayed close to feed Melissa, and while Linz and Morgan rode the "scary rides"). During one such feeding time, they all hung out in the Bug's Life area of California Adventure. No one in my family, including me, had ever been to California Adventure before, so it was fun to try new things.

Here is a picture of Brynne and Lindsey on the Tuck and Roll Bumper Cars:

Melissa decided to show off her new teeth a little more:

One of the things the girls were really excited about was riding the Ferris Wheel. It turns out it was rather cold and breezy up high, but I think everyone still enjoyed it. This picture of Lindsey and Morgan was taken near the top of the wheel.
There was a nice skyline behind them, but it's lost in the light.

Brynne was ready to go home not long after dinner because her legs weren't lasting very well. We managed to keep her busy with a few rides and with watching World of Color; but then Brynne, Melissa and I headed back to the hotel. I figured it would be good for me to get more sleep too. Morgan stayed with Lindsey for the last 3+ hours that Disneyland was still open. They got to ride on Splash Mountain four times in a row without even having to get off because there wasn't a line at the end of the day. Morgan also got to eat two huge scoops of ice cream while Aunt Lindsey sipped lemonade on Main Street.

We took this picture not long before I headed back to the hotel with Brynne and Melissa:

This is the part of the blog where we go back to the beginning of the day. After our very first rides (see seven pictures down for more details...), we all went on a few rides together. Morgan and Brynne had a blast on the tea cups:

They also had a lot of fun riding on the Alice In Wonderland ride. I will admit I was surprised when they wanted to sit by each other for the ride. I was even more surprised when they got along the whole time even though they were close enough to
touch each other. Disneyland really is magical!!!

Lindsey and I both got pictures of Morgan screaming on Thunder Mountain Railroad. She was the perfect picture subject with how excited she got and with how much she screamed:

This is the other half of the Ferris Wheel ride where I was sitting with Brynne and Melissa.
Brynne was so excited to go on a Ferris Wheel, and Melissa was a real trouper
even with the chilly wind up high.

Oh my goodness. Seriously? Melissa is way too cute (and innocent)!! Why do I foresee her using those eyes to get her way when she is a bit older? Lindsey took this picture of her while I went on the Goofy Roller Coaster with Morgan and Brynne:

Lindsey took this picture of us on the way into Disneyland. We got there right at 8:00 so we'd have the entire day to play. We took this picture quickly 

so we could run in and get started!

Morgan and I bee-lined it for Thunder Mountain first thing, while Lindsey took Melissa and Brynne on the Jungle Cruise. Thankfully Lindsey found a nice person to take a picture of them since this was Melissa's first ever ride at Disneyland!!

We left early Friday morning to drive down there so that we would have time to play at the pool that night and still get to bed early. It was actually a bit breezy and chilly that night, but no one seemed to mind. Melissa even discovered 

the fine art of splashing while we were there!

Lindsey was nice enough to order pizza for us for dinner after our swim.
The girls enjoyed their pizza while watching the Disney channel on TV.
Meanwhile, I took advantage of some really good snuggle time:

Here's a picture of the girls with their pizza.
Brynne kept jumping back and forth between the beds on her knees.
And Morgan made sure she had the best seat in the house to watch the TV. :)

I really enjoyed our random and last-minute trip to Disneyland. I usually tend to be a planner, so I'm always proud of myself when I do something like this. :)
And I'm so glad Lindsey was able to join us!