D is for DISNEYLAND!! (Day 4)

January 9th
FINALLY! The day we had all been waiting for!

Some of us were CRAZY with anticipation!

The rest of us just had to wait patiently outside before the gates opened.

Jiminy Crickets the Name! haha

Since it was my birthday, I REALLY wanted to splurge and go to

 "Minnie and Friends Character Breakfast." It was surprisingly DELICIOUS and the girls were able to get up close and personal with some special "people." 

 The Minnies met MINNIE MOUSE! She was so fun with them. 

 They also met up with the Fairy Godmother

And Eeyore

 Winnie the Pooh

  Chip... or Dale? (Adelia was going to share her Minnie ears with him)

 And the other one 

 Minnie had a little sing-song and had the girls come dance with her.  Of course, they loved it!

 Luke and Cap'n Hook had a little confrontation.  I think Hook looks scared! 

 And last but not least, they saw Honest John from Pinocchio

The character breakfast was a wonderful way to begin our fantastic Disney adventure! 

Happy Birthday TO ME!

Beach Day (Day 3)

Sunday, Jan 8th
We started the day out by finding a nearby church to attend Sacrament Meeting at. It also happened to be Fast and Testimony meeting.  It was kinda funny when this guy got up and made from of Utah Mormons......... i was thinking, "um, with all the visitors you have to this ward you MIGHT not want to say that.."
Then sweet Tianna insisted on getting up.
She said, "Hi. I'm Tianna Mary Peacock from Santaquin Utah. I know the Church is true and my family loves me. I hope you have a good day. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. "  It was so cute and so sweet. She absolutely loves baring her testimony and she could care less what ward we are attending. Just last month she bore it in my brother's ward the day they blessed Bridger. It makes a mama proud!

Okay, off my tangent: That afternoon we spent our time at Newport Beach.  (Thanks to Luke and his GPS for getting us all around Orange County)
The beach was gorgeous! The weather was perfect! I forgot what month it was! It must have been "cold" for the locals but to us it was warm and sunny.

 

The first thing we did was have a picnic. More of it went to the seagulls than I care to admit. but  the girls enjoyed feeding them and then chasing them away.

We searched for seashells all the way across the beach to the pier.  Tianna couldn't take 3 steps without stopping to dig in the sand.

It was magical watching those 2 cuties experience the ocean for the first time.  Technically, Tianna went to Hawaii and spent a lot of time at beaches, but she was only 6 months old so it doesn't really count.  They both LOOOOOOVED it!  It was one of the most educational day we've ever had!

As we walked back from the pier we went to the water's edge for the girls to see the ocean close up.  well SOME Of us only went to the edge.  Adelia felt like she needed to run to Catalina Island.  It wasn't long before she had to be stripped of her wet jeans and run around in just a soggy diaper.

They saw a pelican up close and personal (so personal as it flew over Luke's head he felt the wings brush him on the head  and when he landed right by the fisherman who had just made a catch, I got poked in the bum by his wing.) We also saw star fish, crabs, and all sorts of other amazing creatures!

I wish we lived closer to an ocean! It was an amazing day! 

CALI-FORN-I-A: Day 2

Day 2 started out later than originally planned.  When Adelia woke up she had a fever.  Hmm.. fever plus ear ache.....I wonder what it could be! not.
We had to wait until 9 am for the Insta Care to open then got her right in.  Sure enough, ear infection.  Greaaaaaaaaaaat.
Off to Target for her prescription and THEN we were on our way.

We saw a lot of this: 

 At last we arrived at our hotel in Anaheim around 4:00 pm (California time.)  

The lobby had a really cool chair.. or throne, rather 

 And some other sweet castle stuff

Since it was still so early we decided to have ourselves some fun Medieval style at Medieval Times.  Delicious dinner that you "have" to eat with your hands and then cheer on your team's knight as he kicks trash-- or at least OURS did ;) GO BLUE KNIGHT!

After each round the Knight that accomplished the tasks received a flower which he then threw to an audience member.  Since we were so late ordering reservations we were way in the back and thought we were total longshots at getting Tianna a flower.  

After no luck for several rounds we had her stand up on her chair as we pointed to her.  The ever awesome Blue Knight noticed and threw the flower right to her! It was FANTASTIC!

And Tianna was kind enough to share it with her little sister

Other awesome things about the show:
 -The magnificent horses.  One danced all over the arena-- like it was salsa dancing or something... definitely a highlight, especially for Mom.
 -The knight's fighting that was so intense sparks literally flew from their clashing blades.
- cheering for our knight and being on the team with one who won most of the rounds

It really was a cool night (with KNIGHTS) and recommend the show to anyone.  The food was excellent (you get a half a chicken EACH) and the show was amazing. Get a coupon/discount and check it out! We are sure glad we did.

CALI-FORN-I-A: Day 1

On Friday, January 6, 2012, we began our journey to DISNEYLAND!!!! Whoot Whoot!
My parent's met us at our house and we took off to St. George for the night.

On our way and smiling! (well, except for Tianna who apparently was really bored)

 Half way and he's still cute.. I mean, still driving

 I was there too

 And I had cute Minnie Mouse themed nail polish :) 

 Taking care of the kiddos for that many hours does something to a person..

 Mama Wombat was still smiling though..oh and look, so is Tianna now too!

That night ended up being really quite miserable for us.  Adelia slept about 2 hours before she woke up and cried and cried and squirmed for a few hours. Eventually she told us her ear hurt. Then wouldn't allow me to do anything to help it feel better.  It made for a very long night. Finally,out of pure exhaustion, she fell asleep and we got a few hours of zzz's.

WELCOME 2 THOUSAND 12

As this is the front page our our 2012 blog book I wanted a little better introduction to the year than I have had in the past.  I love printing my books and having them as our family journal and our scrapbook.

 (my brother Jason makes fun of me for writing so much... and he's probably right that no one cares to read all of it...... but I don't keep up with this blog for anyone but me and my little family.) It is the only thing we have to document our lives and the ups and the downs we face together each year. 

2012 is going to be an awesome year for us. I can just feel it! It's going to start out with an amazing family vacation to Disneyland-- a trip we have been dreaming of for a long, long time. 

Immediately after that trip, Luke gets to go to Japan on a business trip. He's really looking forward to that (probably has a lot to do with the fact he'll get to eat lots and lots of SUSHI!) He is still enjoying his job very much and looks forward to what this year will bring for him in his new career. 

Tianna will start Kindergarten this fall and will experience so many wonderful things because of it: new friends, homework, a real schedule, and learning and learning and learning. 

Adelia will turn 3 (HOLY COW how did that happen?!) and will also grow and change so much. Item number one on our list for her is to get potty trained. Yay for me... :( I hate that job with a passion, but, like it or not, it is pretty important I guess. 

As for me, well, I don't have anything super amazing coming up, but I plan to enjoy this year very much.  I might even run a half marathon in July if I can stay motivated enough. I have a goal to attend the aerobics class held at a nearby church as often as possible, and hopefully that keeps me in the momentum so I can join his mom and grandma (yes, grandma) as they run the 1/2 in Bryce Canyon this July.  

With that, welcome 2012!!!  Can't wait for the fun and exciting things you bring us this year!