Disney World

OK, its the moment we've all been waiting for...finally you get to see part of our trip to Disney World. We didn't take as many pictures as we should have, we were too busy having fun!

The boys were so excited to see Cinderella's castle in person, they were a bit disappointed we didn't get to go inside, but they soon forgot that disappointment as we explored The Magic Kingdom.


Our first stop was Dream Along with Mickey show. Mickey, Minnie, Goofey, and Donald were the stars with appearances by Peter Pan, Wendy, Smee and Captain Hook, Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and their princes, and the Wicked Witch from Sleeping Beauty. Jonas and Bryant both hid behind the stroller when she came out, they were so scared they were begging to go home!



Our next stop was Fantasyland and the Many Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh. The line was SO long! I was really worried that our whole trip would be spent in line and then the ride was just OK. Not a great start to the day, but it got better. Next Bryant was adamant that we go to Pooh's Playful Spot, which is just a playground. I was thinking, "we spent $200 to have our kids play on a playground, that's great!" But it worked out really well because Bryant had to go to the bathroom (which took awhile to find) so the other two played while we waited. We also ate an early lunch there and then we moved on to...The Merry-Go-Round!





From here on out, no more complaints from me! Our next stop was Frontierland. Splash Mountain was unfortunately closed (poor Ethan has never been on it, its always been closed when he's been to a Disney park). Thunder Mountain was way too long a line, but we weren't sure the kids would've enjoyed it that much anyway. So we boarded the "Becky" and crossed over to Tom Sawyer Island. We had so much fun exploring caves and crossing bridges, Bryant's very favorite part of the whole trip was the Island, he loved the fort and the play guns he got to shoot at the mountain. There was also some rockin' tunes being played by a fun bluegrass band while we waited for our boat. It was great!





Adventureland was our next landing point. We got to ride on The Magic Carpets of Aladdin, which the kids thought was a blast!



Also in Adventureland we went into the Enchanted Tiki-Room, which is "under new management." I think Levi enjoyed this more than anyone. He loves animals, so birds singing was a pure delight. We went on the Jungle Cruise and had a less than stellar guide, but got a kick out of all the animals nonetheless. We did almost lose Jonas while boarding the boat, he just about fell in the water, luckily one of the workers caught him just in the nick of time. It was one of those times when 3 kids to 2 parents is just too many!





And finally we FORCED the kids on Pirates of the Caribbean, as our final stop in Adventureland. We entered the line and about 3 yards in the kids started getting scared, it was getting dark and like a dungeon and they didn't like what they saw. It was pretty funny actually, what mean parents we are! Once we got on our boat Bryant wasn't scared and had a lot of fun, Jonas was still kind of scared, but we just pointed out the funny stuff to him and he enjoyed himself. Levi was so tired by that point that he laid his head on Ethan's lap and fell asleep. The ride lasted maybe 7-10 minutes I'd guess and that was all the nap he got! Poor kid, he was wiped out!

Tomorrowland was probably my favorite! We went to Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor which was HILARIOUS! I laughed so much, I think a lot of it went over the kids' heads, but they enjoyed seeing all the monsters. No pictures were allowed on the laugh floor, but we got this great one of Mike Wazwski's door, very clever.

Probably our favorite ride of the day was Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. It was so much fun to spin and shoot with laser guns at the bad guys, we got points for each of Zurg's minions we hit, I thought we did pretty well Bryant got 700 and Jonas (with my help) got 1700. Then we heard what Ethan got like 126000, that burst our bubble pretty quickly. No matter, we ended up winning in the end and Zurg was locked up!

Here's a picture of Tomorrowland Transit Authority. A train ride through Tomorrowland. It was fun, we got to see behind the scenes of some fun rides. As you can see Bryant was enthralled.



Bryant really wanted to drive on the Indy Speedway, so Ethan took him. It was the only ride that we didn't take everyone on. That was one thing I really liked better about Disney over Universal. We actually could have taken the younger kids, but we found some dinner instead.


Dinner was quite nice and not nearly as overpriced as I'd expected. We paid $8 for ribs, $9 for half a rotissiere chicken, and a little more than McDonald's Happy Meal for each of the kids. We were feeling pretty good! We had a few minutes before the park closed after we had our dinner so we made a run for he Mad Tea Party. It was a good way to end a great day...although Jonas said it was too fast!






Of course, the day actually ended with Disney magic at the firework show. We were quite a site to see, Ethan snapping pictures (trying out new things with the camera) and the rest of us with our hands over our ears.

Exiting the park proved to be quite an ordeal, but we eventually made it. Jonas and Levi both fell asleep before we got to the tram, when we had to wake Jonas he was so GRUMPY. People all around us got a kick out of it. We put the kids in jammies for the ride home and they slept peacefully...probably dreaming along with Mickey.

Home Sweet Home...

...for a few months anyway.

Just thought I'd let you all know that we are safe and sound in Pocatello, ID. We moved in on Saturday and Ethan started working at the Ft. Hall Indian Reservation health clinic yesterday. I think he's going to like it. Ethan came home today with a black smudge over his right eye, when I asked what it was from he said, "The slit lamp, I think Taylor (Thompson-the last intern) left it there for me." ;o)

We had lots of fun in Florida, (including a trip to Disney World that I still need to post pictures of) but we're excited to be back in the west, it feels like home!

Can I run away?...PLEASE!

Disclaimer: This is a really long rant about some really stressful events, read at your own risk.

HOLY COW! Whenever I go out with the kids I inevitably get the comment, "Wow! You've got your hands full." I generally just laugh because I don't really think I do have my hands full...most of the time. I think where the hands full comes into play is when I am trying to do something and while doing it neglecting my kids. If I am being a good, attentive mom, my hands remain pretty free.

For instance, yesterday I was had the missionaries over for dinner. I let the kids play outside while I was working on it and they each trickled in one by one later on. Jonas was the last and when I opened the door for him he was covered with dirt...we're talking head to toe! I of course, had 4 other things going on including rolling out breadsticks, breading chicken, making spaghetti sauce, and trying to clean the living room and kitchen. "Aaaahhh! I don't have time for this!" I thought to myself, but you do what you have to do, right. So he stripped in the bathroom and waited for the water to heat up (which takes way too long in this house) and then I came back and cleaned him up. No big deal...

Today, unfortunately, I have been busy again. I am moving in 2 days, remember? I shooed the kids out of my room and asked them to watch their favorite show while I worked on packing. They were into everything while they were in here with me, so in order to get it done I felt I needed to be alone...well, apparently the TV wasn't working so they found a pair of scissors that I (stupidly) had moved out of their reach in my room to the kitchen. Well, when I came in to see how they were doing...not more than 10 minutes had gone by I immediately saw my mistake as my craft stuff was strewn about the kitchen floor. I sent them all into their room to clean up the mess. As I'm picking up ribbon I see...a chunk of hair! "Whose hair got cut?" I yell. They respond, "Jonas." You know the next question, "Who cut it?" "Bryant."

I am embarrassed to tell you that I lost control at that point and went pretty ballistic! I yelled and screamed, I spanked, I slammed the door! I was really mad. I escaped into my room and cried about my failure as a mother and looked for something to inspire me for how to correct the evil I had just displayed to my children. I started reading the First Presidency message for the February Ensign which is titled, "Feeding His Lambs" by President Eyring. It was really good, I'm sure I wasn't reading it in the way he intended, but I got my own message out of it. So I calmed down, I prayed for forgiveness and help to deal with the situation and headed to the boys' room. Bryant said to me, "I was thinking mom, that you don't love me anymore." What's a mom to say to that? Of course, I love him, I just wish that he'd make better choices! While I was talking to them I saw that Bryant's brand new shirt that he got for Christmas was cut as well. Jonas' was too. Now, Ethan and I recently read a book that we loved and one of the messages I took from it was, if its a problem that can be fixed with money, its not a problem. So shirts are not the problem-its the defiance that I have a problem with(although I was really bummed about the shirts I was planning on getting the kids photos taken in them for their birthdays). I was able, through the help of my prayer, to keep my cool. I threw both shirts in the garbage and Bryant had to call his grandma and tell her what he'd done to his gift from her. By the way, the hair cuts, (I guess Levi's got cut too-at first I found one chunk, I've since found 3 more) luckily, aren't noticeable at all.

Now, Bryant is still in his room. He's no longer crying, he is complaining that its boring. First, he cried and cried, "I'm going to starve to death because you won't let me out." Don't worry, I let him eat lunch. I don't know what I'm supposed to do with him, he's never been so naughty and destructive. Which is even worse now because he's teaching both his little brothers. I told him he had to stay in his room today so he could think about his choices and do better next time. He asked why he couldn't come out and I said, "I don't trust you yet and you have to suffer the consequences of your choices."

So there you have it, my hands are full! I need therapy...as will my kids. Wish me luck, because as much as I'd like to right now, I can not run away!

Our Obstacle Course

Each day I try to do a special "activity time" with the kids. We set up this obstacle course and ran it several times for activity time a couple weeks ago. It was definitely one of their favorite activities we have done. They're kind of long, so if you don't want to watch, that's OK. Just gotta post for posterity's sake, right?



A few funny notes...at the beginning of Bryant's run you can hear Jonas crying, "I'll stop crying now!" He got locked in the bathroom for interference...poor kid! Jonas' run was a little different when we filmed it, every other time he did wind through the chairs. Oh, and in case you were wondering, yes, Jonas' pants are on backward. He is really good at getting the tag in the back, for some reason whoever made these pants thought it would be funny to trick little kids that get themselves dressed!