Where I Come From- Boys Will Be Boys

These two pictures are some of my ultimate favorites from Tyler's growing up years. Gosh, they crack me up! Tyler was the oldest boy living at home and I believe a senior in high school...   

Boys never skip out on an opportunity to flex their muscles.
 Boys will be boys- no matter the age! Look at little Teancum's ribs! haha! 

After Church Adventures

It doesn't matter where we go, we always seem to have one o' clock church.  It makes for a very long day with little ones.  But a Sunday walk always helps. ;) 

We found a creek and Maggie loved walking in the water until she got out and walked in the dirt... oh the drama!

I convinced her to calm down and rinse them off in the creek. That seemed to do the trick.

The creek felt so nice! And there were no mosquitoes! Imagine that.

Oh yes! This cured the one o' clock church grumpies...

Time to head back home...

Someone didn't make it all the way home.  It was hard to wake her up, but a nap at six o' clock just isn't a good idea! 

You never know what adventures you'll have on a Sunday walk.
However, you can always count on dirty jellies...

Olympics Kick-off Pool Party!

Nothing makes Rachel happier than going to the pool and having lots of people to play with! I was so excited to go spend some time with my California cousins...   

Rachel had a grand time playing with all the big kids! haha! 
Looks like you missed the ball and it bounced off your head! 

There was lots of good food, good company, and of course with the Olympics, good entertainment. 
It was a great time!

Ice cream sandwhiches in the pool! Now that's a party!

I love this picture...

Thanks for having us over guys! It was a blast.
Don't you just love how Maggie and Tyler are looking at eachother over there? I think my kids love hanging with the cousins too! I think they're ready for a few more little playmates... hint, hint wink, wink! 

The Castle Temple

"Mommy, when I grow up I want to get married in the castle Temple."   Okay sweetheart, that sounds like a great plan.

You know what?
Everything is going to be alright.

Sometimes I wonder how or when things are going to work out. 
But really, I have no doubt that they will.
 So, lets just smell some flowers...

heehee
Yeah, things are definitely going to work out.

We are where we're supposed to be, doing what we're supposed to be doing. 
That's a good feeling.

It's just a crazy little thing called life, and it sure is a beautiful life.

I think Miss Maggie agrees with me- it is beautiful.

One thing about having little girls... 
You never forget to stop and smell the roses.

It's true what the scriptures say about little children-
Their faith is unmatched.
That's one of the things I'm loving about being a Nursery leader right now.

This is where the new couple come out.
At the San Diego Temple, they have their own special exit...

I can see it now. It will come all too soon...

But I hope not too too soon!

You don't have to tell them it's a special place, all you have to do is look at it and they'll know.

Oh dear, please stop picking the Temple flowers! 
Those little flower pickers! I think it's an uncontrolled reaction. Really, I don't think they can help it. haha.

Miss Rachel and her favorite castle Temple. 
I must say, it suits her.

Disneyland! Disneyland! Disneyland!

I'm pretty sure that I've already mentioned this but I'm going to say it again...  I'm so glad that we went to Disneyland!  One more time... I'm so glad that we went to DISNEYLAND!!! 
Okay, moving on...  We went on ride after ride! The Little Mermaid ride was definitely the girls favorite ride... I mean it was every little girls fantasy- we got to sit in seashells and be apart of Ariel's story.  "Hi, mermaid!"

This is what happened when we got off the Little Mermaid ride... 

Maggie was convinced that there wasn't anything in the park that could be better!

Rachel was just tall enough to ride most of the rides! I had so much fun going on rides with this little girl...

She insisted we raise our arms up on every ride... it is what big girls do after all...

I am constantly amazes at how brave she is...

One of the coolest things about Disneyland is the parades. There are parades going on everywhere! I loved to get the girls up real close and let them watch all the floats and dancers go by. We were all mesmerized, myself included!

Oh how I love Disneyland...

You can see it all over her face... 

"WOW Mommy!"

I love meeting the evil characters! They are hiliarious! I couldn't believe that Rachel agreed to go up and take a picture with her. Needless to say, the evil queen noticed Rachel's frozen body standing next to her...

I felt so lucky that we were able to catch MICKEY MOUSE!!! His line is always so long, but he happened to be standing around right as we were walking by! I told the girls to hurry and go give him a hug...

There was zero hesitation there... 

Hug Mickey Mouse? Bam. They were on it.

I never would have been able to have had such an amazing day with my girls if it wasn't for my Aunt Tricia and cousin Caitlin who came along to help! They were amazing and I felt so loved!

The picture speaks for itself... what would I have done without them?

Maggie loved the Winnie the Pooh ride! I've got to admit, it's one of my favorites!

"Woe! Check this out!"

Getting ready for our train ride...

This picture demands a moment of silence...

Do you see what I'm seeing? 

Both little girls asleep in the stroller! SCORE! And it was much much needed!

Lucky for me this gave me time to hunt for a sovenior for the girls...

When they woke up, I decided it was high time for a snack... a cold snack... 

Ah yes, a Mickey bar sounds just right for that rumbly in my tumbly...

Delicious!

I couldn't pass up this picture and this crazy expression... funny girl...

It was about at this time that I realized that I didn't have my wipes. I couldn't find them anywhere! Oh dear, napkins and bottled water from now on... thank goodness Maggie didn't make a stinky, that would have be loads of fun! haha!

The classic teacup ride...

We went to DISNEYLAND! 

I want to go back so badly!

hahaha! The Buzz Lightyear ride! The girls loved this one too!

Wrong way Maggie...

hahaha! Nope, still the wrong way!

As you can see I wasn't the only insane person bringing my little ones to Disneyland in July... 

Yep, we're a bunch of crazy people...

It's A Small World ride! So amazing and so relaxing. It felt as if this ride went on forever which was perfect for our tired legs...

9 o' clock and still smiling!

This made me happy, so what did I do? 

I took a picture.

Then we headed to the big show at the lake! These big Disneyland shows are incredible! 

There's fireworks, light shows, boats, and a battle of good vs. evil.  It was intense! And absolutely incredible! The big steamboat with all the happy characters was the big finale/farewell... ah, I love happy endings...

Maggie cuddled with me during the entire show. I took it all in and it was a Mommy moment I'll treasure forever. There were several moments throughout the day that brought tears to my eyes. I'm glad no one noticed them, but I just couldn't help it. 

For three girls that haven't seen their Daddy in seven months, it was a dream come true.

I would see a happily ever after and my eyes would just start to leak! I would see my extended family loving me and my little girls like we were a daughter or a sister and start to leak! I was a leaking mess! All in all, it reminded me once again of all my many blessings.

We finally looked down at our watches and realized it was 11:30! That was when we decided we better call it a day. I don't think my girls have ever been so exhausted or so happy.

Goodbye Disneyland! We will meet again one day, I promise!