What's happening.

I was supposed to my audition yesterday for the praise team, but Aidan was sick so I had to cancel. He ended up with the tummy bug that has been going around, he is feeling much better now though. I am praying that it stays away from the rest of us.
I did, however, have my interview yesterday for the auditing position. It looks like a job I would enjoy, although it is very repetitive. It was a strange interview, where she only asked me why I was interested in the job. She then took me to "shadow" someone actually doing the job, I watched Angie for a bit and she told me basically what I was to do. I then went back and spoke with Shannon (yes another Shannon) and told her it was something that I thought I would enjoy. She said thank you for my time, shook my hand and that was it. I'm not sure how she is going to decided since she really did not "interview" me. I should know by Monday weather or not I got the job. It would be nice to be off the phones though.

Another post this week! I'm on a roll!

Things are going well here in the Wampville house. The kidlets are happy, clean and fed. Which is the most important, but I thought I would take the time to jot down what is going on in our day to day lives for the week.
Kaitlyn, has had a tea party almost every night this week with her dolls. (I need to make sure I capture that on camera!)
Aidan is full of energy that is pent up because it is just so cold outside that you go out and come right back in. Maybe we need to go bowling this weekend. He has also been trying to figure out what he wants to do for his birthday, he has the option of having a party or going on a trip. (gotta love working for an airline to be able to offer that as an option!) Right now he is leaning towards going to the San Diego Wild Animal park the feed the giraffes, but there has been talk of a T rex party...so we will see.
I have been busy with work and pulling out music to sing along with, I am trying to find some that will test my range a bit, I used to sing along with Phantom of the Opera all the time and could actually hit the high notes...Maybe I need to dig those out again. Aaron is busy with work and church stuff (lots of meetings to figure out what is happening to even start looking for a new pastor) ...just busy, but a good busy.
I have applied for a temp position within JetBlue that would be auditing Non Rev reservations (Non rev means standby). It would be an intresting job and I think I would enjoy it although I would be working from the center rather than at home. So, we'll see what happens with that. They asked that we had our names in by Saturday and there was no time frame as to when they would let us know...so I guess it is a watch and see. But I am hoping to get it. I think I would get to be off of the phones for awhile, and I think that would be good...Esp after this last week of grumpies! HA. So, thankful that today is a day off and a day of rest.
We hope all of you readers have a wonderful weekend and miss all of you that are far away!

The nerves are setting in!

I spoke with our music minister about joining the praise team at church. I love to sing and have often wanted to be a part of the team, but with 2 small kids and Aaron playing the sax during that time it just wasn't possible for me to join. Well, now the kids are a bit older and can behave themselves when we are both practicing so I decided to see what it takes to join.
Next Tuesday I have an audition and range test to see where I fit in. I am so nervous! I haven't done a musical audition in a really long time! They are in desperate need of soprano's which is good because I mostly sing soprano, although I can do alto too if I have too. And while I am nervous I am also excited because I know that my vocal abilities have grown a lot in the past few years, although my range has suffered a bit since I haven't practiced weekly as I did when I was in high school!
Anyways, just another way for me to shed. And although I am nervous I am also excited! I know God will help me through it, he would not have given me the desire and gift of music if he didn't want me to use it. Anyways, say a little prayer for me that my audition goes well!

What a fun weekend!

We are back from our American Girl Place trip. And we had an awesome time! This is the front of the store which is 2 stories tall. There were so many dolls and clothes to look at that it was some what overwhelming. The first the the girls wanted to do was get their dolls hair done. So, we headed over to the hair salon. We learned a lot about how to care for the hair and that Kaitlyn shouldn't sleep with her because it causes it to rub on the blankets and roughs it up. We also learned that we should use water on it to brush it every time. They said that the water keeps it smooth and nice looking. We got there at the perfect time too, there was nobody there so we got right in, when we came back by it a little later there were a lot of people lined up!




The next thing we did was shopping. The girls had both saved up their money to buy a doll and some clothing to go with it. And of course they both picked the same doll. Kaitlyn, had actually planned to get a different doll until the doll of the year came out. Her name is Nikki and actually looks a lot like Kaitlyn, and had a lot of the same interests as her as well. So, it was the perfect fit for her.
After shopping we needed a bit of a rest so that we could come back for afternoon tea and the Revue. The girls were a bit disappointed but Kristi and I both had a bit of a headache and needed a rest (we had both been up since 2 am to see if we were getting on the flight, but that is a whole other story!).
deserts. The also brought out little pieces of cake and sang happy birthday to t So, we went and had a rest and got ready to head back over there for Afternoon tea. The girls had a great time at tea and were the perfect little ladies. We had finger sandwiches and little treats. They also came out and sang happy birthday to them! It was really fun. After that we had a bit of time to kill so we went shopping at Crate and Barrel , but the girls kept begging us to go back! We went back about 6:30 for the show and found out that we had front row seating! It was a fun show and told the story of all the historical girls. The girls were really excited when some of the actresses looked right at them and smiled! They wouldn't let me take a picture of them in the theater at all, but I did take one of them on the steps right outside the theater, but it was with my other camera and I don't have the film developed yet.
The next day we drove to Hollywood Blvd and saw the walk of fame and Grauman's Chinese theater (where all of the hand prints are). I have lived in Southern California all of my life and had never seen it, so it was kind of fun to see, but not something I need to do again.
The girls tired of seeing that pretty quickly, so Kristi wanted to go to downtown Disney and shop a bit at the Disney store. We had a fun time shopping, but the girls found a new store that they would like to plan a trip to sometime. It is called Libby Lou, and they have all kinds of makeup and you can get your hair done. I found this T shirt that I loved and wish that I could find a post card in it, so I just took Kaitlyn's picture with it instead. It says Where a cup of tea can bring you together and apart and together. My mom took the kids on the teacups since none of the rest of us adults would ride on them. So, Mom I'll be sending you a copy of this picture!
We had a bit of a scare about making it home on Saturday night. So, I called Dad and Mom and set it up for us to go spend the night if we had too, but we made it on. We were the last 4 to make it on the flight, and we didn't have to jump seat. It was a great trip but it is good to be home! The girls are already trying to plan when we are going to see the American Girl Place in Chicago and New York. Trent (Dakota's Dad) said that they couldn't go for another 10 years. They added it up and figured out that they would be 18 by then (YIKES!) and that he wasn't too funny! LOL! Anyways it was a fun trip, but it sure is good to be home!

A new season.

So, once again this week has been super busy. It started off last Sunday when our Pastor retired. The deacon's wife's hosted and helped serve at the retirement luncheon and there were so many speeches and special gifts that we were there pretty much all day. It was a wonderful day of celebration though!
While we are sad to see him and his wife go we are excited to see what changes that God has in store for our church. We know that God has the right person chosen for the job, but change can still be kind of scary. We will really miss his wife Jen, who has been Kaitlyn's Sunday school teacher for the last year. We have really seen Kaitlyn's faith grow through her teachings.
Pastor Rodger and Jen we wish you the best as you are hiking the Appalachia trail! A dream that they have had for a long time and are just finally able to give a try to.
We have also been dealing with changes in my schedule. The best part is I now have Friday-Sunday off, but the change that I now am working 4 days in a row seems to leave Aaron with a lot more to do. Making sure that all homework and studying gets done, dinner made, trips to girl scouts and Awana's. I sure have married an amazing man that does it all wholeheartedly! I love you babe and appreciate all you do!
Next weekend Kaitlyn and I will be traveling to Los Angeles with some friends. It is finally the fruition of a year long dream for her of going to the American Girl Place! We are going to have afternoon tea there and also see the American Girl Revue. She is so excited and it should be a wonderful weekend!
If you don't hear from me before then I will post pictures next time!

Shed

*Disclaimer* This post is more raw than any other post I have put on here thus far. I view my Blog as my journal and have shied away from putting too much of myself on here. I have decided that 2007 will be my year to stop shying away from things as you will understand when reading the rest of this post. My prayer is that while I am trying to succeed at shedding some of my insecurities that God will somehow use this to touch *your* (your being anybody reading this blog) life. With that being said ENJOY!


So, I subscribe to an Ezine (an email magazine) put out by one of my favorite scrapbookers, Ali Edwards. In the latest issue she had an interesting challenge and I thought I would try it out this year.
This is part of what she had to say:

"Can you identify a single word that sums up what you want for yourself in 2007?

It can be something tangible or intangible. It could be a thought or a feeling or an emotion. It can be singular or plural. The key is to find something that has personal meaning for you. This is not your mother's word or your spouse's word or your child's word - this is YOUR word.

One little word can have big meaning in your life if you allow yourself to be open to the possibilities. And here's one thing that is totally interesting: sometimes a word will pop into your brain and it will not make any sense to you right now. Give it some time. Let it percolate a bit. I have often found that our hearts speak to us in very unique ways. Maybe this is a word you need to hear but just aren't ready for it yet. Again, be open to the possibilities."

So, I have been thinking on this word. Trying to figure out what I want this word to be. I've thought through several of them, playfullness, happy, content....all very good words, but they don't necessarily fit what my goals are for 2007. So, after much contemplation my word is: SHED. And not like the building.
I looked up Shed at Dictionary.com and here are a few of the definitions:

1.	to pour forth (water or other liquid), as a fountain.

2.	to emit and let fall, as tears.

3.	to impart or release; give or send forth (light, sound, fragrance, influence, etc.).

4.	to resist being penetrated or affected by: cloth that sheds water.

5.	to cast off or let fall (leaves, hair, feathers, skin, shell, etc.) by natural process.

6.	Textiles. to separate (the warp) in forming a shed.

–verb (used without object)

7.	to fall off, as leaves.

8.	to drop out, as hair, seed, grain, etc.

9.	to cast off hair, feathers, skin, or other covering or parts by natural process.

I really like numbers 2 and 3. To emit and let fall as tears. Meaning to me that it comes out sometimes without expectation. Sometimes it is a lot of work. Sometimes it just hurts so bad that you have to let it fall off, to emit it from your life. I also like the send forth as light....it reaches out and touches everywhere it can reach.
I think that God really knows my heart as I have been praying asking him what word would best define my goals for 2007. To send forth as light. To not keep things to myself. To share his glory!
There are other reasons for the word shed as well. I'd like to shed a few pounds (wouldn't we all at some time or other). I would like to shed the clutter in our home. I would like to shed the debt that we have, while not much I would still like to get rid of it. And I would like to shed my insecurities, to bask in the understanding that God made me in His glory and that he loves me just the way I am.

2007!

I can't believe that it is already 2007! What a busy year 2006 was and I'm looking forward to seeing what God has planned for us this year.
Kaitlyn had a wonderful birthday. We went sledding as mentioned in the last post. Then came home and had some lunch. Then we went to see Flicka at the dollar theater. That movie was right up Kaitlyn's ally, although Aidan seemed a little bored through it. After the movie we came home and had dinner. Kaitlyn's request of spaghetti, garlic bread and salad. It was yummy. We then opened presents and had cake and ice cream. It was a fun day, but she is really looking forward to celebrating at the American Girl Place in LA at the end of January. She has been really good about saving her pennies so that she can shop while we are there.
I am officially off on Sunday's now. I was able to get off on the 31st. and what an awesome day it was. We started off going early for music practice (Aaron plays in the orchestra) and they were short some vocalists. So, I did something I have missed doing and sang with the praise team. It was so fun and reminded me of how much I miss it. Hopefully, I can begin singing on a regular basis. After church Mr. JW (an elderly gentleman that Aaron has been picking up for church for the last 6 months) asked to take us out to lunch. He is such a neat person to talk to and the kids really love him, and thankfully he loves children as well...He had 5! He asked to go to the Porcupine. We had never been there but the food was wonderful and we really enjoyed fellow shipping with Mr. JW.
After lunch we came home to have some naps before heading out to some friends house for a New Year's celebration. There were tons of kids, and I got to hold baby Noah for quite awhile. AHH I totally miss holding babies! Aaron told me to make sure I had my fill of it while we were there! LOL! And we played this game called Ticket to Ride. You have to build the longest continous railroad to win. It was a fun game, we are going to see if we can find one to get for ourselves. Esp. since railroading has been in my family for as long as I can remember...it just seems like it is a game we should own :0)
So, there you have it. All of our fun celebrations for the last few days. We spent a quiet day at home on the 1st as I had to work that night and Kaitlyn started back to school today after a month off.
I am now painting our living room. It is going to be a dark brown color. Aaron picked the color and it will be fun to see how it turns out. I'll post some after pictures when it is all done.
I wish you all a wonderful, healthy and blessed 2007!

Happy Birthday to Kaitlyn!

Happy 8th Birthday Kaitlyn!!! I hope it is a happy happy day!

For Kaitlyn's birthday she chose to go sledding. We had a blast. The weather was perfect and the hill we found was not too busy at all. We have more celebrating to do, but I wanted to come on and wish my (not so) little girl a very happy birthday!
I love you Kaitlyn.

Love, Mommy

Merry Christmas!

We hope that you had a wonderful Christmas! We had a wonderful Christmas eve, I was even able to get the day off to go to Christmas eve service with my family! On Christmas we had a nice quiet day at home just the 4 of us. The kids were excited Santa came and left them some goodies. Aidan's favorite is the police set from the dollar store. It was a gun, handcuffs, cop style sunglasses a badge and a fake walkie talkie for a dollar...and that was his favorite of all the things he ended up with. Kaitlyn also had a great time. She is enjoying her "cheetah girl" clothes, and her american girl books (Thank you Grammie and Poppa!). Aaron and I just enjoyed being together as a family.
I had to work at 3:30 on Christmas and was off at 9:00pm. It was a pretty easy shift and I was grateful for that.
We hope you all had a blessed Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

This week has been totally busy and it isn't even over yet! The kids and I did somebaking last week and most all of the cookies have been devoured, so I guess I need to make some more before Christmas. We made Butterscotch shortbread cookies, peanut butter kiss cookies, lemon bread, and english toffee. The lemon bread is usually moist and a nice deep yellow color for some reason mine turned out really dry and and not yellow at all. I know I followed the recipie exactly, so I think that it is the altitude affecting it...I'm going to look about adjusting the recipie for the altitude and try to make another batch.
I have so much to finish before Christmas gets here as well. I will be shopping tomorrow and Saturday to finish up the kids gifts! I had this bright idea of waiting until after Christmas at mom and dad's to finish their shopping, but didn't take into consideration when payday is so I'll be out with the crowds...UGG.
Both of the kids came down sick. Aidan started running a fever on Tuesday so I ended up not going to girl scouts and staying home with him. Then yesterday Kaitlyn ran a fever all day. It is weird just a fever and that is it. Aidan is now fine. Kaitlyn needed another dose of Motrin at 3:30 this morning so I'm not so sure she is out of it quite yet still watching on that one. I'm just praying that it won't be like last Christmas where they both had the influenza and couldn't really enjoy their Christmas.
Not only has my personal life been really busy, but also work life has as well. Last night they shut down the Denver airport. And while we only have a few flights a day out of there it was mad chaos on the phones last night. The worst part is that all of our Denver flights from last night until Christmas Day were completly sold out, so there wasn't really anything to move them to. They were working on adding some extra flights for the people whose flights had been cancelled, but it took awhile and people just wanted to know what we were going to do for them to get them out of there. As crazy as it was last night and as nice as *most* of the people were about it, I would hate to see what it would be like if something like that happened in New York or Florida where most of our flights originate from.....YIKES!! I also got an email from my supervisor that I had forgotten to charge a fee, so I'm not sure what happens with that. I'll probably get some demerit points or something....mistakes happen so I'm trying not to beat myself up about it, but I really hate being treated like a school kid sometimes. We get graded on calls and points if we don't do things exactly right. I try to remember everything we are supposed to do on all of the calls, but sometimes things slip and I guess this was one of those things. Ok, enough of that on to some better things.
I've got to run and get some more cleaning done so we don't have to spend all weekend doing it! Also, no Christmas cards will be sent out from us this year, I just ran out of time. So, I plan to send out cards for a different holiday instead. It's good to change it up sometimes I think.
Merry Christmas to all! I hope you have a wonderful holiday!

More Disney pics

Christmas and Disneyland.

Well, we had a great time at my parent's house visiting with everyone. It was so nice to see my Grandparents and Aunt and Uncle. Also it was great to finally put a face to my brother's new girlfriend Rhiannon. She is a doll and was so patient with the kiddo's.
We opened presents on Saturday (dec. 2) and I had 2 itty bitty presents that I told the kids were their "big gift". One was a miniature snowglobe of Minnie Mouse for Kaitlyn and a pressed coin book for Aidan with a picture of Disneyland on it. At first they opened it and just kind of looked at me like "These are our big gifts????" It was really funny, but then I broke down and told Kaitlyn to read what it said on Aidan's coin book, and said "We are going there on Monday!". Her face really lit up then, she was so excited! And I don't think she slept very much for 2 nights. It was such a fun way to tell them. Although Aidan didn't know what to think since he had never been there.
On Monday when we got there we took the tram over and Aidan kept saying "This is fun!". And we hadn't even gotten inside the park yet.
The park closed at 6:00 that night and so it wasn't croweded at all. Who want's to spend all that money for the park to close early? We just about walked on all the rides. It took us longer to buy lunch than to get on any of the rides.
The first two rides we went on were Pirates and the haunted house. Aidan looked like this for all of pirates and the beginning of the Haunted house. After that he enjoyed everything and most rides he said "I want to do that again!"

Kaitlyn had a great time getting some signatures for her autograph book that my cousin got for her when she was at Disneyland Paris. Her main concern was meeting Minnie Mouse. And luckily
we did run into her in toon town! Kaitlyn was very happy for that! All in all it was a wonderful day. And we are all looking forward to going back another day. Next time we would like to do a few days so that we can go to California Disney as well. The kids were exhausted by the time 6:00 rolled around and I don't think we could have done anything more they were so tired. Although they have both asked me when we are going back.

Thankful.

Lot's of busy things going on lately and no time to blog. We are in official finish Christmas shopping mode in the Wamp house. We leave a week from Friday for our trip to Calli. I am so excited and the kids are too. They still don't know about Disneyland and I can't wait for their reaction. My Mom and Dad are coming with us too, so I am excited for that too.
Other things going on around here...The new shifts came out. I received Friday, Saturday and Sunday's off. I will be so happy to get back into the routine of going to church with my family, but I did have to trade of doing Girl Scouts. There just wasn't a shift that had Saturday, Sunday and Tuesdays off. That is OK though. I have felt that God is telling me to give that up for awhile anyways. Kaitlyn will still attend I just won't be able to. I start my new shift in January.
We are headed to Aaron's parents house for a later celebrated Thanksgiving on Friday. Aunt Janet has a room that she calls "The Girls Room" and Kaitlyn will spend the night with her on Friday. Kaitlyn is excited to go play doll's with Aunt Janet and to spend the night with her. Aidan told her "But if you go to Aunt Janet's then there won't be any girls there" (there being Grandma's and Poppa's). Too cute.
Ok, Off to go get some more Christmas stuff done. I was hoping to have it all done and shipped by yesterday but Aaron was sick on Monday night and I slept on the couch so I was too tired to get it finished yesterday. Hopefully I can have it all done and shipped off on Friday.
Love to all! We are Thankful for all of you, you have each blessed our lives in some way and want you to know that we are grateful for it!

Breathing a sigh of relief.

I have never been so happy to have Halloween over. This year was one of the hardest years for me to stick to our beliefs. I have never been one to have a too hard of time for living what I believe. But with the birth of our children, and Kaitlyn going to public school I have been having a hard time sticking with what I believe.
We have chosen not to celebrate halloween due to the origins of it. So, we don't go "Trick or Treating" (I hate even the name of that.) And for years we have done nothing as far as dressing up. Well, the last few years they have had a fall festival at our church on a day other than halloween. That is fine. We go and participate the kids have fun. It is a fun time and an outreach into our community.
That part that has become hard the last few years is the actual day of halloween at school. They do a parade and have a big party. So, I feel bad when Kaitlyn isn't dressed up (she didn't for kindergarten) and misses out on the fun activities. The last 2 years I have let her dress up for the school parade, but then I feel guilty to not sticking with what I believe in. I mean if I am letting her dress up for school, but not go "trick or treating" or carve pumpkins or any of the other halloween stuff am I being a hypocrite?
It is just so hard to balance your convictions to wanting the best for your children. Not hurting their feelings or making an outcast out of them for their beliefs. I think some major prayer is in order before next years halloween.
I am so glad the day is over and that we can move on to celebrating things that are important to us...being thankful and Christ's birth!

SNOW!

Yep it snowed last night! I was working and was on the phone with a lady from the New York area. She was asking me about UT and how we must have better weather than where she is but we probably don't get all the changes of seasons. I told her that it was snowing at the time we were talking and she said..."I guess I'll stay put then". LOL! I thought she was really cute. (But I do believe that UT does have better weather than NY any day!)

Cookie got a hair cut.

Poor thing doesn't even look like the same dog! We tried to do it ourselves, but our trimmer wasn't working properly so I called all around and made her an appointment for Wednesday.
She had an appoinment yesterday for the vet to get her rabies vaccination and they do grooming there too and just happened to have an opening. We quickly jumped on it since she was so matted up. Well they took all of her hair away. Last night she even looked pink because of having so little hair left. Having no hair has turned her into a little lap dog because she is so cold. We'll have to get her a sweater soon.

She is already spoiled rotten. She loves to go for car rides and goes with us to take Kaitlyn to school. Since we car pool it is pretty funny to see 4 kids, me and cookie all pull up for school in my little Saturn. But it is a very short distance so I don't mind.
Other news besides Cookie. My brother in law's automotive shop just opened. He and his family have put in alot of hard hours to get it off the ground and we are so proud of you guys! We wish you all the best on your new adventure!

Pictures of our new doggie.

,



Cookie has arrived! Yep, her name is cookie. The dog is supposed to be mostly for Aidan, all little boys need a dog. Cookie is a one year old Shih Tzu. She is really sweet, the first time we saw her must have been the first day in the shelter because she was really scared and didn't really know what to think of us. Today Aidan and I went to see her in her kennel before they called us back to the interview room, when we got their she was full of life and gave us both kisses on the fingers. We knew then and their that she was meant to be ours. So, we the interview was really more informational about what shots she has had and what was expected of us.
We brought her out to the car and she jumped right in the backseat with Aidan. And on the ride home she would go from me, to the passenger seat, to the back seat, to Aidan and back again. Aidan really giggled when she jumped in his lap.
As you can see she is in desperate need of some grooming. Her undercoat is pretty matted up and she needs to put on a little bit of weight. We were planning to take her to the groomers, but decided to do it ourselves since winter is coming and then would probably shave it all off. So, Aaron and I pulled out the shears and cut off as many of the mats as we could while still leaving her fur, and gave her a bath. She was really good, we were pulling and tugging and brushing and combing her and she just stood there. I don't think we will have a problem with her nipping at Aidan at all which I am thankful for.
Oh and one more neat thing about her, she has one blue eye and one brown one. It is really cool. She is such a sweetheart and we are glad to have her in our family. (PS Kaitlyn is having a playdate today, I am sure there will be lots of pictures with her and Cookie. We didn't intentionally leave her out!)

Another Aidan Funny.

Mommy: Aidan what would you like for Christmas this year? (Trying to be good and make up a list to send to my mom)
Aidan: I already told you I want a...a...a.... "TREE MA KISS"!
(Which would be a Christmas tree). Too funny.
I love that all that he will tell me is that he wants a tree ma kiss. That is always the highlight of Christmas for me, just the 4 of us shopping for and decorating the Christmas tree. Aaron does the lights, we all put up the various ornaments and I do the beads and the other household decorations. We listen to Christmas Carols and then when we are finished we turn out the lights and enjoy the fruits of our labor.
And if you all are thinking that it is way to early to even start thinking about Christmas I totally agree except that we are celebrating with my family the FIRST weekend in December. So with loosing a few weeks it had to be made up somewhere.
I hope you all have a beautiful holiday season and a very pretty "Tree MA KISS"!

Cruising.

So, we had a great time on our crusie. This is just my immediate family and my sister's boyfriend and my brother's roommate. We had a great time visiting with each other.
Aaron and I left a day early to make sure we would make it on our flight. We stayed at the Queen Mary which was really interesting. I did not realize how much history was actually involved with that ship. We took a tour and learned some neat things about it.
We had a great time visiting with everyone and getting to know Tom and Landin better.
We went to La Bufadora which is a blowhole in Ensenada Mexico. At the Blowhole there is a flea market and all the vendor's yell at you trying to get you to come to their "shop". I didn't much care for that, and once in the shop they would follow us all around. There were very few places that would just let us look around and not pester us, I told my mom that I wish that I would have found things to buy in those places as I enjoyed shopping there much more. We had lunch at a nice little restaurant which made the best fresh corn tortillas! They were so yummy! I did find some pretty good deals, and got myself a "Fucci" purse. (Fucci was our nickname for fake Gucci, my aunt bought a "Frauda" instead of Prauda).
Our only wish was that the cruise line itself would have been a little better. The food was not nearly as good as the last cruise we went on and the activities were so bunched up together that by 2:00 there wasn't much to do. Our next cruise will be on a different line for sure, but in hindsight it was actually good that there wasn't a whole lot to do because it gave us more time to sit and visit which is what this was all about for us.
We had an awesome time but it is soo good to be home to Kaitlyn and Aidan who we missed very much!

Disneyland here we come!!!

I am so excited! We are planning a trip to CA for the first week in December. I have already traded all of my days (which was so easy this time!) for work. And then I talked with a very good friend of ours who works at Disneyland. He said he would get us into the park one of the days we are there!!! Thanks Jimmy!

Aidan has never been there and it has been awhile since Kaitlyn has been there I think she was 3 the last time we went. We are going to have it be a surprise and wrap up some sort of Disney related gift to give to each of them while we are at my mom and dad's celebrating Christmas on the 3rd. It is going to be sooooo hard for me to keep it a secret because Kaitlyn has been asking me if we can go there and Aidan has seen the pictures of the last time we went and says it looks like fun and he wants to go there! I love good surprises like that!

I know I am spoiled, but I have been to Disneyland lots of times. Our graduation night was spent at Disneyland, a whole night staying up and enjoying the happiest place on earth...what better way to celebrate. Aaron and I were almost engaged at Disneyland..at least that is what I have been told, but he thought I knew so he decided to wait. (And I never knew by the way!)

Some of my happiest memories have been at Disneyland. We used to try to go once a year, and it is amazing to me how it has changed so much since when I was a kid. One of my favorite rides as a kid is no longer there. It was called the adventure through inner space, and by the time you were at the end of the ride you looked just inches tall.I think Star Tours took the place of that ride many years ago. I have seen Bear Country Jamboree go, which is really sad....And yet somehow the Tiki room is still there. I know there have been even bigger changes since my parents were children. When my mom was a child they had tickets to get on the rides.
Although Walt Disney said "The way I see it, Disneyland will never be finished. It’s something we can keep developing and adding to. A motion picture is different. Once it’s wrapped up and sent out for processing, we’re through with it. If there are things that could be improved, we can’t do anything about them anymore. I’ve always wanted to work on something alive, something that keeps growing. We’ve got that in Disneyland." And while I love that about Disney, I still long for some of the nostalgia of some of the lesser remembered attractions. But I do have to admit some of the changes have been for the better...case in point...Captain EO. It replaced "America Sings" which was entertaining and taught some sort of historical importance Captain EO was just awful. I have not seen the latest attraction that has replaced it, but I think anything has to be better that Michael Jackson!

And while most of the changes have been for the better, I believe there are 2 attractions that will always remain. Oh sure they may have some up grades and renovations, but the premise of them will always stay the same. And those are my 2 absolute favorite rides, I cannot go to Disneyland without riding on "Haunted Mansion" and "Pirates of the Carribbean". Aaron and I even took Kaitlyn on both of those when she was very little...and like us she loved them. She was a little scared in the Haunted Mansion, but for the most part she really loved it. If you could see Kaitlyn's face in this picture you would see that she is so full of glee. (Please forgive the not so great LO this one was done at the beginning stages of scrapbooking).

I am so excited to be taking both of my children to one of the places that I loved in my childhood, to give them the opportunity to find those nostalgic attractions that they can remember and tell their children about someday. After all Disney is a growing and changing entity.