So after our adventures in Disneyland we drove 10 hours to spend Christmas with my parents in Sierra Vista, AZ.  It was dark and rainy most of the drive through Arizona, so we had no real idea what it would look like when we woke up Tuesday morning.  We knew from what my parents had said that there would be lots of wildlife around the old ranch where we were staying.  To our surprise there were 12-14 white tailed deer eating breakfast right outside of our cottage.

The boys had a good time hiking and looking for treasures on the property.  Jacob brought back a snake skin, deer antler, and a bag full of cow and deer bones (this does not include all the misc. cans and water bottles he collected for the trash).  He's my pack rat. Can you tell?

The view of the surrounding area was beautiful.  Directly behind the property is the Coronado National Forest (I think that is correct).  With more free time, warmer temperatures, and a more cooperative 5 year old, we would have liked to do some more exploring on the trails there. 

Our final day at Disneyland was the busiest of all the days.  The lines were a bit longer, but still much shorter than we had experienced last November.

We ended up with three spectacular days as far as the weather went.  Monday we slept in, grubbed on  breakfast at IHOP, and watched the rain pour down on Anaheim before we headed off to meet my parents in Arizona (more on that later).  We sure felt bad for the family we saw making a family set of rain ponchos out of Hefty garbage bags in the Target lobby.

It's hard to pinpoint our favorite part of this visit to Disneyland. We loved having more time to take in the shows and parades (we found a perfect spot to take in the parade at Disneyland and enjoyed the best corn dogs while we camped out there Sunday night).  The new Toy Story ride at California Adventure was a lot of fun, but it was a long hike out to the pier area.  It seems like there is going to be some new rides and renovations in that area.

We had a great first day and a half in Disneyland.  Before we hopped on our first ride in Fantasy Land, we were given Dream Passes.  It turns out we didn't really even need to use them, since we walked onto almost every ride or used other fast passes.  Our longest wait was probably for the Peter Pan ride - 10 minutes.

Jacob and Tom have been hitting all of the "big" rides.  He is just tall enough for Indiana Jones, and was quite excited to give it a try.  We figured he would have no trouble with it since he loves Space Mt., Tower of Terror, Matterhorn, etc.  Not so! The combination of the loud noises and the rolling boulder freaked him out.

Jaden is now tall enough for Soaring over California, and he truly loves it!  I think it ranks right up there with Astro Blasters for him.  Jaden and I rode the bumper cars in the Bugs life probably 5 times together.  He can't get enough of them.

Jacob was selected for the Jedi Knight training.  Darth Maul challenged him to a duel.  I'm glad he is able to find the courage within himself to do things like that.  For  being such an outgoing kid, he really is quite shy when it comes to being in the limelight.

That's all for now.  We're resting up before we head back into the parks for our second evening.

Where off to Disneyland in just a few hours.  This year we decided to give the boys an early gift and surprise them with 3 days in Disneyland before we drive to Arizona.  I'm hoping the secret hasn't been spoiled yet; I think Jacob would have asked by now if he had an idea of where we are heading.  I can't wait to see their reaction tomorrow morning when we walk up to the front gate!

We'll update our blog with photos if we can throughout our trip.

Happy Holidays

Yippee, another baby girl is on the way!  We had some exciting news last Friday night; Jodi & Michael are expecting a baby girl in late April.  So what is the score now......7 to 2. Thank goodness I have someone to pass that cute pink blanket on to, if I ever finish knitting it!

Now that soccer has ended Jacob has been keeping busy with Boy Scout.  Last week his den built bird houses using wooden fence posts.  Jacob was so proud when he arrived home with his completed project.

On Saturday after singing Christmas carols at a local retirement community, the Santa called up the boys one at a time to give them their Pinewood Derby car kits.  Of course all the boys started to open their boxes right then and there in the entryway of the retirement community. Off to the side were all the parents trying to silently signal to the boys to keep the boxes closed. Finally one of the den leaders caught onto what was going on and made an announcement to keep everything in their box.  Too late, by then Jacob had lost his two axles.  I wonder how many car parts were found after all the boys left.  

Jaden has been working so hard at Kindergarten this fall.  His handwriting has come a long way, though he still sneaks and switches back and forth between his two hands.  One of his most exciting accomplishments (according to Jaden) is learning how to do the monkey bars.  The photo above shows about as far as he can get, one or two bars, before he falls.  It's not quite what I would call doing the monkey bars, but he sure is convinced of it.  :-)

Happy 4th Birthday Isaiah

We celebrated Isaiah's birthday last Saturday.  Jacob and Jaden love playing with all of their cousins.  The only time the kids stood still was in front of Uncle Mark's big screen TV with his Wii.  What is it about video games that draws them in?  The funniest thing of all was seeing Akemi's moves as she copied how the boys play some of the Wii games.

Speed Racer, aka Tom, made a special appearance for the birthday boy.  I think Tanner actually believed that Tom was Speed.

It's Starting to Look a lot Like Christmas

With our cool, foggy mornings, it is starting to look a lot like Christmas.  As we drive to school we pass though an area that dips down near a small creek.  The fog can be so thick, that seeing the cars in front of us is a challenge.  Just as we round the corner, the sun is usually just rising over the taller trees and the fog thins.  They boys love searching the sky for the sun and moon as we come out of the fog.

Tonight, as Jacob read a book to me about polar animals, he started to tell me all about the North pole.  Of course he mentioned that Santa lives there.   The boys have never been thrilled with the idea of sitting on Santa's lap, but they love to sit and watch all the other kids at the mall visit Santa.  

I'm pretty sure it was 2nd grade when some kid on the playground revealed the cold, hard truth about Santa to me.  I was heart broken.  Hopefully we've got at least one or two more years of believing with Jacob.

What am I thankful for?

I am thankful for my two cuddle bugs who warm my heart with their beautiful smiles and their big bear hugs, for my husband who is truly my best friend, for my family - those who are close by and those who are always close in my heart, though miles and miles away.

I am thankful for a circle of friends that is always there when I need them for a good laugh, in a baby sitting bind, or who listen when life is tough.

Thanksgiving Day

We had a great time celebrating Thanksgiving at Mark and Rissa's house.  It is fun to watch the boys with their cousins.

Jacob and Jaden helped with preparing our contributions to the feast. Jaden made the toasted baguette slices for a bruschetta appetizer. Jacob was in charge of the apple & yam casserole.

They both are enjoying cooking these days.

Last week we made a tree of thanks.  It was cute to hear what each boy was thankful for.

"I am thankful for my bed, my friends, turkey and gravy," were just a few of Jacob's thoughts. Jaden said, "I am thankful for Mrs. Brown, my pets, my family."

Day one....

As always I'm looking for fun new ways to stay in touch with our friends and family.  Be patient with me as I stumble through my first blog.  For those of you that are bloggers, feel free to pass along any tips or words of wisdom.