Everything Else

We loved each family having a HUGE two bedroom condo. There were four per floor, so we had the entire floor to ourselves. Whenever we were awake, each door would be propped open, so cousins just roamed around. At this moment right before bedtime, kiddos are watching a few minutes of a show... Another evening we went to feed the koi.

Our family took the ferry to Balboa Island. Once a month the nautical museum does a storytime for children 2-5 years (of which I happen to have THREE!), and it happened to be while we were there!

We had a lot of fun walking through the museums after each child made a boat. The puzzle table was a big hit!

One afternoon we spent at the pools, with fabulous chairside service. I don't think I have ever had such a yummy $7 virgin pina colada!

The water was so cold, Emily and I only made it about 30 minutes before she was shivering and I was uncomfortable!

The big kids stayed down at the pool for another couple of hours! They found a friend to play with (I can't remember his name right now, but I'm sure any of my nieces would!) and had a great time if these smiles are to be believed!

Another morning the adults went to a session at the Newport Beach Temple while Grandpa, Aunt Jamie, and JJ watched the little ones (2-13 years). Amazingly, the woman next to me in the session had lived in Dallas and knew some of the same people! These next few got out of order, but I am way too exhausted right now to put them back! This was on our way home, either just before or just after my maiden voyage to In-n-Out burger.

Packing up our room - JJ 'happily' posed for some pictures for us - notice the owie on his forehead.

This was the view from our room. We slept every night with the sliding doors and windows open. It was just incredible!!!

Right before we were to leave, my children all crashed. Granted, Ben had a fever, but the other two were just exhausted. It was a great trip!!!!

Thanks Mom and Mike for all of the wonderful memories and working so hard for so many years to make it finally happen!!!

The Beaches

We spent two days at the beaches in California, and they were incredible! Actually, I should say two afternoons because after about 4 hours, we were all exhausted! We hit Laguna Beach the first day and had so much fun, but there was seaweed all over! The second day we went to Careno del Mar which was a much nicer beach and we could put up the sunshade, but the waves were much bigger and stronger!

Andy played in the water most of the time. Here, he and my brother Rusty are trying to catch a wave to body surf! Oh, how much fun those waves are!!! Looking back through my pictures to choose these has taken me back to the ocean - the sound of the waves crashing against the ground, the volleyball bouncing back and forth, that happy children's voices and the fresh air all around. It was awesome!!! The first day we rented two boogie boards and all shared them. Andy is trying so hard to catch this wave. What an unreal feeling it is to be riding along the top of the wave! It is so fun until you crash on the sand and scrape up your knees over and over again...

JJ riding the waves! It is just so beautiful! Thank you sooooo much Grandma, Aunt Jamie and Aunt Nancy for watching our kiddos on the beach, so we could play so much in the water!!! Our beach time wouldn't have been nearly as fun without Andy and I getting to go out so far to the breaking waves!

Even Ben had a chance to ride the waves! However, twice was enough for him! This wave turned out to be a little bit bigger than we'd anticipated as Bronwyn gets swept away... :) She and Ben had a blast 'riding' the waves with their feet!

Annie and her cousin Ty enjoyed the biggest sandbox either kiddo had ever seen! They played so great together! However, I have no idea what they played because I was busy in the water! Mom? Nancy? Hayley?

I think everyone would agree that Emily's favorite part of the ocean/beach was chasing the birds. She would get just so close and the bird would hope away five feet. Then Em would work so hard to get close again - only to have the bird hop away another few feet. This kept her entertained for hours!

Nothing like a beautiful background. It I hadn't taken this picture, I wouldn't have believed the perfection of the waves!

Another beautiful scene! Roman and Ben finally found something fun to do together!

Our second day at Carona del Mar, Grandpa bought two boogie boards since there was no where to rent them. However, on the first rides (because of the strong waves and the cheaply made boards, unlike the previously rented ones), both boards broke. Poor JJ was the recipient of a nasty gash on his forehead. He spent the rest of the day in his 'family' shirt reading under the canopy with a pounding headache.

The beach was a blast! I think we all agreed we'd like to do this again. The cousins had so much fun playing with one another, and the big kids had a blast too!!!

The Most Perfect Day

So, on our vacation, we had a lot of perfect days! This was the most perfect day! As most people do while preparing for Disneyland, we got lots of advice from friends. Our best piece was from Farrah to do http://www.ridemax.com/! WOW!!!! You buy a program ($3 more than you have to pay for parking, so not really a big deal and COMPLETELY worth it!!!) and enter all of the rides you want to do. It prints out a schedule telling you walking time to the next exhibit, waiting time, ride time, and also when to send runners to get FastPasses (an AMAZING invention since I was a child visiting Disney World). It simply was fabulous!!!! So, we had four different plans printed, stapled and ready to go since we weren't sure what time we would actually get it.

7:15 Andy dropped me off at the gate to wait in line while the rest of the pack drove around until the parking lots opened.
7:40 Andy calls and they are at the gate; where am I? (at the other side entrance of the park.)
7:45 We rush through the entrance and go to ticket booth. (There are so many ways to buy tickets online, but since we just wanted a one-day pass to Disneyland - not parkhopper - it was best to buy them there)
8:01 Tickets purchased (with a little bit of running from JJ to deliver picture IDs) and we are in the park!!!

***Side note. JJ came with us for our trip. This made it even more perfect! Besides being a calming stoic presence, he was a fabulous 3rd adult. I would definitely recommend bringing a friend when you go to take turns watching the littlest of your crew while the other four ride. Now they have these amazing passes where you can either go up the exit ramp or take a shortcut to the front of the line if you are watching smaller children so extra wait time is greatly reduced for everyone to ride!!!***

So, our first ride was Autotopia on our list. This was our first snazzle with Ridemax. They don't open Autotopia until about 8:15 when a line builds up. However, it happens to be next to Nemo (which we were advised not to ride because as soon as the line builds up, it is a super long wait - even with fastpasses). So, we caught the second Nemo boat and still hit the first set of Autotopia rides. Of course, everyone loved these!!! And no, I won't take you through each ride, just some favorites. The kids, of course, loved Dumbo and the flying elephants. Emily just walked around all day with wide open dazed eyes (until she fell asleep on It's a Small World). Ben and Annie soaked it all in and wanted more (and less at times).

I think Dumbo was our third longest wait of about 15 minutes (preceded by carousel and Alice in Wonderland), but the kids were all SO patient.

The two rides I requested were Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and The Haunted Mansion. Andy wanted Autotopia and Space Mountain. JJ wanted Splash Mountain. This is from Andy and Ben's seat on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

To Infinity and Beyond!!! Emily wasn't so sure about Buzz...

We road Winnie the Pooh several times as it was across from Splash Mountain and I could take Emily on that while the others did the dropping logs. We got to meet Pooh and Tigger right after the ride too! Emily wouldn't even look at them! But then again, she doesn't like the Easter Bunny or Santa Clause either...

Everyone loved the pirate island! They are working together to raise the buried treasure! (This was in between Andy on the phone with our realtor negotiating a housing contract. Then another bid came it the same day. Then the contract fell through 8 days later. Great times...)

We went to see the Princesses but found ourselves in a 2 hour wait line. Since Annie wasn't really sure what we were waiting for, we decided to find other princesses. We were so happy to come along Jasmine and Aladdin while waiting for Indiana Jones (which I think was one of my favorite rides. I laughed the whole time!). WOW! That Aladdin was something else!!! I can still feel my heart melt as we were walking off and smooth as glass, he says to Annie, "Bye Princess!"

This was a little tense moment. Emily woke up not completely happy. They all got ice cream while I rode Indy (and used the single rider line to go STRAIGHT to the front!). All day I wanted a Mickey Mouse Ice Cream Sandwich. I got one while we waited to see the Bird Show at the Tiki House for Emily. JJ took a quiet moment to read his book. I think he was about done with us by then! UNTIL.... Space Mountain!!!!

While waiting in line with Ben, Annie and JJ - and I could think was...AM I REALLY TAKING MY 3 1/2 YEAR OLD ON SPACE MOUNTAIN??? And she did fabulous (hands up most of the ride and screaming the whole time!) Ben had to go potty at the very front of the line, but it would have taken him longer to walk out then just ride the ride and go. So, mean mom that I am, I told him he had to wait (thinking he was just scared). Then JJ got to ride next to him. :) The silly car claimed my sunglasses that I forgot to get out of the pouch. I wonder what they do with all of those lost articles... Andy had a parent swap pass (that works for two people), so JJ watched the three kids for us while we rode together - for Andy's first time!

I think Buzz ended up as Ben's favorite ride. JJ took the complete top score our last ride (he was childless - not that it makes a difference, just wanted to point it out) and did great!!!

8:25 It was time to go home. We had the most perfect day. I was ready and willing to stay longer, but I was vetoed by the boys. We did get to coax in one last ride of the train around the park to soak in our last few minutes of perfection...

Thanks Andy and JJ for putting up with the rest of us! We had such a great time and will remember it forever!!! Thanks Annie and Ben for being so brave on all those big rides and just having fun! Thanks Emily for enjoying your snacks when you were too little to ride. THANK YOU WALT DISNEY for making special moments!!!

***Still to come...the BEACH...along with the beach MONSTER that stole sunglasses, googles, etc.***

Pit Stop

We had a quick stop in Phoenix on our way to California. We left Friday afternoon around 3 and got to Grandma and Grandpa Maas's at 7:20 am (forgetting about the time difference...oops!). Uncle David came down to play. We had a fun Staurday, went to church Sunday morning, then headed to California. We made every moment count! Dad missed most of the pool time because he had 'naptime' instead. He did a great job driving in the early morning hours!!!

We ate most of our meals outside by the pool, much to the kids' pleasure! Ben and Annie absolutely LOVE picnics!

They went on walks looking for the little bunny rabbits that like to eat the struggling plants.

We were all sad to say goodbye to Uncle David! Annie just saw this picture and re-enacted her great big hug that she gave him!!!

We Love Our Teachers

Ben had the BEST kindergarten teacher that we could have asked for! She has been simply amazing! We love you, Mrs. Stapp!!! Quick Shot! We ran in just before Buddy Field Day started, and she was busy getting everyone's name tags ready.

This is Annie's speech preschool teacher, Mrs. Thurman. She taught Ben for one year and Annie for one year. Her room is directly across the hall from Ben's kindergarten room, so Ben and Annie would often see each other. :)

Thank you, Mrs. Thurman for helping soooooo much with our speech!

Why???

Why haven't I posted in so long? That question seems to keep popping up...mainly in my own head! The following are a few reasons...
1. quick weekend trip to Concord, NH to check out law school with LOTS of delayed flights.
2. 54 showings on house (that makes for lots of vacuuming and cleaning...and trips to Sonic; I really should have bought some stock!)
3. end of Ben's school year
4. HUGE work deadline for Andy (i.e. no husband at home)
5. packing for family reunion that has been in the works for 4 years
6. scholarship offer from school in Ohio for law school
7. planning quick weekend trip to Ohio to check out area and look at/for rentals
8. 16 hour drive to phoenix - throughout the night for 28 hour stay with grandparents and fun uncle
9. continue driving to Newport Beach, CA for family reunion with cousins
10. LOTS of planning for one 13 hour day at Disneyland (it was AWESOME!!!!)
11. not wanting to hurt anyone's feelings that wasn't included; this has been my main reason for not posting anything. there is way too much drama with our families. i've finally decided this is my journal project and i need to post the major happenings in our lives. if your feelings get hurt, it is NOT intentional on our part, and please don't take anything personally because it is NOT meant that way.
12. contract on house with fast closing date
13. massive layoffs at Andy's work that Andy's name was on (thank you Boss for going to bat for him!!!)
14. contractors galore coming with bids to make "buyers" happy
15. 21 hours drive home (made in 23 hours thanks to driving through the night...)
16. contract falling through :(
17. add to these things Andy's time at church, and I am VERY thankful for a non-time-consuming calling!!!!
18. sweet niece coming to keep my sanity, unfortunately, she's been here a week and we haven't taken one picture yet!!!

I'm sure I missed a lot of things in there (soccer season, field trips, birthday parties, etc), but these are the main things that have been consuming our lives lately. I'm trying to get some pictures posted as soon as they are done uploading from my camera. However, don't know how much dialogue will be with pictures, so just enjoy my cute children!!!

Decisions...

Well, for the last 14 months, I've debated posting about this...

One night last February, Andy had just returned home from Young Men's and I was sitting in bed reading. He asked what I thought about him going back to law school. I immediately got chills - you know 'those' chills when you know something is so completely right? It's been a long 14 months of studying, testing, applying, waiting, deciding, and finally visiting which we did this weekend.

Andy and I left early Friday morning and spent alllll day in airport, in the air, or in a car traveling to our final destination: the booming town of Concord, New Hampshire. We had one day there for an admitted students open house and an evening of fun with lots of new friends (LDS law students and wives). Yesterday we traveled again allllll day and got home at 1:30 this morning. I don't think JFK is my favorite airport...

So, now what? We still need to make our final decision and pray about it - although it feels we have been held by the hand the entire process.

Anyone want to buy our house?

Enter in another offer, with a scholarship, and a paid visit - Akron, Ohio?  Where is that??????

Time Well Spent

Well, the first Sunday we moved into our ward, I was asked to serve in the Young Women's organization at church. I've stayed with them for the last 4+ years. Andy has worked with the Young Men for the last 3 years, in some capacity or another. Yes, it takes a lot of time...but the rewards are so great! We love when they come back to visit us...after college, before missions, on the way home from work...doesn't matter! Tonight we got to do a little fire with 3 of our favs. :) We set up the little picnic table for the kids (notice Emily's new haircut - courtesy of Annie who wanted to see her eyes.

Our smiley JJ, Sarah, and Karyn (sidenote...I babysat for Sarah a time or two when she was a toddler)

Emily LOVED sitting in her chair next to JJ and munching on her s'more!

Ben chose Karyn to read him stories before bedtime. What a sweetheart!!!

Sarah and JJ played frisbee and cleaned up the chairs while we did baths and bedtime. Thanks guys for playing with us! We love you all!!!

COME ON!!!! With all this fun, wouldn't you want to buy our house???? We are now over 45 showings and 0 offers...patience is a virtue!!!

Annie said the funniest thing in the car this afternoon. In a Little Bear video we got from the library, he says he has a sweet tooth. I explained what that meant. A day later, Annie says she has a mouth full of sweet teeth...

SOMETHING WE LEARNED: Sarah brought two packs of starbursts to roast on the fire - like marshmallows. They were SOOOOO YUMMY!!! Definitely have to do that again! They get kind of crunchy on the outside and gooey on the inside!

A Whilrwind Weekend

I think I mentioned before going to Utah. My 3 nieces and one nephew were in the play 'You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown' and my mom, sister and I were able to flew up for a quick weekend to see it. Wow! Just typing the title brings some of the songs back to my mind!!! The play was just incredible. Amazing!!! I really hope next year I can come again! Besides being wowwed by these incredibly talented kiddos, we had a great time just playing together. My b-i-l took care of meal planning, cooking, and most of the cleaning, so we just got to PLAY!!!

This is my sweet Cosette who is coming next week to stay with us - until she is ready to go home! These are my sweet kiddos...with two of their friends. Oh...I miss Utah...

We are family...

Playing outside in between shows. This is where I learned that snowboarding is probably NOT my sport...

We were trying to decide what to do to stay busy. Since everyone wanted to do different things, we each wrote our ideas on a piece of paper. Each activity drawn would be enjoyed by ALL of us - for 30 minutes! First was Anderson Park! Below is Peppermint Patty (aka - Addy) with her fierce Duncan!

Then we watched Bronwyn's movie - Sleeping Beauty? I can't remember!!! (I quite enjoyed my weekend doing four things - eating, reading, playing games, or sleeping.)

My pick was next - playing games, but we only got to enjoy that for 10 minutes because it was time for the star performers to get ready again! We finished off the night at the Purple Turtle - care of Grandpa who wasn't able to make the trip with us...

Sorry, Nan. I had to post this..too many memories! We played a super fun game called Curses. "Get your hands off me lucky charms!" I have not laughed that hard in a LONG time!!!

Thanks sweet kiddos; I loved coming to visit you!!!