Happy 10th Birthday Brooke!!!

Today we celebrated Brooke's 10th birthday. We had a family party at home, with dinner catered by Guicho's Eatery, our favorite Italian take-out. It was really fun, Brooke was surprised that her Nana, Paga, Aunt Shalaine, Uncle Cort, Baby Axel, Uncle Jon, Aunt Lou Ann, and Jamie, Corrie, Curran, and Luke came!!!! She thought it was going to be a boring dinner with just her family. We even picked up a couple of party guests, friends from the neighborhood that were outside when the festivities began. We are blessed to live on a fantastic street full of great friends and families.




Brooke in her new helmet and riding her new wave board. You will notice in the picture above that she has a light pink helmet that has Disney Princesses on it. She has been asking for a a new helmet for SO long because hey she's ten and Disney Princesses are so four years ago :)









Uncle Cort takes a turn on the wave board.
















Rollerblading with her cousin, Jamie.



















Kate spent so long on this gift for Brooke. It turned out beautiful!

Playing Hookie

In most respects I would say that while growing up I was a really good kid/adolescent. I never really lied to my parents, cheated, skipped school (evident in the fact that I am not exactly sure how to spell the word hookie), or took part in other disturbing ,yet unfortunately normal teen behaviors.
That being said, as a parent, I have realized that a little innocent "breaking of the rules" is quite healthy when raising a child. So today I woke up saying "Damn the rules! I am taking my kids to Disneyland!"
Tomorrow is Brooke's 10th birthday, her first decade complete! We stopped by City Hall on Main Street and got her a "It's My Birthday" button and all of the Disneyland workers wished her a Happy Birthday all day long! After a couple of hours of this I think she was ready to stuff the button in her pocket, but she was a very good sport and wore it all day long.
We had a fantastic time, I just love hanging out with my peeps! And to be honest, maybe it was made all the more sweet because we were "breaking the rules".

The ever popular, picture of the monitor picture. This is on Splash Mountain, I was a bit nervous riding in the front, Brooke said she was posing for the picture, not sure if I believe her, Buzz is hanging on for dear life, and Kate said she was NOT posing for the picture but was truly scared!
On Grizzy River Rapids right before going down the big hill.
Buzz and Kate with the Brother Bears. Brooke took this one.
Riding the Monorail

Welcome

Welcome friends and family to my blog. I can't believe I have my own. For so long I wondered, "who does that?" And will admit that at times I thought, "Don't they have anything else better to do with their time?". I officially "eat my words" and join their ranks!
I enjoy reading blogs and hope you enjoy and will indulge me in mine.

We had a great Memorial Day Weekend. We kicked it off on Friday by taking the train down to San Diego. We taught the kids about public transportation by taking the trolleys, train, and walking. We took along two backpacks for the overnighter and it was great! We went to Seaport Village, Old Town, downtown, and Fashion Valley (that was my choice). Brooke is doing a report of the Mormon Battalion at school and we went to the Mormon Battalion Memorial.

Enjoying the view on the way to San Diego
In the trolley on the way to the hotel


Inside the Mormon Battalion Memorial, the kids got to dress up.