Disneyland Bound!

We got invited to go to Disneyland with Jaimee, Jason and their 4 kids, we couldn't pass it up!  I haven't been to Disneyland since I was probably 9 or 10 and was so excited!
We knew we had a lot of driving ahead of us so we decided to leave for Vegas early (and I mean EARLY) Wednesday morning.   I got up at 3:30 planning on leaving by 4am but we didn't finally leave until about 5am.  The drive down went pretty quickly.  I don't know if it was because of the time we left and the first half of it was in the dark but we go to Vegas by about noon.
This sign was on our way past the strip on the freeway, cracked me up!

We drove around over to Green Valley to Jaimee and Jason's neighborhood and Josh drove me all around where he grew up and lived.  It's amazing he still remembers where all those streets are and the names of them!  We got the Jaimee's house and started unloading our stuff while we waited for them to get home from work.  Alex was showing us around and introducing us to their dog, Giselle while we waited for Jaimee and Jason to get home.  After they got home and got all of their stuff packed and everything loaded, we headed for California!  We watched Green Lantern and Thor in the van on the way there and that made the drive go by quickly.  Their kids are so funny and kept us laughing.
As we were approaching Anaheim, I could hear Clark Griswold  in my head from Vacation as they get to Wally World "We made it, Damnit, we made it!".  I was so excited!  We stayed in the Grand California hotel and so wish I would have gotten a picture of the lobby, oh it is awesome!  These images from Google will have to do I guess.  Even still though, I wish I had a wide angle lens with me to get a full view of just how beautiful it is.

 Jaimee and Jason totally spoiled us by staying in this hotel and paying for our room because I don't think I will want to stay at another hotel when we go to Disneyland again, seriously.  We valeted the van when we got there and didn't pick it up until we checked out 4 days later.  We were able to walk into both parks so easily by staying there.
We got to our rooms and unloaded our stuff.  Our rooms were joined together with bunk beds and a queen bed in each room.  The bed was so comfy, I loved it.  Alex slept in the bunk bed in our room with us.  We walked down to Downtown Disney, I was like a little girl! It was late and most everything was closed but I just loved being there and couldn't believe we were there.
We walked down to the Disneyland gates, I was so excited for it to open in the morning!

We went back to the hotel and went to bed anticipating the fun 3 days ahead of us!

Time Flies

I can't believe my cute little nephews are turning 2 and 3 this year!  The past 3 years have just flown by.  We were so happy to have them here during their birthday week.  My mom made a good dinner tonight for us all and this awesome cake for the boys.  They both love dragons.

 After we ate, the boys played with the balloons my mom had hanging from the ceiling.  These suckers stretched and the boys loved it!

 Time to blow out the candles!  The loved loved loved their cake!  And it was delicious.

 They loved blowing out their candles so much that they did it over and over a few times, with us singing each time.  I loved seeing their excitement each time.

 Then it was time for presents.  They got a few books and a few toys and were just the happiest little boys ever.

 Happy Birthday little guys.  You are so loved.

Pumpkin Walk

Since my nephews were here, my mom and I decided to take them to the pumpkin walk tonight after I got off work.  My sister's friend Becky and her little girl Charly came with us.  It was really chilly but I was excited to go since I had never been before.
It was packed but we found a parking space pretty quickly.  They had a bunch of the wood cutouts for the kids to pose in.  Here's Charly and Gavin in Clifford.

Branson really liked the lights.

Some of my favorite displays...
Angry Birds

 Richard Scarry's Busy Town (loved these books as a kid!)

 Gilligan's Island

 Calvin and Hobbes

We took a break from the walk as soon as the kids saw the playground.

 Then we got back in line for the end.  Branson met the wicked witch and we saw my favorite display of them all!!  Fra-jee-lay!

After having lived in Cache Valley for pretty much all my life and never been to the famous pumpkin walk, this will now be a tradition!  It was so fun and fun to see all the different ideas people had.

The Brackin's

I loved taking this family's photos...I was so nervous though.  I love photography and I love creating things through the lens of my camera but I'm just a hobbyist, not a professional.  So it's was kind of scary having someone ask me to be in control of something as valuable as family photos.
I've taken Tara and Cody's family pictures for the past 3 years but haven't been nervous about them.  They are our best friends and Tara's too nice to tell me if she doesn't like them, plus I'd just make them do it again another day if they didn't work.
I've know Vicki and Austin since we were kids.  These two have been together since 7th grade and as so cute together.  Their kids are adorable as well.
It was freezing Saturday morning when we took these, and the kids weren't too happy at first.  But after a little bit, they came around.

We went to a bunch of different locations and had so much fun!  I asked Tara if she wanted to come with me, more to calm me and she was a huge help with getting the younger two kids to smile.
We got in their van to head up the canyon and on the way down Carson, the oldest, said "Dayne, you're such a whore!"  Dayne is the baby.  We laughed so hard at that, which probably wasn't helpful for Vick and Austin.  They were shocked at first to hear that word come out of Carson's mouth, then Vicki asked him where he heard that word and he said "TV."  Oh man, it was funny!
They are a beautiful family and I am so honored they asked me to take their pictures.  It was so fun and a great learning experience for me as well!  I love they way their pictures came out.  Thanks Brackins!

Corn Maze 2011

We made it to the Green Canyon corn maze again this year last night with Tara, Cody and Atty.  And we had some add-ons that wanted to come with, Stacey, Kyle, Zane and Stacey's niece and nephew.  Since it's getting more chilly, Josh and I wore our new hats my wonderful friend made for us.  Let me know if you're interested in her stuff and I'll give you her contact info.:)  I am totally in love with this owl hat and Josh's beard hat cracks me up!

 We had so much fun and I'm so glad I wasn't the scaredy cat this year, Stacey had me beat by a long shot!  We hadn't turned two corners in there before there was someone stalking us and Stacey was on the ground covering her head screaming!  I thought she was tripped and hurt, but no, she was scared!  After we got her up, the guy kept following us since he knew he was doing a good job of scaring her.

 It was such a fun night with our best friends and our new friends!

A Walk In The Woods

So after work today, I really wanted to go for a drive to see the fall colors again before they were gone.  Josh was really tired from work last night and didn't want to go, so all by myself I went for a walk in the woods.
There is a trail up Sardine Canyon that I would see cars at a lot and wanted to know what was up there.  So I parked the car and walked up to the gate.  There was a sign that said "close gate behind you to keep wildlife off the road", uh, okay.  Where in the world am I going?!  So I opened it, went in and closed it behind me.

Wow, it's beautiful up there!

I walked up this trail toward the mountain.  I only passed a couple of people on my way up who were on their way out.  I was nervous to be out there by myself not knowing what was around me, but it was peaceful at the same time.

 It was beautiful.  I wanted to walk further up the trail but didn't dare to.  Next year, after the snow melts.