The Big Surprise-Part 3

On Saturday we headed out to Newport Beach for Nathan Waitman's wedding. It was fun to visit a new temple!

 Gwen was a hit. It was fun to see the kids I used to babysit holding my babies.

 The beautiful Waitman family

 We had about an hour of free time between the wedding and the reception, so the kids took full advantage of that hour and hit the hotel pool.

 Uncle Matt helped Tessa swim and Daddy worked with Adam on holding his breath under the water.

The reception was awesome! A true Cali wedding with delicious food and awesome music! We were excited to finally get to hear Doug's band after all these years. Adam and Tessa literally danced the night away. Tessa took breaks every now and then, but I think Adam danced for 2 hours straight! They had so much fun!

 They even got the lead singer out on the floor dancing with them during "I Got A Feelin'".

 Aunt Katy danced most of the night with the kids.

 Adam had some sweet moves!

Mommy and Daddy even got some dancing time in. It was wonderful to visit with  friends and family. I had the surprise of my life when my Mom brought my old camp director over to say hi. It was SO good to see her! She made camp an amazing experience for me and all the other girls in our stake. 

We had a fun trip and were sad to have it go by so quickly. The kids did really well on the drive home. Gwen was an angel, Tessa didn't fall asleep once the entire drive, and Adam finally slept for about 40 minutes when we were practically home. Strange children! Now Mommy and Daddy need a vacation from our vacation.

The Big Surprise-Part 2

 We had such a fun day at Disneyland! It was an overwhelming and very long day for 3 little kids, but they handled it very well. Adam rode on every fast ride he could get on. His first question after we got off of Splash Mountain was, "How is my gel?" He is so worried about his hair lately. Tessa couldn't wait to find a princess and loved riding Dumbo and Small World. She also loved Pirates. She said the Snow White ride was "a little frightening".

Adam and Tessa tried getting the sword from the stone, but had no luck. Pa even tried.....

 Uncle Mattman was a bit miserable without his girlfriend. We had lots of fun teasing him:)

 Adam and Ma

 Gwen did so well all day. She was perfectly content sucking on her carrier.

 Katy, Matt, and Adam tried to see how fast they could get their teacup to spin. Luckily, Adam seems to have an iron stomach.

 The kids were thrilled to find Eeyore and Pooh Bear. Gwen was fascinated by Pooh.

 A train ride and nursing break:)

 Tessa got to hear Belle tell a story. She was excited to find a princess!

 We watched the parade and Tessa waved to all the characters!

 This is what my shirt looked like most of the day. Luckily the baby carrier covered me up pretty well. Gwen spits up like crazy!!

 Adam watching the parade.

 All ready to ride the new and improved Star Tours ride with Mommy and Daddy!

Keeping it real...it wasn't always the happiest place on earth.

Look who we found!! We were eating lunch and I looked up from our table and saw our Brother-in-law, Jake, sitting just across from us! Eric's sister Angel and her family were down for the week and we all just happened to eat lunch at the same time and the same place! Talk about a small world (haha!) The kids were excited to see their cousins. We bumped into them a few more times throughout the day and evening. We even watched the fireworks show together!

Adam, Tessa, Roxy, Zeke, and Ellie

We ended our very long day with a sleeping Tessa and Gwen and an awesome Fantasmic show! Adam fell asleep right before the show started, so Aunt Katy bribed him awake with a churro (his favorite!). Thankfully it worked because he said watching Fantasmic was his favorite part of the whole day!

The Big Surprise-Part 1

This past weekend we did one of our whirlwind trips to California. It was so nice to go and not have a funeral to attend! We have been planning the trip for a while now, but never let the kids know about it. We had a close family friend getting married, so we went down for the wedding and surprised the kids with a day at Disneyland while we were there. It was the hardest secret to keep!

We went down with some of my family, so my parents stopped by our house on their way out of town and my Dad woke Adam up at about 6:30am, asking him if he wanted to go to Disneyland with everyone. It took a few minutes for Adam to wake up and grasp what was going on, but once he did, he jumped out of bed and  was so happy he about started crying. (He's his Mommy's boy...we cry over happy things way to easily!) The fist question out of his mouth was, "Can I bring my Jazz basketball hoop?" We weren't sure he would survive 3 whole days without playing basketball.

Ma woke Tessa up next and we were afraid she would be a bit grouchy, but she was happy as could be after hearing Disneyland and jumped out of bed! We got the kids dressed, threw them in the car, and were on the road before 7am! Tessa did great on the trip and only threw up once! I think that's a record.

Gwen was perfect and traveled so well the whole weekend! We were happy she got to meet her Great Grandpa Lemley while we were there. He thought she was darling!

 Gwen and her Great Grandpa Lemley

 Grandpa and Robin met us for dinner at our favorite restaurant, Rubi's. My siblings and I were happy to get our bean and cheese burritos and root beer freezes. Adam was happy that they had the play-offs showing on the TV.

 Grandpa and Tessa. She loved playing with his cane. She thought it made a good pogo stick.

 Tessa so excited for Disneyland the next day!!!

 Adam and Tessa eating their breakfast and watching the Disney Channel. One of their favorite things about vacations is that they get to watch cable. 

 We got to the park before the gates opened. Tessa was thrilled to see that the benches looked like Mickey Mouse! They couldn't wait to get inside!!

 We strapped Gwen up in the baby carrier and she was so good all day! We got lots of comments on how cute she is.

Tessa and Daddy waiting on Main Street for the park to officially open. It was a long 15 minute wait for Adam and Tessa. 

More to come....