Best Birthday Ever

This year we decided to give Courtney the best birthday ever for her 8th birthday. So, we decided to give her a surprise trip to Disneyland for three days. We told her the morning that we were going to be leaving. We didn't exactly get the reaction we expected. She didn't believe us! We thought she would be jumping up and down and screaming... instead it took half an hour to convince her we were really going. And then the jumping up and down and excitement started. This was her very first trip to Disneyland. It was a most fabulous trip! Her favorite character is Minnie Mouse. She ended up with a shirt, sweatshirt, Christmas ornament, stuffed animal, and toy- all Minnie Mouse (yes, we spoiled her and she so deserves it). Her favorite rides are Thunder Mountain, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, and Soarin'. During the parade many of the characters and dancers told her Happy Birthday. She thought that was the best thing ever- even Ariel told her Happy Birthday from way up top of the ride where she sits. Before our trip we bought a bunch of pins on e-bay. She loved trading the pins. Pin trading is not something we had ever done before and we found it was a lot of fun. It's a great way to interact with park workers. It was one of our best Disneyland trips yet! Warning: this post has a lot of pictures!

Sweet Sixteen

Kelsey had her Sweet Sixteen in September. We celebrated with her favorite- Batman! This girl would marry him if she could :-)

Cabin Trip Summer 2011

I am finally catching up and posting some of my Summer Adventures! The first was spending a relaxing weekend at my grandparents cabin in the mountains. I LOVE this place! There is no better place to relax and just love life. I especially enjoy not having phones, TV and computers. It is a much needed break from technology.

This year we had a visitor! Many other family members have seen bears there, but this was our first time. He stopped by in the middle of the afternoon and just wandered between all the cabins in our area for about an hour and a half. Needless to say, we were a little more cautious taking Sophie out after dark!