Brayden's Special Day!

I have been posting a lot lately, but if I didn't, I don't think I'd ever be able to catch up! So much has been going on lately! This past Saturday October 22nd, Brayden was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. She has been so excited to be baptized for a really long time! She was a little nervous the day before, but she told me that on Saturday she surprisingly wasn't nervous at all. She actually wished she could go under the water again and again because the water was so warm! :) I am so proud of her and the faith that she has in the Church already. She makes me want to be stronger, and I learn so much from her - it really feels like she is more of an example to me than I am to her sometimes! Thank you to all of our family and friends who were able to come! It meant so much to Brayden and she loved having you all there! You all made her day even that much more special!

Cousins!

With her cute friend Avi!

The luncheon! This was Brayden's table with all of her friends, and her cousin Ethan who I think was loving being surrounded by all of the gorgeous girls! :)

The cake!

Cousin Maylie giving Brayden a present! She was so cute, she loved seeing Brayden be baptized and wanted her to do it again!

With Grandma and Grandpa! I feel so bad we didn't get a chance to get pics with her nana and pop before they left! We'll have to make up for it somehow!

Presents! I think Brayden felt like it was her birthday all over again! She got scriptures, a scripture marker, and a baptism memory book from Grandma and Grandpa! Oh, and her dress was from them too!

At home she opened some presents from Mike and I...she got this scripture case (she actually picked it out herself, she had her own idea of what she wanted!)

and we gave her this pretty baptism necklace...

Some friends gave her this cute tithing bank and baptism plaque, and the Primary presidency gave her the cute CTR (choose the right) bracelet she's wearing...

It was such a neat day for Brayden, one I'm sure she will never forget!

Hunting Witches & Pumpkins!

The kids had Fall Break this past Thursday and Friday, so Thursday I took them to do the scavenger hunt to find the witches at Gardner Village! We went right when they opened hoping to beat the crowds, but the place still got packed fast! We hurried to find the witches, then got out of there! It was crazy! We still had fun though!

I told Ashton to smile but he told me no, because he was trying to be like the mummy who wasn't smiling!

After Gardner Village we went to Arctic Circle for lunch, and to our surprise the whole restaurant was COMPLETELY decked out for Halloween, like dark and spooky (not cutesy) - pretty cool for a fast food place!

That night we headed to the Mabey Farm (owned by my sister's former mission companion's family) to find pumpkins!

Found them! The kids both went with tall, skinny ones this year!

DiSnEyLaNd Part 3! (Day 6 & Vegas)

Day 6:
Our last day at Disneyland went too fast! We were kind of annoyed because we spent all day at California Adventure and were saving Disneyland for the end of our last night, which was a Friday night, usually when they have the parade and fireworks and it's open later...unfortunately we found out they were kicking everyone out of Disneyland for the dumb Mickey's Halloween Party that was extra admission from what we paid. We had this happen earlier in the week which was also annoying, but I thought that was the only day they'd be doing it, so when it happened again on our last day there, it was extra disappointing. There were some tears from the kiddos, and California Adventure was way overcrowded since no one had anywhere else to go, but we were able to talk the kids into going to Downtown Disney to pick out some souvenirs, and we went back to our hotel and played at the waterpark and hung out in the hot tub while we watched the fireworks that were meant just for the special Halloween Party people. As cool as Disneyland is around Halloween, I think next time we'll try a different time of year. All in all though, we had a really fun vacation, and already can't wait to go back again!

Here are some of our last day pics...
They had this really cool Muppet show there! I grew up watching and loving The Muppets, and my kids like them too, but Mike really can't stand them, but he even liked this show! We saw it twice!

This was the waiting room for the Muppet show, pretty cool!

We spent a lot of that day seeing fun shows, since the other days we were obsessed with riding as many rides as possible! We saw the Disney Jr. Live show, which I thought my kids had outgrown but they both loved it, and we saw an awesome production of "Aladin". Then, we headed to do tons more rides!

On the new Little Mermaid ride...don't they look excited?! It was actually a very cool ride we thought!

Toy Story ride...

The kids happy with their souvenirs!

One HUGE Disappointment was that the pirate ride was closed while we were there! That is our favorite ride ever, and Ashton didn't remember it from last time, so we couldn't wait for him to go on it since he loves pirates! We were pretty sad about that! (He got the telescope he's looking through as one of his souvenirs and a little Mickey pirate set - he LOVES pirates!) Oh, another thing about the week were were there (Ashton's BYU shirt reminded me)...I swear it was Utah/LDS week at Disneyland! We saw A LOT of BYU gear, and since Mike wore his BYU hat every day, we got lots of shout outs from fellow BYU fans! We didn't see too many Ute fans though...not sure why that was! :) But yeah, it was kind of funny! Oh, and we even ran into some of our neighbors while we were there!

Vegas!
The next morning we headed to Vegas! It was super hot, so we spent awhile swimming at our hotel...

Later we headed to the strip to check out M&M World. I wouldn't suggest going out of your way to take your kids there, but if you happen to be on there strip with your little ones, it's worth stopping by. They do a free 3D movie there which the kids really liked.

Even after being at Disneyland for a week, the kids begged to ride this clear green glass elevator for fun! They thought it was so cool! It was funny!

Brayden loves being a little model!

I know that was an overload of vacation pics, but since this is my scrapbook, I try to fit in everything I can, and there is a lot to remember! We really had so much fun and are sad it's all over, but we definitely got our fill of fun to last us awhile! However, I do live for our little trips, and can't wait to plan our next adventure! :)

DiSnEyLaNd Part 2! (Days 4 & 5)

Day 4:
In line for the Indiana Jones ride...the kids LOVED the Indiana Jones ride, especially since they were too small to ride it last time we were there! But, it was still hit and miss with Ashton being able to ride it, depending on what shoes he was wearing! You have to be 46" and he must be just barely below 46". He got good at stretching his neck when they measured him!

On the train heading to Toon Town!

In line for the Roger Rabbit ride! The kids have no idea who Roger Rabbit is, but they thought this place was pretty cool!

Toon Town Jail!

Somehow our pattern is to acidentally pick the one week in October to go to Disneyland when they are having record breaking high temperatures...this is what my phone said the temp got to that day...

So yeah, that called for a LONG swimming break!!! Here's Brayden and Mike practicing some Synchronized Swimming moves...

and Ashton surfing on Mike's back!

The hotel we like to stay at isn't the nicest most updated place, but we pick it because of the fun pirate themed waterpark it has, called Castaway Cove! The kids LOVE it and it's definitely worth it when the weather is hot and we need a long break to cool off!

Back to the park...
Mike and the kids loved this Grizzly River ride - I didn't love it quite as much as them, we got way too soaked.....but, in the 100+ degree heat that day, this time it didn't feel too bad!!

We stayed at California Adventure that night and watched the World of Color water show - very cool!

Walking back to the hotel...Ashton was one tired little boy!

Day 5:

Back to Splash Mountain!

Ashton got soaked, which he loved by the way! If someone got wetter than him on the rides, he was jealous!

Small World for like the 5th time - it was our "go to" ride when we needed a nice long break!

Then we topped off the night with some treats and hot chocolate!

One more day of Disneyland pics to go.....