Post Vacation Fun Week

We've been MIA because Ben and I went on VACATION!!!!!!!!!!!!

More on that later...

Meanwhile I've been a step behind catching up with life, but we've had a couple adventures.

Cody had his baptism preview. I can't believe it's coming so soon...almost 8.

GREAT TO BE 8!

We love having Disneyland close by, because friends love going and we love seeing friends!

The Burbidge's came and we saw them and Tasha and Rob for a bit at the beach.

We love these guys. Wish Ben could have been there. (after taking off a week of work it really wasn't in the cards :( )

The kids all played SO well together...wish we lived closer!!

Mackayla's preschool had a field trip to Trader Joe's. They are awesome. Took them on a tour, told them to pick anything in the store that they wanted to take home and when one smart little boy said he loved cupcakes the manager grabbed some off the shelves and gave them all one:) Needless to say, it was a hit.

Disneyland for Adults

We got a babysitter and went to Disneyland last Friday evening.

Usually when I say "we" I mean the kids and me.

But this time I mean Ben and me.

:)

We met up with our good friends Rob and Tasha.

And-I'm kicking myself I didn't get a picture - Ben's mom was there with some of her friends, Sandy and Sandy!

We met up with them for a little while too!

 It also happened to be the night of one of the huge Disneyland parties.

(You have to buy tickets in advance - we didn't want to go.)

Disneyland closed at 7pm so everyone else went over to California Adventure.

I figured it would be a little more crowded but that doesn't describe the mass of people walking around.

Luckily, our awesome friends explained their distress in getting through Disneyland to them and they gave them three fast passes to use over at California Adventure.

They are awesome.

 It was just enough time to do the three best rides and get some dinner and catch up,

and see a little of World of Color.

I am smiling in this picture (Tower of Terror) because I love free falling and because Ben is grabbing my leg with a vice like grip.

Best Friends

Cody and Macey

L..O..V..E..

their friends Jax and Lizi.

They came to visit from Oregon

And they picked up right where they left off.

Macey asks all the time about when we're moving back to Oregon.

I gently remind her we're not.

But she still asks. Maybe just in case.

They're off to Disneyland today. Wish we were joining you:)!

The start of a castle.

 And the village, finished product

 Salt Creek beach, alongside the Ritz Carlton, is an incredibly scenic beach.

 Babies crack me up at the beach. If they're not eating sand they're chasing birds.

Taking A Time Out

HIGHER

Time Out for Women in Spokane, WA 2013.

I didn't try to capture every thought from every talk that I loved, but I did write down some of my favorite ideas.

President Monson has DAILY journals beginning in 1963 about what he has done for others, and what others have done for him. He has captured the vision of the REASON we are here and recorded it.

These girls are all incredible and SO MUCH FUN!!

Staying up until 3 am has never been so easy:) 

Start modeling Impossible Beauty. Show your girls that you believe you are beautiful. Your children will not only believe you, but believe that they are beautiful, despite what the world teaches us about impossible standards of beauty. Start young. You ARE beautiful.

I have wanted to go to the Portland Temple since we moved to Oregon. Have I mentioned Ben works every. single. day? (twenty times? what?) Well, I jumped at the chance to go heading out to Pullman. I love seeing it right off the freeway.

FAN THE FLAME of your belief. 

Chelsea didn't make it to Time out for women, but I was so happy I got to hang out with her and Marilou before we went. 

God sees the bigger picture of what we can become and the kind of person we should become. Trust Him.

 I do better listening if I can mindlessly occupy my hands.

I drew this, because I'm clearly an artist, for my kids. 

We can't go two ways at the same time. 

Try making a six in the air with your hand. Now make a clockwise circle with your foot. Do them at the same time. 

If you're looking down you can't look up.

The lowest points in our life may prove to be the times we are closest to God.

Doing what you can is better than doing nothing. Even if it is not very good, it's better than nothing.

“Occasionally some individuals let the seeming ordinariness of life dampen their spirits. Though actually coping and growing, others lack the quiet, inner-soul satisfaction that can steady them, and are experiencing instead, a lingering sense that there is something more important they should be doing . . .as if what is quietly achieved in righteous individual living or in parenthood are not sufficiently spectacular.” 

The MUNDANE can be MIRACULOUS. Neal A. Maxwell has so many good things to say about that in All These Things Shall Give You Experience. 

DO MY DAILY ROUTINES REFLECT WHAT I CLAIM TO VALUE?

If the answer if yes...life will have greater peace and clarity.

Thank you-frustration-funny

THANK YOU!: I have mentioned before that I love my friends, but here is another post, about my birthday. Ben was out of town, which was okay, but I thought it would have been nice to have someone around. One of my friends, when she saw me casually said oh ya, it's your birthday, happy birthday. But Chelsea is not casual, mellow or quiet, so I should have known. She and Marilou made me a surprise birthday dinner and cake. Thanks you guys, love you!

Do everyone's kids love being naked?

FUNNY FRUSTRATION: I just went to the dentist. I will be going for three more long visits. My dentist cracks me up. He's not even nice, but it's dang funny. He's passionate about dentistry. After my x-rays he looked at them and said, "Wow, you have terrible teeth." Then today after he filled in my cavity (it was an old one that needed to be redone) he said, "Geez, that was a huge cavity." and he just keeps saying that I have crappy teeth over and over. I actually apologized for having bad teeth and then laughed inside my head because I realized I'm making his mortgage payment. Maybe he should thank me!

Just as a disclaimer: I brush my teeth twice a day and I am proud to say I am now am a faithful flosser.

FUNNY: A couple months ago I was playing the organ in church. Ben wasn't there so I quickly asked someone to watch Macey and Cody, except Macey wouldn't have it. Taking Macey with me, I thought we would fix it when sacrament started. We somehow had a miscommunication and I ended up keeping her, and short of a full scale freak out, she sat right by me while I played. Well, midway through the first hymn she suddenly fell flat on her face. I had to stop mid-chord and pick her up, then I picked up right where we left off. Miraculously, she didn't cry.

The last 2 days and next 2 weeks

Once again, we had a chance to go out on the town with the girls! To Eclipse of course. And to be totally honest, I was pleasantly surprised that the movie wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I enjoyed it. I laughed so hard when Laura put her seatbelt on in the limo. Good job Laura:) And I had to take a picture outside of our own little ghetto Dissmore's. We had to have sparkling cider...that exploded on Erin when she opened it! (We were just missing Erica and Leslie and a few other girls:)Cute kids, even if I can never catch a smile of Cody's. Ben just left this morning for his 2 week SIPE in Edmond, OK at Oakridge Equine. (He's reading to the kiddos right before he leaves...he's going to miss them!) We hope he loves it! Cody said he would call him on his toy phone every day. And Macey even gave Ben a big 'squeeze' hug before he left. So sweet.

Girls' Trip Coeur d'Alene

Cody was excited to spend time with 'Eva' and 'Wiley'-Ava and Lilly. We attempted swimming and failed miserably, but at least the kids got some time in the pool. Erin, Erica and I had time to actually catch up and hang out when the kids went to bed.
There's nothing like staying up late with good friends. We miss having you here Erica and can't WAIT until your little one comes!

Seventeen Again

17: the age we acted :D

17 children: we left home:) (okay there's 16. counting Erica who is pregnant. But it's close! and maybe someone else is pregnant. Danielle? Erin? ha ha)

17 Dollars and 7 cents: the price for dinner and a movie ($ well spent!)

17 Again: the movie we saw (So cute; a new favorite of mine:))

Lee and Leslie hooked us up with a Limo for a Girls' Night out on the town! First to Sella's and then to the movie (with a quick stop to feed my baby with a raging fever:( in between). It was SO much fun!!! (I think the only other time I've ridden in a limo was for one soccer game in high school...our coach wanted us to go in style;)) I never got a picture of Lee, just half of him in one:) THANKS again Lee!!

Baby Shower

My sweet friends threw me a baby shower. I got some adorable outfits, beautiful blankets, a cute bath towel, a handmade knit hat and a bunch more. I have such good friends here, thanks so much for a fun shower!

This is the yummy food! The pumpkin (since it's that time of year!) was a little stroller full of fruit:) We played the game where you guess with ribbon how big around my belly is. I guessed way too much because when you're pregnant you feel like a barge, but it was a lot of fun!

Girls' Night

Girls' Night Participants L to R: Truly Tempting aka Erica, Red Hot aka Danielle, The Baum aka Erin, Perfectly Preggers aka me, and Sassy Sultry aka Leslie. We went to Mongolian Fire and had some yummy food (with a high waitress) and then went bowling. My bowling game was slightly affected due to my inability to take large steps but it didn't seem to affect my usual low score:) Erica was on a roll and scored about 100 more. So much fun! Next month: Twilight.

October Camping

We just got back from camping today at Kelly Creek with Sam and McCall and their three girls and Craig. It was Cold outside - way below zero during the nights, but we stayed toasty warm in a huge tent with a stove inside. I brought a blow up mattress (that Sam blew up because the inverter blew a fuse in our car and didn't work) because I was not about to sleep on the ground. That with our three mummy bags kept us warm and comfortable at night, although I can't say I slept much at all! Ben and Cody slept like rocks together in their mummy bag. Props to McCall for taking a 2 month old baby - I can't say I will ever do that, but nothing fazes her! Here's a view inside the tent:

Ben's highlight of the trip was fishing. He caught a lot of fish but was pretty upset because he had on the biggest fish he's ever had river fishing, but it broke the line after a good fight. He said it was trying to eat a fish that he caught before he actually hooked it. He fell asleep talking about it, and woke up talking about it...I'm sure he'll be going back to try again before long!

Thanks to everyone who wished me happy birthday! Some of my friends threw me a little surprise party. What sweethearts! Erica got me some beautiful orange roses and Erin got me a cute holiday decoration. Thanks girls.

Ben kept asking me what I wanted for my birthday and I finally decided the thing I wanted more than anything else was to go shopping -by myself (no Cody)- and get whatever I felt like. That was a great idea and I had so much fun! It was a good time to look in the toy isles for Christmas presents for Cody too, so I didn't have him begging for every truck he saw. Thanks for the great present Ben, and also thanks again mom and dad and Bonnie and Jeff:)

Swim Lessons & Friends

Yesterday Cody had swim lessons. His friends Lilly and Ava (and Erica and Erin!) are in his class too. He was so excited to be there and was a little rowdy during class. He wanted to play in the shallow part of the pool and would try to jump out of my arms to get there. The teacher finally said to just tell him you're going to let go and then let him go and let him sink a little. I did, and the only part that seemed to bug him is that he didn't get to the shallow end fast enough!
I have been getting quite a few contractions lately, but yesterday every time I stood up I was contracting. After I put Cody down for a nap I laid down for an hour but right when I stood up I started contracting again (Braxton Hicks type of contractions, not painful ones). But by then I had started to get nervous. I took Cody to play outside with Ava and Lilly and called my doctor. They told me to go to the hospital to check it out. Everything was fine but they figure I was dehydrated and that's why I was contracting so much. You're supposed to drink 3 to 4 liters of water a day! Anyways, I am so grateful for such good friends. Erin watched Cody and fed him dinner and Erica came with me to the hospital and held my hand while I cried even though I was fine:)! Thanks so much; what would I do without you girls! This is one of the reasons that I love Pullman - good friends.

Congrats Rob and Tasha

Rob and Tasha (finally;)!) got married on August 30 in the Salt Lake temple. We were lucky enough to be there for they're wedding. Tasha, you looked beautiful! You guys are such good friends and we're so happy for you. Thanks for letting us share your day with you!

Girls' Trip St. George

When I was pregnant we went to San Francisco, and now that Amy's pregnant and getting closer to being due ! we went to St. George! We saw Les Mis and The Sound of Music at Tuacahn Theater. We also went shopping, scrapbooked, swam and hung out! I never thought I liked scrapbooking, but I decided if every tool you could ever want to scrapbook is sitting in front of you, it's actually pretty fun...maybe in 20 years I'll buy all the supplies, but thanks to Jessi (Bonnie) for letting me use theirs. My mom watched Cody while we were gone. While it was so nice to come back to him, I did enjoy a little break!

As soon as Jessi and Amy post pictures I'll steal theirs, but for now I could only steal Carly's picture of our trip-I am so bad at taking pictures. Thanks guys:)

We Had a Visitor!

Pullman is not a vacation destination by any means, but Amy came to visit us anyway! We had so much fun!!!! We got lost in Spokane the first day attempting to shop, and mostly just hung out around Pullman, going to the park, library, talking, etc. I think we held a running conversation from the time she came to the time I dropped her off at the airport:) Thanks so much for coming Amy, you are so helpful and so much FUN!!

My Winter Sanity

This is a picture of what kept me sane through the winter. L to R: Cody (who does Amazing while I walk, he likes it and always gets some fruit snacks!), Erin and Ava, Sabre and Carson and Cora, Erica and Lilly. We walk in the WSU Coliseum. It sounds kind of weak when I write that, but we clip right along at a serious pace and usually get in 4 to sometimes 6 miles which isn't bad at all. I love walking with these girls! Besides us, there is a steady stream of regulars of elderly people. With this long winter, I am so grateful for the coliseum:) I can't wait to get outside!
Today was a busy day for us. We were called in to the stake president's office this morning and Ben was given the calling of 2nd counselor in the bishopric for our ward. Wow. After that I taught sunday school and Cody literally was bouncing off the walls. He's sleeping Really well right now! I'm sure this will be a challenging time, but a time FULL of blessings and fun!