Monday, December 6, 2010

25 Random Things....

My SIL did a blog like 2 weeks ago which consisted of 25 random things about her. She decided to give some of her bloggy friends a challenge to do it themselves and I just happened to be one of those friends. Here goes nothing........


1.
I'm a very tall person but I l♥ve to wear heels

2.
Deep down inside I wish I could be a stay at home mom who could craft all day {don't see that anytime in the near future}

3.
Would like to move away from Sierra Vista and experience something else with my family

4.
I hate shaving my legs

5.
I love dressing up for Halloween

6.
I like my job even though sometimes it can be a little boring

7.
Favorite sandwich is PB&J...YUMMY!
 {Can I have one right now please?}

8.
I'm addicted to Facebook & Frontierville
{All at once now, "Hi Kelly!"}

9.
This is only number 9???Really?
My favorite number is 7.

10.
I want to start working out again but am having a hard time getting motivated.

11.
Hates cooking

12.
I want a whole new wardrobe.

13.
I love to clean....yep, I said it. Especially when I get in the super cleaning mood and want to do everything!

14.
Would like to learn how to take really good pictures. :)

15.
I love to play board games, especially with a big group of friends

16.
I sometimes get irritated too easily and by the littlest things

17.
I love making "To~Do" Lists

18.
I would rather text message people than talk on the phone

19.
I have a shopping problem that involves Target....LOL

20.
I like bright colored post-it notes!

21.
I'm addicted to Air Fresheners. I think Amber said this too! I love my house to smell good.

22.
I would love to go to Hawaii

23.
I love pumpkin spice candles

24.
I always have baby wipes in my purse!

25.
I have a scar under my chin that I got from my mother doing mattress mambo! You wanna know you gotta ask! :)

Hope you all are having a Marvelous Monday! You go ahead and try to write 25 Random things about yourself. It's kind of hard!

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Sunday, December 5, 2010

Duel in the Desert

This past week, the University of Arizona Wildcats and the Arizona State Scumdevils, oops I mean Sundevils, had their football game against each other. I didn't go to the UofA or to ASU but I have always been a UofA Wildcat fan! My best friend, Laura, graduated from ASU so of course she is a big fan. I always give her and another friend of mine a hard time. I always call them Scumdevils and they respond with "We are going to fork those cats". Blah, blah, blah.
The game was scheduled for December 2nd so I decided it would be fun to start a friendly war. I was putting jokes up on Facebook about ASU and Laura and Dayna would respond. On Monday night I decided to tag Laura's car. I wrote "Go UofA" all over it. I should have waited till later in the night because she had to make an errand and saw it and was able to get it off. :( Tuesday I went out to her classroom and a friend of mine & I decorated her door with a whole bunch of UofA cutouts and streamers. I even colored her ladybug rock white and put a UofA "A" on it. It was a low blow but needed to be done. I didn't have anything planned for Wednesday night but I should have because when I woke up on Thursday morning, game day, I woke up to my whole front yard decorated like I was the biggest ASU fan. Laura and Dayna had tagged me. It was great! Finally I had gotten something out of them besides just trash talking on Facebook. Good job girls. Here are some pictures of my house.

{Forks all over the front yard}
{The sign hanging on my garage door}

{bush in the front yard}

{BIG sign over both the trucks}


{the wreath that was hanging on my front door}


What a site to wake up to. I was full of smiles! I could not wait for the game tonight! The girls and I headed out to Ricardo's since Laura had to work. Let's just say our bartender took extra good care of us. :)


{Getting started at Ricardo's}

We had to leave Ricardo's around 9 so we headed over to Nick's place to finish watching the game and that way Laura could meet us. The game was getting really intense. Back and forth, double overtime! EEK! I just know I was getting anxiety especially since there was a bet on the line.


So who won?????????????? UGH! UofA lost by one point! Seriously.....one point! I couldn't believe it. The UofA kicker should lose his scholarship! Okay maybe not go that far but something needs to happen. Laura and Dayna were SUPER excited of course.


And then there was Tessa & I who were not so happy about losing the game.



We all had a great night but now Tessa & I have to go out in public wearing ASU gear. Totally not looking forward to it but that was the bet for the losing team. Stay tuned for pictures! Let's just hope next year UofA wins!


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Wednesday, December 1, 2010

December 1st........Already?!?

Am I reading the calendar right? Is today really the 1st of December? Man, where does the time go? This means Christmas is right around the corner! EEK! I haven't done any shopping or even decorated the house. I better put all that on my "To~Do" list! :)

I'm excited to say though.....that throughout the month of December I will be working on this........



{photo taken from http://www.homegrownhospitality.typepad.com/}
 A fabulous Countdown to Christmas book! A book where I can jot down my thoughts or add photos all throughout the month of December. I could use it as a journal, a "To~Do" List, or even a card holder. I can do whatever I want with it as long as I remember what Stephanie said....

 "To STOP 5, 10...even 30 minutes or so during the busy days of December so that you can  look around, record your thoughts, snap a picture...and journal about it". 

I'm so excited to start this project today and you could even do it too! Create your own or Stephanie may even have some kits left. Click here to order yours today! Check back in with me throughout this whole month and see how my book is coming along. If you decide to do it too leave me a comment with your blog site so I can see yours as well!

Have a great 1st Day of December and remember.......Be Jolly!


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Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Thankful for.....Day #3

It's Turkey Eve! I'm so excited for Thanksgiving tomorrow. I hope you all have a wonderful day! Spending time with loved ones & making memories to last a liftime, I hope you all have a very blessed day! ♥

Here are my 5 thing for the today.............

#1: Ice
As I am sitting here, I am drinking a cold glass of ice water. Many of you know that I L♥VE to chew ice. I like ice in everything and I usually ask for extra. So right now I am definitely thankful for ice and ice machines because it's keeping my water ice cold and giving me something to chew on! (Sorry this one was cheesy but I am truly thankful for it and it was the first thing that popped into my head as I started to type this post:) )

#2: My cell phone
I sometimes do not like chatting on the phone. I am so glad that I have a cell phone and it's a pretty good one too. It lets me chit~chat with all my friends and family too. I can even send videos or pictures too!

#3: My home
I am so thankful that I have a roof over my head. I went to Safeway last week and saw 2 homeless people on the corner. I usually never give them money or food but on this certain day it was so cold outside and the wind was howling. I had just gotten some coffee and JL a hot cocoa and when I came to the stop sign something came over me and told me, "Kelly, it's ok to give them something". I grabbed the $10 out of my purse and rolled down the window. I told the gentlemen to please go get something warm because it was cold out. Now.....I know that they may not have used that money for what I wanted them to use it for but God will work that out with them. ♥ I couln't imagine not coming home from work to my 3 bedroom, 2 bath house with a working heater during the fall/winter season. Thank God I have a roof over my head.

#4: My creativity
I am a little OCD when I scrapbook and I usually ask for help when doing my layouts but I would have to say I have a pretty creative mind. Not just with scrapbooking but when it comes to party planning and things like that. I am thankful that God blessed me with this creative mind.

#5: My freedom
I am so blessed to live in a country where we have freedom. I want to thank all the service members out there fighting or serving for our country that allow us to have that freedom. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.


Now on a side note.......go here to see what I will be doing the day after Thanksgiving. Pass it on!

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Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Thankful for....Day#2

Good morning and Happy Tuesday. Only 2 more days until Turkey Day! Woo~Hoo! Here is what I am thankful for today....

#1: Coffee
I never used to be a coffee drinker. Now I can't live without it. It helps me start my day. It helps me get going when the going gets tough. I don't venture out and try different creamers or flavored coffee. I stick to my Dunkin' Donuts Hazlenut coffe with Coffemate Hazlenut Creamer. And what makes me happy is when my husband pre-flights my coffee for me in the morning.

#2: My camera
I am so thankful that I have a camera to capture everyday shots of my kids and family. I don't have a great camera and I could always use one that is better, but I am happy with what I got. I love that I am able to capture moments that I will cherish forever. Plus I love to scrapbook so this works out well.

#3: My computer
Hello my name is Kelly and I am addicted to Frontierville. Besides using the computer to play this game, I am thankful that I have one to keep in touch with all my family and friends. Email & FB(facebook) are almost the only other ways I can get ahold of my family and friends so I am so thankful that I have a computer that is not too slow and runs.

#4: Hot water
I am so thankful that I have hot running water. I take my showers in the morning and could not imagine taking cold one. EEK!

#5: MY FRIENDS
I have had many ups & downs with friends, I have had friends come & go, and I am so thankful for the friends that I have in my life today. You are there because I want you to be. I love each and every one of you and I have such a good time when I am with you.

I hope you all have a fantastic Tuesday!



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Monday, November 22, 2010

0 to 60 in 3 Days!

I have been sitting here for over a week now trying to think of how I am going to put my experience with the Susan G. Komen's 3~day for Cure 60 mile walk I participated in on November 12~14th, into words and I am still having a writer's block. I will be driving thinking to myself, "Oh I need to tell them (meaning my reader's) this, and I can't forget this." So here goes nothing. I know I may leave a few things out, but I promise you if I remember them later down the road, I will blog about them.

Back in March I was asked by my SIL, Ambrosia, to join her in the Susan G. Komen's walk for the cure. Without any hesitation, I hopped on the wagon and said, "Of course I'll do it with you!" We got 2 other girls to join our team, Tessa & Amanda, and began our fundraising right away. Our team raised over $12,000! WOW! That is just simply amazing! I still can't believe it and I am so thankful for EVERYONE that helped us reach our goals and go even further! Every single one of you, who either donated money, their time, supplies, prizes, anything, thank you from the bottom of my he♥rt. You have no idea what it means to me.

When I first agreed to do this walk, I knew I was going to have a great experience and was so excited to be apart of this great cause. I knew our team was doing our job by spreading breast cancer awareness in our small town and we had such a great time doing so. Pink wigs & all! Fundraising was hard at times and training was always hard. I started off pretty good, but then there was just no time. Walking 3 to 4 miles with a 4 year old in a stroller and a baby strapped to your chest was no idea of fun for me and I could only do it so often. I did what I could and I just need to be happy with that.

The week before we left, our team was busy texting each other constantly making sure we had all our gear and supplies we needed for our weekend getaway. The bags were packed, sleeping bags rolled, and shoes were ready for walking.

We hopped in Amber's swagger wagon and left on Thursday morning. We did get in somewhat of a traffic jam on I~10 and I was craving some chocolate. I thought...maybe one of these cars has chocolate, so I decided to ask. :)




 No luck. We stopped at In~and~Out burger and the gals got some grub.

We arrived in Phoenix around 4ish and checked into the hotel. This gets good........when I had made reservations I told the people I had 4 people that would be staying in the room and I would like 2 beds. Makes sense right? Well......when we checked in, the hotel ran out of rooms with 2 beds so we got stuck with a king size bed for 4 full~grown women! EEK! We made it work. 3 of us in the bed and 1 in a cot.+



The morning was going to sneek up on us quick, as we had to board the shuttle at 5:30am. Really? That is super early and ALL of us girls are NOT morning people. We all woke up at 4am, got dressed and headed down stairs to get on the bus.


There were a total of like 6 buses taking everyone that stayed at the hotel to our opening ceremonies. We met our first team on the bus called the North Bay, or maybe it was South Bay...Streetwalkers. What a fun group of ladies. Some of them had been walking since 2002. They were all giving us some pointers and even gave us some bands to wear on our wrists. What a way to start off the day.

We unloaded the bus when we arrived to the opening ceremonies, it was still dark outside, and there was so many people. AND it was sooo cold. We dumped our luggage off at the "E" truck and headed to check~in.

In front of the Opening Ceremony sign

The stage was set up, glowing balls with words of wisdom on them, flags everywhere, and everyone in their beanies and gloves dancing to the music getting ready for the ceremony to begin. Everyone despite the cold, had smiles on their faces and were ready to start walking. People were decked out in pink and there were some great outfits. We came across this gentlemen who dyed his uniform pink. His name badge said, "For my mother", that's when it hit me even harder. This was going to be an experience I was never going to forget. I could already feel the tears swelling up in my eyes.


We took a picture of him when we saw him later walking!

Our team gathered in the area where the ceremony was going to be held and Jenne Fromm, the national spokesperson for the SGK 3~Day, came out on stage. The music played and she spoke to us and told us all why we were here doing what we were doing. The flags strolled in, MY MOTHER, MY HUSBAND, MY AUNT, MY SISTER, MY GRANDMOTHER, MYSELF all being carried by someone.The tears started rolling. They made their way to the center and the flags were placed all around. The people carrying the flags grabbed hands and lifted their hands up high.


What a moment. This is what we were here for. Walking for all those who could and all those who couldn't. Walking for the present and walking for our future. All those people there will continue to walk until breast cancer is no more. To see everyone there was just a blessing. We were all coming together to do the same thing. We were all going to do something BOLD, and spread breast cancer awareness by walking 60 miles all over Phoenix. Then the gates opened and they let us all loose!

♫ I got a feeling.....wooooo....hoooooo.....that tonight's gonna be a good night, that tonight's gonna be a good, good, night♫

We were off! Walking thru a path that was made by all the family and friends that came out to opening ceremonies. All cheering us on telling us we could do it! Clapping and dancing to the music we were on our way to walk our 19.6  miles for the first day.


The first couple of miles went by really fast. I think it was our excitement and momentum that was taking over. We stopped at Pit Stops every 2~4 miles and refilled on water and grabbed snacks. Let me tell you.....they fed us really well. Tessa's knees were starting to bother her so her and Amber took the bus to lunch. Amanda and I kept walking and met them there. Tessa was getting her knees looked at and taped and we were almost the last ones to leave lunch so while Amber stayed with Tessa, Amanda and I went ahead and started walking. Amanda & I were truckin' it. We were passing people left and right. I don't know what it was but we were just going. Then.......my knee started to hurt. :( Every time I bent it, I was in pain. It wasn't unbearable at that time and I was still able to walk. I wanted to walk. We were about a mile away from the last cheering section and Amanda & I were about ready to give in for the day and take the bus to camp. My knee was killing me and we were getting exhausted. We kept telling each other we could do it, since there was only about 3 more miles left to walk. When we reached the cheering section, the first people we saw was an older couple, probably between the age of 70&80. They were handing out what appeared to be business cards and saying "Thank you" to each and every walker that passed them. I looked down at the card and there was a picture of 2 women. Underneath the picture were the dates of when each of these women were born, and the dates each of these women passed. Below that the words read......

"Thank you for walking for our daughters"

I was speechless. The tears were rolling down my cheek. I couldn't believe this couple lost both of their daughters to breast cancer. One was 40 and the other was 43. Amanda & I both looked at each other and we both knew we had to continue walking. Only 2 more miles to go. The pain in my knee was throbbing and I could barely walk. Many people would have said, why keep walking? You already did the hard part by raising the money. Here is my answer. I know this walk wasn't all about the walking. It was earning the money to be able to go and walk and spreading the awareness. But the sense of accomplishment after walking a full day, 19.6 miles, and walking thru the camp gates......is indescribable. I couldn't believe Amanda & I had just walked the full 19.6 miles. I could barely walk and this point and as soon as we got thru the gates we fell to the grass. We just wanted to sit, but we knew we wouldn't be able to get back up. I hobbled over to our tent, and thank God that our wonderful teammates, Amber & Tessa had set up our pink tent for us. I hobbled to the shower and then hobbled over to the medical tent. I was done. My knee hurt so bad that I seriously was ready to throw in the towel and go home. I didn't want to stay. I had texted people who said they would come get me and I told them I would let them know in the morning. I hurt so bad. The lady in the medical tent I possibly sprained my knee. I iced it and headed to dinner.
My hair was wet, it was freezing outside, my knee was killing me and I just wanted to sleep. Lights out was 9pm and it couldn't come fast enough. We listened to the Camp Show, which is basically where Jenne Fromm talks about the events from the day, what to expect for the next day and then their is some entertainment. It was pretty entertaining.





After the Camp Show, we headed to our tent to hit the sack. Now we weren't sleeping in luxurious hotels, on cots or anything comfortable. We were in a small pink tent with our air mattress. But go figure mine & Amber's had a leak in it and it deflated before I was even asleep. So after walking all day and then sleeping on a hard, cold ground, 6am came pretty fast. We were all really tired and my knee was still killing me so we decided to take the bus straight to lunch. This was a big day for miles, 22.4, and there was just no way that I was going to be able to make it. Tessa's knees were still bothering her a little bit so we walked only 4 miles this day.


A little disappointing but we didn't want to hurt ourselves anymore and wanted to participate in the nighttime festivities. The greatest thing about this day, when we walked our 4 miles, we went thru the GREATEST cheering section ever! In downtown Scottsdale, there were tons of people cheering us on. "Way to go Walkers!", "You're almost there!", "Thank you for walking". What a motivation. To see all these generous people out there cheering us on, handing out candy, or wet clothes, otter pops & tattoos, you couldn't help but keep walking.

We arrived to our camp early that day and had a 2 lovely ladies from our hometown waiting for us. Dana & Tessa's mom, Deb. They drove up and greeted us as we hopped off the bus. What a sweet moment. It was so nice having someone we know be there. It really meant a lot to us.


We L♥VE Dana!

We L♥VE Deb!

We all showered, got foot massages, played some bingo, ate dinner, and then headed over to the Remembrance tent. WARNING: bring out the tissues now. This was a white canopy that had about 15 pictures of people that had lost their battle to breast cancer. There were pictures of these loved ones with their families, by themselves, or with their kids. Below the picture showed the date they had lost their battle. It showed if they were walkers or crew members. It was so sad reading they were registered walkers but didn't make it to that day. It broke my heart seeing the mothers with their kids with the biggest smile on their face. In the center of this canopy was a white tent that was labeled Arizona. All around this tent were hand-written messages. Messages to loved ones, mothers, wives, grandmothers, husbands, aunts, sisters, anyone who was fighting breast cancer or who lost their battle. The tears were just rolling down all of our cheeks. It was so sad to read messages that started off with, "I miss you mom," or "I miss you grandma". Or the messages that ended with, "Love your husband" or "Love your daughter". I left that tent knowing our team was making a difference. No one should have to go thru any of this and I hope one day we can live in a world without breast cancer. After bawling our eyes out it was time to go to bed.






We woke up on Sunday morning, packed our tent and hopped on the bus to start our 15.6 mile walk. We all knew it was the last day and we were eager to get to closing ceremonies. My knee was still tender so I wrapped it pretty good. It was hard to walk and before we even reached the first pit stop I could barely walk. I didn't want to give up. I wanted to be able to walk into closing ceremonies and complete another full day. Everyone on my team wanted to do the same. I saw other people out there hobbling from either muscle pain, joint pain, blisters, you name it, and knew if they could do it so could I. We continued on and poor Amanda's knee started to hurt. She needed to break so her and Amber hopped in the sweeper van and headed to lunch. Tessa & I continued on. When we arrived at lunch the pain in my knee was almost unbearable. I had the lady tape it so I couldn't bend it and we walked the rest of the way. We did it! All 15.6 miles. This last day was the hardest. We had to push ourselves to the limit. After not sleeping in cozy beds and walking on hard cement all throughout the Phoenix area, we had to pull from deep inside to walk thru the closing ceremonies. We were in the holding area and received our T~shirts and a pink rose. We sat there in exhaustion waiting for the closing ceremonies to take place. I personally wanted to just lay down and pass out. I was pooped. They gathered us all together and we headed out. Walking thru a crowd that continuously clapped and cheered for us. Jenne Fromm said her closing statement and told all us AZ walkers that we raised $4.4 million dollars! Incredible! Then the survivors came out. Everyone took off one shoe and raised it in the air.



The survivors flooded in and made their way to the centers. The shoe raised in the air was symbolism as to why we were all out their walking, raising the money. It gave me goosebumps. During the whole weekend you had no idea who were survivors, who was battling breast cancer right now, or who was just walking for loved ones unless you had talked to them personally over the weekend. All the walkers wore white shirts and the survivors wore pink. Looking at all these survivors, tears rolling down their cheeks, made me realize that you really need to cherish your life and live your life to the fullest. You never know when something might happen.



The ceremony ended and we headed back to the van. I met up with my husband and kids and couldn't have been more thankful to see them.



I was sore from walking and super tired. Ready to go home and sleep in my nice comfy bed. What an experience. This was definitely 3 days that I will never forget.

Everyone that was out there, the safety crew, medical crew, crew members, firefighters, girl scouts, police department, Harley Davidson fellas, everyone was so supportive. We were constantly hearing, "Thank you for walking." I loved seeing everyone out there decked out in pink, even men! It was awesome! I will never forget this experience. I couldn't thank the girls on my team enough. It was difficult at times, and yes we got on each other's nerves sometimes, but I wouldn't want to do it with anyone else. I am glad I got to experience this with them for the first time. ♥ you girls!

I do plan on participating in more walks and I am wanting to do it again next year. I was thinking of doing San Diego, but I think I am going to stick with Phoenix until I can walk the full 60 miles. This year I walked 39 of the 60. Not too bad for being a "Virgin Walker" (as repeat walkers call us first-timers). Once I can walk all 60 I think I will reward myself and do the San Diego one. I definitely learned a lot that I can use for future walks.....



#1: make sure air mattress works
#2: get more body glide
#3: don't over do it so you can participate in night-time festivities
#4: remember to take time off work for recouping

Thanks again to everyone that helped me & my team in achieving our goals. Be ready for me to come to you again so I can participate next year! Maybe next year we could get a bigger team together! Anyone in?

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Thankful for.......

It's Thanksgiving week already? Where does the time go? Just the other day I swore it was the 4th of July. Thanksgiving sure is sneeking up on us. You know what that means? Yummy food, hanging out with family&friends, yummy food, playing games with family&friends, yummy food, and yummy food.

This week I was going to post what I am thankful for and when I read my SIL's blog I was pleased to see that we are both on the same page. :) Great minds sure do think alike.

Here goes nothing.......

I am thankful for #1: GOD
This year has changed my life. About two months ago I accepted God into my life and I wouldn't want it any other way! Thank you Jesus!

I am thankful for #2: my family
My family means the world to me. I love my husband who takes such good care of me and our children. My mom who is such a kind, caring person, who adores her grandchildren very much. My sister & brother who I don't get to see too often but when we do see each other we have a great time. John's family, grandparents and uncles, brother, sister, mom and dad. What can I say? We have a big family and I love them all.

I am thankful for #3: my health
Yes my health. I am so thankful that I have been healthy this year. No major sickies. I hate being sick.

I am thankful for #4: my job
I know I may complain about going to work or on certain days how I hate my job, but with the economy, I should be thankful that I even have one. It's hard being away from Jaycee for 8 to 9 hours a day, but where there is a job there is $$$ and we all know our family loves to go to Disneyland. :)

I am thankful for #5: my Expedition
I am so thankful for my running, 4 door Expedition. Definetly different then my small, blue, 2-door pontiac. My husband bought this for me and I am so thankful that I have a running vechicle that fits my whole family plus more in it! 4 doors makes a difference compared to 2-doors especially when you have children!

I'll post 5 things each day that I am thankful for this week, but I would like to know what you are thankful for??????And check out this badge my very talented SIL made.......
If you like it grab it!


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Wednesday, November 10, 2010

And we're off!

Tomorrow is a big day! Our Save the Ta~Tiddles & Ta~Tonkers team is off to Phoenix to participate in the Susan G. Komen's 3-day for the Cure. 60 miles in 3 days! Oi! This is what we have all been waiting for and working so hard for. We couldn't have done it without all of you and I want to say thank you from the bottom of my he♥rt! I cannot wait to experience this journey and I just know I will be blessed. Please keep our team in your prayers as this is something none of us have done before. Hopefully we won't get too many blisters and won't be too sore to not participate in the night time festivities. :) I will be sure to take lots of pictures and come back so you can read how my experience went. DISCLAIMER: please give me at least a week to recoup before I even think about blogging.

I love you all and wish us luck! :)




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Saturday, November 6, 2010

Mickey's Halloween Party

Note to Readers:  This may be a long post...be prepared! Grab some coffee or something to drink, kick back and enjoy this post! :)
As many of you may already know, I surprised JL with a trip to Disneyland for Mickey's Halloween Party. Originally it was supposed to be my and John going, but because of John's paramedic class, he was unable to go. My mother had already bought the plane tickets so instead of us being out $$$ I decided to take JL. Now...I have learned in the past, that if you don't want your kids to bug you every second, minute, hour of the day when you tell them you are going somewhere, you just wait until about 5 minutes before you are
leaving and then tell them. This is exactly what we did with JL.
We took him out of school early and headed up to Tucson. I packed his bags and loaded them in the car without him even knowing the night before. He had asked where we were going and we just told him we were going to Tucson to go shopping. He had no idea. We did some shopping until it was time to head the airport. I wanted so bad to tell him the whole day that we were taking him to Disneyland, but I was good and waited. I wanted John to be apart of this big surprise for JL, so I had John call JL and tell him the big news!
JL was so happy and excited! Let me just add that it was a good thing I waited to tell him where we were going because as soon as John told him, all I heard until we arrived at the Disneyland Hotel was, "Mom are we there yet?" and "Aww...it takes a long time to get to Disneyland."

We arrived at the Disneyland Hotel around 10pm that night and all of us were so excited we couldn't sleep. We went and ate a late night snack and then headed back to the hotel room. This hotel room was Ah~mazing. Everything was just so magical. From the Mickey hands that held the lamps, to the light~up musical head bored above the beds. From the shampoo bottles with Mickey ear toppers, to the Mickey Mouse printed carpet. The Disneyland hotel is definitely the place to stay.


We finally went to bed at about 1AM, and I knew we were going to have a long day ahead of us the next morning. At 6AM, JL received a wake~up call from Mickey Mouse. With less than 6 hours of sleep for all of us, we all got up with enthusiasm and started getting dressed. Since this was the day of Mickey's Halloween Party, JL got to wear his Peter Pan costume.

We got into the park an hour early (one of the perks for staying at the Disneyland Hotel) and I could not believe how un~crowded it was. It was great! JL was running down Main street and enjoying every minute of it. I kept telling him to slow down, but he was so excited that he just kept going. I have never been to Disneyland in October and I was so excited to see all the Halloween decorations. Pumpkins everywhere and everything was decorated to the extreme!


We found out last year on our Disneyland trip that JL was tall enough to go on the big rides now. Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, The Matterhorn, and Thunder Mountain Railroad. The only one he is still not tall enough for is Indiana Jones. After knowing this, I was so excited to know that I didn't have to wait 1 1/2 hours in line for Dumbo. :) We conquered them all and we didn't even wait in line for more than 15 minutes. October is definitely the time to go to Disneyland. JL loves Splash Mountain!


The day was a long one and JL passed out really early, I mean 11AM early. So my mom took him back to the hotel to get his Z's because he had Mickey's Halloween Party to attend that night in the park. This party is where you pay a special price and they don't let the normal amount of people into the park that night like they do during the day. We got a special wristband and a trick~or~treat bag too! The party started at 6PM and ALOT of people dressed up. There were some really cute costumes too! BUT no other Peter Pans. :) Disneyland lit up the night with purple, green, and orange lights. They had fog over the river and everything was spooky. Halloween music was playing and we went trick~or~treating all over Disneyland. It was so much fun and we got tons of candy!
The night ended with a Halloween parade and a spooktacular firework show right behind Sleeping Beauty's castle. After the fireworks I was ready to head back to the hotel. Not JL though. He was full of excitement and decided to stay with his Auntie Kacey and close down the park.
The next morning we got to spend half a day at Disneyland before we had to head to the airport. This trip was so much fun and everyone had a great time. We sure did miss John, but since he wasn't able to go that only means one thing..................
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we will have to go again! :) Darn, right?
And I know JL appreciated this trip and had a blast from this picture right here!


Now I know I should end here, but since you are still reading, here are a two random photos
 ENJOY!



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