Happy Halloween

I must admit that Halloween is not my favorite holiday. It's just plain creepy and leaves me feeling dirty inside. But, I must say that this year I had one sweet costume, and that Halloween does have its perks. . .

1. Costumes!

Isn't it always fun to dress up? I take the costume as license to be someone else and not be held accountable for my actions. Not that I do anything wrong or bad, it's just that if I want to dance all crazy, then people can't judge me for it. No, it wasn't me dancing like a freak; it was the witch, or the cowgirl, or Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, or the pregnant lady, or whoever/whatever else I have been for Halloween. See what I mean?

Because of our awesome couple's costumes, we won two costume contest awards:
the most creative and, for me, the most unrecognizable.

2. Parties!

Tom and I went to a total of four Halloween parties this year. Overkill you might say? Surprisingly, it wasn't. Although it got a little tiring putting on our costumes over and over and over again (that wig is super itchy), it was always fun to be with a new crowd with different games, food, and responses to our amazing costumes. My favorite reaction was from our bishop who came up and slapped Tom real hard on the chest and said,
"What did you do?!"

Here is me, Tom, and Bobby. Bobby had this mask on the back of his head and wore all his clothes backwards. It was so hilarious, and kind of creepy too.

3. Candy!

Let's be honest here, who doesn't like candy in some form or another? I am definitely a chocolate + nuts kind of girl, so give me a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup or a Snickers and I am happy! I also recently made my first caramel apple at Michelle's birthday party. It was sooo good.

Disneyland - Day 2

Day two started off a little bit rocky thanks to my own forgetfulness/stupidity. Allow me to expound . . . At Disneyland, your ticket consists of a paper card about the size of a credit card that has some cute Disney character or other printed on it. Word to the wise: these tickets are not waterproof! I placed my ticket in my back pocket thinking it would be safe and then later rode Grizzly Rapids - twice - and subsequently got soaking wet. . . Now I know what you're thinking, but that is not all. Oh no, that is not all. My dear mother decided to do laundry that night (it was free at our hotel) and I threw my wet jeans into the pile to be washed. . . .The next morning we were on our way into the park when I realized that I didn't have my ticket. But not only had I left my ticket at the hotel, my ticket had been washed in the laundry. We returned to the hotel and I optimistically expected to find my ticket safe and sound in the back pocket of my jeans. Not so. To my dismay, the ticket (or what was left of it) was not even recognizable. My thoughts turned to the worst and I imagined having to pay for a whole new ticket. What a waste of money all because of a stupid little mistake! Well, again my mom came to my rescue. She explained the situation the nice lady at the ticket booth and . She agreed to print me off a new ticket. I was so happy and relieved! Yay for my mom!

And now with no further ado . . . more pictures! Enjoy.

the grapes taste like grapes . . . .

and the snozzberries taste like snozzberries!

the Peter Pan ride!

If you watch up in Snow White's tower, the curtains occasionally part to reveal the evil queen and then close again a few seconds later. Pretty creepy.


Colter attempting to pull the sword from the stone . . .

Let me show you how it's done . . .

It's a small world after all,

It's a small world after all,
It's a small world after all,
It's a small, small world!


Shout-out to the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz!

Sad day! The teacups were shut down due to the rain.


Toon Town:

Me playing Goofy's piano.

Mom tried to kiss Goofy but he wouldn't let her.
It was rather embarrassing for us kids.




Despite the rough beginning, our day ended with watching the new "World of Color" show at Paradise Bay. Imagine a display of lights, water, color, fire, and clips from your favorite Disney movies all combined and choreographed into one big, amazing, fantastical masterpiece!
If you ever get the chance, go to Disneyland just to see this show.

The Happiest Place on Earth!

Last week, my family took a somewhat-spontaneous trip down to Southern California to visit Amber and figured that while we were down there, we might as well make a little stop at Disneyland. Hey, why not? :) We spent two fun-filled days at both Disneyland and California Adventure Park on Monday and Tuesday before driving home on Wednesday. Certainly not a relaxing vacation by any means, but definitely lots of fun!!

Here are some of the fun pictures we took on day one:

Silly hats . . . .

I put this one on Amber a little crooked, so she looks like a one-eared mouse. :/

Colter trying on Amber's pirate hat.

Colter in his own hat. I love the expression he is making!

bug 3-D vision glasses . . .

"A" is for Amber . . .

"C" is for cookie Colter . . .

and there's no "K" in "California", so I settled with an "R" for Rodrigues . . .

I love Disneyland!! The planning and genius and money that go into the park simply astound me. It really is such a happy place and everyone there is so nice and helpful. As I walked down Main Street USA, seeing cheerful faces and smelling the ice cream and waffle cones, I wished that the world could really be like Disneyland.

More pictures and stories to come!