Disneyland!!!

Seriously, BEST VACATION EVER!!!! We just got back from Disneyland last week and we had an absolute blast! I fell in love with the place all over again. There is nothing like seeing the magic of Disney through your children's eyes. It has to be the best feeling EVER! We cannot wait to go back!

The kids on the first day at Disneyland! You could just feel the excitement! I don't think any of us slept the night before!

Nicholas and Karlee celebrated their 3rd Birthday while we were there! We treated them to breakfast with the princesses at Ariel's Grotto! It was the HIGHLIGHT of the trip for me! Not only was the breakfast amazing, we were able to meet five of the Disney princesses. I think I teared up at one point seeing the look on my girls faces! It was my own dream come true! :-)

Ariel greeted us when we arrived!

Getting her autograph!

Breakfast is served!

The Royal Announcer! Introducing....

Belle!

Karlee couldn't take her eyes off of the princesses.

Cinderella!

Nick being all shy!

Princess Aurora

Snow White

So Sweet!

We all sang "Happy Birthday!" and Nicholas and Karlee blew out their candles. Talk about the BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!

On to more princesses, rides and FUN!!!!!

Princess Tiana! Gorgeous!

Jesse and Woody! We are obsessed with Toy Story! I think we watched 10 hours of it on the drive down and back!

Loving Mater and McQueen!

Mr. Incredible! Boy, was he ever! Hee! Hee!

Yes, we waited in line for 45 minutes to meet Rapunzel but Flynn Rider made it all worth it! (Sigh)

Jasmine herself!

Nick's favorite...Buzz!

Cousin Luke and Nick being BOYS with their blasters!

Meeting Mickey Mouse!

Karlee's birthday present from Grandma and mom was picking out a princess dress! She choose Cinderella and got to put it right on in the store! Wow! Did she EVER feel beautiful!

The princess and her prince! Ten minutes later....

...out cold! Disneyland will do that to you!

Nick riding the Toy Story 3 ride (one of our favorites)! I think this kid had the best time of any of us!

The view from our hotel! One to remember! It was hard saying good-bye to this! Thanks Mom and Dad, Brad and Lezlee, Luke and Cole, Ryan & Angela, Hannah & Karina for making this the best trip ever! We love you guys!

CHRISTMAS FUN!

This was such a fun December! Christmas could not come soon enough for our kids! Christmas Eve finally arrived. We had friends over for dinner and after everyone had gone, the kids opened their Christmas pajamas from Grandma & Grandpa Swensen.

Modeling their new P.Js.

Santa found us Christmas morning! Macy was the first to wake up around 7:30am. We had her go in and wake up Nicholas and Karlee. They all piled down the stairs and went straight for their stockings.

It took Karlee F-O-R-E-V-E-R to open all of her presents. She took her sweet time playing with each thing she opened. Nicholas, on the other hand, tore through his presents, shouting "Hooray!" with each new toy and tossing it into his pile. Next!

This boy scored a Cars Race Track, cars and more cars and a rug to drive his cars on. You guessed it...he's in to cars!

Macy receiving her Barbie Vacation House. She was definitely happy!

Santa also brought us the Wii. We are late adopters. Very late adopters! We had so much fun playing it on Christmas Day! Macy kicks all of our cans at bowling! I can't figure it out!

Karlee's favorite present was her "PINK CASTLE" and all her disney princess polly-pockets. It was all she wanted for Christmas along with a Tangled Rapunzel Barbie Doll. It was such a fun morning. I think Mark and I had just as much fun playing with all the kids toys on Christmas Day as they did. It's fun to be a kid again!

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! Best Wishes for the New Year!

A New Tradition

Macy had a friend in the local Nutcracker so I took the girls to see her perform! I was a little worried they wouldn't be able to sit through the entire performane but I was COMPLETELY wrong! Karlee did not MOVE, let alone breathe, while she watched and Macy literally cried when we left because she didn't want it to be over! They were mesmerized! I hope to make this a tradition with my girls every year!

The Polar Express

We caught the Polar Express train in Hood River today. It was so much fun! I don't know who was more excited...me or the kids. The weather was HORRIBLE getting there! Sheets and sheets of rain poured down but turned to snow once we reached the higher elevation. It made for an even more exciting train ride. It was just like the Polar Express movie! They played all the great music from the soundtrack, served hot chocolate and cookies and took us all the way to the North Pole to see Santa's warehouse. Macy DID NOT believe we were at the North Pole because the ride wasn't long enough. We tried to convince her otherwise.

The kids holding their tickets. All of the children were encouraged to wear their pajamas...which we did!

Waiting for the train ride to begin

Karlee sipping on hot chocolate!

Macy loving every second

Nicholas glued to the window

The conductor came through and punched our tickets. The kids loved that!

While we were at the North Pole, we picked up Santa who came through each car and hugged and greeted all of the children. This Santa was AWESOME and so sweet! Check out his beard...it's real!

Macy getting hugs

Look how excited I am to see Santa!

Nicholas....not so much!

Santa gave out silver bells to all the kids to help them remember to always BELIEVE.

Turkey Day

We ate ourselves sick this Thanksgiving day! We had GREAT food and a whole lot of it! We decided not to travel this Thanksgiving holiday but spend it at home with some of our dearest friends. Thanks Mary and Kory and the whole family for having us over and letting us spend the day with you. We count you among our greatest blessings.

All the beautiful people

One cute kid

Gorgeous sisters

Mary & Girls

One cute couple

Beautiful Molly

Cute Oliver