Buddies

We set up a little photo shoot in our dining room several months ago and never posted the pictures from it.  Yes, I know this is very amateur but we had so much fun doing it.  I'm sure we'll have lots of blogs like this in the future. 

 I want to share about Anna and Andrew's relationship with one another.  They are pals, let me tell you.  They completely adore one another.  Anna's nickname for Andrew is Andream.  She thinks it is hilarious if he's ever "in trouble".  If he's eating something he shouldn't or pulling something down that he's not supposed to, I'll say, "Andrew, NO!" and then she dies laughing!!  She loves it and then he starts laughing, and I can't keep my face serious for even one more second.  The other day, they were both in the pack-n-play while I was getting ready in the bathroom and Anna started jumping.  Well, I don't like when she jumps in there because I'm afraid she'll break something.  I told her not to but when Andrew saw her doing it, he quickly jumped on the band wagon.  He started jumping too.  They were both laughing so hard as they jumped together that they could barely stand.  I couldn't get upset with them.  It was so cute. 

 Anna mimics me a lot.  She always tells Andrew, "Hey bugga bugga" or "hey little stinker".  It comes out a lot cuter when she says it.  Andrew tries to do things like his big sister a lot.  We often have the who can scream loudest at the dinner table game.  I think Andrew might take the gold on that one. 

 They are both super determined little people.  It's really amazing to us.  They definitely have their similarities but they have a lot of differences too.  Andrew is a lot more chill than Anna.  He almost never cries and is just content with whatever it is that is going on around him.  Anna has lots of excitement and love for everyone around her.  It's really fun to see them be such good friends at such a young age.  I love it. 

California Sunshine

For some reason, my camera decided to stop working. Sad. ;-( I took hundreds of photos while we were in California and cannot access them. Somehow it messed up my card too?? Weird. Losing pictures is a big deal to me, so I'm still trying to get over it. Fortunately, Stephani sent me some of her pictures from the day at Newport Beach. So, please enjoy.

Ben and Anna crawled down the sand as fast as they could, over and over again. It was fun to watch them play together.

;-)

It was a beautiful day, and we all had a great time being together.

This is the only photo I have from the wedding. Anna and Lucy loved playing together.

Disneyland

It has been a over a month since my last post! I have never gone this long, so I'm coming back! We've been super busy with a thousand different things going on that blogging has been low on the totem pole. Anywho, here we go.
We got to go to California a few weeks ago to see Josh's drop-down-gorgeous sister get married to the man of her dreams. It was a beautiful day, and they are a wonderful couple. We are so excited for them. While we were there, we got to go to Disneyland for free! Cha-ching! It was so fun. We contemplated paying for the tickets before we knew we could go for free. We're glad we didn't spend the money though because when we asked Anna what her favorite ride was, she responded, "the merry-go-round". Um, the mall has a merry-go-round for $1. Lesson well learned, don't do things that cost a lot before your kids can appreciate it.
Here are a few pics from the day. We're hot and sweaty in these so please, don't look close. ;-)
We thought that Anna would LOVE the Ariel ride because she is completely obsessed with her. Instead she screamed bloody murder because it was dark. Now, when we talk about it, she says that she'll like it when she gets bigger. At least she gets that things will be less scary when she's older.

I loved walking down this street. Disney is magical, huh?

The favorite part....

Can't you just feel Andrew's excitement? We almost didn't take him on this because we thought he would care less. To our surprise it was just the opposite. He squealed and laughed the ENTIRE time. I've never seen him so happy. That's my Andrew.

This is how we spent our time waiting in line. Andrew loves to eat Josh's face!

We had to ride the Dumbo ride of course. All of the lines were only about 15-20 minutes! It was awesome!

The teacups were super fun. Anna loved them!!!

Looks like Andrew is trying to be a tough guy. He was exhausted after like 30 minutes.

He couldn't take it any longer. He was OUT!!

It was super fun to see some characters. By this time of day, the kids had had it. Goofy was our only stop before dropping them off at home.

If you know me at all, you will be shocked by this next statement. I rode my first rollercoaster. I know, it's shocking. Me of all people. I have been deathly afraid of roller coasters my entire life. Now, at 25, I can say I've been on one and loved it. I didn't know that my first one would have a loop but it did and it wasn't even that bad. I seriously almost fainted before I stepped on. No, really. My whole body went numb, my head got light, and I felt like I was going to throw up. It was a big day for me. I'm glad I had Josh by my side.

Here we are waiting to go on Soaring Over California. It was so cool.

I know, I know. We look ridiculous. But do you want to know what was even more ridiculous was this movie. It was a Michael Jackson crazy 3-D movie. The 3-D part didn't even work and it was seriously the worst thing I've ever seen. How does something like that get into Disneyland??

I love Disneyland!

It was fun to be there with my best friend.

This is just before Space Mountain! SO fun! It was absolutely one of the most fun days ever! We loved it! More blogs and pics to come soon! ;-)

Loads of Personality

This little princess has a whole lot of personality. One day we were out taking pictures while the kids were swimming and Anna just surprised us with some funny faces. Once she got started, she just couldn't stop. She made all of these up by herself too. We got a good laugh. Take a look!

Lovely Visitors!

My mom and sister stopped by last week as they were driving home from Idaho. We got to enjoy them for a few days and loved every minute of it. Anna has been asking for them every day since then. It was really fun. We got to go shopping, spend a day at the zoo, and just enjoy being with each other. I couldn't ask for a better family. I love them so much and miss them like crazy!Here we are at the zoo. It was a great day!
We saw lots of animals, but I think the hippos are my favorite.



Hurry back soon!