The Happiest Place on Earth - Family Vacation! - First Stop - Las Vegas!

This post will be more pictures than writing, but pictures speak a thousand words right?  For Christmas this last year we gave the kids tickets to Disneyland instead of more "stuff" that would just clutter their bedroom.  We planned the trip for the end of April, and the kids counted down the days to our trip.  We picked Kaylee and Gabby up from school Thursday afternoon and headed for Las Vegas for the night.  We stayed in The Mirage Hotel, and they were SOOOO excited about it.  The Mirage has a Volcano exhibit in the front of the hotel that "erupts" every half hour at night.  After we got settled in our room Paul put the youngest 2 girls to bed and I took Kaylee and Gabby down to watch the Volcano show.

The hotel room we stayed in looked out toward the mini Eiffel tower in Vegas, and Gabby loved checking out everything she could see out the hotel window.  After we got everything packed back up and taken care of we walked across the street to the Venetian Hotel to find Carlo's Bakery.  We had a delicious pastry breakfast and headed on to Disney!

Lego Americana Roadshow at Fashion Place Mall

Today we went to Fashion Place Mall with Marla and Brenda to check out the Lego Americana Roadshow which featured large scale models of famous American landmarks such as: the U.S. Capitol Building, White House, Supreme Court, Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Statue of Liberty, Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell and the Old North Church.  They are absolutely amazing!  It was stunning how much detail went into these works of art with millions and millions of little tiny building bricks!

Mom and Dad Leaving

Today my mom and dad left to go on their mission for our church. They are going to Phnom Penh, Cambodia for almost 2 years to serve in the self-reliance center. This morning as many of us as could make it went to breakfast with them at Mimi's Cafe to enjoy one last big gathering before they left. Most of the kids were gone to school, but we did have a few little ones with us, and Roman was lucky enough to skip a few hours of school to come too.

After breakfast they went home to finish packing before heading to the airport for their grand adventure. Their travel time will be over 28 hours with stops in LA and Hong Kong before arriving in Phnom Penh.

We will miss them a ton while they are gone. If you want to see what kind of grand adventures they are having they will be posting them on their blog: http://ovesonsincambodia.blogspot.com/

New Years Interview

It looks like I missed doing this for 2014. It's still fun to see the responses to see how some things change, and others stay the same.

 Kathrina (Age 2) 

 Favorites:
Cereal - Lucky Charms Marshmallows
Vegetable - Carrots
Fruit - Grapes
Drink - Chocolate Milk, or Apple Juice
Toy - Puzzles & Duplo Blocks
TV Show - Daniel Tiger, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Jake & the Neverland Pirates
Game - Go Vacation Wii
Book - ABC Jigsaw Book
Holiday - Christmas
Animal -

Gabby (Age 9) 
Favorites:
Cereal - Strawberry Frosted Mini Wheats
Vegetable - Cauliflower
Fruit - Grapes
Drink - Chocolate Milk
Toy - Paint/Art Supplies
TV Show - Wild Kratts
Game - Doctor Dodge Ball
Book - Magic Tree House Series
Restaurant - Leatherby's
Holiday - Christmas
Animal - Dog

If you could change your name, what would you choose? Addison
What do you love about your sisters? They play with me
Where would you like to go on vacation this year? Paris, France
What are some of your wishes for this year? To have fun, to get good grades


Kaylee (Age 12) 

Favorites:
Cereal - Reeses Puffs
Vegetable - Carrots
Fruit - Apples
Drink - Chocolate Milk
Toy - Kindle
TV Show - Animal Adventure
Game - Crossy Road
Book - Harry Potter Series
Restaurant - Leatherby's
Holiday - Christmas
Animal - Llama

If you could change your name, what would you choose? Senjenna
What do you love about your sisters? They play with me, and are fun
Where would you like to go on vacation this year? Harry Potter Land
What are some of your wishes for this year? Get a Harry Potter Wand, Get new friends, Have a new neighbor

New Years Interview

A few years ago I started doing a New Years interview at the beginning of each year. I think it's fun to see how their answers change from year to year. Some answers have stayed the same, while others have changed quite a bit.


Gabby (Age 7)

Favorites: Cereal - Honey Nut Cheerios
Vegetable - Cauliflower
Fruit - Apple
Drink - Chocolate Milk
Toy - Mini Trampoline
TV Show - Wild Kratts
Game - Family Game Night Wii
Book - Ten Minutes 'Til Bedtime
Restaurant - Old Spaghetti Factory
Holiday - Christmas
Animal - Horse

 If you could change your name, what would you choose? Lily

 What do you love about your sister? That she reads to me

 Where would you like to go on vacation this year? Hawaii

 What are some of your wishes for this year? A new Go Fish Game

 Kaylee (Age 10)

Favorites: Cereal - Reese's Puffs
Vegetable - Tomatoes
Fruit - Strawberries
Drink - Water
Toy - American Girl Doll
TV Show - Say Yes to the Dress
Game - Life
Book - Harry Potter
Restaurant - Noodles & Company
Holiday - Christmas
Animal - Dog & Horse

 If you could change your name, what would you choose? Courtney

 What do you love about your sisters? They are cute
 Where would you like to go on vacation this year? Car Land (Disneyland)
 What are some of your wishes for this year? To go to the Aladdin play, and the Cinderella play

New Years Interview

A few years ago I started doing a New Years interview at the beginning of each year. I think it's fun to see how their answers change from year to year. Some answers have stayed the same, while others have changed quite a bit. You can see the interview from last year HERE, and from two years ago HERE, and three years ago HERE.

Gabby (Age 6)

Favorites:

Cereal - Honey Nut Cheerios
Vegetable - Cauliflower
Fruit - Apple
Drink - Chocolate Milk
Toy - Dolls
TV Show - Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
Game - Petz Nintendo DS Game
Book - Fancy Nancy
Restaurant - McDonald's
Holiday - Christmas and Halloween
Animal - Dog

If you could change your name, what would you choose? Abby

What do you love about your sister? That she reads to me

Where would you like to go on vacation this year? Washington State

What are some of your wishes for this year? A play castle


Kaylee (Age 9)

Favorites:

Cereal - Honey Nut Cheerios
Vegetable - Sprouts
Fruit - Strawberries
Drink - Pink Lemonade
Toy - Pillow Pet
TV Show - Wipeout
Game - Harry Potter DS Game
Book - Fablehaven
Restaurant - The Old Spaghetti Factory
Holiday - Christmas
Animal - Dog & Hamster

If you could change your name, what would you choose? Gabrel

What do you love about your sister? She plays with me

Where would you like to go on vacation this year? Canada

What are some of your wishes for this year? To have a hamster, and a Nerf gun.

Living Planet Aquarium

Paul had the day off on Veteran's Day and we wanted to go out and do something as a family. Since there were all sorts of Veteran's Day deals for Veterans we decided to go do some. We went to lunch at Texas Roadhouse and Paul got his lunch for free since he's a Veteran. Then we went over to the Living Planet Aquarium. The aquarium had free admission for all veterans too. The girls and I have memberships to the aquarium. It wasn't too busy, and it was fun!

The Stingray were pretty active in the touch pool and kept going up the side of the pool.

Kaylee and Paul stayed at the touch pool for quite a while but Gabby wanted to go over to the Coral Play area.

After we left the Stingray pool we went over to the penguins. The penguins were really active too. Almost all of them were in the water swimming around. It was fun watching them jump in the water and dive, swim around, and then jump out just to do it again.