Mouse Ears and Sunshine...

For those of you who know my family well, you know that our very most favorite place on earth (next, of course, to the cabin on Loon Lake) is Disneyland. JJ and I went there for our honeymoon a year and half ago, and since then, we have talked, as a family, about going back. So, this past Christmas, in lieu of gift giving, we all pooled our money for a trip to Disneyland. Thanks to Molly, our resident travel agent, and my husband's awsome military discount, we were all able to go this past week for four of the most enjoyable days I think I have ever spent with my family. In addition to JJ and Maya, once our two newest family members, Brock brought along his new beau, Vince, who completed our "family". What a time we all had!!!

Our now extended version of the old "Matthews' Family".

"Ed and Mil" in front of It's a Small World - one of my very most favorite pictures of the two of them.

Vince and Brock in Tommorrowland... We had such a good time with Vince, and I believe that he is reflecting the same sentiment about us, too. Whew! What a relief! Our family can get a little crazy sometimes, especially on vacation.

JJ, the group clown, tried on every hat he could find. Brock and Vince however, needed a bit of convincing for me to get this pic! Thanks, guys! You look great!

JJ and I sporting our "Pirate" Mickey Ears. It's hard to tell, but JJ's ears even have a gold hoop earring on one side, just like a real-live pirate!

Disneyland (cont.)...

The first day that we were at the parks, we attended the "Princess Luncheon" at Ariel's Grotto in California Adventure, thanks to Uncle Brock, who made all the reservations. Maya looked so cute in her "Fairy Princess" dress that Brock bought her; she was much too young to really appreciate what was going on around her, so I guess we could say that it was more of an adult indulgence on behalf of our little princess. So fun!

Waiting to go into Disneyland and California Adventure, we took LOTS of pictures of Maya in her new outfit. She was such a trooper, and didn't fuss once when we put layers of clothes on her, followed by her dress... Once again, this was much more fun for the adults than for her. :0)

Although I am sure she did not appreciate being plopped in a stranger's arms, she did not make a peep while we got pictures of her with the Little Mermaid, Ariel.



Uncle Brock and Maya with Belle, from Beauty and the Beast.

Needless to say, by the time the fourth and last princess, Cinderella, glided by our table, Maya had had enough. She was hungry and ready for a nap, which equated to a bit of a cranky child. We figured that Uncle Brock could stand in for her, which was appropriate considering that this enjoyable lunch was all his idea. Thanks, Brother!

Disneyland (cont.)...

JJ and I at my favorite place on earth!



Miss Maya wearing "Auntie Sissy's" mouse ears.

Playing dress-up after riding "It's a Small World". Not traditionally my favorite Disneyland ride, but with Maya riding along, it became truly magical.

This picture was taken as we were saying goodbye... After lots of hugs and a few tears (OK, really, I cried all the way home - ask JJ), we decided that this had been the very best family vacation ever!!!

Jazz and Faith's First Birthday...

Much to my complete pleasure, and (I must admit) much to JJ's embarrassment, I threw my two dogs a first birthday party. I know most of you are thinking that I am a complete wacko, but really I love to have people over, and since I have been out of town for what seems like forever, I wanted to do something fun for the kiddos. Well, needless to say, we had fun alright! Along with the help of my good friend, Stacey, I made tacos, spanish rice and cupcakes for about 20 people. The kids played two games, plus knocked a pinata around for a few minutes - until the body fell off, and head split open and all the candy flew out - and the adults sat around and chatted and laughed. I would say that the "Puppies First Birthday Party (thrown in honor of all my most-loved kids in all of Salt Lake)" was a great way to end the week. JJ even had fun! :0)

Yes, I am guilty of making my dogs wear clothes - for one night only, as promised to my husband!

Faith and Jazz were both very well behaved, and even wore their feather boas proudly, until pinata time came around, and they were forced to retreat to their kennels. Faith promptly dismantled her boa - feathers flew and the kids were horrified; Jazz sat calmly in her kennel and I don't think even so much as tasted one of her feathers. For being twins, they sure have completely different personalities!

The first game that we played was a new take on "Hot Potato". I wrapped a little AM/FM walkman-radio in about 12 layers of wrapping paper. We turned on music ("Who Let the Dogs Out... appropriate, huh?) and when the music stopped, whomever was holding the package got to unwrap one layer of paper. The person holding the present on the last turn (which in our case was Taylor) got to unwrap the last layer of gift wrap and got to keep the prize. I cracked up when Jazz decided to join the circle - I guess she wanted to be a part of her own party!

Jazz gets some love from all of the kids! We tried to include Faith in the picture, but she was having nothing of it.

Puppies Birthday (Cont.)

Elyssa won first prize in one of our games, and proudly wears her new doggie ears!

Braden takes a swing at the pinata, definitely one of the highlights of the party.



Jazz gets some love from her new friend, Jesse.

And last, but not least, the girls each got to have their very own cupcake. Yum!

Roadtrip with Mr. Needles...

Say "Hello" to Mr. Needles! He was my loyal, yet rather quiet traveling partner during my very long roadtrip back from Arizona to Salt Lake City. Needless to say, I am ever so glad to be back home. As for the turtle, he was a gift to Ashton and Elyssa in exchange for all of their hard work while I was away - they helped sort and categorize charms in the warehouse. Thank you both so much!!!

Mr. Needles gets one last look outside his bowl before we head out.

We say "goodbye" to my mom and dad, and leave sunny Arizona behind us as we make our way 12 hours north to snowy Salt Lake. Bummer! Both Mr. Needles and I love the warm weather.

This was how Mr. Needles had to ride for the duration of the trip. We stayed overnight in Kingman, Arizona; we had a king-sized room all to ourselves, complete with a flat-screen TV. I watched CSI and the turtle slept, exhausted after a long day of traveling. I would say that the only hiccup to our whole trip was when I stopped for gas, and got a snack. I had some explaining to do to Mr. Needles when I returned with "Turtle" flavored chex mix... No offense intended!

I hopped out at the Hoover dam to take a few pictures - one of the coolest sights I have ever seen! The turtle had to remain in the car as the sign on the top of the wall read: "No pets allowed on wall!" Sorry, Mr. Needles!

Safe at home after two long days of travel and one rather big scare - I thought that Mr. Needles had died (in the eighth hour of the second day of travel he literally passed out from exhaustion) - we are both thankful that our trip is over.

January Sleepover at Auntie Erin's...

I have been feeling really guilty lately because I have been promising these three girls (my "neices", who are actually the daughters of JJ's and my good friends) a sleepover for about six months now. With my crazy schedule, and my being out of town for what seemed like "forever" to them, I have had to put them off, until last Friday night. We started the night with a yummy dinner of chicken nuggets, tater tots and canned fruit (OK, well the kids loved it - and if truth be told, my husband too! :0). Then Elyssa brought out her new soda pop making kit, and gave us a sample of her favorite concoctions. I liked the Cherry Vanilla the best! In the meantime, I started assembling the gingerbread houses, and JJ made home-made chocolate chip cookies, which are always a hit! Finally, after an activity filled night, the girls put on their PJs and settled into their bed on the "sofa sleeper" to watch Ice Age - the Meltdown with some air-popped popcorn (my favorite Christmas gift from JJ) and juice. Whew! What a night!!!

All three girls snuggled into a queen-sized hida-bed, and would have slept tight as bugs in rugs if it had not been for the fact that Auntie Erin forgot and left the kitchen window open all night (which was originally due to a fallen tater tot in the oven that left the kitchen filled with smoke)! OOPS! Sorry, ladies!!!

Very happy with our finished product. From left to right: Taylor, Cheyenne and Elyssa.

And I just could not leave out the other two members of our party: yes, they are girls, too! True to lab form, they were in the middle each of the activities all night long (and they may have even gotten a little snack or two, as well.)