Disneyland day one

Our first day of Disneyland was a very special day because it was also Kacin’s birthday!

We woke up as early as we could and drove to California. We got checked in at our hotel and walked straight over to Disneyland. We got there around 2:30pm.

We got Kacin his birthday button.

We checked in at city hall to get Perry’s disability pass.

I was in love with this little library they had on display. 

Then the big kids rode Indiana jones while B and I played outside.

We acted like rookies that day as we adjusted to the new system and without fast pass. But we figured it out by the next day.

Even though it was so cold outside! We rode splash mountain. And I’m glad we did because that ended up being the warmest of all the days we were there.

We rode thunder mountain railroad many times over the week.

We happened to walk down Main Street right when they were counting down to turn on the Christmas lights.


We got the birthday boy a special birthday treat of his choice—churros!


We sang happy birthday to him and made him pretend the churros were his birthday cake.

We went back to the hotel for dinner and to change into warm clothes because our Arizona blood wasn’t used to the cold or something then came back for a couple more hours of fun.

You get the best view of the park from up high on the rocket ride. Obviously I didn’t get a good picture, but also posting here because Brinn was so excited to be flying in this (and I got very dizzy in the back—the older I get the harder spinning rides are!).

I tried so hard to find tall enough shoes and to urge this little girl to grow in the three months before our trip, but Brinn was still under the 40 in. bar so has to miss out on most of the rides. So while she rode the carousel with Eric, I took the other kids on space mountain.

We watched the fireworks from it’s a small world. That is such a great viewing area!






We ended the night at autopia. I think this is Kacin’s favorite childhood ride. And I think it was Laylas first time driving all alone.

Christmas 2021

I know it usually takes me a while to document things on here. There are times that I wish I could do something and then post about it right away so it is fresh in my mind and so I can remember the details as I record. But yesterday I was thinking about how wonderful it is that I get to experience something in the moment and then when I come back later to sort through pictures and upload them here I get to experience it again, but a new way. Looking at pictures, you see it all a little differently. Maybe a little sweeter. Definitely with a new perspective. And sometimes a little bit how you wish you had experienced it the first time. I appreciate things a little more when I reflect on them. 

Anyways, sorting through Christmas pictures last night definitely made me smile and swell up with love for this family, home and traditions we have created. 

Usually Christmas Eve is spent with the Allen side of the family, but since we had done our celebration with them a few days early we had a day wide open. The highlight of the day was driving to go see our KayKay. In such a short time she had grown so much. She still has our hearts.

Brinna’s bond with her is unbreakable.

It was so lovely to each get a few minutes to snuggle her.

Before we left, we gave her and her family presents.

Instead of a white Christmas, we ended up with a very wet Christmas. The rain came down all day and our backyard flooded. 





We were in shock when our pool water level became nonexistent. We knew our backyard had drainage issues and this proved it. But there was so much rain!!

Kyler seri Tried to skim board. And quickly learned that rain doesn’t make the pool water any warmer.

We put everyone to bed as early as their excitement would allow on Christmas Eve. Sometime in the night Santa came!

The kids know the drill. At the appointed hour they can wake each other up. And then they come in to our room. We snuggle on the bed for awhile. This year we watched our Christmas video on the bed instead of at the top of the stairs.

This was one of the rare Christmas mornings that Perry woke up before we went downstairs! So much fun to be all together.

Kyler reminded us to stop at the top of the stairs for a picture since that is our traditional spot.

Then Eric went downstairs to make sure the Christmas tree lights were on and the kids followed down in age order to see what Santa brought.

There were suitcases, a delay in an aerial swing, tools, amulets, and a Nintendo switch. With the switch was an important letter from Santa explaining to Perry all of the rules of the switch. Important rules about sharing it and  not hiding it in your room etc. He didn’t love all the rules at first, but he agreed to the expectations.

Then Santa made our dreams come true and gave us Disney shirts and tickets to Disneyland. The trip would start the next day.


We spent sometime enjoying the gifts from Santa while I made breakfast.

Still wet and rainy!

We sat down for breakfast and Brinna discovered the envelopes under the plates that would reveal which wrapping paper you got for the gifts under the tree. Instead of writing names on the gifts I wrapped, I used a different wrapping paper for each person.


We ate breakfast, cleaned up the kitchen, and then sat down to exchange gifts with each other.

The hugs and the smiles when siblings exchange continues to be the highlight of the day for me.

Because I knew next Christmas kyler won’t be with us, I think I went a little bit above and beyond. It is a weird thing to wrap my head around the fact that he plans to be serving a mission at this time next year. So this was extra wonderful to be all together. And extra tiring for me as the mom to bring everything Christmas together and plan a trip for the next day. But I’m glad we did it. Though I’m hoping next year we scale back a bit. Please remind me I said that. Ha!

We love the fun of Christmas morning. Merry Christmas!