Trick-or-Treat!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN~TRICK-OR-TREAT~BOO~GIMME SOME CANDY!

Lana and Peyton were excited about their costumes this year. Lana is in love with the Disney Princesses and I think that she looks like Belle so we found this one and were in love. It also twirls! Definately a must in Lana's requirements of clothing items lately.

Peyton got a sweet costume from Grandma R. He got to be the Great White Ninja. Poor guy is colored like his momma :) so he will always be my whitey. Ninja swords from Wal-Mart completed his get-up and Brooke painted his face, he was so happy about that. Thanks Brooke, you're a doll!

What a beautiful and perfect Halloween this year! I was all smiles and so excited. This is the best Halloween I have ever had in Washington. It rained in the morning and by 5:00 the sun was peaking out and it was so warm and nice. The trunk-or-treat at the church was a blast, we were able walk around and talk to our friends and just enjoy the night. On the way back to the house the fog came out and was a perfect background for the trick-or-treaters. Jared took the kids around the neighborhood and Cim and the girls joined in when the got here. Some of the houses were all decked out with Halloween festivness. Poor Lana and Elle had to endure some of the scarier houses in order to get the loot, but they survived and got away with a bunch of sweet treats. I just got rid of some of the Halloween candy from last year a couple of months ago, so here we go again. Could we donate to charity? :)

We capped the already great day off with a party at Crystal's house for Kyle and Brooke's birthdays. There was fabulous food, fun family and it was one freaky Friday!

Cheer Bear

My beautiful Lily is my Cheer Bear this year which is very appropriate for he. She has been such a joy in our lives. With her smiles and attentiveness and just plain sweet nature, she has brought the family such a ray of "sunshine"!

Boot Scootin' Lily

For about three weeks now Lily has been a crazy crawler. Well, more like bouncy crawlin', but it's super close to her having the ability to get wherever she wants to go. She definately is on her own set schedule of life. Two sharp teeth emerged a month ago, the bottom front. There is no question that she knows how to used those chompers either. Food is high on her list of things she is super interested in. Not so much the mushy "baby" food, she wants my apples, pears. . . steak :) Yes folks, she a Rodarte for sure! We're are in love with her, completely. I truly believe that your heart has to triple in size with each new spirit you get to have in your family. Is it wrong to love your babies so much? I sure don't think so!

Leaf Wreath

So, hello. I am back! As promised, I am show & telling my leaf wreath that Lauralee and I made today! She has done this many times and I was really excited to learn how. It's something you can make every year w/a fresh batch of newly fallen leaves. She used all yellow and I had darker colored leaves that I had snatched from off of Hwy 162 at the grange hall before Military Rd. Yes, I got my community service in today and made it into something beautiful! Life doesn't get more fulfilling than that. :) Good times. Thanks to my BFF too, Kristin held Lily for me so I could play in the leaves, getting tangled up in florist tape. One thing I can truly be thankful for are true friends. . .luv u guys!

P.S. Larissa, whatever a tag is, which I'm not sure yet, I hope this fulfills that "tag". So, do I get to say, tag ~ ur it?

"A dream is a wish your heart makes"

We are at the happiest place on earth. Peyton and Lana's eyes are big, round globes of excitement and awe. After a quick photo op, we head over to the funnest rides. Peyton and Jared were going to be riding buddies, how fun for Peyton to have his daddy go on all of the rides with him. Mom and Lana were to be mostly on the lookout for the princesses. Splash Mountain was first on the list and a giddy Peyton and Jared quickly went for round two.

Crystal's friend gave her a guide to Disneyland book and it tells you how to get the most out of your day and ride all the rides. Since it isn't as hot in the early morning hours, the water rides aren't the most popular and have smaller lines. There were a few slick tricks that it gave us to beat the heat and lines.

The Haunted Mansion was next and Pirates of the Carribean both of which Lana's eyes were tightly shut and ears muffled.After some Winnie the Pooh, Aladdin, dancing to the fiddler, the petting zoo, a long wait for Autotopia for a quick car ride, a quick rest then a night time jont with Space Mountain for the boys and Buzz Lightyear, we were filled with a fun day and ready for a good nights rest for the fun to begin again.

Monday, April 7th these two snuggle up and get some sleep before their magic begins!

Day 3~

The ZOO!!!

They way our family rolls is pretty unique. We are not few in number and I challenge anyone to have as much fun as we do on our own schedule. That being said, we arrived at the zoo after getting all families up and ready after a full and exciting not to mention long day at Sea World (which was one of my favorite days and Lana is still singing the Shamu song, "Left, right, Shamu, Shamu!). Then we heard them all onto a bus, drive 2 hours south to San Diego and by this time, we need to feed the herd. How to you feed such a slew of people? Why a buffet of course. Otherwise you're going to have a long wait for your food, which isn't fun with 22 grandchildren running around. We all load up again and head for the zoo, Jared at the wheel (he assumes this role in most situations). The navigation system is telling us where to go and when we arrive at our destination we find out that we have 2 hours to get wild with the animals. Most of the family got on the tour bus and went for a quick ride to check out the beasts. Peyton was so excited to see all of the different jungle animals and one of our favorites was the black panther. We never got to see it up close, but the quick drive by was amazing.

Frank really wanted to see the gorillas. I didn't really understand his wish to see them until we were at the exhibit. It was truly amazing. They are truly a family. Grandma taking care of her grandbaby~giving piggyback rides and mother trying to put her baby to sleep as the baby is trying to get a little "snack" and mom finally gives in after which the baby falls asleep. I can definately relate to that. It was really sweet to observe them, I haven't ever seen an actual

family up close like that before.

I think the boys were really relating to the gorillas as well. They were all getting back to their roots, their heritage. :)

On the drive home, we were able to catch a quick view of the San Diego temple. What an amazingly beautiful building that is. It would have really been sweet if we could have at least taken a picture in front of it.

Fun day all in all and we were ready to get some rest for the day ahead of us. . . Disneyland, here we come!