Disneyland

We just got back from our Allen family Disneyland reunion trip. We had a BLAST! It was so much fun having that time with the family. My kids have been literally counting down since before Christmas.

We left last Tuesday and travelled all day to get to our hotel room. We enjoyed the first evening in the pool and the kids seriously couldn't wait till the next morning to go. They got up at 5 (in the hotel room). It was so hard for them to contain their energy in that room. We finally headed over with his whole family to Disneyland.

Here are the kiddos all ready for the fun to begin. Yes I made their shirts :) I couldn't see myself paying $20 or even $30 for shirts so made some.

Cousin Ava

We didn't get to see too many characters but we did see Mary Poppins and Bert.

They were celebrating Chinese Lunar New year

Ridge refused most rides...including tea cups. We did force him on most though. Brecklynn LOVED almost every ride. So amazing to see the difference

Second day, we all wore our Allen shirts. There was a crowd of 41 of us. We enjoyed getting into the park earlier to get some of the busier rides done early.

Do you see her two teeth? Cute!!

Pout..pout...pout

Here's all the grandkids that attended. We were missing quite a few still too. Oh and GG (the kids Great Grandma) attended this year. What a special unique experience.

The Allen brothers...with April- no further explanation needed

Our cute happy family

I got this same picture two years ago so had to snap it again

The favorite ride by far was the new Ariel ride. We rode it probably 20 times. The kids LOVED it.

Ridge kept doing this to all his boy cousins....kind of concerning :)

The boys tricked GG onto Space Mountain. They told her it was a hay ride.

Cambree agreed to go on Tower of Terror. In this picture she is smiling. But that was the last time she smiled. She hated it. I love that all her uncles are looking at her :)

This is the end of the Ariel ride. Ariel is waving to everyone and EVERY time....Brecklynn had to wave and insisted everyone with her did as well. Super cute.

It was a lot of fun. The kids are already talking about when we get to go again. Brielle was wonderful the whole trip which was amazing. Thanks Steve and Pat for a wonderful trip filled with many memories!

Hello 2012!

I know this is late...classic me right? But as always-better late then never.

As I realize how fast 2011 went and how 2012 is already here...I haven't had much time to really consider my goals and desires for the upcoming year. Last year was full of so many huge changes with moving and Brielle being born that 2012 seems less monumental in many ways. But I am excited about the prospect of really getting down to what I need/want to improve upon personally, as well as a family.

I am one for lists and goals and so resolutions are right up my ally. I love to really think about what I want to improve and how. So with that...here's some of my thoughts.

Personally I have several things I would like to improve upon. I need to get back to basics and really stregthen myself in the gospel. I need to read my scriptures daily and pray daily. I need to go to the temple. I need to be more patient with my kids and stop and take in the little things with them. I sometime stress so much over the small things that I forget to just enjoy the time with my kids. Physically I hope to continue getting healthier and in the process learning to make better choices for my family's eating habits and lifestyle as well. I am hoping to train and run a 1/2 marathon this year. That's a huge thing for me but its been one of those life goals for me. I would love to accomplish it.

On a family level I would like to plan more things for my kids and Curtis and I to do. We need to get back to reading scriptures daily and praying daily and doing fhe. We do good for awhile and then we always fall off the wagon. But that's what these resolutions and times are for right? We need to spend more time just enjoying each other. Sometimes we get in the rush of things we have to get done and the schedule, that we don't slow down enough to just talk and enjoy each other. I definitely want to do this more this year.

I am so excited about this year and I really hope to be able to work on these goals and see improvement in the days, weeks, months to come.

So here's to the new year!! Happy 2012!!