Disneyland! You are welcome.

This February while teaching a Relief Society lesson I compared heaven to Disneyland. It was totally relevant and entertaining. It just so happens that my friend, Wendy, had been thinking of how she wanted to celebrate earning her Master's Degree and was thinking she wanted to go to Disneyland but wasn't sure whom to take. Inspiration hit during my lesson. Call it the spirit call it coincidence it doesn't matter because the end result was the same ROAD TRIP!!

The only downside was waiting until May to go. But finally May came and Wendy and I drove to St. George and stayed with her sweet aunt and grandpa for the night and the next morning we drove the rest of the way. We were so excited for Disneyland (Wendy had never been) that we went in on that Tuesday night just after we got there. When we came in all the rides were closed because there had been an earthquake. I didn't feel it but was willing to wait a half hour to get on the rides to have a small assurance that they were safe. The lines were awesome! We got almost half the park done in one night. I even convinced Wendy to sit in front of me on Splash Mt. (first time initiation).

The next morning we hit the beach and when Kristi flew in we hit Disneyland again. In total we spent 5 days in both Disneyland and California Adventure. We did all the rides and I of course did Space Mountain as much as I could. The new Toy Story ride in California Adventure was really fun. We ate so well, hot dogs, corn dogs, popcorn, cotton candy, churros, chocolate covered bananas. We hit the Blue Bayou one night and went to Downtown Disney and ate Beignets at the Jazz Cafe. We really had too much fun. We all got great souvenirs and even better memories.

Since pictures take up so much room these are just a sample. The rest are on my Picasa site.

My First 3 Nieces

I wanted to make it clear that I know I now have 4 nieces and one more on the way but Eva wasn't born when we took these pictures.

My mom has a frame on her mantel that says something to the effect that "Grandchildren are the only reason I had children and I had six children so I could have lots of grandchildren and then I will make all the grandchildren be my friends" or something like that. :)

Well this frame had a lovely picture of two strangers in it so my dad asked Emily and I to try to get a picture of the three grandchildren that were currently present. A hour and a half later we got the first picture. It was the best of the fifty or so we took. Ellie wouldn't sit down and if she did we couldn't get Carrigan and Raley in place in time to snap a good shot. This picture is now in the frame and by the end of the year my mom will double this number of grandkids and be on her way to self satisfaction.

The individual picture of Ellie is with my tortoise, Sugar. Ellie really likes animals and calls Sugar turti. Pretty smart for a 20 month old.

The other picture is of Carrigan and Raley swinging on the tramp. I know that seems impossible to swing on a tramp but they do it.

Bell Canyon

On Memorial Day the family went to Bell Canyon to go on what should have been and easy hike. I think it ended up a little more intense then we thought. I was really fun though. Eric carried Ellie up and Emily (Dan's wife) was 8 months pregnant and made it all the way to the top!! It was fun to get out and enjoy the good weather.

This is the same hike that Tiana, Chad and I started last year. We only went to the reservoir that time but this time we went all the way to the falls!!

Branding Day

The first week in May the family we up to Ken and Syd's ranch to help out on Branding day. Since this was my second time I felt pretty comfortable with the calves. I actually didn't get many shots of the cows (I was busy tackling and wrestling them). My Mom got some good shots but I don't have them. :(

My photos are more limited to Ellie and randomness.

I caught a huge fish!! I am not lying about that. The saddest part is that the picture got deleted. I know sounds like a "fish story" but I have three witnesses. Just four casts in the pond and I had it on the line. The picture with my Dad and the fish doesn't do it justice.

It was a good time. Even the work was fun. I got to shoot Chad's AR and my Dad's new hand gun. I'm going to lie I am a great shot!!

Thanks to my Aunt Nancy for letting me crash in her loft!!

Draper Temple Open House

On Friday a bunch of the Allen clan got together to walk through the new Draper Temple. I think this is my third open house. Bountiful, Mt. Timpanogus and now Draper. Draper is a really pretty temple with African Cherry Wood and some pretty remarkable murals and chandeliers.

It was a pretty mild trip nothing compared to the Bountiful open house which ended with my dad bouncing the van off curbs trying to get off the hill and the whole time I had to go to the bathroom. In my life I can only remember one other time (pre-diabetes) when I had to go to the bathroom that bad. Made for a memorable trip.

It was really nice to hop on a shuttle and get to the temple and after about a 40 minute walk through/tour they even had refreshments. Lovely.

We also got treated to dinner for which I owe my Grandma a good floor scrub. (I think that is a pretty fair trade :) )

All in all a nice Friday evening. Plus Raley is getting really good at taking pictures. Pretty soon I will be viewing her blog.

I put all the other pictures on my Picasa site. Enjoy.

Carrigan is 6!!!!

I am telling you that it just doesn't make sense. I know for a fact that Carrigan was born before I left for my mission. It just isn't possible that it has been six years since I drove up to hospital from Provo and saw her for the first time. Not that the years haven't been great, they have been. It just really wasn't that long ago that she was calling me "EricJenny" or "JennyEric" and running around in the backyard with me starting water fights (She better watch out this summer).

Well I am glad she is still the Princess I always knew she would be. Soon, very soon, she will be more mature then me and she will let me know. I am ready.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARE BEAR!!!

Changes

I have had quite a few changes in 2008 but the biggest (most obvious) were from November right after my trip to San Francisco up until the New Year.


So I went from trying to naturally growing my hair out and getting frustrated to adding extensions that Emily passed down to pulling that all out (those bead were tricky) to chopping it off and going dark. I actually like all three of them a lot. It was quite the change. Hopefully I figure out a way to look okay while going back to blond this summer... We will see.

I owe my gratitude to Emily, Jordan, Lisea and Val who made it all possible. And to all those who complimented me or if they had nothing nice to say said nothing at all. (I didn't watch the Oscars but I'm telling you I would have had a great speech. :

My internet has been spotty!!! Frustrations...

So my internet never seems to want to work when I want it to. That being said I haven't blogged for quite a while. December was busy but fun. January thus far is busy and pretty fun. Nothing like a new year to motivate me to try to be better. It might stick this year no guarantees... :)

Here are some of my holiday pics. It is my work party at where Dan and I won the money game. Random Christmas and Happiness.