Life Lately (October 2021)

Halloween

Grace and Madelyn love playing dress up on a daily basis, so they already have quite a few costumes. They are all princess costumes, of course, so I was originally thinking we would all be princesses and Andrew could be a handsome prince. But when we went to the Halloween store to really chose our costumes, I decided to hand over the reins to Andrew...and he chose Star Wars.

I can't deny it. Madelyn in an Ewok costume is about the cutest thing you've ever seen. Grace was Ray from the most recent Star Wars movies. She doesn't even know who Ray is, but she was so proud to say that she was Ray for Halloween. I was Princess Leah and Andrew was a a Jedi. 

​Our ward had a trunk-or-treat, and by the end of the night we were challenging the youth and older kids to light saber battles in order for them to win their candy. 

For actual Halloween night, we went to my Abuela's house. All the kids showed off their costumes and we carved pumpkins. We celebrated my Mom's birthday  (since she was vacationing in Bora Bora on her actual birthday) with a tasty birthday cake that I made.  The kids had a great time!

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Disneyland adventures

We bough Disney Magic Key passes (the new annual pass) in September. In order to really get our money's worth, we are trying to go at least 2 or 3 times a month. My other siblings with kids got them as well, so all the little cousins have a great time together. 

I'll be honest, Disneyland is fun...but it is also exhausting. What is it about such a fun place that brings out the terrible, entitled, feisty sides of my kids?!?! So far, Andrew has been able to come with us every time, but this upcoming Wednesday I will be single mom-ing it...so pray for me!!!!!

Family come to visit

I have been terrible at blogging for the past year, so I have failed to mention the wonderful visits we have had!

Andrew's brother Bobby and his wife Heidi and their 3 kids came to visit. And then Andrew's mom, Debbie, spent some time with us. We even got to spend an afternoon with Andrew's brother Jeremy and his family when they were down our way.

The most recent family visit was Andrew's sister, Tiffany, and her family. We loved seeing them and spending time with them. Their trip was kinda filled with disaster after disaster (from crazy busy Disney days and lost expensive items to a trip to the emergency room for a concussion and an almost broken nose), but I know they were grateful to see us, and Andrew and I are glad we could be there to support them when they needed us. My girls loved spending time with all their kids. We went to the beach one day, and Grace loved having Mason bury her feet in the sand to make a mermaid tail.  On another day we went to Disney's California Adventures with them and enjoyed doing the rider swap so that we could all go on the fun rides the kids were too short to go on.

I am so grateful for the relationship Andrew has with his family...and for my own relationships with them as well. I find it so enjoyable to be with all of our family, and it makes me miss the close proximity we had with everyone in Utah.

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Santa Barbara get-away

And then...because I am way behind on my posts....Andrew and I were also able to go on a little couples weekend to Santa Barbara at the end of September. My parents watched our kids (and I am so happy to report that they were very well behaved for them). 

We drove up the California coast and stayed in Santa Barbara for 2 nights and in Pismo Beach for 1 night. It was a really nice vacation. We woke up every morning and played tennis (something we haven't done in years). They we toured the mission, walked along the piers, saw cute little otters and seals floating in the water, rode beach cruisers on the sand, stood in line for over 30 min to get amazing cinnamon rolls, visited the Dutch look-alike town of Solvang, fed some ostriches, and enjoyed the view from our beach-front patio. I would definitely do another California coast vacation in the future!