Our california adventure!

Well it is about time I finish my post on our trip to California. Life has been busy and crazy, but I am hoping to get back into a routine and get caught up on our summertime fun! California was so much fun but so long ago it sort of feels like a dream. We left the week after school got out and now school has already been going for a week! Where does the time go! We stayed in a beach house in Newport Beach. My sister Ashley and her husband came along. It was a lot of fun! The first day there, we went to California Adventure. Here are just a couple of pictures to prove it.



Watching the pixar parade.....my boys were keeping their eyes out for Lightning McQueen!


Camden was pretty serious..."Where is he??"
My boys after a long day of Disney magic!

Myah was pretty grumpy on this trip. Those lovely molars starting popping through. She didn't have much fun being toted around all day with no place to sleep. Hence no pictures of her, and really not many pictures period. I was too busy trying to carry her, push a stroller and make sure my kids didn't disappear. We only lost a child once, and after I panicked and knew Carter would never return to our family again, we found him down around the pier not even knowing he was missing. Despite everything though, we really did have a fun day. And the new ride favorite....The Buzz Lightyear ride. My boys were in heaven! It was fun...even better than the Disneyland counterpart. Camden is our adrenaline junky and was a little bummed to be to little to go on the California Screamer, but he did like Tower of Terror.....much better than his little brother who was so excited that he was tall enough. Darin assured me he would be fine. I think the pale face afterward was a good indicator that 4 years old isn't quite old enough to get a kick out of a spooky broken elevator that plummets down a high rise. He didn't cry though, just made me promise to not take him on it again and was a little weary about every ride from there on out that was dark....which is almost EVERY ride at Disneyland...even the cute kid rides are dark!

The house we rented had a community pool down the street and the ocean only a couple of blocks away. This is how we got around! The kids loved it! Wed. and Fri. of our trip, were spent swimming until we were fish and playing in the sand! It was just fun to be together!

One night we went to dinner at a little diner at the end of the pier. It was beautiful! Camden was a little nervous though. As much as he is our crazy adrenaline junky, he is very fearful of anything that has to do with water. Especially the ocean. When he saw we were going to eat dinner in the ocean, he couldn't wait to be done. We couldn't even get him to pose for a picture.

Day 4: Disneyland

Really there is nothing quite as magical as Disneyland. I love it. My kids loved it to! Well except for Myah who was still a little on the grumpy side, but we did manage to catch a few smiles. It was quite busy...at least it seemed as though there were a million people there, but the lines for the rides really weren't too bad. Darin and I were glad that we had just been there back in Dec. and got to go on all of the adult rides together so we didn't feel bad that the day was catered around what the kids wanted. Camden however wanted to go on a lot of rides that Carter and Myah couldn't go on so we split up for parts of the day taking turns with the kids on different rides. There are quite a few that we all could go on. It's a small world is always one of my favorites and the kids loved it. At the end when all of the little people are dressed in white, I told the kids that is what heaven is like. Their faces just lit up and still Carter says that was his favorite part! Another fun one was pirates of the Caribbean and although I was a little worried that Myah would be scared, she actually crashed for her nap on that ride! It was great! Camden's favorite ride of the day was splash mtn. and luckily it was my turn to take him....that is one of my favorite rides as well!

Mickey's toon town......

Lesli, this is for Clara!

Mickey's house....we took our new point and shoot that I was so excited to fit into my pocket.....unfortunately the quality is not as good as I had hoped....oh well!

Myah just wanted to touch Mickey's face....at least she was happy for a minute!

This is one of my favorite pictures of Myah.....just look at that face. It really captures her personality on this trip!There is nothing quite like all of the treats there are to eat at Disneyland!

A train ride after a long day at the park. We were all pooped. Especially Darin and I!

I love this picture of Camden....not because it really is a great picture, but the story behind it is. Camden loves music. He is our little music lover in the house. And his favorite music is what he hears on the Disney channel. Well on our way out of the park, we saw that there was a private concert going on. If you climbed on the brick wall, you could get a glimpse of what was going on. Well it was Mitchell Musso from the Disney channel. He was giving a concert, and Camden was so excited to watch that he wanted to stay and listen all night. The only way we could convince him to leave, was that Darin would download his songs on to i-tunes when we got home. I swear, were did my little boy go?

And the famous picture in front of Mickey....you really can't leave for home without one! What a fun day!

And last but not least. The trip home! We stopped in Vegas thinking it would be a great place to unwind and get the kids out of the car. Well lets just say that the fountains at the Bellagio are about the only wholesome thing to see on the strip. I hadn't been to Vegas in a while and apparently I have never been there with mom-vision. I was so embarrassed by what was all around for my boys to see....really it has got a lot worse in the past 10 years! Lets just say I'm glad my boys aren't ANY older than they are. I tried to keep them focused on anything but the big screens! I guess from now on stops in Vegas will have to be limited to In-N-Out burger and things other than a stop on the strip....too bad, I really loved going there!

It was so much fun spending time together as a family! I look forward to more trips in the future and watching all of the fun things my kids get to experience through their eyes!!

In Loving Memory

I just got off of the phone with my mom who informed me that my sweet grandmother passed away this evening after a good long life of 93 years. I just wanted to write a little post to let her know what a great grandma she has been! The memories I have been able to make with her are priceless. From our trips to California each summer, to combing her hair, to the radishes she would keep in her purse when she knew she would see me because she knew how much I loved them, the banquets I was able to serve for when her and my mom would cook, visiting her in the grocery store when I was just a little girl, and I will never forget when she made me look like Shirley Temple when my mom was in the hospital having a baby. I thought I was adorable with those old fashioned ringlets. My grandma was probably the hardest working woman I have ever met. Until just a couple of months ago when she fell and broke her hip, she still wanted to be in on the action. Never missing a chance to help out in the kitchen....which by the way she was an amazing cook. Luckily it is a trait she has passed along to all 7 daughters AND 2 sons. You can never have enough yummy food at a Chatterton reunion. I am so thankful for the sweet prompting to go and visit her only 4 short hours ago. I was able to give her one last kiss and tell her once last time how much I loved her. All of my children were able to squeeze her hand and give her a tender kiss. It truly was a tender mercy to me. She will be missed by 9 children, 43 grandchildren, 123 great- grandchildren, and 20 great-great-grandchildren...what a legacy! We love you Grandma Chatterton! (This was the last picture I could find of her. This is at Myah's birth. She was there within minutes of delivery. I will treasure this forever!)

Family trip part 2: Road trip

So after a fun few days in St. George, we were off to sunny California. We had never done a road trip before, and I was a little weary of spending so much time in the car. It actually turned out ok....

First stop....Las Vegas/In-N-Out burger. It was good and the kids loved their new accessories!

After Vegas, there was a lot of nothing. Anyone ever wondered what you can find in Barstow.....I'm still wondering why anyone would choose to live there.

After countless bathroom breaks, three movies, lots of treats and using all means to entertain the little squirts in the back, we arrived in Newport Beach, California and I even still had a smile on my face!
To be continued......

Family trip part 1: St. George

It is kind of funny to me that in the winter I am a bad blogger because I have nothing to blog about and in the summer I am a bad blogger because I have TOO MUCH to blog about! So I am going to do my best to get all caught up in the next week or two! Wish me luck! :)

The week after school ended we ventured out on a 10 day trip to California. We decided to drive because of all the $$$ we could save. We were a little worried how the kids would do,but it turned out to be not nearly as bad as I had thought it might be. We broke the drive up by stopping in St. George for about 3 days. We stayed in my parents condo and looked forward to sunshine, laying by the pool and just relaxing. Well it ended up raining the entire weekend...except for Sun. So we took the kidos to the indoor pool (forgot the camera), played tennis in-between rain drops, played at the park, and went for walks. We had a fun time and it just made the kids excitement for Disneyland even greater! Here are just some (I take way to many pictures I know) of my favorite shots from the weekend!

I-Fly

Well Darin turned the big 3-0. I was trying to come up with a fun plan for his big day. I thought about a large party with all of his friends and family....but he has never been a huge fan of large crowds so instead I tried to think of things that would just make him happy. On his big day we went and visited him at work with balloons and cake. That night I had my parents come over and watch the kids so we could go to a movie and out to dinner. We love going to the movies and we don't get to do it very often! Well the next day I wanted to do something really fun! His dream is to go skydiving. I told him after our last child's wedding he can go skydiving....I am just a big worry wart and have this terrible fear he will DIE if he attempts skydiving and I will be left to raise our kids alone!!! So the next best thing.....Simulated skydiving at I-Fly. It was actually a lot of fun and I think he had a fun time doing it! The funniest thing however is that Camden was totally bummed he didn't get to go. We told him he was to young, but we were wrong.They let 4 year olds do it!!!! So he begged and pleaded and ended up having the time of his life with his dad! He is such a little dare-devil! It was hilarious to watch and he loved it!

Oregon

Back in May, Darin had a conference he wanted to attend in Oregon. He graciously invited me to come along, and because Myah can still fly for free and is still the hardest one to leave, she was invited to hang out with me during the day while Darin was in his classes. We had never been to Oregon before and it was beautiful! We lucked out and got a sunny beautiful weekend without any rain or clouds. It was about 75 or so in Portland so one evening we decided to drive out to the coast. We had heard how amazing it was and wanted to see for ourselves. We were all in shorts, sandals and t-shirts. Luckily I had the impression to bring jackets just in case. Well once we arrived at the ocean, we noticed everyone bundled in coats, scarves and hats. The temp. reading in the car had dropped 20 degrees from the warm sun in Portland and it was freezing!!!!! We went and had dinner and walked out to the beach to get this picture and we were ready to get in the car and crank the heat! Who knew the beach could be so much colder than inland....it was amazing however and I am glad we got to see it. Just the car ride there made it worth while. It was beautiful!

Myah did a lot of riding in the car. This was her first little while being turned forward in the car. She loved it for a while....but the novelty wore off pretty soon!
This little guy saved our lives in a new city. We had never used navigation before and it was especially helpful to me when Darin was in class. I'm not sure if I could have found him to give him a ride home without it. It was worth every extra penny!

We were so lucky to meet up with some friends while we were there. This is Mark and his cute wife Lindsey and their kids. Darin and I have been friends with him since middle school. It was so fun to get to spend time with them. Friday we went to the zoo with them (no pictures...I forgot my camera but convinced Darin to let me buy a little point and shoot for the remainder of the trip! What a nice guy!) and on Sun. they invited us to their home in Corvallis for dinner. Corvallis is beautiful and especially fun for Darin to see. His parents lived there for a couple of years while his dad was in school. I think Darin was about ready to pack up and move there it was a darling little town! It was great spending time with you guys. You were great hosts!

This is Nicholas, Karlee and Myah. We are just missing Macy...she wasn't in the picture mood! The twins are a little older than Myah, it was fun to see them play together! So cute!!This picture is to remind us of the waterfalls we wanted to see before we left for the airport. The navigation wasn't ALWAYS what it was cracked up to be!Myah was a little upset....she really wanted to see some waterfalls!We had a really great time and it was fun to get away! We forgot how easy life with only one child is.....to bad we didn't appreciate it at the time...we just thought it was hard! We missed our boys though and we hope return to Oregon with them soon!

We love DAD!

What more can I say....Camden has said it all!



We couldn't ask for a better guy to be the Dad at our house!

"Hope ya know, we had a hard time"...Elder Cook

So I have lots to post about! A trip to Portland, our family vacation to California, Darin's birthday and even T-ball! I will get to it eventually but first wanted to share a video clip from You Tube. Our bishop sends a newsletter out the first of each month. In this months, he encouraged us all to watch this clip off of Youtube. I thought it was very powerful and just wanted to share it.