The boys tend to go in phases with Legos.  Sometimes they are way into them and sometimes they are not.  Just prior to going to Legoland, the boys got back into Legos after having taken a break from them for a while.  We were glad of this because it made Legoland more exciting.  However with Lego mania always comes fighting.  And this December the boys were fighting a LOT.  I finally got so sick of it that I did something I have never done before. I TOOK THE LEGOS AWAY.  ALL OF THEM. EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM.  I have never even threatened to do this because I knew how hard it would be on everyone, including me, because even though Legos cause a lot of fights, they also create hours and hours of peaceful fun too.  And I knew that finding all of them spread throughout my house would be a nightmare.  But I was done.  I was tired of listening to the constant fighting that seemed worse than usual and so in a moment of genius (Rock thought it was insanity) I confiscated the Legos the week before Christmas.  It took me over an hour but I got every last lego.  No one got to keep the sets they leave up for display, no one got to keep their recently purchased Legos from Legoland and no one got to keep even legos they bought with their own money!  I wanted them to feel what it was like to miss the legos, to feel the boredom, to feel the pain!  I also wanted to help them at least have a chance at keeping the dictum, “You better not pout, you better not cry, you better not fight I’m telling you why…..Santa Claus is coming to town!”

Twas the week before Christmas and all through the house, not a Lego was stirring not even a brick.  That week was great!  No fighting.  The boys did go through withdrawals, but they played with toys they had not touched in a long while, Cade got back into Origami again and Reagan made a fabulous homemade gift for his sister.  Of course, Reagan did his best to argue, cajole and manipulate some of the legos back, but I did not budge. 

Then about three days after the Lego confiscation, I noticed that it was very quiet downstairs. I didn’t think much of it until a while later when Reagan and the boys came upstairs with a  whiteboard that said “The Lego Constitution” on it with each of their signatures.  Reagan then proceeded to explain the meeting they had just had downstairs to hash out the rules everyone would play by from now on so that they could have their legos back.  I was pleasantly surprised they had remembered enough from our studies of the constitution to create one of their own and that they were attempting to solve the problem on their own.  As I started to question them I found that they had been relatively thorough in their rule making, though they were still missing many details and they had not written anything down.  This was the perfect opportunity to teach a little more about our constitution.  What would have happened if the constitution had not been written down? What happens when someone breaks a rule?  What is a contract?  I sent them back downstairs to write out their constitution so that we could discuss it further. 

We tried once more to discuss their rules and make sure that all three boys were on board and not just Reagan, but it became very apparent that everyone was not on the same page. With Christmas and family in town we decided to tackle it in January, though we did give them back their Legos after Christmas.  The pain of losing their legos should buy me some peace for at least a little while until we can figure out the “constitution”. I don’t know that there will ever be a perfect solution to the fighting over legos, but I’m sure in July of 1787 the founding fathers were not sure they would ever reach an agreement about their dilemma either. So I’m hopeful!

Once again, I was so busy at Christmas time that I didn’t have time to blog about it until the New Year.  Happy 2015 everyone!  The next several posts will be Christmas catch up.

On my sister Alli’s 23rd birthday I gave her a new nephew as a present.  Levi and Alli share the same birthday and since this was a special one for her, I’ll blog about both.  First, Levi.

This year Levi turned seven. 

He is a wonderful big brother who is always looking out for Liberty.  Whenever we are out shopping he is on the lookout for things that Liberty would like.  Even at Christmas time when most kids are only concerned with what they will get from Santa,  I often hear from Levi, “Liberty would LOVE this!” And he can’t wait to tell her all the exciting things he learns about in school or about life in general.  She needs a poster in her room that says, “Everything I learned in life I learned from Levi.”  I have no doubt these two were best friends in Heaven before they came to earth.  Levi has tons of friends in the neighborhood because of his happy, friendly personality and we love him dearly.

He wanted a pokeball for his cake this year.  For those who have no clue what that is because you do not have young boys addicted to Pokémon at your house, here is a picture of the real deal to look at before you see the cake.

He has never actually had his very own Pokémon deck, so when his brothers gave him money to get one, he was pretty excited.

If you’re good at math, you’ll have figured out already that if Levi turned seven this year, Allison turned THIRTY!!!!  So we decided to make it a fun one for her.  We gorged ourselves at Tucanos and then went home for cake and presents.  Here’s what she got:

From:
Kami- 30 Men (Army Men in a bag, one of which just HAS to be Mr. Right)

Rock-Thirty-1 dollar bills
Sarin-30 birthday wishes/candles
Dad-30 Peppermint Kisses
Mom-29 ponytail holders (because a woman is never really older than 29)
Derek and Penny-30 Bear Hugs (chocolate covered cinnamon bears)

Since we were all getting her thirty somethings, I told Cade he should make her thirty origami somethings.  This is what he did!

And this:

We love you Alli!!!

On our 2nd date Rock took me to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert and it was amazing.  Beautiful, powerful music that moved me so much I have always wanted to go back.  Tickets are next to impossible to get, though; you have to win a lottery in November to even get them.  But this weekend my wonderful husband totally surprised me with tickets to the concert! 

We were supposed to have some friends over for a game night on Friday but after dinner Rock handed me a wrapped envelope.  I opened it to find the MoTab tickets and he informed me that the game night was all a hoax to make sure I didn’t find out about the concert and our trip to Utah the next day.  He worked out a sitter for the kids (thank you Katelyn and Taylor), he booked a hotel, and made dinner reservations at a delicious Mexican restaurant.  And he kept it all secret for months! 

The lights on Temple Square were beautiful.  I haven’t seen them in a long time.  Reagan was two months old the last time we went!

Ok, I have to put this cute one in from that same Christmas…

Here are some pictures from the lights this weekend‘.

The Macy’s windows never disappoint.  This ornament is all candy!

The concert was lots of fun, though I really wish the kids could have been there.  The guest stars were the Muppets from Sesame Street.  It was definitely different than the last time we went, but still very good.  And this time, Rock’s date held his hand.  The last time he took that girl, she was not ready for such a move and kept her hands in her pockets the whole night. 

On Sunday morning we did something else I’ve always wanted to do.  We went to the Joseph Smith Memorial building for sacrament meeting.  So gorgeous! 

At first glance, this tree looks kind of weird, but it starts at the bottom with a deep purple, then moves to hot pink, then light pink, then cream, then gold at the top. 

It was a wonderful trip; short and sweet.  Thank you so much, Rock for once again making my dreams become reality!

One of our traditions at Christmas time is unwrapping a Christmas book each day the whole month.  We use the same ones every year, but I usually add one new one.  One of the books we have unwrapped for years is called the Tale of the Three Trees.  It is about three trees that are used in some way in Christ’s life.  One became the manger, one became a boat that carried Christ on Galilee, and one became his cross.  It is a beautiful story, but here is the real story of the three trees. 
This year when we went to put up our real looking, pre-lit, fake tree after Thanksgiving, half the lights didn’t work.  We have been limping it along for the last couple years, having gotten a good seven years out of the lights on it.  It is the best fake tree I’ve ever seen so I really did not want to go buy another one.  I suggested we just take off the lights and put on our own, but Rock convinced me that taking the lights off of it would be a monstrously tedious task so we decided to look for another tree.  It was too late for Black Friday deals, so we couldn’t find any we liked enough that we could afford.  My whole family, all from Western Washington, the “Evergreen State”, are coming for Christmas this year so we decided to get a real tree and wait for the after Christmas sales.  You should know that my parents, did I mention they are from the “Evergreen State” where the main export is evergreen trees, almost disowned me when we first bought a fake tree.  It was sacrilege!  In all honesty that is probably the real reason they have never spent a Christmas morning with us.    This year they finally decided they could overlook that flaw in my character and come here for Christmas.  But it’s their lucky day!  We got a real one. 
Don’t think we’ll be doing that again.  Here’s why.  My living room stood empty of its Christmas tree for two weeks; usually we get it put up the weekend after Thanksgiving.  Many of our Christmas traditions, like unwrapping the books, revolve around the tree and we couldn’t start them, because if you buy a real tree the day after Thanksgiving it will be dead by Christmas!  
The whole process of getting a real tree was way more work than I remember.  But as I was standing their covered in sap and pine needles, holding the tree upright while Rock adjusted, then cut, then readjusted the tree to get it straight, I was suddenly transported back in time to the home of my youth.  The beautiful smell of the tree alone was enough to transport me back, but having to do the same thing my mother did for years brought back so many memories! 
And now I have to water it too?!  There is a reason I do not have any live plants in my house!  We will be lucky if this tree makes it to Christmas, but hey, my parents and siblings will be happy.  And so, Family, consider this my gift to you for Christmas.  You won’t be getting anything else.  Especially after the two hours and two trips to the store process of putting on the lights.  Ugh!  I will pay any amount now for a pre-lit tree, and throw in my first born child to seal the deal if need be.  Our usual one hour, no pain, no mess process of putting up a tree quintupled!  Don’t get me wrong, the smell is wonderful and really did make me think, “Ah, THIS is Christmas.”  But John Denver’s Christmas album does the same thing and he’s way less work!
So, there you have it.  The real Tale of the Three Trees.  You’re probably thinking I can’t count because I’ve only talked about two trees so far.  I can count just fine.  The third tree is the new fake tree we will be purchasing at my earliest convenience.

Yes, I know, it’s practically time to write about Christmas, but I am finally done with a very big Relief Society Christmas dinner that I was in charge of and can now breathe a little.  Here I am relaxing, see? 

Rock’s parents invited us to Grand Junction for Thanksgiving, but after the big Disneyland trip and its bang of an ending, we opted to stay here this year.  We didn’t think it would be a good idea to risk losing our dangling bumper on the way to CO.  My sisters came up and they wanted me to tell you what a blast they had raking the leaves in our yard and then raking more leaves in a total stranger’s yard for a service project we did as a family.  They can’t wait to come rake our leaves again next year!  Actually, what they don’t know is that we are saving our very late falling cherry tree leaves for them to rake at Christmas. 

While out getting some last minute Thanksgiving supplies at Walmart, we discovered this modern monument to commercialism. 

 
Watching Aunties get ready is so much fun!

Time for Turkey!

Uncle Calvin likes to sit at the kid table… can you guess why?  Apparently the initiation for sitting at the kid table was putting a paper turkey on your head.  And seeing how long you could not smile.

Bryce likes to smile, though, so he didn’t get to sit at the kid table. 

Anyone see a resemblance?

And Uncle Calvin wins for fullest plate!  He really could have filled up some of that extra space next to the potatoes and bean casserole, but we’ll give him the win anyway. 

This year I am most grateful for three things I did not know could be so important to my happiness; bumpers, modern medicine and recliners! 

Hope you all had a good T-day too!

We all decided this was the best park of the three we went to.  It was less crowded and had more exciting rides for the thrill seekers in the family with plenty of good ‘sort of exciting’ rides for the the less adventurous.  My favorite thing about this park is how much they have recreated many of our favorite movies like Cars and Bugs Life.  You felt like you were walking into the movie screen.  This park had all the next generation of Disney and our kids were excited to see the movies they love come to life.

First ride of the day for Liberty was, you guessed it, CA Adventure’s version of the Tea cups! 

That cute smile disappeared when we passed by Ursula on the Little Mermaid ride.  This was her face then.

Sorry it’s blurry, I was laughing really hard.

Meeting Goofy

Waiting in line to ride the Ferris wheel from Hell Heck. 

This was Levi’s face before we started moving.  This was also Reagan’s face before starting.  His did not change.

This was Levi’s face after we started moving.

I hate Ferris wheels; the regular, hardly move at all, Ferris wheels.  This was the Ferris wheel to beat all Ferris Wheels.  It is huge, and the cars rock and slide all over.  I didn’t know that when I agreed reluctantly to go on it “as a family”. If you look closely, you’ll notice my foot there in the picture.  I was bracing myself because there was nothing to hold onto and I wanted to throw up.  Even Levi, who went on almost all the big rides, couldn’t handle this one.  I breathed a sigh of relief when we finally got back to the bottom, only to be swung up and around a second time!  Rock, Liberty and Cade had a blast.  Cade grinned from ear to ear and kept saying, “This is the coolest ride ever!!” while the rest of us wanted to hurl and couldn’t even open our eyes.  I’m pretty sure I will never go on a Ferris wheel again.  That was enough for a lifetime. 

This will give you an idea of what the cars did.

It was beautiful at night, though.

Next stop was Radiator Springs from the movie Cars.  It was so fun to walk down the street and see all the places from the movie.

The Cozy Cone

Luigi’s Tires

The town hall/police department

The Radiator

And the Ride
Everyone loved zooming around the red rock hills and seeing all the characters from Cars.  Well, everyone but Liberty. This was the picture from the one drop on the ride.

Libby was holding on for dear life.  So was Reagan. Yeah, so was I.

On our way out of Radiator Springs we ran into this guy

The fastest, biggest, craziest ride was California Screamin, which only Cade and Rock were brave enough to do.  Here is the picture from that ride.

The scariest ride was the Tower of Terror and here is the picture from that one.

Cade knew when the camera was shooting, so he posed for this one. 

One of the neatest things at the park was the Wilderness Explorer playground.  It was a huge, kid size ropes course/log jungle gym in the middle of a forest.  Levi wanted to go back several times.  This zip line was pretty fun.

I took Liberty to lunch at Ariel’s Grotto to try one last time to meet Sleeping Beauty.  We had a fun lunch and got to hug a lot of princesses, but no Sleeping Beauty.  When she asked the waiter where she was, he told her that he’d tried to wake her up that day, but she just wouldn’t wake up.  Her beauty sleep was too important.  Liberty was totally ok with that.  Never a tear or a whine.  I love my laid back little girl.

We headed back to the hotel at 8:00 that night after the parade and water show, put all the kids to bed and sighed with relief.  It had been fun, but we were worn out and ready to go home. 

I’m so grateful we could give them this fun trip. 

And one last funny one I couldn’t resist putting in.

You would think that once we started on our 14 hour journey home, there would be nothing exciting left to report except the occasional brawl in the back seat or ear splitting toilet flushes.  But you’d be wrong.   After driving almost 900 miles safely, we hit a snowstorm in Idaho and slid out of control two exits from home.  We slammed into a cement barrier, spun around almost 360 degrees and came to a stop perpendicular to traffic.  Luckily there were very few people on the road at 2:30 AM so no one hit us.   The bumper did what bumpers are supposed to do, and we were able to drive home ok, though all the kids were now wide awake and freaked out.  Rock and I were pretty freaked out too.  But nobody was hurt and we are very grateful the only damage was to the car.  We’re also grateful for insurance! 

The kids ended their epic California vacation (in 70 degree weather) with a snow day here at home in 14 degree weather.  Not bad for as weeks go.

We took it slower on day four of the trip.  The kids thoroughly enjoyed their breakfasts at the hotel and this day was no exception. 

We took some pictures of the palm tree lined streets outside the hotel on our way out of town.

And then we headed down to Carlsbad to Legoland.  The kids loved it, but I was right about them liking the other parks more.  They’re favorite thing about Legoland was getting to see the studio where they made The Lego Movie. Since I didn’t even go in that one, and Rock doesn’t ever take pictures, I don’t have anything to show you.  But here are the other picture highlights from that day.

One of the “lands” in Legoland is “Miniland”.  It’s a Lego reproduction of many of the famous buildings in the world.  Very cool.

They did have a statue of Liberty out in the “harbor” but I couldn’t get a good shot. 

If you look closely you can even see Jefferson!

He really was happy to be here.

At every park we found some version of the tea cups!  Libby loved it!  Here are the Lego tea cups.

Believe it or not, she did meet a few girls at Legoland.

When I tried to get her to stand next to this guy who was twice as big as her, she wouldn’t do it.  Can’t say that I blame her.

Cade had decided by this point that he wanted to go on only the biggest, scariest rides.  So he and Rock went on the X Factor.  If you listen closely you can hear Rock holler as they drop.

While Rock and the boys went on another “dark, loud and scary” ride, Liberty and I rode these cute little airplanes.  She would giggle with glee every time they swooped around the corner.  We went on this ride 3 times in a row!

 
Christmas was in process at Legoland too.

Star Wars Lane

Levi and Liberty loved got their Legoland License.

Legoland closed at 5:00 that day, which was just perfect for us after our exhausting day at Disneyland the day before.  We went to dinner with Aunt Kathy and Uncle Carl at the Oceanside Pier.  Waaaaay out at the end of the pier is a Ruby’s Diner which is where we ate.  It was a fabulous place to end our day.  I only wish I’d thought to get pictures with Aunt K and Uncle C! 

This was the first time in Liberty’s memory to see the ocean.

As we walked out onto the pier further and further away from the sand, Levi would only walk on the middle of the planks.  I had to explain to him how thick the planks underneath him really were before he would rest easy and walk on the cracks.  And for those who are wondering if Reagan freaked out way up high out over the water, you’ll be glad to know he did not.  

Stay tuned for Day 5!

Now on to the fun stuff!  We planned this trip for early November because according to all the research we did, Disneyland has smaller crowds at that time.  Thanksgiving and Christmas are very crowded and summer too.  So even though I had misgivings about making this trip with OUR kids (the fighting, the arguing, the overstimulation), I did not have misgivings about the crowds.  In other words, I had low expectations of what would happen with the kids this time (unusual for me) and high expectations about the number of people we would have to deal with in the park.  I was not disappointed in my expectations of the kids.  Well, I was disappointed, let’s be honest.  But apparently the whole country had the day before Veterans day off and they all decided it would be a great day to go to Disneyland.

We hit the park as it opened and headed straight for Star Tours because it’s always a popular ride; one I’ve had to wait hours to ride before.  We got there so fast we zipped right through the line.  There is something very satisfying in walking the zigzag of theme park lines super fast.  You feel like you are cheating fate.  It was the last time we enjoyed that feeling all day, at least for most rides.

The boys loved Star Tours.  But it was just the first of many rides that Liberty did not like.  Basically she didn’t like any dark or loud rides.  This eliminates a LOT of rides at most theme parks.   So I got to spend the day riding the little dinky rides with her and Reagan, because even though we don’t mind the dark rides, Reagan was not a fan of the loud ones and neither he nor I like big roller coasters.  The drops make me sick.  I am, after all, probably the one person you know who has actually used a barf bag on an airplane.  We did make her go on several she didn’t like, though.  You can not go to Disneyland without going on Pirates of the Caribbean.

The Dumbo Ride-very tame.

Everyone had to take a try at King Arthur’s sword. Levi’s faces are hilarious.



 

The Swiss Family Robinson Tree is now Tarzan’s Tree house.  Whatever it’s called, it’s still the coolest tree house I’ve ever been in!

Disneyland was already decked out for the holidays.  Poinsettia was everywhere!

Levi and Cade LOVED the big fast rides, so while Rock took them to ride the Matterhorn and Splash Mountain we tried to find Sleeping Beauty.  No Princess, but we did find Minnie Mouse.

Later that day Liberty also got to meet
Ariel

Snow White

and Cinderella

No Sleeping Beauty, though.  

In the hopes of catching a glimpse of her we tried to  to watch the parade that evening.  We were supposed to meet up with Rock but there were so many people and so many sections had been blocked off, we could not even get to the spot where we were supposed to meet.  To make matters worse, both our cell phones were dead. (I will just say here that I do NOT know how our parents ever survived before cell phones.)  So we tried in vain to find each other.  It became almost impossible to steer the stroller around and I finally decided, to heck with it, I was going to stop in the aisle in a place that was out of everyone’s way, no matter what those D-Land workers with their big light sticks were telling me to do.  But the worker bees would have none of it.  I was so fed up with the crowds and the impossibility of getting around all day that I lost it.  I did something I’ve never done in my life.  I told that twerpy 18 year old worker that I was not in anyone’s way and I would not move.  He made up some excuse about fire lanes and since I did not have the energy at that moment to argue the fire code,  I moved.  My little rage against the machine was pretty pathetic I suppose, but I was tired and grouchy.  We gave up and rode the tea cups instead.  Ironically enough, they turned out to be Liberty’s favorite ride of the day.  She rode them three times in a row.  “Let’s do it again, Mommy!”  is so much better than plugged ears and crying.  While in the tea cups who should ride by on her parade float, but Sleeping Beauty! 

A few hours later we crammed into main street to watch the fireworks over the castle.  Disney did not disappoint. The fireworks were amazing and at the end, as the last firework fell to the ground, it started to snow!   Up and down Main Street snow fell from the tops of the buildings.  That was the most magical moment of the whole day.  Nice touch, Disneyland!

We went back to the hotel after that, feet aching and utterly wiped out.  The kids fell asleep before their heads hit the pillow and for our kids, that’s a miracle.   My overall impression of Disneyland this time around was, I admit, frustration.  The crowds and lines are harder to handle as an adult herding kids around the park.  But Rock and the kids had a great time.  I will always remember the snow on Main St. and the kids faces when they realized it was “snowing”.
Stay tuned for Part 4-Legoland!

Despite the airplanes and the dog barking, we were able to get a reasonable night’s sleep in Vegas.  The kids were beyond wild the next morning while I tried to get them ready for church.  It was like herding cats and and I kept hushing them and trying my best to keep them quiet.  Finally at one point I thought, “Ya know, I am so tired of  killing myself to keep them quiet and behaved in all settings.  It just doesn’t matter that much except to me.  I just make everyone miserable.” For those of you who know me, you are cheering right now for this little moment of self awareness. My husband the most.  So I stopped trying to fight the losing battle.  Not five minutes later, we got a phone call from the front desk telling us that we needed to be quieter because the people below us were complaining.  Yeah, it was pretty much as mortifying as I always knew it would be.  So much for self awareness.  Mother Witch returns.  Sorry, Husband.

After church we headed south again.  At some point throughout the day every child asked, “Where are we going?” To which we would smirkingly answer, “To Disneyland!!”  But that answer wasn’t good enough for them.  They wanted us to tell them either how much longer we’d be driving or what city we were in. We’ve decided it’s just the next generation version of “Are we there yet?”  They are smart enough to know we aren’t there yet.  They want all the info in between. 

I have to put in this little tidbit about Libby and auto flush toilets.  She is deathly afraid of them.  They are usually loud and obnoxious and as soon as she is done, she jumps off the dreaded toilet and plugs her ears.  I have a hard time getting her to go until she is desperate.  As you might imagine, we had to use them a lot on this road trip.  She was getting  pretty gun shy and on 0ne particular  potty break, I had to reassure her over and over that it would be ok, that THIS one wouldn’t be so loud.  Poor girl, that toilet flushed no less than three times while she was still sitting on the toilet!  I used to be grateful for auto flushing toilets.  I’m not really anymore.

Here we are after dinner that night.  Jack in the Box did not agree with me and Liberty was just super tired.

As we pulled into our hotel Sunday night Liberty said, “That was so long!  We could not even have walked here!” 

Nope.

We headed to Las Vegas today, our first stop on the road to Disneyland.  While packing last night Reagan actually spent 20 minutes trying to convince us that he needed his own room at the hotel.  This is wrong on so many levels I don’t even know where to begin.  His audacious display of entitlement almost made us cancel the whole stinking trip!  Ok, not really, but we seriously thought about leaving him home. 

This morning when we finished packing the car and told the kids to get in, Liberty asked, “Where are we going?”  To which Levi answered, “We’re going to Disneyland!!”  Duh!!  Not five minutes into the trip they were asking for food and before we even got out of Boise, Cade was asking, “Where are we?”   However, once out of Boise, for a good hour, we had glorious peace and quiet while everyone read a book or colored.  It was awesome!  That’s when you know you are in a good place.  Obviously, since that gloriousness did not last the other nine hours, we are not in as good a place as we would like to be.  But I can’t complain.  I think we made it the whole day without anyone asking us if we were there yet.  And we only had to stop for one roadside pee stop!

 
The kids definitely paid homage to the electronics god today, and then some.  But oh, what an easy day it was because of it.

When we pulled into Vegas for dinner the kids were all super excited to see their first palm tree. 

Then finally, after fighting over who would sleep on the couch, smearing toothpaste all over the bathroom counters and yelling loud enough to wake all of our hotel neighbors, the kids settled into bed.  We are now looking forward to a lovely night sleeping directly in the Vegas Airport flight path and next door to a barking dog, because apparently at the Marriot Residence Inn you can bring your dog. 

Stay tuned for more…