Thursday, June 23, 2011

Disneyland!!!

The day after graduation, we were OFF on a much needed family vacation and we went to Disneyland! The girls talked and talked about it for months. Of course, the main talk was about seeing the princess castle and meeting the princesses. Kai really loves Ariel and was just so excited to see her. They really had no idea what to expect and Austin and I were so excited to take them. Grosi, Vati, Jesse, Tara, Bella, and JJ drove from Utah and we all met up at the Hotel.
It was a faced paced, busy 3 days and we all had an amazing time! The kids were so happy and just had the time of their little lives. I post A LOT of pictures (hope your happy, Mom), along with descriptions of where we were and what we were doing.



This is the group! We loved being with all of them and it was fun to have Bella, Tyler and Kai together.

This was the rafting ride in Disneyland. I especially liked this ride because we could all go, even JJ! This ride was all powered by us... no motor, no track.. just our own rowing speed, and we had a lot of children in our canoe. It was a nice arm workout, that is for sure!

The roller coaster in Toon Town. Tyler really wanted to go on a roller coaster, so this made her especially happy. Kai was pretty excited, but during the ride she was scared and nervous, so she didn't want to go again, but Tyler went a second time with Austin.

Second time around with Dad!


The Dumbo ride in Fantasy Land!



Grosi brought all these fun Disney books, so the girls could read lots of Disney stories to go along with their Disney fun!

This was our first evening at Disneyland, shortly after we got there. We went to Goofy's Kitchen Restaurant for dinner. The dinner was so much fun because we saw so many Disney characters during dinner. They come right up to your table and dance, blow kisses, give hugs... the girls just LOVED this dinner.

It's a small world after all! The three girls enjoying it's a small world ride. I think they look so cute holding on and watching all the dancing figures.

Waiting in line for it's a small world ride.




Austin got this special treat for having just graduated!

Tyler really loves Mini Mouse, and she was the very first Disney Character we saw. She held Tyler's hand and skipped her to our table where we were going to sit for dinner, it was so adorable.

Do you notice Austin?


Tyler with her Grosi and Grosvati.

Mary Poppins was one of Grosi's favorite characters we saw, so she wanted a picture too.




This is Kai coloring a picture for Sleeping Beauty. She was very serious about the picture and worked hard on it during the meal, then Sleeping Beauty came back to our table to get it from Kai.

And the Princess visiting/pictures begin... al their favorites.

Snow White

Belle

And Kai's favorite moment of Disneyland... meeting Ariel. Just notice how tall and proud Kai is standing next to her... SO stinknin cute!!

Lunch at Ariel's Grotto.

At the ropes course at Disney Adventure. A place that the kids played for a very long time and really enjoyed.

Mickey Mouse!

For anyone that really knows Franklin and/or Austin, this picture says it all.

The next few pictures are from Cali Adventure in Bug's Life world.




THE princess castle!


Love for the Grosi!


This was our bed in the hotel. The headboard lit up and sang a song. It was very fun and the girls really loved it. They feel asleep to the "nightlight" of the lights.

Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse.


Friday, June 10, 2011

Austin's Graduation!

I am SO proud of Austin and his accomplishment! He graduated with honors from Pierce College with his degree in Nursing today. He has worked hard and been so dedicated to this education. It's not easy for a Dad with a family to just go back to school full time and put everything else on hold, especially for Austin who has a hard time learning in traditional ways with his ADHD and major stress/anxiety with test taking. BUT, he did it and he should be proud!
It was so fun for us to go watch him walk in his cap and gown, what an example to his little girls! Some of our great friends came to support him as well, that means so much to us, that they took the time and effort to come. Austin's brother, David, also came from Utah to represent his family and it's been so much fun to have him here with us for his first time in WA.

We had a celebration BBQ at our house after the graduation with more friends and family and we all had a great time. We are so blessed with the BEST neighborhood of such amazing friends and to have some family so close by to spend time with. I made Austin a cake for graduation, which since I am still learning this cake business, it took me A LOT of time, practice, and research to try and pull it off. But I can officially say that I have made more than just a princess castle came now!

Thank you to everyone that has supported and helped Austin and our family out while he has been in school. This is a great accomplishment and I know he will be amazing at whatever nursing he does.
Austin has one more graduation ceremony tomorrow which his his pinning ceremony and that is a big deal for a Nurse, so I will be posting more pictures tomorrow after that event.

Oh, these girls are too adorable! Just LOVE them!

Our family with Austin's brother, David.




THE cake!

These two pictures are just adorable of Uncle David and Kai. He is so good with the girls and they just adore him!

Some of these graduation pictures aren't the greatest because we were sitting so far away, but you get the idea.