Standing on Corner

Marilee's husband Mikell is from the thriving Metropolis of Winslow. It is a very windy place. This particular weekend we were there the wind was blowing extra hard and it blew so hard that the power went out for a couple of hours. It is really hard to set up for a reception with no light. We were able to set up ok and then the power came back on.

We stayed at the Quality Inn, and there wasn't anything too quality about it. The guy who was in charge of the breakfast was very stingy and wouldn't bring out too much food and you had to ask for some things, lame. We did have some fun swimming in the pool with my nieces and nephews. It was an interesting get away and I don't think I will be returning to Winslow anytime soon, there was nothing making me want to go back.

We had to have Mikell take us to "the corner". You can't go to Winslow and not go visit it. It is really kind of funny, because there really isn't a building in the picture, it is just a wall.

Here is my beautiful cake again. It lasted all week! Since it was fake, it was stored in my parents room so that it could make the journey to Winslow, and it survived! The people of Winslow were impressed with my cake decorating skills.

And then there was one

On May 19 my Baby Sister got married. It was a busy weekend of festivities. They got married on a Thursday, and had their reception of Friday. Since this school year I have been working part-time three days a week, Thursday was one of the days I taught. It was very interesting finding a sub, I was very nervous about it, but I found a great lady to cover my classes. I felt bad getting a sub that day just because I only see those kids once a week and the next Thursday was the last day of school and not all of them would come to music again. Oh well, such is life and it all worked out great.

The cake turned out great, and I think they said it tasted good as well.

Surprise, Surprise, I caught the bouquet.  Now lets see if its powers will work.  I am the next to get married in my family, since I am the last one standing. 

Spring Break

For spring break this year I went with my cousin Emilie, her two daughters and friend Kelle to Oceanside California. We had a blast. I also got a little taste of motherhood, because Annie, the youngest was about 6 months old and so I would sometimes wake up when she would in the middle of the night.

Here are some of the pictures I took, and my attempt of being an artsy photographer. I love the beach and just sitting there listening to the water, so relaxing.

Brisa is a hilarious two year old. Here she is playing with my sunglasses. We became good friends on this trip, and sometimes she still likes to play with me.

We took a stroll down the beach one morning and saw all sorts of things. We had to pose in front of the beach, its kind of obligatory. There were tons of moms out taking their kids for a job by the beach in their jogging stroller. I decided that maybe I should move to the beach and start my own mom and me jogging group. We also saw some very attractive military guys out for jogs. I wouldn't mind taking one of them home with me!

We drove up the coast to see the sights, and it was so beautiful. Too bad I don't have a million dollars to buy a gorgeous house on the beach, that would be living the high life.

We wanted to find some more beaches to explore, so someone recommended the childrens beach to us. We were kind of confused as to why it was just for children, I'm sure adults would like it too! Well when we got there we find out why it was the childrens beach. Each year that beach is where sea lions return to have their babies, and a treat for us, it was baby season. The beach was roped off a little so that we couldn't go and disturb the bonding time with the little ones. It was really neat to see. Kelle and I made up our interpretation of the conversations some of the baby sea lions were having with their parents as they were just sitting on the beach soaking up the sun.

I really enjoyed our time in Oceanside. Each Thursday they have a farmers market in the morning and a Sunset Market at night. It is a really cool atmosphere. We didn't make it to the farmers market since we were sight seeing, but the sunset market was fun. They had a stage for local bands to perform and tons of vendors. We couldn't stay too long because the little girls were getting tires. I can't wait to go to California again, visit the market again and go to the San Diego temple. I have wanted to go there for so long, and now that I can I really need to go. Hopefully at the end of summer I can find a time to go.

Abby and Disneyland

In November I had the chance to go with my parents, sister, brother-in-law and adorable niece Abby to Disneyland. Abby is obsessed right now with Mickey. When I say obsessed I mean OBSESSED! Anything 3 circles together is Mickey, it is really cute. Kim thought it would be fun to take her to Disneyland and meet Mickey while she is in this obsession stage. It was a really quick trip but tons of fun!

It was cold and rainy which made the park not too busy which was a plus for us!  Kim wanted a good picture with Mickey so we went straight to Toontown so that Abby's hair wouldn't get messed up before she got her picture.

We got to Toontown right as it was opening and went straight to Mickey's house.  Toontown was really empty and that made us really happy because usually it can be really busy and we didn't want to wait in a really long line but knew that we may have to.  So we started walking through Mickey's house and then all of the sudden Mickey came around a corner and Abby was so shocked to see him, her reaction was priceless.  It was kind of like wait, am I really seeing you? Is this for reals? He then took her by the hand and walked her back to his front room where he was doing the meet and greet.  She was in awe of meeting her obsession.  She enjoyed walking through the rest of his house.  We then went to Minnie's house and she had fun meeting her.  We also got to meet Pluto and Goofy the 2nd time we went to Mickey's house. 

We rode a couple of rides, and knew we weren't going to ride too many with a 2 year old.  We went on Winnie the Pooh and the cast members let us go twice in a row without getting off.  Kim, John and I then went on Splash Mountain because we figured we were already wet, we couldn't get too much more wet!  Half way through the day we decided to go back to the hotel and change into some fresh dry clothes so that we wouldn't get sick.  We had fun hopping between the 2 parks catching the must sees that we wanted to ride.

Here is Mom and I waiting for the fireworks.  Unfortunately we didn't get to see them because they said it was too windy.  Oh well, I guess I have seen enough fireworks in my day, and I will probably get to see them again someday.

Here is Abby and I waiting to see "World of Color" Disney's new nighttime spectacular at California Adventure.  It was a long wait and you have to stand the whole time too.  It's an ok show, not the biggest fan, but it was good and I like the newness of it having the newer movies that Fantasmic doesn't have.

Here we are browsing through the shops to see if there any souvenirs we would like.  She was very tired at the end of the evening.  She is really silly and loves to stick her hand down her pants so that she is touching the diaper, but not inside it. We all went back to the hotel and crashed.  We found a ward down the street to attend church in the morning and then headed back.  It was so nice to visit Disneyland again, hadn't been in a couple years.  I love that it was decorated for Christmas.  I love Christmas and love how Disney decorates for Christmas, it makes me super happy and giddy!

Another wedding

On January 1st my little sister Marilee got engaged to Mikell Decker. They are a super cute couple and met in choir down at Eastern Arizona College. They are getting married May 19. It will be nice to have time to plan this wedding unlike my dear sister Tiffany.

The proposal was kind of fun. Marilee had no clue it was coming, it was awesome. Mikell is from Winslow and spent a few days during the break down in the valley, and Mar spent a few days up there with him. Her and her friend Devon had fun getting to know his family. Mikell took them to the "corner" and the girls really enjoyed it. So her friend Devon clued me in as to what was going down because she was working with Mikell to get things done. He wanted to propose at the Temple at sunrise. So New Years morning I woke up at about 6:45 am for Devon to take Mikell and I down to the temple. Mikell found the perfect spot to propose where they could watch the sunrise after popping the question. I went as the photographer. I hid behind some trees and got some fun pics. Devon went back to the house to get Mar and woke her up telling some sob story about needing to go help her sister down at the temple. I knew that Mar wouldn't want to get out of bed that early and warned Devon of the struggle it would be to get her up. They finally made they way back to the temple and Mikell found Mar and then said some gushy stuff and popped the question. Mar was kind of upset because she was in pjs and he was dressed up in a suit and she hadn't brushed her teeth or put a bra on. It was really funny to hear her reaction about the whole thing.

The happy couple will be getting married May 19 and then we will have the reception on the 20 since we do everything and we need the time to not go crazy! Hopefully my day will come sometime soon, I know it will. Just have to keep being patient and help my mother keep her sanity planning my little sister's weddings.