Spring Break

This year spring break was an entire week--very rare for Utah! We thought it would be fun to take the kids to Disneyland as a surprise. So last Saturday night after the kids were in bed, we packed up the car and then woke them all up at 5 AM and said, "Let's go to Disneyland!" They were so funny, they didn't believe us and kept saying, "No way, really?" over and over. It was awesome. We made it to Anaheim in about 9 1/2 hours which wasn't too bad. The kids do well in the car, they don't need to stop a ton. We only stopped twice on the way down.

We went to California Adventure on Monday and had a great time. We practically walked onto every ride and the weather was perfect.

Tom and the kids in the Monster's Inc car.

I LOVE Dopey! I was so happy to get a picture of the family with him!

I absolutely will not go on ANY spinning rides, otherwise I will be sick all day! Good thing Tom loves them!

This is the family in their 3-D glasses getting ready for the Bug's Life movie, "It's Tough to be a Bug" which was so cute.

That night we took the kids to the beach. The water was FREEZING cold and it was only 65 degrees out but the kids didn't mind. They just love the beach!

The next three days were spent in Disneyland. We love Disneyland so much, no matter how many times we go we never get tired of it. The lines were short on Tuesday and Wednesday but by Thursday it was starting to get a bit more crowded. We saw a ton of people from Utah there that we knew which was a lot of fun. One fun thing that happened was when we were on Splash Mountain the ride broke down. We were in a log at the top of the ride so we had to wait for an employee who came and helped us out of the log and then we all walked down the entire ride. It was pretty wild!





Anyone who enjoys the show "Biggest Loser" will appreciate this story. Last week was the season finale of the show in LA so all the contestants were there with their families. Roger, one of the three finalists on the show was at Disneyland our last day there! We saw him while in line for Splash Mountain and then again when we got off. We were able to talk to him and ask questions about the show, but we didn't want to know who won...it was on DVR at home! Tom got a picture with him--he and his wife were really so nice. It was our version of a celebrity!

Country Reports

All sixth graders are assigned a country and have to do a report and display on their country. It is quite involved and the project lasts for several months. Hailey chose to do her report on Sweden because the Liljenquist family comes directly from Sweden, just 3 or 4 grandpa's back! Hailey learned a lot about the country of her ancestors and even interviewed a lady who was born and raised in Sweden and came to the U.S. when she was Hailey's age. She found out that it was really common to change your last name because in Sweden there weren't a ton of different names and people wanted more individuality so changing your last name was kind of the thing to do. We already knew that Liljenquist was really Nielsen but one of the ancestors changed it to be more unique! That it is!

Oh and thank heavens for Ikea...we were able to go up there and grab some Swedish treats to display and hand out. How's that for convenience!

Easter

Easter sure came early this year! When it falls in March for some reason it just feels so rushed to me. It also makes for a cold Easter Sunday with the new Easter church clothes! But we had another successful year of easter egg hunts at home and at Grandma Bringhurst's house.

The kids looking sharp in their new Easter clothes.

Congratulations Hailey!!

Hailey was one of the four finalists from the sixth grade to compete in the Provost Elementary School Spelling Bee. She practiced words all week with mom and dad and when the school spelling bee came she was calm and confident each time she was up to spell. She ended up getting third place for the entire school. Way to go Hailey!! We are so proud of you!

Dinosaur Museum

We haven't been the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point since it first opened many years ago, before Dax was born. So we decided to take the kids and see all the new and improved things there.

I am wearing my sweet pink sunglasses because I had just gotten lasik on my eyes the day before and the bright lights were still bothering me.

We looked at all the cool displays and then let the kids play in the sand.

After we watched the 3-D Dinosaur movie we took the kids to the Paleontologist lab to make their own fossils. It was a lot of fun exploring the new activities at the museum.

Yes, We DO Live in Utah!

I cannot believe this winter! There has been SO much more snow than in the last few years. We are just constantly being dumped on day after day. My kids LOVE the snow, they love to play in it, walk to school in it, have snowball fights, and build forts and caves in it with Tom. Tom and I have mixed feelings about it. I enjoy snow in December, close to Christmas, and only on days I don't have to DRIVE anywhere and I can just drink hot chocolate and watch it come down. Tom likes almost everything about snow--except the shoveling! He even enjoys driving in it, but he is really good at driving on ice and snowpack. Me, not so much, even after all these years of practice! This particular evening Dax and Gage decided they would help Dad shovel. They did a pretty good job for the first few minutes, but then as the flakes got bigger and bigger they gave up and wanted to play.

Dax with a shovel that's bigger than he is!

Dax and Gage..notice the huge snowflakes!
Yes, Tom is one of THOSE guys who shovels in shorts no matter what the temperature is!

Dax's Birthday

My house is a mess but instead of using a Saturday afternoon to catch up on chores I am using it to update my blog! At least my priorities are straight!

Dax turned 6 on December 9. He had a fun friend party on Saturday the 8th and then all the family came over that night to celebrate. Birthdays in our family are quite the production, but it's always a great reason to get together and see everyone. It's nice we all live so close that we can do that.Here is Dax with his friends. To the right of Dax, in the red, white, and blue striped shirt is Erin's little boy Dallen. In the front with the maroon and navy striped shirt is Noelle's little boy Braden. The kids had a great time playing games and eating treats. The party went over about 2 hours because of a massive snowstorm which prevented parents picking their kids up on time!
Later that evening was more presents, more cake, and more ice cream with both sets of Grandparents and numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins.



Because Dax's birthday is so close to Christmas we really have to make an effort to make his birthday an important time. We usually wait to put up Christmas until the 10th to give Dax a genuine birthday celebration. With that being said...on to Christmas!!