California

Disneyland

On Dumbo

Some Resting Time

Party Time

Beach

San Diego Temple

Seaworld

It was so nice to be in California. The weather alone was worth the drive. It was heavenly to wear flip flops, shorts, and have the girls wear the same thing without having to sport boots, pants, gloves, heavy jackets, and beanies on them. We drove to San Diego. As we got closer to the ocean you could smell and feel the moisture in the air. The girls loved (which is an understatement) staying in a hotel for a couple days. San Diego was fun. We saw all the shows and most of the marine life available to us. Of course the favorite was the Shamu show. I don't thinnk Jordyn's eyes blinked once. She was riveted with what she saw there. In the morning we had to take a break as I realized Syndey was suffering from an ear infection. Thankfully I have an awesome friend, who just lives a few houses down from us in AK, who is also my children's pediatrician. We called her and she faxed a perscription of antibiotics. A few hours later we were back at the park ready to go.
Then we drove to La Habra and stayed at a friends house while they were out of town. We attended Grandma Marianne's annual New Year's Eve party. It is always a treat to go to that party to see and catch up with family, eat, play games, open presents, and watch the grandkids play with each other. Luckily the girls had a great long and late nap and stayed up till midnight. We then quickly crashed after that. Jeff's cousin hooked us up with free Disneyland tickets. We went there with other family members. I wish I could've gone on the rides. This was the first time that Sydney went on the "big" rides. She measured just at 40 inches which allows her to go on many of the big rides. We got to the park as soon as it opened and did many of the kid rides. Jordyn loved them as well. Jeff's dad came and with his handy handicap pass we were able to cut in front of many lines. So Jeff, Sydney, Tim, Tyler, Katherine, and Rachel went on Splash Mountain, being Sydney's first big ride. She absolutely loved it. From that point on, all she wanted to go on were the roller coaster rides. She went on Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Pirates, and Soarin' Over Cali. and she would've gone on more. Parenting is even more enjoyable as I see Sydney getting bigger and doing things that me and Jeff do too. We love visiting our family and friends in So cal and were sad to leave not knowing when the next time we'll see them again.
Since we've been back to Cedar City, Sydney has gone skiing two more times. She is a stud. She goes to the top of the mountain, refuses help to get off the lift wanting to do it all by herself and successfully gets down the mountain by doing her wedges and making her turns. She actually shows off when she skis under the lift. She's learned that if she does jumps and skis under the "slow sign", people from the lift will cheer for her. She loves when people cheer for her. People throughout the day ask how old she is and comments how good she is. I wish I could go with her but she's had treasured alone moments with Jeff and my parents. Jeff just left yesterday to AK to work for a wee and then he's off traveling so I decided to stay with my parents for another week and a half while he is traveling.