Christmas Cards!

Well, I have made my christmas cards thanks to shutterfly. They should be here in a couple of days. Then I will be able to mail them. My Christmas list is getting smaller. Which that is great! I hope everyone is doing well. - Brit

Starry Snowflakes Christmas 5x7 folded card

Get custom photo Christmas cards online at Shutterfly.com.

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Christmas cards!

It is that time of a year where everyone has to get their yearly family photo taken and then go about looking for that perfect card. I have always loved the cards that I get from friends and family. This year I heard that shutterfly is doing a fun promotion where we blog about our favorite cards on their site and get 50 for free. I have loved some of the ones that I have received from friends form this website. http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards

So, this year I have a great family picture and am now looking to get a neat card to match.

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards

Looking at shutterfly's website I love the starlight joy card. I think it will look great with my picture. I also love With Love Chartreuse Christmas 5x7 folded card I think that it would be fun to show our family photo along with some individual photos. another card that I an looking at is the Classic Scarlet Frame Christmas 5x7 folded card, I love the simplicity of this card.
The image that I am using has an old feel to it. So, the Peace On Earth Religious Christmas 5x7 folded card could look really nice with it. It can be found in the holiday photo card area, http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationeryWell, those are some of the cards that I saw that I enjoyed. I guess you will have to wait and see what this years card is going to be.
Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving.

Mickey's Halloween Party

So, this year we decided to go to the Mickey's Halloween party in Disneyland. We had so much fun while we were there. We found new and fun places to eat, the decorations were so fun and the kids had a blast. We got to California on Sunday 10-10-10. That was our first day in the park. The kids were so excited to see the Giant Mickey pumpkin and all of the decorations that covered the park.

We at a one Character Breakfast two times. It was so fun. The kids enjoyed being able to just relax and meet some fun Characters.

Many of the Characters are in Costumes out in the front of the park. I thought that it would be fun to have Jared get his picture with a Disney version of what an officer of the law might look like.

One thing I noticed about this trip was there were lines, lines and more lines. But the kids were just happy to be in Disneyland again.

While in Disneyland we were able to hang out with my Aunt Jane, Uncle Scott and Cousin Jared. It was so fun just spending the day with them.

I should not be surprised that Lexi fell in Love with my Aunt Jane. Jane is so sweet and fun to be around. She and her son Jared are two peas in a pod. And Lexi adores both of them.

Here is a big group shot of all of us infront of the giant pumpkin. My parents, our little family, my Aunt Jane and Uncle Scott and Cousin Jared.

Minnie and Friends Breakfast in the Park at the Plaza Inn was fun. Like I said earlier we ate there twice this trip. One it was nice to beable to walk in the park and sit down for a meal with out waiting in a line and Two, the kids had a blast seeing the characters.

Logan wanted to make sure that he was in the picture for this Character. He is at that age where there are some he wants to see and others he could care less about.

You can not go to Disneyland during the fall and winter and not take time to see the amazing Pumpkin King, Jack Skellington. Sally is always at his side when the pose for pictures near the Haunted Mansion.

The Haunted Mansion is decorated all up in the Nightmare Before Christmas Style. It is so fun to see all the Nightmare stuff decorating the the Mansion. I loved the smell of the Giant Gingerbread house that sits on the table where the ghosts are having a party.

Jack is not only out during the day but if you go to the Halloween party he has a special spot to meet and greet people as well as he has a dance party right next door that we stops by to dance in every so often.

Here is Jack Skellington at the meet and greet.

Here is Jack Skellington at the Dace party. He is getting ready to teach us all a dance.

Here we are with Jack at the Meet and greet. Uncle Scott was Gus, My dad was Linguini with Remy on his shoulder, Logan was a Jedi, Lexi was Cinderella I was Snow White, Jane was the Fairy Godmother, My mom was Malificent and Jared was Prince Charming.

Here we are with Jack Skellington. Jared was a good sport about being Prince Charming to go along with Lexi's costume. Everyone thought that they looked so cute together. When we were over by the villians area Anastasia, Drizilla and Lady Tremanie started calling out for Jared. They Yelled "Prince Charming Yohoo!" When they got to Jared they were trying to get him to pick them over Lexi. It was very cute and Jared liked having the girls react to him that way.

All over the park they have these ghost Mickey Mouse lights and tricker treat stations and fog machines going. They have fun halloween music playing and they also have swirling fun shapes on the ground and on the building. The park also has a Halloween Parade and Fireworks show.

When entering the park, They give you only a really narrow walk way so that they can constantly check your braclets to make sure that you paid to be ther for the party. Then the line opens up and you are in the party. Well, as we were going through the line. Two workers had pointed out LExi and Jared then saw Logan and me and then heard me tell my mom and dad to hurry so we would not miss Jack's first show. A worker named Lorrie and Chris stopped me and said, "You are all one big family!" I smiled and nodded. The two workers looked at each other and then at us and said we have to have you in our show. We said that sounded like fun and that is how we got to be party of the Halloween Parade.

Here is the picture that they gave us as a Thank You for being in the parade. While we waited for the parade to start the dancers and the characters came up to the car to say hi and wave. Lexi was so excited to see all of them and Logan thought it was a blast to get to see what it looked like backstage. Logan was a ham. He loved waving at the crowd and smiling at people. Lexi could not decided what side of the car she wanted to wave from. When the parade was over Lexi turned to us and said," I am so working here when I am 18."

When the party started to winded down they had the fireworks show. I loved them. It was so amazing and fun to watch. I have to say, although the trip was fast and it was hard to meet up with many of the friends and family we were hoping to see I would have to say the trip was amazing!

Girls vs. Boys

On my birthday, we left Disneyland to come home. But before we did we had arranged to split up. The girls would go and do something very girly while the boys did boy stuff.

The men dropped Lexi, my Mom and me off in front of the American Girl store.

Lexi thought that she had died and gone to Heaven. I have never seen a doll store like this. Before we left for California I knew that we were going to make this stop so I made lunch reservations and made sure that we brought Sophia with us to California. Here is Lexi with Sophia in front of the store itching to go in and look around. As soon as we walked in to the store we had to head up stairs to the restaurant for lunch. At the cafe they have little chairs so that your doll can sit next to you and they give each girl a hair tie that is wrapped around their napkins. While we eat there is a little china setting for your doll to pretend she is eating with you. At the table al little table conversation starters, Lexi had fun reading the questions to us and waiting to hear what we thought. When you get in the restaurant they as you what you would like to drink. They they bring you these wonderful bite sized sticky buns. After your drinks arrive they bring you some vegetables and little doll sized rolls to eat while you wait for your food. The food there is very good. For desert they bring you a cookie, a piece of cake and a chocolate moose flower pt for each of you. All in all the cafe was a neat little treat. After that we took Lexi to the Photo area where we had her picture taken and placed on an American Girl magazine. She thought that this was very neat.

Every where you look as you wonder around are doll displayed and in the clothes that they can wear and things for the dolls to hold. Lexi had a very hard time figuring out what she really wanted.Lanie is the doll of the Year. Lexi thinks that she is very neat. WHen she saw that you could get you picture taken at this spot she was very excited to have hers taken.With so much to see and look at Lexi had a blast. It was fun to share that time with her as she went from room to room. She looked at dolls and clothes and the hair styles you can do to them. For a store I had to say I was very impressed.

The Boys went to the LaBrea Tar pit while we were at the American Girl store. The two places are only a few blocks apart.

Jared, Logan and my Dad looked at the Tar and Dinosaur bones that were all over the park. Her they are in front of some of the bones that were found in the tar pits in LA. Logan liked looking at the exhibits and the different types of creatures that roamed the earth a long time ago. Logan told me he thought it was so much fun spending guy time. There were no girls wanting to shop which he loved. Here he is trying to pretend that he was scared by the saber tooth tiger. He was impressed that it was big and had very big teeth. All over the park were pits with tar. Logan thought that it was neat that as they walked in the park they almost stepped in tar a couple of times. After they were done with the tar pits they headed over to the Farmers Market where they had lunch and we met up with them to talk about our day. When they were done we started to head for home.

The kids had a great time at Disneyland and doing their own things. But we were all glad to be home though when we finally saw it around 10:30 that night.

Disneyland

So, our trip to the Disneyland Resort lasted five days. This was a magical trip from start to finish. I guess I do not have to question then why between myself who took a little over 500 hundred pictures, the Photo pass people that took 75 and my Dad that took an additional 200, that we ended up with around 800 pictures. We got to the park on Sunday in the early afternoon, checked into the Paradise Pier hotel which we love to stay at. From there our Disneyland trip started up. Between shopping, shows, rides and a chance to chat with family the trip we fun and ended lasting the perfect amount of time. Here is just a sampling of the pictures that we took while at the park.

One of the days that we were at the park we decided to go to see the new show that is called the World of Color. I highly recommend it to anyone that is going to the park. I would also recommend buying the picnic lunch that you buy online. they give you a reusable bag, a full meal, plus a drink and for the kids they give them a light up wristband. With this meal you get to have passes to see the show, without standing in line for the fast passes. The meal was not great but well worth not standing inline for tickets for the show. We saw lots of characters while we were at the park. My favorite this year had to be Bert and Mary Poppins. While on this trip I was celebrating my Birthday. While in Disneyland I got a priceless treasure that as we speak is getting framed right now. Bert and Mary Poppins took Logan, Lexi and I for a ride on the Carousal in Fantasyland. We fluffed our hair and cleaned our clothes and waved at the people that Watched. Lexi thought this was wonderful. Just before we got on the ride Bert gave me a wonderful birthday present. A drawing of Mary Poppins, both he and Mary Poppins signed it.Personal, I think he did a wonderful job capturing Mary Poppins likeness. The Message that he wrote was, "Thank You for Our lovely Jolly Holiday on the Carousel! Love Mary Poppins and Bert"Logan's favorite things in the world are trains. Something that he and Walt Disney have in common. Every time we go to Disneyland Logan tries to get a ride in the engine with the train drivers. Here he is with the two men. They were both very sweet to him and told him lots of fun facts about the train. I am sure that Logan will want to come and work at Disneyland so he can drive the train.Both Lexi and Grandma loved going in to all of the shops. It did not matter what the store was both of them wanted to see what the next stores treasures held. Lexi loved trying on all of the different hats. She thought that the Dale hat was very funny. Grandma on the other hand really liked the Mad Hatter hat with hair included. I think that the hat looks great and every time I see this I get a good laugh out of the picture.Logan and Alexis might fight a great deal but they do love each other. When we were over at California Adventure I was able to get this cute shot of them. One of the many shows that we saw was the Jedi training. Logan got to be part of that show. He thought it was very neat to learn all the different moves. Then at the end Darth Vader and Darth Mal came out and fought with the kids. Here is Logan battling Darth Mal. At the end he got a certificate saying that he is now a Jedi knight. He thought that was very cool. Before we left he had to get a light saber so he could keep practicing his moves.Here is a shot of all six of us. We had just ridden the Toy Story Mania ride and the kids had won lots of prizes at the Midway Game Gallery. The kids had a blast.
While Logan was riding the train. I took Lexi to the Bippiti Boppiti Boutique. There you can get your daughters hair done and have them dressed up as a princess. We decided to just get her hair done. Lexi loves to have her hair and nails done. Here is a picture of her with her Fairy Godmother that helped her accomplish her wonderful hair style. Lexi wanted a picture of herself at the Princess area. So, here is a close up of her. She told me later that she felt like a princess. Which was the point of going there. Together the kids got to be in two shows. The first was the Celebrate parade. They thought it was great fun being pulled onto the street and dancing with the characters. The next show was one with Mary Poppins and Bert in front of the Castle. They sang and danced with Bert and Mary Poppins. One thing that I have noticed about Disneyland is that everything look new. Everywhere you look there is a special eye for detail. When you are at the park you can take a picture almost anywhere and it looks amazing. Lexi's Top five rides in Disneyland:

1. King Authur Carousel (She loves to ride it. Plus this trip was even more fun to ride it with Mary Poppins and Bert)

2. It's a Small World

3. The Mad Tea Party

4. Dumbo the Flying Elephant

5. The Many Adventure of Winnie the Pooh

Lexi's Top five ride in California adventure:

1. Jumpin' Jellyfish

2. Toy Story Mania!

3. Monsters Inc : Mike and Sully to the rescue

4. Flik's Flyers

5. Francis' Ladybug Boogie

Logan's top five rides at Disneyland:

1. Autotopia

2. Monorail

3. Gadget's Coaster

4. Casey Jr. Train

5. Disneyland Train

Logan's top five at California Adventure:

1. Toy Story Mania

2. Tuck and Roll's Drive ' Em Buggies

3. Heimlich's Chew Chew Train

4. Monster's Inc: Mike and Sully to the Rescue

5. Francis' Ladybug BoogieEvery day while we were in the park Lexi would grab one of our hands and try to drag us over the the balloons. She wanted one very badly. Finally on the last day we gave in and got her a Tinkerbell and Logan a Buzz Lightyear.Here is Logan and Lexi with Bert and Mary Poppins after there ride on the carousel. They had a wonderful time. While in Toon Town you have to act a little goofy. Which is Logan's favorite character. Here is Logan pulling on the dumb bells. Lexi then of course had to try for herself. Which then lead to the two of them trying to out do each other with posing in front of all kinds of stuff in Toon Town. Logan thought that the door was very funny. Another show that we saw was the Playhouse Disney show. It was very cute and the kids had a blast seeing the characters on stage. Stitch was very cute to both kids after the Playhouse Disney show.Logan thought the Green Army Men were neat and Lexi just wanted to see Jessie and Woody. The Bug's Life area in California Adventure is a hoot. Everything there helps you to feel like you have shrunk to bug size. The kids had a blast running around in there. The day that we celebrated my birthday we took the kids to the PCH Grill for breakfast. The kids had a blast and Logan thought that it was funny that Stitch kept wanting to take my presents. That night we got to met up with my Aunt and my cousin Breanne, her little family and Jared. It was great to eat dinner with them and hang out in the room and visit for awhile.

So, that was our magical trip to the Disneyland Resort.