Mission Memories

Aaron has had a stack of his mission pictures hanging around the house for quite a while. I decided I can no longer wait for him to get them into the scrapbook that he started three years ago and have taken matters into my own hands. :) I started scanning them about two weeks ago and I'm almost up to 300 pictures with a 1" stack left to go. After they're all scanned in we're going to create a nice and tidy mission book on Shutterfy (love them) that will look great on our bookshelf. Yay! Here are some of my favorites:

Snow in September! I don't think this Arizona boy was quite prepared!

The snow started falling but the heater didn't get the message. They had to wait for two days before it turned on. BRRR!

As a mom all I can see is: accident waiting to happen.

Proof that he knows how to clean! J/K Aaron helps whenever he can. Thanks honey!

That's one hard-working missionary! I hope our boys will follow in Aaron's footsteps.

Harbor Cruise, Long Beach

Aquarium of the Pacific

Disney's California Adventure

The boys were trying on all the fun hats inside one of the shops. This one had Buzz Lightyear on one side and Zurg on the other. They had a great time, I just tried not to think about all the other heads they'd been on!


Parker and Dallin had to take turns at the Tuck & Roll Drive 'em Buggies. McKay was too little to go and Parker was too short to ride by himself. So Aaron got to go on this ride several times!


Here's Parker climbing the rock wall at Redwood Creek Challenge Trail. This play area had lots of rope bridges, a zip line, and a theater for the Brother Bear show.


After riding the teacups Mckay knew he would like this ride, Francis' Ladybug Boogie.


Heimlich's Chew Chew Train lasted about 30 seconds, seriously. I'm glad we never had to wait for this ride! They did have some cute effects in it though, water squirting at you when you went through a watermelon and the smell of cookies while driving through an animal cracker box. The boys enjoyed it.


Parker is a fan of 3D movies so we made sure to see them all. Here they are at "It's Tough to be a Bug!" with their bug glasses. The other shows we liked were the 3D Muppet show, Playhouse Disney, Aladdin (45 minutes long, but it was great!), and the Jedi Training Academy (the boys go gaga for anything Star Wars at the moment).

Mickey's Toontown

DISNEYLAND!

For our first day at Disneyland we had everything planned out, down to the minute (thank you RideMax!). We headed for Peter Pan as soon as the park opened and were one of the first guests on the ride. This probably wasn't the best start for a two year old. As soon as we got inside the ride McKay started wailing. Something about being in the dark on a flying ship maybe? Luckily, two year olds forget very quickly and he was fine as soon as we got off the ride.

We continued exploring Fantasyland for the rest of the morning. McKay was a huge fan of the teacups and wanted to ride them whenever we walked by. He's very into the "I want to do everything myself" phase and wouldn't let me touch the wheel!

The boys loved the Winnie the Pooh ride, it didn't involve any fast drops or water. Two of the things that Aaron and I love! Aaron did manage to get the boys on Splash Mountain, but only once.

As soon as Aaron and the boys saw Buzz they stuck with him like glue. We didn't realize this until a couple days into our trip, but the characters don't just walk around and say hi. They have a specific spot where they stand and a line forms to get their autograph and picture. If you aren't right behind them while they're walking to their spot, you have to wait in a very slow line!

Tom Sawyer's Island is now home to Pirate's Lair. They have lots of caves to explore and a sunken pirate ship. Here the boys are pumping the water out of a sunken ship to see what treasures lie inside.

I think Autopia and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters were the boys two favorite rides. We went on each ride at least three times. They also loved the new Finding Nemo Submarines. They definitely did not love us for dragging them on the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Matterhorn, but they'll thank us later.

Los Angeles Temple

While planning for our vacation we decided that we would stick to our Sunday routine as much as possible. We attended the Anaheim 4th Ward Sunday morning, the official Mickey Mouse ward of the church (Disneyland is in it's boundaries!). They had Relief Society, then Sunday School, and finally Sacrament Meeting. I am so glad that our wards are not set up this way. The Sunday we were there happened to be fast Sunday and the meeting ran over, of course, and after three hours of sitting, our kids just needed to be done. Luckily, we made it through with only a few annoyed glances at our rowdy brood! (Just kidding, everyone was very nice.)

After naps we drove north to the LA temple. (The Newport temple was actually closer, but it was closed while we were there.) Parker asked on the way if a "man was going to be standing on the temple". I was happily surprised that he remembered that many of the temples have a Moroni statue. And indeed the first part of the temple that we could see was Moroni. The temple stands on a hill overlooking the city and the grounds were beautiful, as I'm sure all are. We were hoping to go the visitor's center while there, but it was closed for renovation. So, we walked around the temple and enjoyed the view and the peaceful spirit that was there.