I am so thankful that I started writing some of my memories down about this trip on the blog, because I think there is a lot I could have missed! I'm so thankful to not forget these stories! I didn't write everything down, so from now on this album might not be as detailed, but I hope to get my families' memories down too! I am happy that I made a trip planner and that I can use it, my photos, and all the memories my family can remember to get the journaling down. This trip was so magical that I just am so excited to be finally scrapping it! It's so important to write down your memories and I am happy that I am starting to scrapbook again and hopefully get many pages done so that my family legacy can be remembered! I feel bad that I am so behind on all my albums, but I have to start where ... [Read More]
storybook
Jolly Holiday Surprise Adventure | First Magic Moments
FIRST MAGIC MOMENTS December 6, 2014 After revealing the secret, we all just couldn't wait to get to the hotel. Our shuttle FINALLY arrived and we loaded our bags and ourselves and began our journey. At this point we let the kids know that not only were we going to Disneyland, but we were actually going to be staying in the DISNEYLAND HOTEL! Ahhh! The shuttle driver kept us entertained with Disney music as we drove from Long Beach to Anaheim. Before we knew it, we were pulling up in front of the Disneyland Hotel. We grabbed our bags and excitedly walked in. The kids immediately gravitated to the cute teacup seats. At the front desk, Joey and I got checked in, amidst a little complication with our credit card (the transaction got flagged, since we don't take a whole lot of trips - ... [Read More]
Jolly Holiday Surprise Adventure | The Surprise – Part 3
THE SURPRISE - Part 3 December 6, 2014 The kids were so excited about going on a plane. I have to admit that I was pretty excited myself. I've always enjoyed flying and I hadn't been on a plane since before the kids were born! A look at our plane before boarding.... The plane was really crowded and there were some other families on board, obviously heading to Disneyland - I was so afraid that the kids would guess where we were going. But we were able to distract them with watching tv and looking out the window! One of my favorite things about flying is seeing the clouds so up and personal! It was an easy flight and it went by quickly and before I knew it we were landing in Long Beach, CA. While we waited for our baggage, we went ahead and started the ... [Read More]
Jolly Holiday Surprise Adventure | The Surprise – Part 2
THE SURPRISE - Part 2 December 6, 2014 At about this point, Beth realized that this surprise wasn't going to be just a day event and that she was going to miss her Christmas Choir Concerts. (We had planned this trip before she even joined choir and there just wasn't any way we could make it work. We had told her choir teacher about the trip and she kept it a secret for us.) When Beth realized this, she had a bit of a meltdown. She was so excited about being in choir and the concerts - I had been feeling bad all week because of how excited she was about it. After much comforting and promises that it would be worth it, she calmed down. I loved that Joey asked her, "Do you trust me?" She nodded her head through the tears and Joey said, "I promise you that you will love this surprise and ... [Read More]
Jolly Holiday Surprise Adventure | The Surprise – Part 1
THE SURPRISE - Part 1 December 6, 2014 ** I have been so excited about this trip that of course I had been packed for weeks. But the night before the trip, we attended my niece's birthday party and then came home and had the kids go to bed early! And then final preparations were made by Joey and I, including getting the bags in the car and the "treasures" hidden and such. We were so excited that I don't think we really got any sleep! Let the Adventure begin... We woke the kids up at 6:00 am with a "Merry Christmas!" They were so confused but we told them to go get in the shower and get dressed. They were not too enthused about getting up so early on a Saturday morning. They got ready and sleepily arrived in the living room to this: That actually woke them up pretty good! ... [Read More]
Jolly Holiday Surprise Adventure | The Storybook
THE STORYBOOK So one of the fun things that Joey and I planned for our kids, is a special storybook. We decided we wanted to put together a storybook that little by little revealed the surprise trip for our kids! I have LOVED doing this project with Joey. He wrote the story and I illustrated the book - it was so fun doing this together! We just picked up the books today and I'm so excited with how they turned out! So we will be waking the kids up early on Friday, December 6th and saying MERRY CHRISTMAS and have them open up the books. Each part of the book (3 parts), will be sealed so that they can only read the pages when we want them to read them. As they read each page of the story, they will be going on an adventure and doing what the pages say. The adventure will take us all the ... [Read More]
