magic

Jolly Holiday Surprise Adventure | First Magic Moments LO

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 I am now!

I used the Project Mouse Collection by Britt-ish Designs & Sahlin Studio

I’m so excited to share my family’s magical Christmas adventure of 2014 with you!
To see all the postings in this series go HERE

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 – but after some calls we got it figured out. The Cast Members at the front desk were really great and helped us get it all figured out).

We were able to get a standard room in the Adventure Tower. It was on the Downtown Disney side, but only the 2nd floor, so our view was trees – but actually I loved it! So easy and fast to get to our room from Downtown Disney and the trees kind of blocked the noise. It was awesome! And I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Disneyland Hotel rooms. We all loved looking for the Hidden Mickeys and of course the headboard is AMAZING! It was just awesome.

After checking out the room and settling in a bit, we decided it was time to explore! Everyone was hungry and I also wanted to go redeem my voucher for the Annual Pass and also pick up our Photopass+ Card. (We had decided to get one Annual Pass so that we could get the discounts and such.) So we headed towards Downtown Disney. Joey and the kids grabbed some lunch at Earl of Sandwich and I headed down to the Esplanade. I redeemed my voucher, got my picture taken, and got my new Annual Pass. California Adventure looked less busy, so I went through the gates and headed to the photo shop where I redeemed the voucher to get our Photopass+ card. This all took about an hour and then I met up with my family at Downtown Disney, where we did some exploring in the stores. We were all fascinated with the Lego Store and all of its awesome characters! The Build-a-Bear Store was amazing too and the kids were definitely starting their lists!

After lots of browsing, we went to Tortilla Joe’s for dinner! We LOVED it – it was so good, and we especially loved the guacamole, made for us right at our table!

After dinner, we strolled over to the AMC Theaters to watch BIG HERO 6. We were AMAZED by this theater. It was HUGE. It was definitely the biggest theater we’ve ever been to. Plus amazingly there wasn’t a whole lot of people taking advantage of it and so in the huge theater, it felt like we were the only ones there. We LOVED Big Hero 6 – it was such a cute movie. After the movie, we had to take advantage of a photo-op!

After the movie, we headed back to the hotel and we had a little bit of a Christmas Celebration, complete with a little Mickey Tree, Treats, and gifts. These were things I brought from home to bring some Christmas to our room. The kids loved it all, especially the Disney gift cards from Dad and Mom and the money from Grandpa and Grandma Sorensen! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

At this point, we were just so exhausted. It had been a very long, but thrilling and exciting day! We couldn’t wait to see what tomorrow brings!

The Adventure Continues in another post…

jollyholidayheader I’m so excited to share my family’s magical Christmas adventure of 2014 with you!
To see all the postings in this series go HERE.

Wednesday SayingZ | Magic

{ This week’s quote }

It is important to remember that we all have MAGIC inside us!
– JK Rowling –

Wednesday SayingZ I am a collector of quotes/sayings/titles and I am excited to share them with you each Wednesday. I hope they will inspire you and make your day a little better! I am also creating pieces of wordart with these quotes and will be offering them to you as a freebie! Feel free to use them in your scrapbooks or just print them out for wall decor!

Life 2012 | No more Magic…

So on Monday, we were at our “vacation home” (that’s what my kids call our timeshare) – and I was in the kitchen but I could hear the kids whispering back and forth to each other. I wondered what was going on, but I figured I would find out soon enough.

A few minutes later, Beth came up to me, looking very serious. As usual, JJ was tagging along behind, and was just fine with Beth doing the talking. Beth said, “Mom, is the Easter Bunny real?”

I said, “What do you think?”

She said, “Well, I think he’s not.”

I looked into her beautiful blue eyes and saw how serious she was about it and there was sadness there and I just couldn’t lie to her. “No, Princess, he’s not real.”

JJ piped in, “I knew that.”

I gave Beth a hug and she asked one more question, “Santa isn’t real either, is he?”

I said, “No, I’m sorry.”

Beth said quietly, “So you and Dad are the ones who give us presents?”

“Yes, we are.” I looked at both of my kids, “Are you guys okay?”

“I just wish they were real,” Beth said.

“I know sweetheart, me too.”

I gave them one more hug and that was it. They both seem okay with it and I think it went over better than I thought it would.

I’m actually kind of sad that “the magic” is over. It will be different now. I remember when I found out – I was 10 when my friends told me and I was so disappointed. I feel like “the magic” came back after I had kids. Of course we have always focused on the true meanings – The birth and the resurrection of the Savior – but still the other parts were fun too. I guess my kids are just growing up and its just way too fast for me.

When did you discover the secret?

Life 365 | Week 52

Monday, December 20, 2010

Joey came home in the middle of the day with an amazing surprise! He received one of his company’s employee awards this year! And what did he receive – AN IPAD! And not just any iPad – the best one that they have out right now. WOW! He was so excited and I’m just so proud of him. He totally deserves it. It is so fun to see him enjoying it!

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

It snowed again – and it was the best snowman-making snow – so of course we had to get out in it today! It’s fun having the kids home during the day. We made our Frosty and made snow angels and had a snowball fight and just had so much fun. Unfortunately, it got warmer later in the day, and some of the snow melted away, along with our Frosty. I was so glad we didn’t delay in getting out there and playing!

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Today’s activity was to read and watch the movie of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever! So in between playing and cleaning, we read the book and before bedtime we had it done, so we got to watch the movie! It was so fun!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

We did laundry and cleaning today and the kids got to play games on Joey’s little computer. They loved it!

Friday, December 24, 2010

What an amazing day today. Joey completely surprised me this year – many times he is quite the grinch around Christmas – but this season, he has been so wonderful. I think its because as a family, we have really focused on teaching the kids the real meaning of Christmas – we have been reading scriptures every night and the kids have really responded to Jesus and the Christmas story. Joey went shopping and came home with Uncle Aaron and a whole list of fun things to do today. I did some cooking so that all I had to do was stick the potatoes in for tomorrow’s Christmas dinner and did some last minute cleaning. I also made up a batch of swirl cookies for Santa. We played games, and did puzzles, and watched movies, and read books and just spent the whole day together. We were glad to have Aaron join us. We also took the Trax up to temple square and saw the lights and the wonderful nativity scene they had there. There was such a wonderful spirit on the temple grounds and it was so fun being there on Christmas Eve. On the way home, we picked up Chinese food from our favorite place – Mings Garden – and then we came home and ate it. We opened our new pajamas and got a picture of us in them before bedtime.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

It was a fabulous Christmas! The kids had so much fun. From Santa, JJ got Buzz and Beth got a Rapunzel doll. And they also received from us – Jessie, Woody, and Bulls-eye, lots of games, movies, and other fun things and we just spent the whole day playing. The Toy Story movies have meant a lot to me and the kids so it was so fun to see Beth and JJ play with their new Toy Story characters! Joey surprised us all with the Wii Sports Resort Game and he gave me the Wii Fit Plus – which I have wanted for a long time! It was a great day!

Sunday, December 26, 2010

It’s just so much fun to have new things to play with! It was a relaxing day – just spent at church and together.

Life 365 | Week 51

Monday, December 13, 2010

At her Girls Scouts tonight – Beth made Joey and I some little holiday jars. She did a great job!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

JJ received his Wolf Badge tonight and we are so proud of him. Sister Pinkston was so kind to do his painting/stamping on his hand instead of his face, since JJ really doesn’t like anything on his face. He has worked hard to get it done and Scouts has been one of his favorite things to do.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

I love the snow – as long as I don’t have to drive in it. We got some more snowfall today and its so pretty!

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Watching Christmas movies and addressing my Christmas Cards is my all time favorite activity of the season. We have sent Christmas Cards every year since we have been married and I love it.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Letter to Santa were on the agenda today. I love seeing them start to write things on their own! When the kids got home from school we headed down to Orderville. It was so fun to get to stay at Aunt Kori’s house. Beth got to sleep in Whitnee’s room with her and we kicked Colby out of his room and got to stay there. It was fun to see and visit with the family.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

A fun day! We spent all day with the family. Lunchtime was spent with make-your-own sandwiches and treats. We did a craft with the kids and then we did our sibling gift exchange. It was fun to be in the barn for this yearly tradition. It was fun to visit with Kori and Ray and be at their house and just visit at Grandpa and Grandma’s too.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

We left to go back home today amidst a bit of snow. Beth was enjoying watching the snow out her window. It was a nice time with the family, but its always nice to be home too.

magic

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