California here we come!

In October Ben got two weeks off school, in which time he had to travel to LA to take a national medical exam. My brother and his wife moved out there about three months ago, and so we decided that we would make a family trip out of it. We got to spend five days with my brother, Ben got to take his test, we went to Disneyland, the beach—twice, and spent the rest of the time at parks, swimming, and playing with Ellie (their dog).

It was so fun, and Thomas and Adrienne were the perfect hosts. We just hope we didn’t overwhelm them too much with our busy kids. I think by the end of the trip we were all ready to get the kids back home. They were a little crazy and wound up the whole time, which made for fun activities, but really complicated our down times. Anyway it was wonderful, California was beautiful, the beach was awesome, family is great!

On the way down and back we stayed the night in Klamath Falls with Ben's Grandparents. They were wonderful, Reina and Grandma really hit it off. And then for breakfast grandma made Ebelskivers, which made Vaunghn's day. He ate about a million.



Thomas and Adrienne took us to the temple on evening, but we got there just as it was getting too dark for pictures. This one turned out though.


Here the the beautful beach 10 mintues from Thomas and Adrienne's house. Is it any surprise we went twice?





The first time we went I didn't dress the kids right. I didn't really expect Reina to get wet, but the water was so gorgeous and warm, she followed after Ben and they went way out until he had to hold her to keep the waves from taking her away. She was soaked, but happy. They made a few castles.




Ben, of course spent most of the time swimming, Reina built castles, Vaughn chased birds and rolled in the sand.


This pictures shows all three in their favorite activities, Ben in the water, Reina at the castle, and Vaunghn after the birds.

Where Dreams Come True

Disneyland was truly magical! Reina and Vaughn were both so excited, they were good, they were happy, they were really fun. Vaughn took a nap at just the right time (before he got too tired and right when everyone wanted to go on the bigger rides), and all we could have asked for was another day! Reina and Vaughn really liked the rides. Vaughn went on the Matterhorn with me, and didn't want to get off at the end. Reina rode Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain and loved it. She said about Splash Mountain, "the waterfall was a little scarry, but I want to do it again!" She's has a perfect mixture of Ben's fun, happy, adventerous side in her.

I have a lot of pictures to show. Adrienne went with us all day, but Thomas didn't get to come until after work. It was good having Adrienne with us, she could show us where to go, and the funest things to see. Still, even with our own tour guide, we probably only saw 30-40% of the park. Next time we'll have to make it a longer trip!