Deep Thoughts...kind of

We were listening to It's a Small World as we relived a bit of our Disneyland day one afternoon. Everyone was merrily singing along and dancing. Then all of a sudden Enzo busted out with, "Mom, why IS it such a small world, after all?" It caught me so off gaurd I just cracked up!! He doesn't miss a thing, that kid! Very inquisitive. After I had finished laughing I gave him a nice answer to his very deep question.


Later that week were were following this diesel truck blowing out nasty black fumes, even worse than the usual amount, I am sure. As we drove through the plume of smoke the kids were a bit disgusted. I didn't think much of it, but it obviously made an impact on Enzo. As we met w/ Aunt Lorri later that night for dinner he told her about this truck and then added, "That was SO 'barassing!"
I don't know how someone elses pollution was embarassing for HIM, but that is beside the point. I just busted a gut to hear him say such a thing! And to say it like that. Cute kid!

Small Treasures

I treasure clean little babies!
I treasure those moments when all of my children, or any combination thereof, are playing together peacefully or helping one another out.
I treasure my 'job' as a mom. God is so very generous!!

I treasure those fake little smiles kids learn to put on for all the pictures their parents insist on taking
and the real ones even more.
I love warm summer days and time with the Grandparents.
I treasure those cool autumn days too.
I love the change of the seasons.
I treasure this strong, gentle, silly, sober, carefree, responsible, hard-working, faithful companion and best friend. I also treasure the father he is to our children. My cup runneth o'er!
I treasure the friendship I have with my amazing mother and my dear sisters! I treasure our lone brother who always had to put up with us. I treasure the gift of wonderful in-laws, not many people can truthfully say that; I can. I treasure my father and wish all the best for him, that he would allow the best in. I treasure my step-dad who has become such a great friend to us all. I treasure good friends all over and am grateful for all they teach me along the way.
Most of all, I treasure the knowledge I have of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, restored in its fulness in these latter days. To know that Christ lived on this earth, the perfect Son of a Perfect God; that He died for all of us and rose again. And to know, perhaps most of all, that He lives and loves us still! Small, simple treasures that have the grandest impact of all.

I Love to See the Temple

The temple is a place where families can be sealed together for time as well as eternity. They shed peace upon this earth and all who gather to them. We are so grateful for 'our' new temple, The Oquirrh Mountain Temple, and enjoy serving therein. Our children often ask when they can go so we were sure to make a stop at the Los Angeles Temple when we went to visit my sis. The children enjoyed playing with their cousins as we meandered through the gardens surrounding the temple and we couldn't resist a few photos opps.Enjoying our Heavenly Father's wonderful creations.

Cubby and Massimo loved exploring the rocks together! Ahh, simplicity! Sweet Angel.My best friend. A happy family is truly the greatest blessing on earth...thus an eternal one must be the greatest blessing EVER!We treasured our time w/ extended family! What an awesome family they are!

Oh yea, Disneyland

Ok, ok, I am repenting. Yes, we DID go to Disneyland while we were in Cali for those of you who have been inquiring. Sorry for the delay. I just thought I had done enough blogging already for the week so I'd take a nice break. :) We loved our time at Disneyland though! The kids had never been and they loved every minute of it from before the park opened until long after it had closed! Well, our youngest rebelled every time we had to buckle him back into the stroller, but other than that, we all had a blast! We met up w/ my dear friend from my first year of college and I finally got to meet her kids and catch up with her. They were so wonderful to spend the day with!
Upon entering the park we visited with Donald before making our way through the castle
and onto the Merry-go-Round. I couldn't find the Merry-go-Round on the list I had made of sights to see but I learned to throw that list out in a hurry and just let the kids lead the way!
They loved it! Then Dumbo, but only Enzo was willing to try that one so I stopped into the Mad Hatters shop w/ the other two in the mean time.
I think It's a Small World was one of the best rides because we could all ride it together and everyone could really enjoy it!
Even Massimo was star-struck and pointing to his favorites!
Enzo was also the only one brave enough to go on the roller coaster so the rest of us had a chance to meet Mickey and explore his place!
Enzo still talks about that roller coaster ride and wants to know when he can do something like that again!
That kid has a serious need for speed! Toontown was a fun stop!

It was time for a lunch break next so we took the kids to the Jedi training while we grabbed a bite! I WISH I had pictures of the kids' faces! They were enthralled with Darth Vader and Darth Mal and were sure we were doomed! Neither were willing to get up and fight them just yet, but they loved what they saw! Next we drove the bumper cars, even though our littlest was dying for his nap. We got him napping and the kids hit Astro Blaster w/ Dad and LOVED it! Then we had the great fortune of running into Mary Poppins and Bert!!! If any of you knew how much my children like that show...! They have all the songs memorized as well as the dances. Those were probably the best characters that Arianna could have seen, short of Mickey himself! We got to see them dance to their show tunes before it was on to Pirates of the Caribbean. Arianna was NOT happy about that one. She cried on the little drops and Massimo lost it when the cannons splashed him. Yup, you guessed it, Enzo LOVED it! I was tickled with how much they enjoyed the Tiki Room! What a trip! Arianna had to ask if the birds were real and everyone was jamming right along w/ them. Eventually we passed under the castle again and onto Peter Pan! Arianna loved Peter Pan so much she wanted to go on it right after she had gotten off, even though it was a 25 minute wait (that was the longest wait of the day, I think)! Yeah! Another ride she liked! We still had more to see though (yea, I didn't TOTALLY throw out my list of Must-see attractions).
We took a train ride around the park to rest weary legs and before we knew it the parade was coming our way!
The kids LOVED the street party!!
They all got to just let loose and dance in the street and sing along w/ the characters. Then after the celebration was all done confetti flew. Arianna's face lit up!! She was sure she had just been a part of the grandest celebration in all the world. And she was right. She had to gather confetti to bring a part of the celebration home with her.
We will definitely be back! We were so grateful to our wonderful friends that shared the day with us! It just wouldn't have been the same w/o them!
Arianna and Syd became fast friends, just like their mama's. After the parade we knew we had just a few more minutes before the park closed down so we took advantage of the short lines and hit Finding Nemo with just a 10 minute wait!! Awesome ride! The kids were begging for more rides but while inside the great submarine everything closed down. We had to make our way out. :( Back at the car the kids all got in their new character jammies and snuggled into their buckles for the ride back to Oceanside. Enzo was asleep before we even made it out of the parking stucture. He gave it his all from sun up to sun down! The other two followed soon after. Marco and I were held up by a flat tire, but that couldn't put a damper on a day of such fun and memories!