Surprise, Surprise!

We traveled to California for Donna's sister's Graduation. Congrats Charlene! We decided to surprise the Girls with a day at Disneyland. They had no idea we were going and it was so much fun to surprise them at the front gate of the Happiest Place on Earth! We spent a full day at the park from 9AM till 10PM and had a Blast.

Goofy was all up in Nicole's Business!

The kids enjoyed exploring Tarzan's Treehouse. We were successful in getting the girls to jump on Indy's jeep on the Indiana Jones ride, drop off the cliff at Splash Mountain, and venture into the spooky Haunted Mansion. Last year they did not dare go on those three rides but we talked em' in to it this year. They LOVED it!

The Coaster at Toon Town is always a favorite! Kaitlyn had that look on her face the entire time! Grandpa and Grandma Degen are behind me and Kate. Nicole looks like the ride gave her a bit of a headache.

Being silly in Goofy's garden!

Its a Small World After All. That dang song keeps playing over and over in my head! This ride was closed last year for renovation but unfortunately for Donna and myself it Reopened this year. The girls absolutely ate it up and wanted to go on the ride over and over. It really is a cute ride for them.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Nicole and Grandpa flying high with Dumbo! Nicole is in Heaven with that great big Smile!

The girls totally loved the princess windows on Main Street Disney. They would stand and stare at each one, admiring all the fun detail.

Before we left So Cal, we had to hit the beach! We ate dinner at the Huntington Beach pier.

...And Ran from the Waves!

Nothing Screams Vacation like footprints in the sand.

Gotta Love Sunsets on the Beach! This was the last picture we took as we said goodbye to our vacation and departed for boring, dry, no-beach utah. Ugghhh....

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Blog Disclaimer: This post was written by Ryan...however, it was reviewed and edited by Donna prior to publishing. All embarrasing facts and Gross Exaggerations have been removed.

Here We Go Again!

The Many Faces of Jasmine the Cat

Pooped Out! After a Long Day Playing with a 2 year old.

Blankie in One Arm, and Jasmine in the Other. Nicole is in Heaven!


Jasmine is TOTALLY Fascinated and Perplexed by the Snake. She'll sit for 30 minutes at a time just Staring at the slithering red thing in the cage below.


Come to Papa!

Not quite sure what to think of this last one. We found Jasmine sleeping like this one day. I think she is trying to strike a pose for her boy Tiger up in Cedar.

How the Other Half Live

Each year I look forward to enjoying the local Parade of Homes. A guy can dream, right? Actually this annual outing is a severe dose of coveting. I'll admit, I am guilty of this commandment and need to work on it. It just genuinely amazes me how some people live. Most of these homes are second or third homes of wealthy individuals who only use them for a few months out of the year. Truly amazing! Click on the picture to take a closer look at the view out this window.

The view from the entrance. No need for hanging artwork when mother nature provides these landscapes!

This is the backyard of the home above. A Microsoft Executive owns this $5Million Beauty at the Ledges of Snow Canyon.

My personal favorites each year are always the incredible homes at Kachina Springs at Snow Canyon. The homes are breathtaking.

Just one of the many amazing backyards in Dixie! Gotta love the views.

This 16K square foot home was the hit this year. Complete with an Indiana Jones themed back yard (theres a hot tub with a huge flat screen in that cave!) The home had an indoor basketball court with adjoining racketball court in the basement. Who says there's a recession in this country anyway?!?!?!

This indoor b-ball court had a climbing wall, putting green, and full weight room off to the left of my picture. I'll bet all the kids in the neighborhood will live at this house! That huge movie screen would make for some fun movie nights!

This is Donna coveting! After the home show we returned to our cramped 3 bedroom apartment and reality set in! We actually like our humble little abode. Its comfy and just right for our little family...but I wouldn't mind that indoor basketball court. :-)

Draper Temple Trip

We were excited to see the newest Temple in Utah so we made the drive to Draper last weekend and took the tour of the beautiful Draper Temple. Our little girls were so excited to actually walk into a Temple. As soon as we saw the temple they burst out in the primary song "I love to see the Temple, I'm going there someday" It was very tender to hear their sweet voices singing that song.


Before we actually toured the Temple, we watched a short video about the importance of Temples. Some of Donna's family came to Draper with us for the Open House. It was fun to have her brother, sister, and parents join us.


The Open House began with the Exciting ride in the Shuttle bus up to the Temple. The girls thought it was pretty fun!


The Temple was beautiful. The Celestial room is truly magnificent. After the tour, we walked next door to the Stake Center and enjoyed some refreshments. Again, the girls were in Heaven!


Here we are in front of the Temple. It was a beautiful sunny day in Salt Lake. We had fun staying with family that we see too infrequently. The girls enjoyed getting to know their cousins and Donna and I enjoyed staying up late into the night talking and laughing with family. Can't wait to do it again!

TGIF

I love Fridays! After a long week at work, I was looking for an activity to let my hair down and relax. Having a young family at home limits ones Friday night options severely. There was only one thing left to do....Ta, Ta, Ta, TWISTER! The girls were very excited to break out the new game that Santa brought.

Before long we were all twisted up and laughing! Here are some ACTION shots.

Nicole was playing with a Poopy Diaper. That really jazzed things up! Here she is with her butt in Jessy's face.

Even the Cat got into it. Left front paw on Blue!

We quickly disqualified Jasmine for breaking the rules by popping out her claws.....I thought she was having fun.....go figure!

BAMA FALLS

WOW! What a sweet victory for the Utes in the Sugar bowl. It was tough but I actually cheered for the Red as they creamed the Kings from the South. Who knew that Nick Saban would have to EAT HIS WORDS! Love it! I can't wait for the 2009 football season as BYU kicks things off by playing Oklahoma in the new Cowboys stadium. With Collie gone to the NFL we're gonna need McKay Jacobsen (no giggling Ashley) to step it up. Just 8 more months till it all starts again!