Are you ready for tons of pictures? And these just scratch the surface! We had such a wonderful time! I’m sure I’m not getting these in perfect order, but I do have them sorted by day at least.

Our view of the castle as we waited for rope drop on Wednesday morning.

Waiting in line–Easton was such a trooper the whole trip!

On the spinning tea cups. I was the only adult willing to go on this ride!

After Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.

Taking the wheel on Autopia.

Meeting Anna and Elsa from Frozen. So fun to meet your favorite princesses!

Amelie got to ride a special carousel horse called Jingles. This horse was made to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Mary Poppins.

Calder during his Jedi training. He had a great time and took it all very seriously. Sadly, the actor playing Darth Maul wouldn’t leave poor little Easton alone and even scared Amelie at one point, making her cry. Kind of lame. So, great for Calder, not so great for the other two.

On Dumbo. I flew with Easton and he refused to let me fly Dumbo higher than ground level. 

We took a break every day so that we could all rest for a bit. Clearly, Easton’s had an exciting morning!

Entering Small World. The way they change it for the holidays is pretty amazing and delightful.

Small World, or “Tiny World” as Easton calls it, was definitely one of our favorites. We went on it 3 times!

Riding Splash Mountain. I got completely drenched!

Going on it a second time and posing for the camera. Amelie’s in there somewhere…

The view as we left the park. What a fun day! Like I said, these pictures are just the beginning–we did so many fun rides and activities!

For over a year, Bryce and I kept the biggest secret from our kids. We were going to Disneyland with Grandma and Grandpa Haymond in December! It was so hard to keep this wonderful secret, especially since the kids are always asking when we can go to Disneyland. It got even harder as we got closer and closer to the date. Bryce and I decided that we would tell our kids on Tuesday morning, December 9th. As they were sitting around eating breakfast, I casually asked (apparently, not too casually since Amelie was automatically suspicious), “If you could guys could go anywhere you wanted, where would you go?” Amelie said, “Disneyland.” Calder and Easton both said, “Santa’s workshop,” but I know in their hearts they really meant Disneyland. I then said, “Well, Daddy and I have been talking about and we think we should go to Disneyland. We were thinking we should go today, right after school.” Oddly, Amelie’s first response was, “No!” followed by, “You’re just joking.” I guess she really thought it was too good to be true. “Nope, I’m not!” I said. It took a lot of convincing to get them to believe us! A lot of, “We really are! We’re leaving today after Amelie gets home from school!” Then we had more good news to tell them: “If you could go to Disneyland with anyone in the world, who would you want to be there with you?” Amelie immediately said, “Grandma Brenda.” They still weren’t totally convinced, though. “We’re going to Disneyland TODAY and Grandma and Grandpa Haymond are going with us! We are really going!” Calder ended up running back to our room to see our packed luggage, returning to declare, “Amelie! They really packed!” Then they started to allow themselves to really get excited and had the biggest smiles on their faces.

After Amelie got home from school, it was off to the airport. Our flight was delayed an hour, so we had time to eat dinner in the airport and talk about how fun the next several days were going to be. We took Amelie and Calder to Disneyland two years ago and the kids love watching videos of the rides on YouTube, so even Easton knew what rides he wanted to go on. It was so much fun telling them and letting them in on our wonderful secret!

At the airport waiting for the shuttle to take us to our terminal. Can you tell Calder’s excited?

On the airplane.

Easton was pretty excited for his first trip on an airplane. He kept saying, “Tell me when we’re flying!”

All snug in his bed, ready for a good night’s rest at our hotel.

Easton at 3 years old is so much fun. He’s so engaging, lively, and full of personality. His little eyebrows are so wonderfully expressive and I can’t help but kiss his sweet soft cheeks.

Some things I want to remember about him at this age:

How he says “hepatopter” for “helicopter” and “fighter fighter” for “firefighter.”

How he gives me a big hug when I get home from running errands. “I missed you, Mama!”

Sitting together on the couch snuggling. “The bad news is, is raining and can’t jump on trampoline. The good news is, you’re here, Mama!”

How everything is now, “I do it myself!”

His addiction to “nilla yoyurt” (vanilla yogurt).

“You good helper, Mama.” Thank you, Sweetheart.

Love this sweet boy.

When you’re busy! My doula work is taking off which is amazing and wonderful and exhausting sometimes. This month, I had a mother push out her 10 pound baby an hour after I met her at the hospital and another mother who was induced and needed me at the hospital for 26 hours. Crazy and fantastic stuff. Here are some other fun happenings from the past little while:

Uncle Colin and Graham spent a couple nights with us while they were here touring BYU. It was so fun to have them with us!

Swimming lessons! One of my doula clients owns a swim school and we’re making a trade: swim lessons for doula care.

Looking like an Olympian 🙂

Amelie and Calder both won school-wide awards for paintings they submitted to the PTA Reflections contest. Way to go, you two!

Amelie has joined the school jump rope team. This is just the 3rd grade part of the team. She’s loving it and learning some cool tricks!

When Colin was here, he told the kids the tale of Tikki Tikki Tembo. As soon as he was done, Amelie sat down and filled two sides of paper with the story, almost word for word. Love seeing how amazing kids’ memories can be!

On September 27th, Amelie chose to be baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was beyond wonderful to watch her be baptized by Bryce and to see the light that filled her that day. She got a journal from Grandma Brenda and wrote 20 pages the day of her baptism–pages about how she felt after she was baptized, how she knows Heavenly Father loves her, how she hopes to go to the temple someday. Beautiful beautiful words. She is so sincere and already seeks for truth and light. We love her so much.

Before the baptism.

At home afterwards in the darling dress that Grandma Austin bought for her.

It was wonderful to have Grandma and Grandpa Austin with us for this very special event and for Amelie to have the love and support of so many family members.