Craters of the Moon National Park

We went to Craters of the Moon National Park yesterday....it took three days to pull up all the pictures it is now Thursday night, and we went on Monday... It was really fun, and the kids got to see their first snow in three years! We hiked up hills, and into underground lava tubes/caves. We enjoyed being with Darwin's sisters and their kids.

Kids in a crevice, and then Darwin and I in the same crack in the Indian Caves

Darwin and Brooklin in a deep hole in Boy Scout Cave.

Kids in the Indian Caves

More in Indian Caves

Kids with the sign, and boys with the Boy Scout Cave sign

Girls with the Beauty Cave sign, and London being a rule breaker...according to Jay =)

More rule breakers...these pics are mostly for my brother Joel

What a bunch of naughty kids!

Isaiah in some trees, and baby Kaitlyn

Tayler and Jay climbing some rocks

Isaiah and Brooklin on top of Inferno Cone

Snow in the Snow Cone, and the inside of Indian Caves

Heidi, Kaitlyn, Sarah, Cameryn, and Lisa hiking up Inferno Cone, and then a group shot of the same.

Temple Square and the Twin Falls temple open house

This week we did a lot of driving. We drove Thursday for 3 1/2 hours to eastern idaho to visit with Darwin's family, and then on friday we drove 2 1/2 hours to Salt Lake City to visit temple square (the kids have never been)...and then it took 3 hours to get home because of road construction. Today, we drove 1 1/2 hours to and from Twin Falls for the Twin Falls Temple open house. We are NOT driving anywhere tomorrow...except 5 min to church and back.

The family on top of the conference center...in front of the Salt Lake City Temple.

We went to the Church historical museum, and they had this little place for kids on the second floor, called I Am A Child of God. They had puzzles, toys, books, and dress up. This is the kids in the dress up clothes

This is inside the SLC Temple visitor center. It is so beautiful.

This is Isaiah standing in front of a painting of the prophet Isaiah.

This is my cutest nephew, Cannon. He is adorable!

This is all of us in front of the temple. On the left is my brother and his wife and their 3 kids, we are in the middle, and Darwin's sister and two of her three children are on the right...her husband had to work, and their baby stayed with Grandma.

This is all of my mom's grandchildren...including her honorary grandaughter... in front of the new Twin Falls temple.

This is their "we are tired of pictures" picture.

This is me with my sister and four of my six brothers at the open house

This is our "we are tired of pictures" pictures

Brooklin and Bill Clinton

We stayed at my parent's house last week. They used to have a lot of animals, but now they only have Bill...yes he was named for our former president. Brooklin loves animals and isn't afraid of anything ever, and she went right out into the pasture and just loved on him. He totally loved her and the I went out and caught a few shots. I think they turned out so great.

Disney...July 8, 2008 (this was also our 14th wedding anniversary)

This is half of our second day at Disneyland. We spent the second half of the day at California Adventures, and we used Darwin's camera (since mine is kind of heavy) to take pictures, and I don't have them on this computer. I'll try to update again later today.

Here are the kids with Woody...and Jesse

Waiting in line for the Matterhorn

London didn't want to ride the Matterhorn, so Darwin took her to get her face painted...she is the Cheshire Cat.

Kids in the dog pound in Toontown

Toontown

Family with Mickey Mouse

Kids with Pluto

Kids with Goofy

Me and kids with Minnie Mouse

Finally...some pictures!

Our first day at Disney was fun, but we were totally not prepared for it....see below. We just went with nothing, and had a ton of fun. These pictures are of Isaiah and Caleb at the Jedi Training. We had to use Dar's phone to take the pictures, because the cameras were still in the luggage and my phone was nearly dead. They both learned how to fight with a light saber, and then they both got to fight Darth Maul. We rode on/did Buzz Lightyear, Star Tours, Space Mountain (London cried), Autopia, Dumbo, King Arthur Carousel, Pinocchio, Snow White, the Tiki Room, Jungle Cruise, Tarzan Treehouse, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Carribean, Haunted Mansion and watched the Disney Princess Fantasy Show. Then we came "home" and all died from exhaustion. Being up for nearly 48 hours straight and running to that many attractions nearly killed us all...but we were up the next morning for more!

I'll do the other days later...I need to help pack and make dinner, so we can get on the plane in the morning (like at 7am) to fly to visit our families in Idaho!

Exhausting fun

Sea World was amazing, and we didn't have to do as much walking as the two previous days. Yesterday, we went back to Disney and also to California Adventures. We rode on the Toy Story Mania ride, and it was so fun that we stood in the line a second time and went again. We are going to Disney/CA Adventures again today, and then maybe I will have time to elaborate. We haven't been to bed before 11pm yet, and we have been getting up around 6am...so we are completely bushed by the time we get home for bed.

We're on da mainland

This is going to be a really short post, but we made it safely to the mainland. We flew out of Maui at 8:30 pm on friday night, and we arrived at LAX around 5am. We drove to our hotel, in Anaheim, by 8:30am...short version, we reserved a car and they didn't have it when we got there, so we had to walk to another car rental place and pay more, so it took all morning... The hotel check in wasn't until 4pm, but they did let us come in and eat at the all you can eat breakfast buffet and let us stow our bags in their storage room. We didn't have any way to shower or nap (we only slept lightly on the 5 hour plane ride), so we just went to Disneyland at 10am. We stayed there until 8pm, and by the time we got to the hotel, we all felt like zombies...no sleep or showers for 2 days! We showered the kids and they fell asleep instantly. Our favorites parts of the first day here were: Darwin, the Indiana Jones ride; Melissa: Space Mountain; Brooklin, Indiana Jones and Space Mountain; Caleb, Jedi training and getting to fight with Darth Maul; London: the Dumbo ride...she was terrified of almost every ride we went on and didn't have as much fun as the rest of us did...; and Isaiah: Jedi training and Darth Maul, and the Tiki Room.

Today we slept in until 8am, and then drove to San Diego to go to the zoo. We stayed all day. We got to watch a splash painter that was really awesome and the animals were cool. We will have to post pics another day, because it is now almost 11pm, and I need to sleep....tomorrow is Sea World and my legs sure need the rest!

Saying Goodbye...

Last night, I went out with a few of my friends for my last girls night with them. We went to a beach house (that was really awesome) and had some food and a bunch of laughs. These first four pictures are of Elena and I. She has been my best friend here, and I am really going to miss her. I have been the music leader in primary for the past three years, and she is my piano player. Every sunday, we sit behind the piano and crack jokes and laugh our heads off during sharing time. We have been scolded a few times, but mostly I think they just know that we are going to be being silly, and they just got used to it. Sundays won't be the same anymore. I am so glad I could find such a good friend here...and I am really sad I have to leave. I won't stay gone too long...Darwin got to go back to Alaska every year that we lived here, so he owes me. =) I've already said good bye to her, and it is too hard to write it here, but I will really miss her.

Me, Monique, Elena, Amy, Lisa, and Monique's daughter Melena hiding Elena's pregnant belly (she is due in Sept). Lynn, I really wish you could have come, but I will see you when I come to visit. Keep in touch!