Good Times in Ojai

Last week Grandpa thought it would be fun to invite us to go with him down to visit Aunt Lynne in Ojai (O hi), since it has been a while since we last went down to see her. Actually Brookley was probably about the age that Hadlee is now. Unfortunately is was really rainy so we could spend a whole lot of time outdoors but when the rain cleared up a little bit, it was beautiful. Especially since Aunt Lynne's house looks over the Ojai Valley.

A Little Chilly

One of the things that Dad misses most about growing up in Utah is the snow. Even though it did snow in Visalia about 10 years ago it really doesn't happen often so we have to head up to Sequoia NP if we want to see some real snow. We had a really good time for about the first 10 minutes but then for some reason cotton mittens don't keep the hands too warm when they get wet, so the kids started to get a little fussy. Next time we'll have to take some better winter clothes although we hate to buy any since they will outgrow them the next year and we only see snow once a year. After it was all said and done we probably shouldn't have gone since a couple of days later all three kids came down with strep throat. They didn't like being sick but the sure did like the bubble gum antibiotic.

Evan's Disney Passport

This week we decided to head to Disneyland yet again, but this time we had to buy Evan a Annual Passport since he is 3 now. It's starting to get a little more expensive to get the entire family into Disney now. Last time we went on New Year's it was crazy but this time was great. On many rides we didn't even have to wait behind anybody. The weather was a little cold once the sun went down, but we had a great time.

Actually since Evan is fairly tall for his age he was able to go on many adult rides and was very brave. At three I don't know if I would have been brave enough to go on the Matterhorn, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain and Tower of Terror. Actually he wasn't brave enough for Tower of Terror but once you're at the top there's no turning back. He did say afterward though that he didn't want to do that again. Brookley is very brave also but Mom and Dad are a little hesitant to take her on anything too scary because of her heart. Overall it was a great time and we hated to leave.

Evan's 1st day of School

Since Evan is 3 now and potty trained, he is eligible for preschool now. Every morning when Dad drops him off he acts like he doesn't like it and has to be held by the teacher but once Dad is gone he really enjoys himself. In fact the teacher says he is a very smart boy. Of course I think they say that about every child to make their parents feel better, but we still think he's pretty smart. The biggest mystery now though is whether Evan is left handed or right handed. We always thought he was right handed but his teacher says he uses both, so we're hoping left.

Brookley's Birthday

Brookley kind of got two birthday's this year because for New Year's Aunt's Rhonda and Marcie and their families came down to California so we headed down there to Disneyland to spend the day with them. Unfortunately it was two days before Brookley's real birthday so we didn't get to take advantage of a free birthday. It was good to spend time with everybody but unfortunately Disneyland is very very busy on New Year's day so we didn't get to go on a whole lot of rides. Brookley and Evan did go on Splash Mountain for the first time though and really liked it.

Then for Brookley's real birthday we had a couple of friends and family over for pizza and cake. One thing that you can always count on though is that Brookley is always excited for a party, so she had a great time. We even discovered that next year all we have to get her is a mylar birthday balloon because she's still playing with that a week later.

I think the greatest thing about this birthday though was the fact that we went a whole year without an emergency room visit. She did break her elbow which wasn't fun but that was just a doctor office visit. Let's hope this year we don't even have a visit like that.

Late Posted Christmas

Sorry to all of you avid blog followers since we've been letting you down these last few weeks. Anyway we've finally made the time to let everybody know about our Christmas. Of course we thought this would be a really small Christmas but by the time Christmas was here it looked like Santa had more room in his bag than initially thought. He must have had Discover Cards sponsor a larger bag.

Well back to Christmas. Brookley had outgrown her first bike so she and Evan both got new bikes as their main gifts. They also received movies and sleeping bags. For Hadlee's first Christmas she got a Bumbo (a seat for babies to help them sit up better) and some toys. Of course we couldn't leave Bogey out so he got a new dog bed.

It was a really good Christmas and the kids seemed to really like all of their gifts and are still even playing with some even three weeks later.

More Pics of Hadlee

As requested by a loyal follower of our blog we've decided to add some more pictures of Hadlee. Actually we were thinking that she was in the recent posts but those are good close up pictures. She getting pretty big and her cheeks and belly are filling out nicely. She had a doctor's appointment today and she now weighs 10 lbs 2 oz and 21 1/2 in.