Halloween 2009

I figured that I better do this post before it was Thanksgiving. This year Halloween was pretty low key I guess. We decided that we would take Mattison trick-or-treating during the day, rather than at night so that we didn't have to deal with her bedtime crankiness! We ended up going to downtown Claremont (where Tay works)...it is a realyl big thing there, it was so crowded and she actually got a lot of candy (that Mom and Dad ate for her)!!!


I am so glad that we went, because it was a lot of fun and Mattison LOVED it! The streets were filled with kids, so she enjoyed people watching. I expected that she wouldn't really get the concept of trick-or-treating, but I was wrong! We let her hold this little pumpkin purse/bag, which she loved! At first I think that she was a little confused that someone was handing her something. But it didn't take long before she was squeeling and getting super excited as we walked up to the next store. She got to the point where she was wanting to grab the candy and put it in her bag herself. One lady took too long to give her candy, so she helped herself and grabbed two big handfuls and put them in her bag, we were cracking up!

Our cute lil' Minnie Mouse, but as you can see, she was quite stubborn this day and refused to keep her Minnie ears on (at least I got a picture of her with the ears at Walt Disney World)...


We were party-poopers and didn't dress up...I had intentions of doing it, but it never happened (maybe next year)!


Jonni, Ally, & Tay


Grandma & Matti...


After trick-or-treating, we came home and made dinner. As tradition, we had several different kinds of soups, bread, and apple cider...it was SO good! Then, we had to leave room for our dessert...yummy caramel apples (we've done this the past three years and we look forward to it each year now)!!! This time our friends Kristen and JJ joined us for the evening fun! We each got a caramel apple and caramel dipped pretzel to decorate with different chocolates! Then we watched "Hocus Pocus" outside! It was such a fun day, looking forward to next year when Mattison will be old enough to enjoy/understand it even more!!!

Before (*now I am craving one of these, dangit)...


During...


After...


Mattison got these adorable pajamas in a fun Halloween package from Granny Annie & Grandpa Harry...we love them, thank you so much!!!

Family Pictures

While we were at Disney World, Tonya, offered to take some pictures of our little family! We are so happy with them, she did an awesome job!!! Throughout our vacation, Tonya also helped me with my website and shared her expertise as I start my own photography business!


Love her expression in this one...


One of my favorites, Mattison just looks so grown-up here!














Our cute 'little monkey' (as Matt likes to call her)!!!


Matti's new cheeser smile! That week she randomly started smiling like this when she saw a camera, she's a funny girl...

Disney World

My goodness, I realized that it's been a month since I last blogged...this post has seriously taken me forever to get together! Things have been crazy and fun! October 16th-23rd we were lucky enough to go to Walt Disney World with the Peterson's (Matt's cousin and his wife Tonya and their daughter Paige). We are so grateful for them in inviting us to stay with them!!!

Flying out to Florida we took a red-eye flight thinking that it would be best with Mattison so that she could sleep...well we thought wrong. She fell asleep before we left and then I put her in the carseat to leave and she woke up. In the end, she was fine on the flight and eventually fell asleep across our lap (she laid on my pillow)! The flight home was another story, she was woken up from a nap as we were boarding the plane, so everything went downhill from then on...she screamed like crazy until she finally fell asleep like an hour later.

Mattison loved looking out the window as we waited for our flight!


We got to Florida early in the morning and we were exhausted because we hadn't slept all night. We were able to check into the hotel earlier than we planned, so we rested while we waited for the Petersons to get in. That night we went into The Magic Kingdom!

We watched this fun parade that the girls loved...there weren't a lot of people around us, so some of the characters came right up to the them (Paige even had a lipstick mark from Snow White kissing her on her forehead, too cute)!


I've decided that instead of going through each day I am just going to give details and pictures from each park...

EPCOT
This was seriously one of our favorite Walt Disney World parks...we made sure that we went here several times throughout our trip! We especially loved The World Showcase. Everything was so authentic, you really felt like you were in each of the countries. The cool thing is that the stores have authentic items from their particular country and the cast members that work in the countries are actually from that country. I didn't get pictures of all of the countries, because I thought that we would have time to go back one last time before we left but it didn't work out.




Morocco was so cool! The architecture was so unique.


Another one of my favorites was France...especially because of the yummy pastries (they were seriously delicious)!


I was so bummed that this picture was blurry, but I love Mattison's expression in it!!!





Japan






Mattison loves clothes shopping because she loves grabbing the clothes, so she was in heaven in this store...


Germany (Matt's homeland...for those who don't know, he's half german)! It was so fun, because we were able to eat at the German Restaurant. I was a little nervous because I didn't really know what the food was going to be like, but it was good! They put on a good show too!!! It was so fun to see how proud Matt and Alex were of their heritage! I can't wait until Mattison is old enough to understand it more, how cool to know exactly where her family came from! We let Mattison pick out a small souvenir in Germany and she chose this bell...she was so proud of it and wouldn't put it down (you can see it in her right hand)!!!


Aside from the World Showcase, there was lots of other fun stuff in this park that we loved! 'The Seas with Nemo & Friends' was so much fun, Mattison really liked it...it had the Nemo ride (only you didn't go in the submarine like DL, you ride in a shell carriage like Haunted Mansion). Then within the same building they have 'Turtle Talk with Crush' and then they actually have aquariums with fish, dolphins, sting rays, etc!

Mattison looks scared in this picture, but she was actually ticked off because we took her away from one of the activities to take the picture, lol...


She loved the sting rays, it was so cool because they came right up to her against the glass!


ANIMAL KINGDOM
This was a really fun park! One of my favoritew was the 'Kilimanjaro Safari,' it's so cool that there are actually real animals so close to you, unlike the 'Jungle Cruise' (I don't have any pictures from it because Matt was getting video and it was impossible to take pictures while trying to hold Mattison on a bumpy ride)! It really felt like we were on an African-Safari. isAnother highlight of ths park wass 'Expedition Everest'...it was SO fun, as Alex says, "it's like Matterhorn on crack"!


HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS
We only spent half of the day at this park, because there wasn't a whole lot to do. This park reminded me a little of California Adventure for some reason. We went on Tower of Terror, and the Rockin' Roller Coaster, which was SO fun!



Mattison & Paige did so well considering they were in their strollers for practically the entire week!!! She enjoyed being able to get out and run!



THE MAGIC KINGDOM
We also went to this park several times throughout our trip because Mattison and Paige loved it the most!!! The Magic Kingdom is basically a lot like Disneyland...they are set up pretty much the same way and have a lot of the same rides; however, it's spread out a lot more (there was lots of space to walk around from land to land so it wasn't so stressful because you weren't having to squeeze through the crowds like you do at Disneyland). They have a really fun 3D show called "Mickey's PhilharMagic" that the girls loved! We also went on Small World a few times because the girls also loved that!!!

Cinderella's castle is beautiful (and so big)!


The girls had so much fun together, they played really well! The last night that were hilarious...they thought that everything was SO funny and they were laughing uncontrollably at each other (Paige was on the ground rolling...I've never seen either of them laugh so hard)! Oh, we missed them so much after this trip!


Mattison sporting Walt Disney World ears, they stayed on for .2 seconds, so there was no way taht I was going to buy them (a picture will do, lol)!


Matti wasn't a fan of the carousal...she didn't like sitting on it all alone, so mommy had to join her so that she would ride it!!!

MICKEY's NOT SO SCARY HALLOWEEN PARTY

One of the nights we all went to "Mickey's Not so Scary Halloween Party" held in the Magic Kingdom. It really was a lot of fun--we got to trick-or-treat throughout the park and there was also special entertainment for the party only (a Halloween Parade, firework show, a Disney Villan show, and special character meet-and-greets throughout the entire park)!

Mattison and Paige were the cutest Minnie Mouse and Tinkerbell there ;-)

Just as were starting to take these pictures, some jerks put on these scary masks (I was even scared of them) to a Not So Scary Party and the girls freaked out!

We were taking a family picture and Paige decided that she wanted to be in it too, so Alex joined in on the fun too, lol...

Here are some fun detail pictures of the party...

The Haunted Mansion was even lit up different...

We also discovered that Mattison DOES NOT like the characters. She was so afraid of all of them and would cling onto me for dear life while shaking her head no and frowning...we tried it again the following day and there was no way we were going to get a picture of her with Minnie!


OTHER STUFF
Mattison was so exhausted by the end of the week! Not only was she going to bed later and having to be woken up earlier each morning, she was only getting one nap a day (she still takes 2) so some nights we would get home and she would just veg, too funny!


We were able to go swimming a few times, which was tons of fun! This was the first time that Mattison got to use swimmies/floaties...she was SO afraid of them at first but by the end of the trip she was kicking her feet and keeping her head above the water without holding onto us!!! She even went down the little slide and wasn't afraid! Paige was a little dare devil and went down the big slide!!!

This was seriously such a fun trip, and one that we will always remember! We can't wait to go back another time! Thanks again Alex, Tonya, and Paige--you guys are the best!!!

**I will be adding more pictures to this post, but I figured that I better hurry and post it while I can!

Fun at Oak Glen

Yesterday we had such a FUN day! We planned on going to the LA County Fair...it's the last weekend of the fair, so until 1pm you could get in for only $1! Unfortunately, there was tons of traffic and everyone and their dog decided to go too, so there was no way that we were getting into the gates before 1pm, plus we didn't really feel like dealing with the large crowds. I was so ticked because I was so excited to go!

We wanted to do something fun, rather than just sit around the house, so we decided on driving to Oak Glen, CA to pick some apples and to get pumpkins. Oak Glen is a community in the San Bernadino Mountains that is surrounded by lots of apple orchards, farms and villages! It was so much fun, it was seriously like we were somewhere else because there was such a change in climate and the seasons, with only an hour drive. We had planned on picking our own apples, but unfortunately we found out that this has been the worst crop season in a long time...usually the crop lasts until Thanksgiving, but it was already over so we could only buy bags of apples, but they were still tasty!


Our first stop was at a village that had a little petting zoo! Mattison kept meowing at the goats, lol! She was fine with the animals, just as long as she was being held!


Then we drove about a mile away to a place that had a big apple orchard as well as a corn fieldIt was so fun to walk through the orchards!


Mattison enjoyed picking up the apples that had fallen on the ground!


There seriously weren't any apples on the trees, so we were excited when we found one!


The cornfields were so much fun, we kept taking tons of pictures here!


The marmy...


Jonni-girl (I loved the sunflowers that surrounded all of the orchards)...


Tay-Tay...


Then at the base of the Oak Glen Canyon, we found a really fun Pumpkin Patch...it had a tractor-pulled hayride (that was free), a corn maze, a fun zone with lots of rides, a petting zoo, and food!


It was a U-Pick pumpkin patch, so we got to pull around this wheelbarrow...Mattison had so much fun riding in it!




Aunt Jonni decided to join in on the fun too...




Mom with two of her girls...


Then there was also a table of pumpkins that were already cut, which is where we ended up getting Mattison's...


Mattison had fun flirting with the other kids...


She was very proud of her little pumpkin...


This little trip made it feel even more like fall, so we finished the night off with chili, cornbread and for dessert we had homemade apple crisp made from the apples that we got from Oak Glen...it was delicious! We also stayed up late and watched a movie outside...we watched The Knowing, a movie I do not recommend to anyone (it was really good and intense, but the ending seriously ruined it for us all...it was sac religious and basically was saying that the earth was created by aliens, which bugged me).

The Browns Come to Visit

Last weekend our friends, Wes, Becky and their daughter Macy came to visit! We had a blast, and enjoyed spending a lot of time together! On Wednesday Matt and Wes went to the Angels vs. Yankees game! On Thursday I had to work, so we just got together for lunch! On Friday we went to Disneyland, which the girls really enjoyed...even though it was a HOT day!

Seriously, if you have little ones, be sure to go to the Playhouse Disney Show at California Adventure! It entertains the little ones and the bonus is the airconditioning, so it's an escape from the heat!

Why is it that toddlers always want out of their strollers, if only we could be pushed in a stroller the entire day at Disneyland!!!

It was so fun to see the girls playing together! Funny story, Matt and I were watching M&Mwhile Wes and Becky went on Indiana Jones and everyone thought they were twins. Then, as I sat here taking pictures of the girls, someone said, "Here, let me help you out and get a picture of all of you!" So, we got a picture of us with the girls because they thought we were a little family, lol, it was a nice gesture though!

The girls got a Mickey sucker and were so excited...it kept them quiet for quite some time!

Then on Saturday we hung out at Wes' brother's (Adam & Megan) house to watch the BYU football game! I didn't even really get to watch the game all that well...things change once you have a little one running around!

On Sunday, after we got home from church we met up at Newport Beach, not to swim but to just let the girls play and to walk around! We had a little bit of a problem meeting up, because the GPS took the Browns to the other side of Balboa Island...the fun part is that they got to take the ferry over the water as opposed to taking the long route around the penisula! We got there in time to watch them cross, which was exciting!

This was Macy's first time at the beach! She loved it and wasn't scared of the waves at all!

Mattison on the other hand would rather play in the sand and isn't really a fan of the crashing waves being so close to her (she kept running away whimpering, whereas, Macy just sat there giggling)!

The girls had fun playing in the sand...

...and rolling around in the sand, lol!

We talked and caught up on things (I really miss living so close to them)...

After playing in the sand we walked on the pier and around the Balboa Fun Zone. We were so excited to see two sea lions! There were tons of people fishing along the pier, and so the sea lions sat underneath them begging for food!

Monday night we went to another baseball game! Adam (Wes' brother) was nice enough to invite us to his boss' suite! I had never been in a suite before, and boy was it nice (especially with little ones because we could let them run around and yet they were contained)!

M&M in their 1st Angels T-shirts that Wes got for them (thanks Wes)!

Earlier that day I finally found a pair of shoes that actually fit Mattison well...the only place I can find wide width shoes without paying over $30 for a pair was at Payless!!!

We had such a fun weekend!!! Mattison misses having a friend to play with, I miss having someone to hang out with and talk with, and Matt misses having someone to talk about sports and life with, lol! Thanks so much for a fun time Wes and Becky, and thanks for all that you guys do for us, we appreciate it!!!

Matti Lately

I felt like posting some pictures of our Matti-girl and updating you all on her because I want to make sure that I keep record of some things!

-Mattison is learning how to color (somehow she always seems to hold any pen or crayon upside down, so these learning crayons help a bit)! She has also discovered that she can eat them, great...


-She loves to clean and organize...if she finds a napkin or washcloth sitting around, she picks it up and either washes a surface or wipes her own face! The other day at my moms, she saw a cup sitting on the ground, so she picked it up, walked over to the cupboard opened it and put the cup away!

-Mattison has learned how to throw her diapers away in the trash, and consequently throws just about anything away these days, lol! Here's a little video that also shows some of the words that she says (and as you can see at the end, she no longer calls me Mom, I am "Da" and when you tell her, "Say Mom," she immediately answers with "Da!"). Another one of her favorite phrases is "good girl."


-Nothing is better than a happy girl after a good night's rest! Matti usually likes to snuggle with me in bed after she wakes up (which is a new thing that I love) and this particular morning the light coming into the room was amazing, so I couldn't resist taking some pictures of this cutie!!!


(her thinking face, lol)...


-Mattison is obsessed with cellphones! She holds them up to her ear backwards and then gabbers away! She seriously has her own language, she will have a full blown conversation with you (stops when you are talking, answers back when you ask questions), but it is all gibberish!


The other day I tried capturing her talking on the phone, but she was being camera shy and of course stopped doing a lot once I got the camera out!


-This is definitely not something I am proud of, but Mattison has become quite the bully! She doesn't have an siblings or cousins that live close bye, so she is always playing with adults! Last week, my mom was watching Matti and this other little boy. Apparently she kept hitting him and pulling his hair because she didn't like him playing with her toys. And then she would just hit him for no apparent reason. I need to start joining a play group or something so that she can interact with kids her age and learn to share!

-I love pictures of messy faces!!! Lately Mattison has been more consistent with her eating schedule...breakfast at 8 or 9am, lunch around noon and dinner around 6pm...and let me tell you she is ornery when she doesn't eat, so it's best for us to keep to this schedule!!!


-She is learning to point to body parts when asked...she knows her nose, eyes, mouth and is working on pointing to her ears!

-Matti is starting to copy things that we do and say! Recently Matt was watching a football game and he was shouting "go, go, go" so she did the same! Now when she sees any sport on the TV she shouts at the screen, "go, go, go"! Then we were at an Angels game the other night and we realized that she was shouting, "go, go, go"...funny kid!


-My sister was going through some things and found her old recorder from elementary school (brings back memories) and Mattison loves playing with it!


-She is always walking around with at least three things in her hands and she gets SO frustrated when the things fall out of her arms and she can't hold all that she wants to!


-Mattison got a ball pit for her birthday and she LOVES it! The minute she wakes up, she's in it and her favorite thing to do is to sit on the edge and to fall backward into the balls! This ball pit is like her secret hiding place because she hides everything in there. If you are missing something it's best to check the ball pit! Currently in her pit I see some of my papers, two wipey containers, a doll, snake toy, keys, blocks, her Angels ball, a toy train, her disney princesses, lotion, an Angels helmet, her sippy cup and a magnet...seriously!

Carlsbad Resort Weekend Getaway

For my sister, Taylor's 21st birthday, we decided to stay in a hotel and have a little weekend getaway! A friend of ours (JJ) gave us an awesome deal on a hotel, so we were able to stay in the Sheraton Carlsbad Resort & Spa, which was so nice (it even had a view of the ocean in the distance)!!! When we got there, we discovered that JJ had got together a little surprise for Tay! They left some drinks, fruit and chocolate dipped strawberries!


The night we got there we went out to dinner at Olive Garden! Then we stayed up late swimming and hanging out in the hot tub (we were so excited that the pool was open 24hrs)!

The next day we spent a few hours at the pool! This hotel was awesome and had a little lifevest for Mattison and even offered water diapers too...I was pretty excited about that, lol! This pool was huge!

That afternoon, after swimming we were planning on going to Legoland (the hotel we stayed at had a private entrance into the park) for the last hour that it's open because it is usually free, but we were bummed when we found out that they no longer do that! So instead we went to the Oceanside Pier!

(Funny story behind this stroller. All of us drove together in my parents' Expedition, so we were packed to the limit and didn't have room for our stroller. We were planning on just buying one of those cheap umbrella strollers, until we found this stroller next to the parking lot trash in our hotel, LOL. No we are not trash diggers, but it was just sitting there in practically perfect condition, except it was just missing a bar to keep the sit sitting up so we added a rope and it's perfect!

The ocean was beautiful ande it was a little overcast, so you could see the rays shinning through the clouds! I was so excited to capture the reflection in Jonni's glasses...

While walking on the pier we came across this pelican...it was actually kind of scary! So of course, after hearing that they bite, my dad had to test it's limits and get super close to it!

Of course, I had fun taking pictures of everyone!!! My handsome husband...

Miss Jonni!

The birthday girl...

Mattison & mommy!

Matt & I...

The 3 older seesters!!!

Thanks for taking some family pictures for us Tay...

After the beach, we had dinner and then went shopping at the Outlet Mall! And that night us kids (thanks to my mom & dad for staying in the room while Mattison slept) stayed up late talking outside!

That morning we cheked out of the hotel! After breakfast we drove to the San Diego LDS Temple! It was fun to be back again, because we hadn't been there since the day we got married! It was fun to bring Mattison to where it all started...

We enjoyed the temple grounds a bit and took more pictures! Little Miss Matti posing all on her own for a picture, lol...

In all, it was an awesome getaway! Happy Birthday Tay!