Trips Part 2: California, Disneyland

We've been planning this Disneyland trip for a while now and I realized that Jordan and I have never been to Disneyland together, so taking our family to Disney was a real treat, getting to go with the Gissemans was the icing on the cake! We rented a 12-passenger van and drove from Utah to California. We stopped in Primm, Nevada on the way and had a good time shopping. I love road trips and it was so fun joking around, listening to music, and eating all the way to California! ******Spoiler Alert!!!******This post is going to contain A LOT of photos, so if that's not your thing, look away now!

Our 12-passenger van

                                       

All that luggage! Fit like a dream! 

These kids are the best roadtrippers!

The first part of our trip we were missing Dallin and Caitie, who was graduating! Congrats Caitie! While they were back in Utah, we went to Disneyland on Friday! 

 Luckily for Olivia, I'm the only one who doesn't get motion sick! 

On Saturday, we picked up Caitie and Dallin at the airport and headed to Newport Beach. It was too cold and damp to actually swim, but we had a great time hanging out at the pier. Caitie joined me in getting my first henna tattoo, which I think wasn't very good quality, but a fun memory regardless. On Sunday we went to church, then visited the Newport temple, which was gorgeous. I felt like I was walking around in the Garden of Eden. We also went on a crazy long drive to see all of the temples around the area, but it ended up being a little too long and rainy and we got burnt out, so we only saw the San Diego temple. 

On Monday we went to California Adventure. Since there were a lot of characters there, Jordan and I opted to spend most of the day character hunting! Olivia was star-struck by Anna and Elsa (her favorites)! It was a new thrill as a parent watching my child meet someone she really admires! The look on her face was priceless! While waiting in the loooong line for the Frozen characters, I met a girl named Hazel who frequents Disney and told me about a store online that specializes in making Disney-themed clothing for adults. She was dressed up as Meg from Hercules and she was gorgeous! She and her grandma were super helpful and it was so much fun talking to her! She gave me a ton of insider tips and it made our trip to Disney a little smoother, so thanks Hazel! 

The next day, our last day at Disney, Olivia's Grandma and Grandpa treated her to a royal makeover at Elsa and Anna's Boutique and she LOVED it! I am so grateful for her grandparents who are so willing to provide fun and memorable experiences for her. Since Olivia looked the part of a princess, we hunted for princesses at Disneyland. 

Sadly, all good things must come to an end! We were lucky to be at Disney for the Electric Parade, which brought back so many memories! I was so happy to get to show my kids such a fun parade. It sucked leaving our family. Riley is going on a religious LDS mission to the Belgium-Netherlands for two years and I think we all realized this might be our last time we see him in person for a while (I sure hope not). 

Bye Disneyland! See you soon! Gisseman Family 2017

Trips Part 1: Utah

Hey everyone! It's been a little while since I've posted because we have been extremely busy! Since Jordan has been out of school we had a golden window of opportunity where we could take lots of trips before I basically become a single parent while he goes off to residency. Our first trip took us to New Mexico to visit friends, which I already wrote about, then after that, we took to the skies and flew to Utah to visit my family. It was the perfect trip to Utah and NONE of us got sick the whole trip! It feels so long ago, I can hardly remember what we did anymore, but I do know that we had a lot of fun visiting the Hermann family!

Romney zonked out on the plane ride and slept like this!

Cousins reunited! 

These girls went a little crazy with the kool-aid

The saying, "Cousins are ready-made friends for life" rings true in this family! We are so grateful for our cousins because they are instant friends. Every time I visit family, I am always warmed by how strong Olivia's relationships with her cousins are despite the time and distance we've spent away from them. They all loved on Romney and especially Gavin who wouldn't put Romney down. They are the sweetest kids and I have the best niece and nephews ever! No contest! 

Before we went to Utah, I noticed people posting pictures at the Tulip Festival and I was pretty jealous. I LOVE the Tulip Festival, which is put on by Thanksgiving Point. I realized that we would actually be in Utah while the Tulip Festival was going on and so we got a group together and spent the day out there admiring all the flowers and beautiful statues of Christ. It was breathtaking! 

We took my Mom to Waffle Love and enjoyed their decadent waffle creations! I have to admit, I'm not a huge waffle fan, but I don't mind making an extra trip to Waffle Love when I'm in Ogden. We also went out to eat with the Pectol family at a Vietnamese restaurant.  My dad took us to Golden Spike Park and we let Olivia run around and we strolled through the park. It was a really relaxing day. I'm of the opinion that Romney looks just like his Grandpa Rik.

Big boy sitting in a high chair! 

 Inseperable

 Yep. They look alike.

 Although he bears a vague resemblance to a certain U.S. president

We really enjoyed our time with the Hermann family, but all too soon it was time to leave and travel to Salt Lake to visit the Gisseman family. Romney wasn't the only one who got a new hairdo. After teasing Jordan that his old haircut wasn't going to cut it now that he's moving up in the world, I convinced him that a new haircut was in order.

And of course, Grandma Holli got right to work at spoiling her grandkids. The kids got to go up to her school and pet some farm animals, they enjoyed reading books with her. If there's one thing her grandkids will know about her (and use it to their advantage), is that Grandma always keeps her word. Olivia had mentioned wanting a tea party and Grandma Holli said she would throw her one while we were in town and she did it! She invited all the neighbor kids and amidst the chaos of getting ready to go on our trip to California, she pulled off the best backyard tea party with games, crafts, and lemonade and cookies to boot. 

Great Grandma Goosie and Oma

Olivia always looks forward to playing with Daniel the next door neighbor

She did not want to let the lama kiss her! 

 Holli's Tea Party. Grandpa Dave organized some games for the kiddos!