Jet airplanes in January

January was a month that required a few jet airplanes to get us to our destinations.  Check it out.



Basketball
Nathan and I started off January by attending to a U of A basketball game (thank you co-worker for giving us the tickets).

It was a lot of fun, and it was actually a very good game.  

Bama won, and the cheerleaders danced a victory dance to the song "Sweet Home Alabama" (what else would they dance to here?).

Birthday cupcakes🍥

What better way to start off a birthday than with snuggles and cuddles in bed?

We celebrated Nathan's birthday by going to the Temple, and then going to a bakery and eating some yummy cupcakes!  They were VERY delicious.

You'll notice Hannah and I are are wearing short sleeve shirts.  That's because it was 75 degrees outside.  We LOVE the winter weather here.




Weather⛅

And speaking of weather, we got some snow.  Now for Alabamians, this is a huge deal.  When it snows -- any kind of snow -- the area shuts down completely.  They don't have any plows out this way to salt the roads, and the drivers out here don't know how to handle this kind of weather.  So, to ensure every one's safety everything shuts down.

Proof of snow in Alabama.

Interestingly enough, a week late, it got up to the mid 70s during the day.  Glorious!

Doctor appointments💉

We had several doctor appointments this month.  We all got a clean bill of health from the dentist.  

Hannah loves the dentist, and she does anything they ask her to do.  I count my lucky stars that my child likes the dentist.

We also got to see a pediatric ophthalmologist this month.

Here's the doctor putting in "magic drops."  Hannah was all excited about them, but by the time we left the office she said "I don't like these magic drops."  Poor thing couldn't see very well with her dilated eyes.

Hannah has a condition called amblyopia (lazy eye).  She has to wear glasses to help strengthen her left eye, and then she's supposed to continue to wear a patch 2-4 hours a day at home.




Miscellaneous stuff

Hannah got some new sneakers.  She loves the rainbow colors, and the lights on them

Nathan and I were doing something on his computer, and we noticed Hannah was totally "in the zone" with her playing.  She was completely oblivious that we were watching her and it was so fun to observe her.  Imagination is a powerful thing.

When I was in California (more on that later), I got a text message from one of my former Young Women in Pennsylvania.  It turns out that 3 of my former Mia Maids (who are now graduating from HS) got their Young Women medallions.  It was so heart warming to get that picture and the text that came with it. 

Text message from JD: "Tonight was Young Women in Excellence, and we all finished Personal Progress, and got our medallions!  We wish you were here because you were a big part of our program and progress.  We love you!  I love you!"

Insert gushing former Young Women Leader here.😊


C A L I F O R N I A !

Yes.  You read this section right.  We went to California!

We told ourselves, Hannah, and our extended families, that when we paid off all of our debt we would travel each year to see family.  California happened to be our first stop.  Nathan and I planned the trip but we wanted to surprise Hannah.  The day of our departure we showed up at her school (her teacher knew in advance), and picked her up.  When we got in the car and told Hannah the news.

She was elated!

We told her we were going to be going to Disneyland in 2 days, and she was super excited about that. After a few moments of letting that piece of information sink in, we told her we would be going to Disneyland twice while on our trip.  She was speechless.  She tipped her head back and was in complete awe!

About 20 minutes later, we asked if she liked her surprise.  Her response: "Ya!  That was a big surprise.  Best one ever!"

That's right kiddo!  That was a big surprise!

Waiting in the airport was a little difficult for her.  She thought that when we got there we would walk right on the plane.  Sorry kiddo.  

But when we got on the plane, she loved everything about it.  

And it was fun coming off the plane and seeing Grandma there waiting for us.

We did LOTS in California.  There is so much to do there.

I attended a business event called Business Boutique with a few friends.  It was fabulous, and I learned so much about running your own business.  I've got LOTS to do.

The Business Boutique event was just down the street from the Newport Beach Temple (it was closed for maintenance), but Nathan and I had to stop and walk around the grounds.  This is a special place for us for many reasons.

We got to walk around Cal State Fullerton.  So much of it has changed over the last 10 years.  

We also stopped by Grandpa's office (where I used to work too, with some of my siblings).  All the grand kids got a clean bill of health from Grandpa.

We got to eat some yummy, delicious, amazing California strawberries!

We also got to eat some In-n-Out (aka, the fruit of the tree of life).

Nathan and I also got to go eat at one of our favorite restaurants: Italy's Little Kitchen.  It is AMAZING!  I think we will go there every time we travel back to CA.

I also enjoyed watching my Dad make his Cinnamon rolls.  He has such a sweet tooth.

One of the greatest part of our trips were the visits we got to have with family.

Here's photos of Nathan's side of the family.  Hannah LOVED to hang out with Sarah.

My side of the family.  Grandpa was Hannah's favorite buddy on this side.

It was so nice to see both sides of family.  It's been a long, long time.



I'll finish the blog post with a bunch of Disneyland pictures.  Hannah LOVED Disneyland.  She loved every ride she went on except two: Snow White's Scary Adventures, and The Matterhorn.  Everything else she loved (even the big ones).  Her favorite ride though -- Big Thunder Mountain!

Here's photos of Day 1 at Disneyland:

Disneyland Day 2:

My favorite part of Disneyland was the Electrical Parade.  I grew up watching this parade almost every year.  This parade is so magical when you are a child.  It was a very tender moment for me to sit there with my Mom (thanks for reserving out our FANTASTIC seats Mom!), my sisters, and my own little daughter.  It was neat to watch the magic of the parade through her eyes, which in part brought back the magic for me.  But most of all, it brought back some great memories of the good old days when watching with my family, while creating some new memories for my own little family.

Hannah is upset in this photo because Prince Charming did not wave to her.  Look at that frown on her face.  So sad.😞