Sea World

After we went to Disneyland, we drove to San Diego and went to Sea World. The kids and I have never been there before. It was really fun. The Shamu show was amazing. The biggest whale they have is over 40 years old. They call her the trainer of trainers. When they have a new trainer, the whale will adjust her speed and tricks to fit the comfortability of the trainer. It really was a beautiful show. We sat in the "Soak Zone" but could only get at the top of that zone. That is where you have a great possibility of getting soaked! At the end of the show, the whales swim along the edges and swipe there huge tails to spray water up into the audience. I do have to say that we were lucky to not have sat any closer. When they say Soak Zone, they mean it!





The have a really fun roller coaster ride called Big Atlantis (I think) and of course the boys talked Grandma into going on it. At Sea World it's fun, because at the water rides, the bystanders can insert a quarter into a fountain thing and spray water at the people on the rides. At the river run (I don't have a picture), Corey did it at a group of people on the ride. Let's just say that one of the men on the ride didn't quite appreciate it and was a little upset. He showed Corey that he is "number 1" with his middle finger! Ha Ha! We had a great laugh at that one!

The Sea Lion show was absolutely hilarious! They did it to a Halloween theme and the trainers were dressed up. They did little movie bits from "scary" movies and the Sea Lions were cracking us all up. It really was a fun show if anyone ever goes to Sea World, you really need to go to this show.

Grandma Shirlee loves and collects anything pink flamingo. She was really looking forward to seeing the flamingos. We bought some flamingo food (don't know exactly what it was!) and got to feed the flamingos. Happy Birthday, Grandma!


There is a big pool thing that you can feed and touch the sting rays. They are very slimy feeling! We didn't buy any fish to feed them, but they say they just suck it right out of your hand and it is crazy feeling. Cayden took a while, but I think he finally touched one. Abby and Ryan were all over it!


We really had a great time at Sea World. I can't wait until we can go again and spend more time to see everything. They have so many animals to see. We saw tropical fish, crazy looking sea creatures, penguins, beluga whales, polar bears, flamingos, the Budweiser Clydesdales, dolphins, sea lions, walruses, etc.

Last week we went to Disneyland for a family trip with Corey's family. His mom, Shirlee sponsored all of us to go. Corey's brother, Huddy, and his family had a chance to go years ago when he was on leave from Iraq, but turned around half way there when Ryan went into the hospital when he was a baby. So, they haven't ever been able to go. It was a fun trip with the whole family. I decided that when we do it again, I won't be in charge of tickets! I left my adult ticket for Huddy's son and I had his child ticket! Since they weren't going to get to Disneyland until around noon the first day, I ended up having to upgrade the child ticket so I could get in! Then the next day, I tried to use Shirlee's birthday pass that she had used the day before! I forgot that I had already given her the right ticket to hold on to, and she forgot too. That led to some fun that day when we were trying to figure out what in the world we were doing! The first day we lost Ryan for about 15 minutes. We had broken up our group after dinner and some were waiting while others went to the bathroom. Ryan followed the group going to the bathroom, but they didn't know. Each group thought he was with the other. When they came back, I noticed they didn't have Ryan. Corey and I started backtracking where they went calling his name. After a few stores, a Disney worker and he came out and we found him! He did exactly what he was supposed to do and when he realized he was lost, he found a Disney worker and told her he couldn't find his mom and dad. Right after we got to him, the security guard came. Ryan had told him his name and home phone number, but didn't know the area code. The rest of the trip, we practiced our CELL phone numbers! Needless to say, we were freaked out and sooooo relieved. It wasn't a long ordeal, but it was a scary one. We had lots of fun going on rides, and Ryan was big enough for all of them. He even went on the California Screamer roller coaster and loved it. He wasn't afraid to go on anything. Abby's favorite rides were in A Bugs Life where they have rides for little kiddies. She thought they were really cool. Cayden, of course, went on everything and his favorite I think was Tower of Terror! He loved laughing at me on the scary ones that he made me go on, because I would scream really loud!




Happy Birthday, Grandma Shirlee! We got to go to Disneyland on her birthday. She had a button that she wore the whole time that said "Happy Birthday, Shirlee"








Abby got to go to Pixie Hollow to see Tinkerbell. Although, Tinkerbell had to go tinker on something, she wasn't there. But, we did get to see these two fairies! I can't remember their names!






TURKEY LEGS! We got one, or two, or three! It was our dinner!

We went on Mark Twain's River Boat ride going around Tom Sawyer's Island. Lots of fun.

The kids stumbled upon this guy who was doing chalk drawings for people. He didn't have anyone there at that time, so he started drawing Santa Claus. He was so cute with the kids all crowded around him explaining what he was doing. They stayed there for about 20 minutes. It was great.

Quick Family Update

Just for grins, and sorry I don't have any pictures, I thought I'd give everyone a quick update on the family. The boys just finished their Fall Baseball season. It was really fun, busy, and great learning experiences for both boys. Cayden went up to Minors this season. That is very different than Rookies. The kids pitch the ball, so needless to say there aren't many hits and a lots of walks! It threw him off for a while and even though he is a great hitter, it wasn't until the last part of the season that he started hitting. It's intimidating to the kids to have another kid pitching (sometimes they actually get hit by the ball, Yikes!). Cayden tried out pitching at the beginning of the season, but for some reason he didn't do anymore towards the end. Not sure why, unless he told the coach he didn't want to. All in all he had a great season. He is really becoming a great ball player. Ryan also did really wonderful. He is growing up so fast and still has a great time playing. He, too, toward the end of the season starting hitting the ball just about every time he was up to bat! The problem was that he hit it right to the first baseman most times and got out! But, he really stepped it up and started taking the game more seriously than in the past. He really enjoyed playing, and we really, really enjoyed watching him. Abby is doing really well at becoming a young woman. Yes, she is only 4, but just about every morning, she wants to put my make up on. I let her put on some eye shadow (sheer) just so she thinks she's getting some. I really enjoy my days with her. She will go anywhere I drag her and is such a good girl. She is back in her gym class and enjoying every minute of it. I think she's ready to try out for the olympics in her mind! Corey has been called as the Elder's Quorum President and has been keeping busy with all that entails. I am now the Primary Secretary and love it! It's busier than I thought, but I have wanted to be a secretary for a long time. I also have lost 27 pounds on the HCG diet that I did with my cousin. I feel really good and have maintained it so far (2 weeks) and I am really motivated to keep maintaining it. I am going to do another round after the first of the year and I can't wait to lose even more! Well, that's a short update on all of us. We are off to Disneyland with Corey's mom and brother's family. I will definitely be posting a bunch of pictures when we get back!

Day trip to St. George

We took a day trip to St. George on a Monday when the kids were out of school and Corey didn't have to work. We thought it would be fun to take Cayden's friend, Tanner, with us. We had a great time. Here are some pictures of us climbing on the "Dixie" rocks. On the front of the rocks some people have painted a big "DIXIE" and it makes for some fun exploring.

Abby 1st Day at Preschool

As you can see, she is very excited to go to her first day of preschool. What I don't have pictures of or audio was the screaming, "I- DON'T- WANT- TO- GO- TO- SCHOOL!" that I heard the entire way there. She goes to a new preschool this year that is about 15 minutes away. I carpool with my friend Liz and her daughter Aurora. This was such a fun drive to school that day. Aurora just kind of stared at her wondering what the problem was. Needless to say, that was the last time. I don't know what she was going through, but it's all better now. She likes the drive and loves school. I hear she even has a boyfriend! We'll have to talk about that...

We Moved!

Got your attention? What I mean is my shop, Flowers by Michelle, moved to a new location this week! Yes, you can relax, the family is still in our house. I have been working lots of hours these last few weeks helping the shop get ready to move. Due to some circumstances out of our control, Michelle made the bold, brave, scary decision to move the shop. We are in Centennial Hills now at 6510 N. Buffalo Dr. #130. It is in a great location with lots of other businesses all around us. We are right next to a Verizon and more importantly, Taco Bell. It really is a nice shop and once we get more settled in, I will post some pictures of it. It has been really exciting and we hope to see a boost in business since we are one of only 3 florists in that area. People seem to be responding really well. We are looking forward to a great future! I have been working for Flowers by Michelle for over 10 years now, and really feel like the shop is "mine" and those of you who know me well know how much I care about Michelle and the business. I am excited for this change and hope that everyone has a chance to see the new place!