We'd have to be much better at pacing ourselves if we were to ever get one of those 3 or 4 day park-hopper passes. Two days in the parks just about did us in - although so many memories were made and fun times were had in the meantime.

We caught the spectacular fireworks show at the end of our first day - spent mainly at California Adventure, with the last few hours in Disneyland for the street dance parade, dinner, the Finding Nemo sub ride and probably the best fireworks I've ever seen!

Toon Town soaked up much of the afternoon on day 2. So many fun places for the kids to climb and make believe! Bennett had his first cotton candy (or so he says) in the fine evening weather and it was less crowded than other destinations... why would we leave?

Teacups was one of the rides the kids were fortunate enough to ride twice with Disney's great baby swap card.

I tried to tell them about the REAL Matterhorn, but they're pretty sure this one's better.

Made me very concerned for 10 & 12 years down the road to see these two behind the wheel.

We waited "patiently" in line for an hour for a precious photo with Audrey's favorite princesses. Isn't Ariel perfect?

Meanwhile, Rob took Bennett for some boy time at the Jedi Training Camp. He got to fight Darth Vader himself and came away with Jedi certification!

Taking a break in the shade while Rob held our place in line for "It's a Small World". This had to be Jeremiah's favorite as we floated through room after room of happy singing characters - so much to look at!

More waiting... this pic is so similar to one we took of these two 3 years ago when we came... they're a little bigger now.

Bennett is catching onto the perks that come with big-brotherhood, such as being worshiped and teaching his little shadow all the life lessons he's already experienced. Bennett thanked Heavenly Father tonight for his brother and asked that he would be able to take good care of him. Jeremiah is even permitted in Bennett's room now, whereas before no drooling babies were allowed.

Everlasting spring

Yesterday was the official start of spring! I can hardly believe it because it's felt like spring for months now. I am most definitely not bragging - we have our not-so-pleasant weather to look forward to all too soon. I do feel grateful for the beautiful days of "winter" here though. Our garden thinks it feels pretty nice out right now too. Here's the garden I mentioned planting with Lisa. The first pic is my wishing well that sat full of nothing but dirt for so long - I always wished it full of flowers!

Yeah, that's an ice cream about the drip on Bennett's head. He was pretending to be Lady Liberty.

We've got carrots, gn onions, cucumbers, broccoli, peas, lettuce & tomatoes!

We spend a great deal of our evenings lately at tee-ball practices and games for Audrey and Bennett and I'm glad we get to enjoy our time outdoors. We realized after our commitment to be part of the Blue Jay team that we had not been too diligent in playing catch with our kids - or batting, or anything about the game of baseball. Here's a Sunday afternoon batting lesson with dad in the backyard.

Rob & I took a trip to San Diego for our 8th wedding anniversary in December. Most of the photos below are in Balboa Park - really really beautiful! A huge thank you to Rob's parents for keeping the kids so we could get away for a couple days! Here's a squirrel in the park - a big, fat, completely fearless monster of a squirrel.

We stopped on our way to CA to see the old lighthouse in the desert where we hiked around and found crazy sculptures carved out of the rocks.

Bringing you up to speed

It's only natural to cherish the sweet moments more when coming through one of life's bitter parts. My children have become more precious to me in the loss of our unborn baby. Their existence in our family is nothing short of a miracle! I'm so grateful for each of them with their amazing spirits and emerging personalities... and maybe even for their orneriness.

It's been months since my miscarriage but I'm still so thankful for the support of family and friends. Lisa (and let's not forget our mom and Lisa's husband, Jared who ran the show with Lisa's four kids in her absence) flew to Phoenix for moral support and to help us get life back to normal. We went for walks and bike rides. We finally put some vegetables in my long empty raised garden bed (pics coming soon). We stayed up late laughing and crying and reminiscing about old times. Thank you Lisa!