When You Wish Upon a Star

For Christmas, the McArthur family opened tickets to none other than 'The Happiest Place on Earth.'  It was a long month waiting to redeem those tickets, but on my birthday we flew the coop and headed for California.  Everyone was super grumpy that day, so after a brief flip out by mom in the car and some tears from Katelee about everyone ruining my birthday, there was an adjustment in attitude and we were ready to party!

We started our excursion in California Adventure.  

 It was one of the best Disney days in the history of ever.  It was overcast and little cool, which is nice for us cold weather fans and it wasn't crowded.  

We got to ride the Radiator Springs racers two times and we were so fast-we won both races.  The kids thought we were pretty amazing.  

 Backing up to the beginning of the day, we went to Guardians of the Galaxy because we anticipated needing to grab a fast pass to get on later.  There was no wait (yes!) so we decided to jump on.  Well, that may have been a bit ambitious for Master H.  He went on that free fall and vowed never to go on that in his whole life again.  We also sufficiently scared him as he went to the 'It's Hard to Be a Bug Show' and screamed at the top of his lungs thinking the giant spiders were falling from the sky to get him.  It was a great way to start the day!  Haha!

Permanently scaring our child was not the main focus of the day, we went on plenty of kids rides (including the Goofy Coaster, carousel and Toy Story Mania) which he loved.  

 The highlight of his day (or life) was meeting Captain America.

We all know Harrison has been a long time fan of the Original Avenger.  He had adopted his persona for much of 2015 into 2017.

 Cap and Harrison talked about patriotism, villains and saving the world.  

 They made an awesome pair.  Our world is save in the hands of these two.  It really was so fun to see Harrison meet his idol.  Dreams were coming true!  Captain America even inspired Harrison to have more courage because by the end of the night, Harry was asking to go on Guardians again!  And he did!  He ended up having a great time...we didn't subject him to the gargantuan spiders again though.

 We rode absolutely everything we wanted to (that was open) multiple times and met some fun friends...

 We were tuckered out and ready to hit Magic Kingdom the next day.  

Harrison continued his quest for vanquishing evil as he trained to be a Jedi.  He took on Darth Vader like the force had been building inside him for ages.  Darth never knew what hit him. Harrison is already telling us he needs to go back to train to fight Darth Vader again.   

We rode lots of rides, ate some yummy treats ( I fell in love with the raspberry macaroon)

met a couple characters...

 

Harrison declared Belle to be his girlfriend, which is a little rude since I used to be the girl of his dreams, but I suppose Belle can fill those dreams now.  

Disneyland itself is magical and is the place where dreams come true.  For Dave, however, it is sometimes the place of nightmares.  He does not look forward to spending time in a place of musical, cartoon, giddiness.  He is not a fan of rides all together, as is perfectly displayed in the evolution of ride photos here...

He starts out "trying" to like it...

 He eventually just isn't amused...

Then, he just pretends it isn't happening.  bwuahaha!!

 

We loved it, even if it wasn't his top destination.  He was a good sport though and had to even give up sit down restaurants so we could get to every attraction I had mapped out.  That is a big sacrifice, if you know Dave.  

We had one more amusement park day at Universal Studios.  Universal was much more crowded but there aren't as many rides we wanted to go on, so we were ok.  We got to meet up with Chris and Les and Co as well as Shannon, so that was a lot of fun!  

To cap off our last full day, we dined as they did in the Dark Ages and cheered on our knight at Medieval Times.  Brenna was awarded the banner for queen of the banquet and now we all have to bow to her...actually we had to do that already, so no change there.  

 The following day we tried to be spiritual and attend a local church, but it was a regional conf, so we walked the pier at Newport instead.  

We made some fun memories and can't wait to go back to Disney!  I may have to take the kids solo, but we will be back someday!  Haha!

The next week, I joined my mom and sisters in Las Vegas

 to celebrate Shannon and her 40th birthday.  We went to the Beatles Love show.  It was lots of fun-we were singing and dancing in our seats!  We had a yummy dinner, some treats...

 and a grand time.  Shannon and I finished it off with a buffet brunch at the Wynn.  It was a Wynn for both of us!  Ha!

T'was a Jolly Holiday

Christmas season 2017 was a warm and wonderful one.  Our month filled up with ways to celebrate, concerts to attend and time to share.  The weekend the lights were turned on downtown was a perfect time for us to stroll.  We got a little tour of the conference center and moseyed about enjoying the twinkling lights.  

Grant had a Christmas concert at school with his mixed choir that was really fun.  His choir teacher, extended the invitation to be in Concert Choir for the rest of the year.  

 Having discovered his new found love of singing, Grant dropped Spanish and is now in choir all year.  Adios amigos!

Speaking of singing, we did our annual caroling at a care center with some neighbor friends.  This is our 5th year running and we had a great time.  The kids really look forward to it.  It's an all around highlight of our December.  We all feel like we can feel the true spirit of Christmas.  

Brenna had a busy month with a special holiday program by her grade.  She was all smiles as she performed that night.  She was disappointed because the class had to draw straws for their parts.  I guess we'd say she drew the short stick because she was one of the last to choose, so while she did not get to do the hula for 'Mele Kaliki Maka,' she got a stellar spot and had some great art displayed.  

Miss B was nervous all month about whether or not she would get coal.  She was sure she didn't deserve gifts. 

I think some confession time on the St Nicholas' knee put her at ease.  It all turned out well for her in the end!  

She had her ballet performance of Snow White where she worked her little pick axe as dainty as a little ginger ballerina can.  

Number 2 had a pleasant holiday season as well.  Katelee practiced long and hard for our piano recital.

She played an awesome version of the Hallelujah Chorus while Brenna tickled the ivories with a little Up On the Housetop action.


Brenna is a new addition to the piano crew, as well as Addie and Collin.  We lost Grant, that little rascal would no more be coaxed into playing.  It has been so fun to teach piano.  I never planned on it, but it is rewarding to see my little students growing.



Harrison visited with Santa a couple of times.  When we had the photos taken with the kids and the Mrs, we had made an appointment at Scheel's.  It was pretty much the best set up.  Santa was in a little room hidden away, so no one even knew.  You could tell him your secret Christmas wishes

and then head out to ride the Ferris Wheel!  Win for sure!

This Santa was at the library one day and was just so excited to see Harrison.  It really took us off guard. 

Harry and I were there to pick out books and Kris Kringle was calling him over and ready to present a present bag for Harry.  It was a fun surprise.  We didn't mind seeing the Grinch either!

(Harry is still working on that natural smile...apparently it eludes him)

We had a couple more downtown outings-one with just Dave and me.  We went to the phenomenal Christmas concert the Motab puts on.  We also took the kids down again to drop off things for the Candy Cane Corner store and learn about how it benefits the Road Home.  While down there, we had to get treats and walk through the Grand America.  Who did we see again?  The Grinch!


One fun weekend, we went to a church that was displaying hundreds of Nativity scenes.  We invited our friends, the Smith's to join us.  The church had a seek and find challenge for the nativities, a video in a different room about Jesus' birth, cider and cookies, and a manger photo op scene.  Katelee played a fetching Joseph.

We loved it so much, I quickly shot out a text to my family to run over.  We caught them just as they were leaving.  It is amazing to see other cultures and countries worship the Savior and their art.  Loved it.  He is the one to emulate.  Harrison has that down.  We were discussing the story of Nephi and we were saying who would be Nephi, Laman/Lemuel.  We determined Harry would be a brother and he just shook his head and said, "Nope.  I am Jesus."  

He has an identity crisis apparently, though, because at the nativity scene he wanted to be Mary.  He did tell me I am the best mother in all the land, and in his words, "you know who is number 2?  Mary, Jesus' mom."  Maybe that night, he let the doll be Jesus and he would go for number 2?!??

The much anticipated evening FINALLY arrived and we were able to have Mark and Amy drop by.  We headed over to Grandma and Grandpa's for Christmas Eve dinner/party.  

We sang, we ate, we opened presents.  It was glorious. 

IT was time to watch and wait for Santa.  We went back home and the kids had their annual "sleepover" which means little to no sleeping.  

Christmas morning was happy and fun as we exchanged gifts and love.  We surprised the kids with tickets to Disneyland and took no pictures, but we did video their reaction.  It was joyful!  We love spending the day in jammies, having Shannon, Grandma and Grandpa stop by.  We played games and Brenna put on a most mysterious and entertaining magic show with her magic set she received from Santa.  The whole day was magical! 

And so, another year wrapped up.  We stayed up late on New Years, reveled in the memories 2017 brought us and anticipated the experiences ahead in 2018.  While years pass by in the blink of an eye and we constantly find our selves wondering, how did we get here already?  We find contentment and fulfillment in the now.  We do miss the years gone by, but we know they are with us because they've made us who we are and we wouldn't trade where we are for the world.  On to a new year! 

Spooks and Sillies

Sometimes you are blogging and it is January, but you have to write about things that happened in October and you just hope you aren't fabricating events too much, but that's why there are pictures to prove you really lived the stories.  That's where we are today, folks.  Throwing it back a few months to my favorite season.  Brenna has Halloween listed in her top 3 holidays, while it doesn't have the same place in my list or heart, it does bring about a lot of fun! 

The kids and I ventured out to Thanksgiving Point during Fall Break to wander the gardens and the Scarecrow Festival.  

We voted on our favorite ones and I tried to keep the munchkins from destroying the displays.  

Harrison had to get a picture of every pirate Scarecrow, but the photos didn't turn out, so here is Dorothy instead!  I have told Harrison not to touch or pick at things and his reply is "I will NEVER."  So, he respectfully left all art in tact, but there was a little man handling.  

It was Red Ribbon week for the girls during October.  Crazy Hair day has now become a 'rat the little ladies' hair into huge balls of tangles' Day.  It's kind of a tradition now, I guess.  Oddly enough, it's the only day my dear daughters tell me I'm great at doing their hair!  HAHA!  It's true.  

Sure do love these wild ladies of mine.  Each of our kids, ok, mostly the 3 younger ones, love teaching our Family Home Evening lesson.  Harrison usually welcomes everyone, we sing a song with someone conducting.  Occasionally, the musical number even includes and interpretive dance, then we move on to family business before we hear a lesson and have an activity.  Katelee's lesson on the First Vision recently was especially creative as we capped it off with an activity she designed.  On a paper, she had drawn a forest and a young boy kneeling.  Then, she handed us a cut out of Heavenly Father and Jesus.  We were then blindfolded and we had to "pin" them in the sacred grove blindfolded.  Best family home evening game in a long time.  Ha! 

We had lots of fun at the Witches...

Having our annual family spooky dinner

where Harrison would not eat the worms.  I don't know what is wrong with that child.  

He was introduced to 'Captain Underpants,' the movie.  So, many a people have seen him doting a red cape and saving those in distress around our house while singing "TRA-LA -LA!"

He is a fun kid, who is completely in love with electronic devices.  Boo.  I am not a fan of parenting the screen time, but such is life.  He, does think that I need help in my choices and parenting strategies, he dishes out advice a lot to me.  He told me the other day that 'the spirit will tell you what to do.'  I appreciated this faith filled encouragement, but the declaration that came from his mouth "you can't argue with me, I'm in charge,"  was not so much my favorite.  

Harrison's little preschool class worked hard on learning some Halloween songs and presented them to parents at a Halloween party.  They were so adorable.  

We sure love Miss Amy.  She and I were cracking up because I've been worried about Harry's behavior at preschool.  There have been multiple times that I pick Harry up and as I'm buckling him into his carseat, he will let out a big sigh.  I've asked him what is wrong and then somehow it comes out that he has been on the time out chair.  Strangely, he can't remember why he spends time on the Time Out Chair, or what he has done to warrant that.  

When I picked him up last week, I asked Miss Amy, 'no time out chair for him today?'  She chuckled and said of course not.  I told her I was relieved cuz he has been on it lately. She stopped in her tracks and asked me what I said.  She started busting up laughing because apparently, Harrison has never been on the Time Out Chair, not once.  We are yet to discover why he wants to claim his delinquency when it isn't accurate, but for now, he is record is clean.  

The last day of October seems like it takes an eternity to get to, for the kids.  We fill our month, but waiting for the candy filled holiday is a stretch.  Finally the day arrived and the kids donned their costumes of a vampire, pirate, peanut butter and jelly and a baby.  So simple, so great this year.  

We filled our day with the parade, (SO glad we don't allow 10 year olds to have binkies...he slobbery talk around that device all day was driving me crazy!)

 class parties (Katelee had a mad science party, so I needed to dress the part...ok, it gave me an excuse to dress the part), 

 a neighborhood dinner and Trick or Treating.  Grant went out for a just a little bit with his friends, Katelee was with her gals and I took the two little people while Dave had a rough time having to answer the door so much while he was trying to watch the World Series.  ha!  We have had bags of candy ever since.  We actually threw it away just barely (much to the children's dismay), but Harrison keeps asking me if he can "borrow a cookie" from me.  I don't think I will like the state he will return it in, so I have declined.  That is not well received.  

Thanksgiving this year was hosted at the Petrick's this year.  We had a delish dinner and went to see Justice League.  We had a great time and had our special Grateful Gobbler up all month.  A lot of the blessings repeat year after year and how grateful we are that they do!!!  (Although, Mario was a new addition, not too thrilled about how he has entered our life!).