Southern California New Years 2012

This year the American Fork Marching Band performed in the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, California.  We decided to take the whole family down to watch Sarah march in the parade on New Years Day.

We had a great time doing all our favorite things to do in California. . . 

 Of course, the first stop was the Lego store in Downtown Disney.  We had a special request from our neighbor to pick up a promotional box of FREE legos . . . we don't like to disappoint.  And, the boys always love to go and see the bigger-than-life size lego creations.

 Our next stop was food . . . we do have our priorities right.  We ate at the Rainforest Cafe, which is always a fun experience.

 When we came out from lunch, there was a parrot show going on.  The kids wanted to watched (really it was David) so we stopped for awhile.

 The next morning we went to the Pasadena Junior College to watch Sarah's band perform their awesome show piece.  They did a great job.  We got to see all the band's participating in the parade do a field show.  They had bands from Europe and even Japan.  It was really cool to see the different styles of marching bands. 

 Most of our free time was spent at the pool at our hotel.  The kids loved to swim and I love to lounge in the sun.  So, it is a win-win for everyone!

 One of our adventures was to go to Santa Monica Pier to watch the sun set.  It was pretty chilly so we begged the kids not to get too wet.  They had a blast chasing the waves.

 It was all fun and games until someone (I won't disclose any names to protect the innocent) fell into the water!  It was all over after that.

 Dinner was a rushed and fairly unpleasant event while "someone" was very wet, cold and sandy!

 New Year's morning we got up SUPER early to get to the parade and hope for decent seats.  There are a lot of CRAZY people out there that spend the night to get good seats.  Not me.  I value my sleep WAY too much!  We got there and managed pretty well.  We carved out a little piece of lawn to spread out on.  The kids and Dave hung out while I walked to the Mc Donald's to get breakfast.  WOW - that was a crazy experience.  Evidently EVERYONE else thought it would be great to pick up breakfast while they waited.  It was worth it though to get a tall Diet Coke.  It took off the sting of the early morning.

 This is the start of the parade.  Sarah's band was towards the end, and we were at the end of the parade route so there was a lot of waiting.

 It was worth it though.  The kids did great.  It was a proud moment to see the fruits of so much hard work for this band.  They did Utah proud!!!

Here is a clip of the band at the parade.

Disneyland was super fun (as always) although it was weird to be there without Sarah.  It always felt like we were missing someone.  She had previously went with the band and was busy with a full schedule of fun events of her own.

Pirates of the Caribbean is always the first ride we go on.  It never disappoints.  Josh still doesn't like to go on many rides, even at Disneyland, but we made this one mandatory.

 David finally talked me into going on the pirate ship that circles behind the Mark Twain river boat.  We all needed a break from the long lines so it was a good break.

We had a great two days at Disneyland and fun supporting Sarah at her marching band events.  It's time to plan the next Disneyland trip!!!

Christmas Day 2011

Here is a little peak into everyone's haul Christmas day:

 Rachel's theme this year was music and crafts.  She got lots of art supplies, new jammies and slippers and a Dance Central Xbox game.  (She also LOVES dancing!)

 Josh's theme was snowboarding gear and church clothes.  I can't seem to keep up on Josh's growing and so he needed new pants and shirts and belts.  He also got jammies and slippers.

 Mr. Bubs theme was STAR WARS.  As David and I searched the stores for something to get him (he would really like anything), we decided it was time for a Star Wars intervention.  Dave even planned a movie day at our friends theater room to watch the original movie with the boys.

 Jake also got snowboarding gear and jammies and some other stuff like a basket ball and ear buds for his iPod.

 Rachel made this great calendar at school for me.  Each month has a season appropriate art project.  It is something to treasure for ever!

 Sarah's theme was marching band paraphernalia.  She really, really wanted a band jacket.  However, when I went to order one, the company that the HS had used for their embroidery had gone out of business at the end of November.  She knew this, but didn't know that I had worked with the HS to get the name of another company.  So, Christmas morning it was quite the surprise for her that I had pulled it off.  She also got a ceramic engraved ring with the marching band and Rose Parade logo and her name on the inside.  Of course she got new jammies and slippers and a flat iron for her hair.

 It looks like Uncle Steve likes Star Wars even more than Dan.

 Yep, he still has his helmut on.

 And Rachel is still rocking out with her iPod.

Christmas fell on a Sunday this year so we headed off to church at 9:00 am after a quick breakfast.  Steve and Dave look quite dashing!

Christmas Eve 2011

This year, my sister's Lori's family and Dave's brother Steve joined us for Christmas Eve.  We had a big ham dinner with green beans, cheesy potatoes, rolls and of course, LOTS of homemade treats.

Cal, Cody, Caden, Rachel, Dave, Carson, Jake,  Josh and Bubbs

 After dinner we had fun playing speed scrabble and hanging out.

Our family tradition is that on Christmas Eve, the kids all get to exchange their gifts they got each other.  Jake bought for Dan this year.  While we were at Target doing their shopping, Dave had Dan and I had Jake.  Dan saw this helmut and fell in love.  Dave texted me a photo of it and we snuck over and got it without Dan seeing.  He was super excited when he opened it.  Then after all the kids opened their presents, he came up to me crying.  He said, "this is a stupid helmut and I don't even have a bike to ride."  He was sad because he didn't get a toy like his cousins.

 However, he got over it pretty quick and he wore his helmut for 3 days straight.  He was pretty funny about it.  Dave and I thought it probably was a good idea for him to wear it as much as possible since he falls off chairs and crashes in to the walls DAILY.  

 Sarah had Rachel this year.  Me, being the brilliant and resourceful mother that I am, thought that the perfect gift for Rachel would be for Sarah to give her Sarah's old pink iPod nano.  Sarah has a iPhone now and didn't need it anymore and Rachel LOVES music - I knew she would love it.  The best part was that it would be FREE for Sarah.

So, Christmas Eve afternoon, Sarah went to her room to get the iPod and wrap it and . . . guess what?  She couldn't find it ANYWHERE!!!!  I about killed her.  I had given her this idea MONTHS ago and she waits until the LAST POSSIBLE SECOND to find it.  So, lucky for her, Dave and I were heading to the mall, any way and were able to pick up a NEW iPod for Rachel (something I would not have considered for a 6 year old).  This set US back over $100, but it was worth it for the reaction the we got from Rachel!

Rachel LOVED her gift.  And for days and days we have got to listen to her singing as she walks around with her ear phone on.

 Danny had Jake this year and he got an assortment of things.  He requested a case for his iTouch and he got an Xbox came and some of his favorite candies.

 Rachel had Josh and got him his own ukulele.  Dave and I have been encouraging Josh to learn the ukulele for awhile and he has started to take an interest.  All through the rest of the week, he practiced and was able to learn a couple songs.  Lucky for him, Uncle Steve was around and able to give him some one-on-one private lessons.

 Last, but not least, Josh had Sarah this year.  He got her some lotion, a belt and bracelets and a pair of grey skinny jeans.

 All in all, it was a great night and everyone had a great time giving and receiving their gifts.

Monson Train Party

December 21, 2011

The Monsons all gathered at Grandma and Grandpa's house to have the annual train, cookie and nativity party.  Rachel and Josh starred this year as Mary and Joseph.  (For whatever reason, this was embarrassing for Josh).

 Bubba makes the cutest little lamby EVER!!!  Jakers and his cousins Jordan and Jason were his shepherds. 

 That's me just kicking back and enjoying the show.

 Sarah played the hairy wise man and played a Christmas song as well.

 Dave always has some computer "fix-it" project every time we visit his parents.  Here he is working on reformatting Amy's computer and Tom is keeping him company.

 Sarah, Rachel Carter and Josh eating some pizza.

 The best part of this party every year is the unlimited amounts of sugar cookies the kids get to decorate and eat.  They have a blast frosting, decorating, licking and eating their cookies.

Need I say more???

Christmas tree NIGHTMARE!!!

Every year we plug in our 14 foot "pre-lit" Christmas tree, there are more and more branches that are NOT "pre-lit" anymore.  This year was no exception.  In fact, it was so bad that we decided to finally bite-the-bullet and re-string the tree.  (By "we", I mean David.) David started on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and worked and worked and worked and worked on it for 3 days straight.  He even had his brother help him while he was visiting for the weekend.

David ended up taking off the original 2500 lights and stringing on (52) 100 light boxes of new strands.  That is 5,200 lights.  Holy CRAP!  What a freaking NIGHTMARE it was.  Mostly for David.  But still, I had to endure the living room looking like a tree factory and baggies, twisty ties, and empty light boxes all over the house for 3 days. 

It sure did look good when he was done, though.  I am hoping for a beautiful tree for years to come!

 We had to be careful when the kids hooked up the X-box on the TV by the tree because it kept tripping the breaker.  When we took the tree down after Christmas, one of the plugs was black and looked like a serious fire hazard!

 I had A LOT of help decorating the tree this year.  Rachel was my special little ladder-climbign elf.  It's a good thing, too, because it's a BIG job!