Friday night, the bunch of us attended a professional hockey game - Anaheim Ducks vs San Jose Sharks... It wasn't a great, amazing game, (6 - 1 for the Sharks), but it was fun to get together for the game. We found out a couple of days afterwards, that the Leafs and the Ducks were playing on the Tuesday night... in Toronto... would have been a fun game, as Toronto won 7 - 0, but we were happy to be in Anaheim at the Honda Center... And, as you can see, Chance wore his favourite hockey jersey... at least, I've told him that it's his favourite... He usually just stares at me... giggle.
Here's the other side of the row at the hockey game.
And, this cute couple were having fun... AND, Lowell wore the correct hockey jersey also...
After the game, our two little hockey players had to have pictures taken on the patio.. and of course...
had to simulate a fight! Brea plays for a hockey team in Alaska and Coy plays for a team in Provo, so they wore their respective jerseys... I guess, I'll forgive them for not wearing their Leaf's jerseys... Ben also plays hockey in Alaska... he plays for the Ice Mice! It's his first year!
When leaving the stadium, Ben ran into the Anaheim Ducks mascot and got a picture!
Here's my two babies... couldn't be a prouder mama here... I still want to pinch their heads off on a regular basis, but it sure was nice to see them both...
I believe this next shot is on the way to Whale Watching... It was a cold day, but the kids didn't seem to mind.. crazy people...
And, the whales and the dolphins did not disappoint... I think it was a great experience for the kids to actually see dolphins and whales - not in an aquarium..
These next two pictures crack me up... With all the excitement of activities going on....
..they crash... I guess the excitement of Thursday night totally wore them out, and they crashed on the way...
Saturday was a visit to Sea World and Universal Studios... Again, kids had a blast!
Lowell and Bri were enjoying the fishes... and..
And, a visit with transformers rounded out the activity.
Jim and I tried things that were a little less involved.... We did a driving tour of California, and checked out the Hollywood sign, houses of the stars, and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It was a little more our speed...
Sunday and Monday were... DISNEYLAND... Here's a cute guy that decided to have his picture taken with me... amazing that he was wearing a Toronto Maple Leafs hat... go figure that! Giggle.
When we initially got into the park, the kids ran into Cruella da Ville... She was so much fun.... asking the kids if they lived locally, if they had puppies and if the puppies were black and white... stuff like that.. the kids had a blast...
Sunday afternoon was filled with building droids and light sabers... Here's our Chance meticulously building his light saber. I think it was a great activity for all... It was nice because everyone really got to know Chance a little more, and he's a great kid... I don't know if he's ready for our sense of humour, but, we do know he LOVES donuts and Cinnabons... And, these grandparents made sure there were lots...
And, here's Brad building his light saber...
..and my handsome husband building, building, building.. I don't know if this was quite Jim's thing, but he had so much fun building with the kids.
When I saw this picture, I immediately thought of "don't cross the streams", but I think that's from a different movie. Apparently, crossing the light sabers isn't that bad - that is, if you are on the good side of the force.
Brea, Coy and Ben, at the same time, were busy building droids....
And, all the kids had a blast visiting with Wookie and R2D2... I guess they all speak the same language.
... such a fun activity...
Here's our droid builders... they each built a specific kind of droid... and, to think I thought there was only one kind of droid... I think Nana is getting old...
Before we got to Disney, I had each family member pick the mouse ears they wanted to wear... Brianne and her family wanted Wookies... Brad wanted Avengers....
Mahayla wanted Ariel and Brea wanted a Princess... Ben went with Spiderman...Melody went with Maleficent. Jim and I went with Lion King... It really was fun! When we got to the park, I found mouse ears with a Canadian theme... a lumberjack hat in red and black... Jim wasn't particularly impressed, but humoured all of us.
And, here's our little Spiderman....
..and, Ariel and a cute little princess..
Monday evening was so cold, and the little ones were sleepy... Jim and I had scooters to run around in - our knees just wouldn't take walking for 10+ hours and Ben and Coy found a comfortable place to drive around on... or fall asleep on...
On Tuesday, these crazy people decided to go to Seal Beach... it was absolutely freezing, but that didn't stop them from getting into the water and playing. Jim and I stayed on the shore bundled up...
All in all, we all had a blast... Brea told us that in a couple of years, we are all going to go on a family cruise... Um... ok? So, we are planning again....
Brianne had all the shirts made for us, and she did an amazing job...
... was such a fun vacation....
And, remember, your last name doesn't make you family, your heart does...And, my heart was just about exploding...
We had three birthdays in December - Chance, Coy and mine. And, we had a couple of cakes to help celebrate.
And, this is what we came home to... The first picture is Brad and Melody's vehicle at the airport in Anchorage... I believe Alaska got 4 feet or snow while were were vacationing.....
And, this picture is my Kia Soul in our driveway... It wasn't particularly pleasant to come home to. I couldn't get the car out of the driveway the next morning, so Jim had to drive me to work... I kinda like the pampering... I must admit...
With all this, I am feeling a little sad and down at this point. I miss those Alaska people something terrible. Brea told me that we have to have another family vacation - and, she still thinks the next one should be a cruise. I think it would be amazing.
Brianne found this street sign... I think it means a little something to her. Giggle.
And, so it comes to an end... and, it was magical...
Love, Jim and Cheri; Brianne, Lowell, Chance and Coy; Brad, Melody, Mahayla, Brea and last, but not least, Ben.
My cup runneth over.