Day 3: California Adventure!

The third day of our trip was spent in California Adventure! We loved every minute!

The boys loved the Grizzly ride, the Toy Story Ride and Soaring Over California!

We went to the Aladdin play that was showing, and we all were absolutely delighted. Mitchell still quotes the genie... "I found Nemo!..I found him delicious... just kidding, I found him greasy!

We also loved the Animations Museum where the boys got to learn more about animation, voice over, and were even able to figure out what Disney character they were most like. Josh was most like Cogsworth (the clock in Beauty and the Beast).

One of our favorite events was the World of Color. We were in awe as we watched the lights and colors in the majestic sprays of water. Our hearts were oh so full. What a wonderful way to end our day and feel a little bit closer to heaven.

Day 2: Disneyland!

The second day of our trip was spent in Disneyland!

How do I put into words how it felt to see my boys so excited?

It was priceless.

Caleb never would have been able to enjoy a trip like this in his sweet little body, but we felt his joyful spirit with us as he experienced it with us in a different way.

Mitchell absolutely loved Star Tours and was in awe as we watched Jedi Training! A "real" Jedi trains children from the audience how to use a light Saber, and then they all get to fight Darth Vader!

Mitchell was too scared to volunteer, but he was completely riveted! He is still talking about how awesome it was to see Darth Vader rise from the ground!

We will always treasure the memories we made together on this day.

Remind you of any one Uncle Derek?

(A Moody family inside joke;)

For those precious hours our hearts felt lighter, and our faces couldn't stop smiling.

Day 1: Brigham Young's Winter Home

While we were in St. George we also visited Brigham Young's Winter home. It was the perfect stop for my church history buff husband!

Day 1: St. George Temple

On our way to California we stopped in St. George. A dear friend let us stay in her condo so we were able to stay the night and enjoy the morning in town. Our favorite stop was the St. George temple.

The temple grounds were the perfect place to feel close to Caleb.

What a beautiful reminder that families are forever.

Mitchell had to smell every color of flower on the grounds.

We all enjoyed learning about the history of the temple,

and the boys were thrilled when the Senior Missionary gave them each some Gypsum to take home to add to their rock collections.

Day 1: The Pool

One of my favorite things I love about vacations is how excited the kids get about the hotel.

They love getting the Disney Chanel ...

and they LOVE swimming to their heart's content.

And I love seeing them so happy!

(The boys couldn't get over how cool Palm trees are! )

Our California Adventure: Trip Trivia

Who crawled into my bed and woke me up to go to Disneyland by saying... "good day fair lady friend!" (Mitchell)

Who did we tease for the whole trip about finding the right side of the garbage can after he finally figured out where the flap was on the Disneyland cans? (Josh)

Who ate more french fries than we ever thought humanly possible (Matthew)

Who loved the beach until they face planted in the waves and "got freezing"
(Mitchell)

Who had the best "I will not be scared" face on Splash Mountain (Josh)

Who had the best screaming face (Mom)

Who had the best look of pure terror (Mitchell)

How many times did Josh and Matthew go on Space Mountain (3)

Who looked for "hot and spicy" on every menu- and put tobasco sauce on almost everything (Josh)

Who couldn't get enough of splash Mountain (Matthew)

Who smelled every single flower at the St. George Temple (Mitchell)

Who was the ultimate sea shell finder at the beach (Matthew)

Who would suddenly grab my hand and start dancing with me "handsome price style" while we were waiting in line? (Mitchell)

What did Matthew eat every morning at the breakfast buffet (a whole plate full of scrambled eggs sprinkled with brown sugar and drenched in syrup!)

Who packed their favorite polished rocks, yarn, 10 + little balls, a camping utinsel, a first aid kit, yarn, beads...and countless other treasures (Matthew)

Who put a Chewbaca back pack on in the Star Wars store and walked around saying "Is there a wookie sneaking up behind me?" (Mitchell)

Who LOVED the novely of the Disney channel and the hotel pool? (All 3 boys!)

How many times did we call 911 (twice!) We had to call twice for a scary driver on the freeway- we and another car had to stay behind her with our hazzards on to warn other drivers- we couldn't figure out what was wrong with her but she was all over the freeway and almost hit countless cars! YIKES

What line did we wait the longest in just to indulge one of my all time favorites (Peter Pan)

Who were the biggest dare devils? (Dallan and Matthew)

Who took the longest to figure out what they wanted for their souvenirs? (Josh & Mitchell)

Who decided on a star wars figure for his special prize but then fell asleep on our way to the shop- so deeply that we couldn't get him to wake up and show us which one he wanted! (Mitchell)

Who wanted to go on the last grizzly ride of the night and get soaked all over again! (Dallan and Matthew)

Who got excited whenever we saw fellow BYU fans! (Dallan)

Who took more showers in one day than he usually takes in a week (Matthew- can we say SAND?)

What did Matthew say in his prayer on the last day of our trip? (That we were thankful to be having so much fun together even though we were missing Caleb.)

What did Mitchell call the one eyed lady bug on his kids menu? (A Caleb bug!)

What ride reminded us most of Caleb (Winnie the Pooh)

What random thing made me think of Caleb with tender heart (the hotel towels and wash cloths- they looked and smelled just like the ones we always used in the hospital).

Which event made us all feel closer to heaven (The World of Color)

Who did we thank Heavenly Father for every night? (Our wonderful friends from BYU who made this tender and terrific trip possible!)

A few of our favorite Disney things...

Josh: Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, Aladin, World of Color, Animations Museum

Matthew: Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain, Grizzly Ride, Aladin, and World of Color

Mitchell: Star Tours, Jedi training, Soaring over California, Buzz Light Year, Woody, Jungle Cruise Aladdin play, World of Color

Dallan: Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Grizzly Ride, Soaring Over California, Indiana Jones

April: I loved seeing pure joy on all of my boys' faces as they soaked in every single minute!

Words will never be able to express the love and gratitude we feel in our hearts

for such a tender blessing.

Thank you to our dear friends at BYU
We love you with all our hearts

...and a little wink.

I've got Sunshine

What a blessing it is to have Mitchell bring sunshine to my heart on tender days...Thank you Mitchell and Emma for brightening my day. A picnic at the park was just what I needed before another Spring storm rolls in!

Harry Potter Snowman

We haven't had a lot of snow in the valley this Winter, so my boys were thrilled to have an early Spring storm roll in. Josh ran into the backyard immediately after school to work on a Harry Potter snowman!

Wax Museum

Josh recently participated in the wax museum in his 6th grade class. He chose to be Albert Einstein! Every time a student would walk by and push his button, he would recite the following (in a great German accent...)

Hello, I am Albert Einstein, I was born March 14, 1879 in Ulm, Germany. As a child, I did poor in school. I didn't even start talking until I was four years old! I am famous for my work on theoretical physics. I actually mastered calculus at age sixteen! I came up with many theories about physics, including E=mc2, introduced "dark energy," and the special and general theories of relativity. I urged the development of the atomic bomb, but didn't help to create it, and didn't want it used. I had a poor memory, and frequently forgot where I lived, and my wife and kids' birthdays. An interesting fact about me is, after I died, an autopsy of my brain was performed. This showed that I was missing a certain wrinkle in my brain, allowing my neurons to communicate better, and also that I had extra cells that synthesized information, meaning I actually had more brainpower than usual. I died April 18, 1955 in Princeton, New Jersey.

My little Sister Alisa is also in Josh's class. She made a beautiful Cleopatra, and she made Mitchell's day by giving him a treasure from her Egyptian display!

Matthew and Basketball

Matthew has been playing basketball this year. He played last year as well and really enjoyed it. Dallan usually takes him to his games while I stay home with Caleb. This weekend Dallan and Josh were on a winter camp with the scouts, and luckily my brother watched over Caleb so I could go!

Matthew was so fun to watch. He isn't super aggressive and doesn't mind that he isn't the star of the team, but this year he had yet to make a basket and he really wanted to! You can imagine my squeals when he made not one basket but two! The smile on his face was priceless. I told him I must be good luck! (wink!)

I am so proud of Matthew, not because just because he got some points, but because he never stopped trying.



I hope he knows I'll always be proud of his efforts, no matter what!

(...right after he shot is second basket...)

Josh's Science Fair Project: "Flight Patterns"

Question: Which characteristic do you think will help a paper airplane fly the farthest: increased wing length, wing flaps, extra nose weight, or a tail fin? Josh guessed that increased wing length would make the biggest difference. After spending an afternoon in our basement flying airplanes, he figured out that the wing flaps made the biggest difference- and wing length seemed to make the least ammount of difference!

Who knew?