Family Temple Weekend

So, my streak of non-blogging continues . . . sorry about that! I keep promising myself I’ll be better and then I’m not. Just bear with me, okay!

This weekend I had another very special temple experience with my family that I’d like to share here. For any of my readers who don’t know, I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and I know with all my heart the doctrines of our church are true. One of my most favorite is the doctrine of eternal marriage and families. Nothing makes me feel happier than thinking about how I get to be with my family forever. Then again I have been blessed with a wonderful family who loves and supports me. That makes a difference.

This weekend we had the opportunity to be in the temple as my sister completed temple ordinances for our dear Miss Sassypants. Let me just tell you what an incredible experience this was. To be in the temple with almost my entire family (just one brother and sister-in-law weren’t able to be there), to feel her close and to complete work for some of our ancestors at the same time was a remarkable experience. Surely that is heaven on earth. And she made it clear she was with us in the temple.

Here we all are after the session, just before the sky opened up and started pouring on us. Good times!

Afterwards, we all enjoyed lunch at Chuck-a-Rama, a favorite Miss Sassypants tradition.

This totally sounds like a recipe for disaster, but it was actually lots of fun. On Saturday night we were hanging out at my sister’s house and this is the tally of who was there: 11 kids, 13 adults (my immediate family is pretty big when we’re all together) and five dogs. It wasn’t overly crowded though because my sister’s house is spread out enough and the kids had a nifty “secret room” to play in, so it was fine. My family does love their dogs.

The adults enjoyed a jewelry party on Saturday night, courtesy of my sister-in-law’s Paparazzi jewelry business.

My youngest niece, KK, is always a delight for everyone in the family. Heavenly Father knew we would need her sweet and special spirit and sent her to our family at just the right time. Now she has about eight big brothers and at least four big sisters (in addition to her aunts and uncles) who watch out for her. It’s really sweet.

It was a fantastic weekend and left everyone exhausted. People … and dogs too.

My heart is full just thinking about my wonderful family and what an important blessing they are in my life. And we have a special angel on the other side watching out for us, which makes life that much sweeter.

A very Disney post

Just yesterday I got back from a fabulous four-day vacation with my sister and her family to Disneyland!!! This was my maiden voyage to Disneyland. I’ve been to Disneyworld once, 10 years ago as part of a school trip and loved it, so it was quite a treat. And the best part was I got to experience it with kids, which was fantastic.

We started out very early on Tuesday morning with a super early flight into Long Beach. That was probably the most brutal part of the trip, and since none of us slept well in the motel room the night before, we started out pretty exhausted. However, that didn’t stop us from spending hours in both California Adventure and Disneyland our first day.

Here’s the Diva and Bumblebee on Bumblebee’s first plane ride ever. She was so kind to tuck Wolfie into her seatbelt so he’d be safe too.

We made the mistake of standing in the ticket line for about 25 minutes the first day not knowing we didn’t need to. However, the ticket lady felt bad and wanted to make us feel better, so she gave us some “First Visit” buttons. I was surprised how many people there, including men, wear these around the park. it was fun!

Fun times in Disney’s California Adventure.

I saw quite a few “famous” people while I was there:

The real reason we went to Disneyland: to see the Diva dance! She did such a great job!

I have so many pictures to share, but I think I’d better wrap it up. Indulge me just a little longer, and I promise it’ll be worth it. Here’s our whole group. Due to an unfortunate sickness, we only have two pictures of all of us.

What Disney trip would be complete without some Disney princesses? I don’t believe they’re a good role model to follow for life, but they represent the idea that dreams can come true, and I love that. So here they are.

For anyone who is thinking of going to Disneyland, I would highly recommend going during the week in the offseason if possible. We had great luck with pretty much walking onto rides until Friday, and the park wasn’t all that crowded really. It is a wonderful place, and I’m looking forward to going again at some point.

My new friend

So, there are many delightful things about my new place. I could make a list here, but I’m going to refrain and instead focus on one.

His name is Max. He belongs to my roommate.

I know he has freaky eyes in this picture, but I promise that he is a sweetheart. I love, love, love living in a house with a pet!! My family are very much pet people, so I’m accustomed to having furry friends. It’s been so nice to be in a house with a pet again.

Come on, how can you not love this?

Or when he climbs up beside you or into your lap like this.

He loves attention and is not above asking for it when he really wants it. This includes batting you with his paw, and if you don’t pay attention, he will sometimes sneeze to let you know that he’s frustrated. I love it when we’re sitting on the couch, and he can’t figure out how to get up beside us.

Sometimes when you come home (well, when I come home), he greets me at the door with his favorite toy in his mouth.

And then we play. We like to tease him by putting it in places he’s scared to get it and then he has the funniest play howl he uses. So cute!

In case you can’t tell, I’m a very happy pet aunt. I call myself aunt because although I enjoy the benefits of living in the house with a pet, I also enjoy not having the responsibility. I think of it in a way similar to how I love spending time with my nieces and nephews, playing with them and having a good time but not being their parents.

At some point I will have a pet of my own, but for right now, with an hour of commute time every day so I’m often gone for 10 hours at a time, I wouldn’t be a good pet owner. I’ve already decided I’d rather not have a pet than be a bad owner, so I won’t be getting one of my own. Someday though . . .

In the meantime I’ll continue to enjoy my new friend.