Trip to Utah

Every time we go to Utah I make a long list of everyone I want to see and all the projects I want to do. This last trip was no different and I feel like I need a serious vacation to recover from the trip.

Because of all the busy-ness I didn't take as many pictures as I should have. Sometimes I feel more like enjoying the moment rather than taking pictures of the enjoyed moment. I guess this last trip falls into the latter category.

Some highlights of the trip:

• getting a much needed haircut from Nabby--she also introduced me to my newest favorite hair product, a powder that makes my hair look thick and luscious (yea right, will that ever happen?)
  
• hanging out a lot with Christie working on wedding plans
• having a surprise party for Steve....some of his closest friends from the good ole' days came and hung out for hours
• going to the Oquirrh Temple Dedication
• having a bbq with Jill and her family. They are all such great kids and Sarah adores "Big Sam"--he's 12 and she thinks he's the best! She talks about him all the time and always asks when we're going to see him again. I think she has a thing for older men, and especially her older cousins!
  
• visiting my cousin Joanna and meeting her 10 month old Max. It had been over four years since we'd seen each other
  
• seeing Nate, Amy, Beth, & Sam....they were visiting the at same time; not planned, but a very fun coincidence
• Lesley (Hallmark) took pictures of Sarah, Grant, Beth, & Sam at the Mad-House. It was a morning to remember....I was pretty sure that there wasn't a good shot because the kids were in rare form, but Lesley is so talented that she was able to get a lot of great pictures.
  
• I almost finished Mom & Dad's king quilt....if only I had a few more hours, I could've finished the binding. It will have to wait until our next visit.
• going to the Children's Museum....Sarah loved showing Steve all her favorite things and Grant loved all the cars and the real helicopter.
• going to the fountains at Gateway...Sarah was sort of interested, but Grant was happy to be an observer
• Steve had a great time fishing with his dad and brothers, something he's talked about nonstop since we decided to go to Utah.
• going to Darren's first football game of the season and seeing him score a touchdown.
• Mom has been cleaning out and wanting to get rid of a lot of big items, so I told her I'd help sell as many as possible on Craigslist. It was very interesting to go through the process and meet all the different people.
  
• having dinner and hanging out with Nicole Santiago. It was great to just sit and talk and catch up. Nicole is so positive and she truly acts on all her desires. She is an inspiration to me and it was so great to connect again with her.

Here are a few pictures that I did happen to take of the trip:

Grant taught Max how to jump in his crib.
Max and Joanna....isn't he a beautiful baby and isn't her hair the most incredible color?
Grant, Me, Sarah, Joanna, and Max....Max was pretty much done by the time we started these pictures.Christie and I worked all day painting 5 panels for her wedding reception. They will later be decorated with her engagement and bridal photos. Hopefully it will turn out how we hoped!
Grant was perfectly happy just watching the fountains. I don't think he even got a drop of water on his swimsuit.

Sarah, on the other hand, had a great time at the fountains!

Big Mouth

Sarah had a big mouth today. In Primary, the primary president asked an open-ended question about families. She asked for the children to share something about their families.....Sarah raised her hand and when chosen she blurted out something like this: "sometimes my Mama gets mad at my Daddy she ......and then sometimes she cries.....and....." I couldn't hear all the details she gave over the laughter of the teachers. I know Sarah would have gone on and on if she could have, but luckily the primary president stopped her and moved on. I don't know if I should be embarrassed that everyone now knows that Steve and I don't always get along. Or should I be relieved that now everyone knows that we too have problems and emotions that we can't hide from our little ones? Either way, I had a very good laugh! Kids do say the darndest things.

Quick Trip

The kids and I made a quick trip to southern California last weekend. We went to see Lill & Garr who had just returned from serving as the mission president couple in the Nova Scotia mission. It was a crazy busy five days, but oh so much fun! Annie and I met Mom in San Diego and then headed to Temecula, where Lill & Garr and three of their kids plus all their families live (all within about 1 1/2 blocks of each other). Dad was able to make it for one night, just in time to hear Lill & Garr give their talks. Sarah & Grant loved seeing meeting their cousins. With three of the Jacobsen boys + families in the same neighborhood there were plenty of kids to play with. Sarah took a particular liking to Collin...she still asks to see Collin and pretends to talk to him on the phone. Sometimes he even "visits" and we have to get a chair for him at the dinner table.
Sarah loved meeting and hanging out with her second cousins.
Sarah was dying to get in a picture with the "missionary girls"
Lill & Garr and a bunch of their missionaries.
San Diego Temple....gorgeous.

After the Homecoming, we headed down to Coronado Island for a couple nights. We made it to the beach and Grant hated it. I think he got sand and sunscreen in his eyes. Poor boy. But Sarah absolutely loved it. She couldn't get enough of rolling in the sand...strange, I know. She and Annie also had a great time playing "Jump" in the waves. After lunch and naps we all got pedicures, then followed with a few pictures on the beach at sunset, and finally a pancake dinner. It was a perfect, relaxing day.





Crazy story: they say that everyone has a twin somewhere on the earth....well, we found Dad's twin on Coronado Beach. His book, his hat, his hair, his sitting position, the way he pursed his lips, everything was a spitting image of Dad. At first we thought it was funny, but then it quickly turned to eerie because this guy looked so much like Dad. Annie posed to the side of the picture so I could get proof of Dad's look-a-like. Weird!



The pedicures...Sarah was so thrilled that she got to choose the shiny flowers for her toes. She just kept telling the lady to put more on and the lady kept doing it.

4th of July

We had a great 4th of July, with festivities starting the weekend before. We went to a fun festival with lots of free rides, snow cones, and even a petting zoo. The fire department lit a car on fire and then put it out. Grant was pretty concerned with the whole situation.







Sherri came for a visit and we ate lots of good food, saw lots of fireworks (three nights worth), worked on lots of fun projects, had a lot of great talks, and had a wonderful time. We also got to go to Greenfield Village with Sherri. The kids always love exploring the grounds, riding on the Model T, and playing with the puppets. It's so fun to have Sherri so close so we can see her every now and again.

One Fat Lip

Grant decided it would be an effective way to get off the back porch by driving his little bike off...well, it was fast, but also destructive. He bled for at least 15 minutes straight and we thought he would definitely need stitches. When we lifted his top lip we could see way further than we should have. Luckily, the doctor said everything looked ok and that he should be just fine within a few days. No stitches! Later that evening Grant was back to his old self--eating lots of dinner, running & laughing with Sarah, and using Steve as a jungle gym. I have a feeling that this incident is a foreshadowing of Grant's life....bold ideas followed by blood and hospital visits, then smiles a few minutes later.

Disney World

We had a fabulous time on vacation in Disney World with all the crazy Madsens...all 16 of us! We stayed at Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort and we loved being so close to all the parks. It truly was a vacation...our biggest worry was deciding which fun thing to do next. I didn't once have to make a meal or clean it up, put a child in or out of a carseat, make a bed, do laundry, or scrub a surface. And although Disney sure does things right and we had a magical time at the parks, the best part was being with family. Now that we're all spread out over the country, it's a big treat to have everyone together. It was also fun to be back with Steve--we spent our honeymoon 5 1/2 years ago in Orlando. There were lots of things that we did that brought back fun memories of our honeymoon. It was so great to be there again with our own little family. Hopefully we can make this a tradition.

Magic Kingdom

Gus, Steve w/Grant, Ryan, Sarah, Annie, Granny.
Amy, Sam, Beth, Nate.
Jane, Gus, Granny
Steve, Grant, Kasey, Sarah.

Jane certainly earned the "Aunt of the Day" award for this one....
she waited in line for 45 minutes with Sarah & Beth to go on Dumbo,
which lasted 90 seconds.

I love Beth's eyes in this one.

The obligatory Family Picture

My Boys....so cute.

The hotel had a great pool with a kiddie area. There was also a "big slide" that was big for the kids, but not too exciting for the adults.

Even though Grant looks completely freaked out, he loved this slide. He went on it over and over for at least an hour. His scared face always got a gasp from any other parents waiting for their kids at the bottom.




Girls Night Out....we let the boys and grandparents take all the kids back to the hotel while we went to Hollywood Studios. We sang Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" at least three times at full volume throughout the evening in honor of the Rockin Roller Coaster, which we rode three times! We're proud of you, Jess!

Breakfast at Cinderella's Castle

Sarah, Beth, Amy, & I got to eat breakfast in Cinderella's castle. We were able to get into the park early, which was great to not fight with crowds down Main Street. It was even more magical than normal! The girls wore little dresses I made to look like what Cinderella and Snow White would have worn when they were little. Sarah & Beth loved everything about their princess breakfast, except the actual breakfast. They were too excited talking with and about the princesses to eat. All the princesses were so sweet to take time with each girl. Snow White was adorable with Beth....she asked Beth if she'd been shopping in her closet this morning. Then she gave Beth a kiss on the cheek and Beth was on cloud nine. It was such a fun memory, one that Sarah still talks about constantly, about what she's going to wear next time and how she'll dance with Cinderella and how she'll say different things with the other princesses.

Downtown Disney

This little train was at Downtown Disney, where there are lots of restaurants and shops. Once Grant saw it there was no taking him away. He absolutely loved it. I love his face and how he puts his hands on his knees in these pictures. That's what he does when he's really excited.
Isn't Annie so cute doing the "Tish pose"?

EPCOT
Steve and I thought it would be fun to get a photo in front of the EPCOT golf ball, just like on our honeymoon. I asked Mom for a picture and she jumped right in, not realizing I wanted her to take the picture, not be in the picture. Then Nate thought it would be fun to join, then Jessy, and finally everyone was in our picture.

Lots of fun down-time

Notice the frozen lemonade in Steve's hand....
the meal plan was a major plus for Steve, an extra bit of magic at every meal/snack.

Sarah & Beth were naturals at playing the air guitar...
but who wouldn't be with Ryan as a teacher?

Sarah & Beth modeling Minnie dresses I made for them, complete with bloomers and all.
They loved spending every second together.
I know this is a funny picture, but there's something about it I love. It's just typical Josh to show his bellybutton and typical Sarah to just watch.

Cute Beth

At the bottom of Splash Mountain there is this little shade play area that we all loved. Sarah & Beth kept taking orders and informing all their customers that "sorry, we're all out of that." Grant was just happy to play in the shade.

Sarah & Gus.

Waiting in line to see Minnie.


Lots of rides on "Small World"

This is the only shot I have of the three little boys.
Too bad they're all entranced with the puppets and music.
Will & Jessy.
Steve, Grant, Gus, Jane.
Sam.
Beth.
Annie & Sarah.

Steve, Grant, Kasey.
Grant & Steve....typical Small World faces.
Beth & Sarah.

Anything related to cars was an
instant favorite with Grant.

Grant sticks his tongue out like this when he gets really excited. "Cars" is probably Grant's very favorite thing to watch and he couldn't hardly believe that he was meeting Lightning McQueen.

The whole family with Mater, as in Tow-Mater.

The Originals.

Nate, Josh, Kasey, Jane, Annie--in birth order, of course.
I'm pretty sure we had this same picture taken 16 years ago.

Character sightings EVERYWHERE!!!

In this picture, Sarah was showing Minnie how she walks like her. I never did anything to show Sarah how to do it. One day she said to me, "Mama look, I'm walking like Minnie Mouse!" Then she put her hands out to the side, bent her knees, and wiggled her bum back and forth as she walked. It was hilarious! And Minnie thought it was adorable to have Sarah show her how she walks.




"Come on, Grant. It's Mickey. He's nice."

And of course a lot of rides
on Cinderella's Carousel

Patting the good horsie.
You can tell this is the last day....look at those tired eyes.
Even though they were both so tired they still managed to
watch Cars on the airplane ride home.

What a week it was! We returned home and truly needed a vacation to recover from this vacation. Thanks Granny & Gus for a fantastic, memorable week with the family. And thank you Walt Disney for all the magic!