Alaina and Jenn on the water rapids ride
Trying to wake Jennifer on the last day, they were all this easy to wake up !!Monday, March 26, 2007
more pics from the trip to Disneyland
Alaina and Jenn on the water rapids ride Trying to wake Jennifer on the last day, they were all this easy to wake up !!
Disneyland
For a moment,we were tempted to leave them in there!
sweet children :)
Isn't she a cutie?!We spent 5 days at Disneyland with 8 children! Yes,we were as tired as you can imagine. But we had a blast.I will let Jen give her comments with a few of mine added in.....My favorite ride is space mountain it is really dark and super fast. My least favorite ride is the hollywood tower of terror it was really scary(so she chickened out) My favorite food was the chicken fingers they were fantastic and good. I met this guy on a bus and when we got off and went on some rides he was going on the rides we were going on. There were twelve people in our group and boy was it a lot. It was hard for my mom and dad to keep track of eight kids(including our friends daughter) in a big place like Disneyland. My foster sister named Anna got lost (for about 30 seconds) luckily my dad found her and my mom was freaked out, she was so worried i would be too if i was her.
That's the end of Jen's comments so I'll fill you in on the rest of the trip.The drive there was uneventful.It took 7 hours and at our lunch stop,we were told that our children were very well behaved and had sweet manners.Which of course we took pride in and prayed it would continue! We did the normal rides,shopping,eating,blah,blah,blah...on the few hot days we left a little early to go swimming at the hotel.
Our hotel was very cool.It was a 2 bedroom family suite.In the 2nd room were bunkbeds,a sofa bed and a seperate TV with video games.And of course 2 bathrooms which really helped with showers! One day at the hotel,our 3 year old was getting impatient and turned to my husband and said "You're goin' down,tubby",which everybody thought was hilarious.Jen had to do her hysterical witch laugh.
One thing that really helped save time and avoid grouchy children was the wheelchair.I have bad hips so we got a wheelchair each day to save on all the walking. The best part of that was that the wheelchair got us straight to the front of all the ride lines! The kids thought that was pretty awesome.
On our last day we went to the character breakfast at the Disneyland Grand Hotel.The whole time we were eating, lots of different characters would come by,play with the kids,sign autographs and take pics.The kids had a blast and the food was wonderful. Of course,one of our great sons tried to pick the nose of one of the characters,stuck his finger right up the nostril! Sad to say,it was the oldest son who will be 10 on Monday.
The kids had fun shopping too. They each had their own money and got to buy whatever they wanted.They all used up their money pretty quickly--except for Jennifer.She was trying to be practical.Everything she picked out,she said"what can I use this for,is it worth the money,can I get it cheaper in another store?"I had to force her to spend her money.I would have just left her alone but it was a Disney gift card and she HAD to spend it there.
The ride home was a little more exciting. One of the kids got carsick (yeah!!) and they were all SO tired,they were either sleeping or fighting. And because of our poor planning we got back into town during evening rush hour and had to sit through the fun traffic.
It took a week for the adults to recover from the trip,but the kids were awesome and everybody had fun.
Now they are wanting to go back this summer and spend time at the beach(we didn't have time while we were there) and visit family that Jen hasn't met yet.They can't wait to meet her!! There's grandparents,an aunt,an uncle and some cousins.We'll post stuff from that trip (if we have the guts to make it so soon after this one!)
That's the end of Jen's comments so I'll fill you in on the rest of the trip.The drive there was uneventful.It took 7 hours and at our lunch stop,we were told that our children were very well behaved and had sweet manners.Which of course we took pride in and prayed it would continue! We did the normal rides,shopping,eating,blah,blah,blah...on the few hot days we left a little early to go swimming at the hotel.
Our hotel was very cool.It was a 2 bedroom family suite.In the 2nd room were bunkbeds,a sofa bed and a seperate TV with video games.And of course 2 bathrooms which really helped with showers! One day at the hotel,our 3 year old was getting impatient and turned to my husband and said "You're goin' down,tubby",which everybody thought was hilarious.Jen had to do her hysterical witch laugh.
One thing that really helped save time and avoid grouchy children was the wheelchair.I have bad hips so we got a wheelchair each day to save on all the walking. The best part of that was that the wheelchair got us straight to the front of all the ride lines! The kids thought that was pretty awesome.
On our last day we went to the character breakfast at the Disneyland Grand Hotel.The whole time we were eating, lots of different characters would come by,play with the kids,sign autographs and take pics.The kids had a blast and the food was wonderful. Of course,one of our great sons tried to pick the nose of one of the characters,stuck his finger right up the nostril! Sad to say,it was the oldest son who will be 10 on Monday.
The kids had fun shopping too. They each had their own money and got to buy whatever they wanted.They all used up their money pretty quickly--except for Jennifer.She was trying to be practical.Everything she picked out,she said"what can I use this for,is it worth the money,can I get it cheaper in another store?"I had to force her to spend her money.I would have just left her alone but it was a Disney gift card and she HAD to spend it there.
The ride home was a little more exciting. One of the kids got carsick (yeah!!) and they were all SO tired,they were either sleeping or fighting. And because of our poor planning we got back into town during evening rush hour and had to sit through the fun traffic.
It took a week for the adults to recover from the trip,but the kids were awesome and everybody had fun.
Now they are wanting to go back this summer and spend time at the beach(we didn't have time while we were there) and visit family that Jen hasn't met yet.They can't wait to meet her!! There's grandparents,an aunt,an uncle and some cousins.We'll post stuff from that trip (if we have the guts to make it so soon after this one!)
a letter from paulette from westridge
this really made my day. i think it made lindsay's too. it came out of the blue. which made an extra delight. we got home to a fun letter from paulette. she wrote one to us, one to our ward (congregation), and one to amanda (her new sister). so we thought we would post the letter to the ward here.
if anyone would like to write her, please do. i know she would love to hear from you. you can send it to us at raisingdc@gmail.com and we will make sure she gets your letters.
and now, without further ado, from paulette (grammatical errors included, for effect):
if anyone would like to write her, please do. i know she would love to hear from you. you can send it to us at raisingdc@gmail.com and we will make sure she gets your letters.
and now, without further ado, from paulette (grammatical errors included, for effect):
Dear Capitol Hill Ward,
Hello! and how are you? I really miss being in Washington D.C. going to church. Everything at Westrdige is ok. I guess I'm talking to Jacob (my clinician) just a little bit more than any of my other clinicians. Two weeks ago I went on my first weekend with my new dad. It was fun. We went out to eat for every meal, talked aboutour pool and our new jacuzzi. We went driving and by that I mean I drove! That's right I drove. It was way fun. here at Westridge I've made some friends. Well how are things back in D.C.? Do you miss me? I really can't wait to come back to D.C. with my parents so you guys can meet them. there really, really nice. my dad just adores me every time i call home he always wants to talk to me even if I can sometimes only say hi. Well how are the young women deanna, olivia, karis, and the rest of the young women? I really want to be able to talk to you guys on the phone or see you guys.
Katie and Scott. I heard you guys know one of the women who worked at Anasazi. her name is gina, ring a bell? She told me that she grew up with Katie and her cousin. that's pretty cool. She says that our cousin is getting married in a couple of weeks. I think she said that the wedding is going to be in Utah. I'm not quite sure but if it is in Utah you should come visit me and even if it isn't you should visist me anyway that would be way cool.
Well, I hope everything is OK there. Please write back.
Write, or maybe even see and talk to you later.
Sincerely,
Paulette (with hearts on either side of her name)
Thursday, March 22, 2007
quick blurb about fRamily member
we owe yall an update. i even talked to jen today about posting some photos from her spring break vacation to disneyland. so hopefully soon we will all get back to our frequent blogging.
the brief story is this:
jennifer continues to flourish. she is the cutest young woman i can remember knowing. she is funny, bright, and kind. she is enjoying school and really loving being a big sister. she had her 12th birthday recently which was a smashing success.
paulette is kinda struggling at westridge. she has never been one for talk therapy and the school is kinda eh. so she is not loving it. though she has, of course, made lots of friends and seems to have fun. dave went up to visit recently and they had a wonderful time. we got the cutest call from her. it is an adjustment for sure. she seems to really be bonding with her new family so that is great.
but more later on all that....
as you will remember the girls went to stay with our friend dianna's family in august. below is a recent trailer to a documentary about becky, dianna's mom. surrogate mom to jen and paulette for a month. wonderful advocate and voice of reason and love to lindsay and i. it is a minute long. it will give you a glimpse into the amazing people that our in this fRamily.
the brief story is this:
jennifer continues to flourish. she is the cutest young woman i can remember knowing. she is funny, bright, and kind. she is enjoying school and really loving being a big sister. she had her 12th birthday recently which was a smashing success.
paulette is kinda struggling at westridge. she has never been one for talk therapy and the school is kinda eh. so she is not loving it. though she has, of course, made lots of friends and seems to have fun. dave went up to visit recently and they had a wonderful time. we got the cutest call from her. it is an adjustment for sure. she seems to really be bonding with her new family so that is great.
but more later on all that....
as you will remember the girls went to stay with our friend dianna's family in august. below is a recent trailer to a documentary about becky, dianna's mom. surrogate mom to jen and paulette for a month. wonderful advocate and voice of reason and love to lindsay and i. it is a minute long. it will give you a glimpse into the amazing people that our in this fRamily.
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