The Saturday following the Christmas Party was my cousin Cindy's bridal shower. She got married december 27th (more to come), and we had a chance to go to her party and see her. It was very nice. When it was over, Shannon and I went to Disneyland!
We started out at California Adventure. At the winery, they changed the wine cellar to the "Blue Sky Cellar." It is now a place where they talk about all the new things they are going to be doing to improve California Adventure. For example, they are changing the movie "Golden Dreams" into a Little Mermaid ride. They are adding 12 acres to the park that will be Cars Land, and they are going to redo the entrance to the park to portray Los Angeles in the 1920's - the LA that Walt Disney saw when he moved to California. Right now, they have the whole pier area drained of water because this coming spring a new night time water show, "The World of Color" is going to be opening there. I highly recommend checking out the Blue Sky Cellar. Very neat!
We decided we were going to do things there we had never done before. I (believe it or not) had one ride at California Adventure that I had never ridden. I was going to wait. It was a reward for a goal. But, in all the changes they are making in the park, that ride is being removed. So, I rode the orange swings. They were really fun!
Afterward, we went over to Disneyland. If you have never been to Disneyland at Christmas, put it on your list as something you should do before you die. Once you go, you'll ALWAYS have to go. Disneyland on any day is a magical place. But at Christmas time... nothing compares.
This year they reopened the Sleeping Beauty Castle on Thanksgiving. I had not been to the park since it reopened, so we went in. It was wonderful! Way better than the Sleeping Beauty Barbies they had in there when I was growing up. I got a couple of really good pictures that night. Here's one of Sleeping Beauty in the castle waiting for Prince Phillip.
After the castle, we decided to go see Santa Claus! I told Shannon that Santa was at Disneyland and that every year he also brought his reindeer, but it's one thing to be told about the reindeer, and quite another to SEE them! She was very impressed! I took a picture of them eating and relaxing in preparation for their round-the-world flight!
Believe it or not, Hippie is a Disney fan, just like me! He decided to come to Disneyland with us, so I made him take a picture with Shannon on Santa's sleigh. They both look really happy to be there! (Hippie is on Shannon's right shoulder if you haven't found him yet...)
As we were leaving Santa's house, we went through Big Thunder Ranch, and Chip and Dale were there! They are Shannon's favorite Disney characters, so we got this very cute picture of Shannon with Dale. I have to thank Dale. My camera was doing some weird things, and it took a few minutes to get the camera to take a picture. Dale was nice to stay and wait.
However, I also got some AWESOME pictures with my camera! I took this picture of the castle. I love it! Looking at something like this, how can you NOT like Disney??
The week before Christmas, we got a visitor at our house... His name is Rocky the Squirrel! Apparently, this ceramic squirrel has been wandering around the ward choir for a while. This year he showed up as a white elephant gift at a ward choir Christmas Party. Since then, I guess he has gotten his own blog, and spends time with different choir families. He decided to come visit us, so I took some pictures of him doing fun things! Though I don't have all the pictures on the blog, Rocky did many exciting things! He ate dinner with us, he played with my sister's dog Koda, he played Rock Band with Scott, Shannon and Tacey and he showed off his excellent cooking skills. Here he is helping Shannon put fudge into an air tight container. I thought he looked very professional in his chef's hat.
I also found out Rocky is very friendly. He quickly became part of the group, and wanted a picture with all his new friends. Here he is with Kensington, QT, Min, Sun, Eeyore, Lumpy, Krinkle, Bubba, and of course... Hippie.
He has since moved on to visit another family, but we enjoyed his company for a few days!
So, a few months ago my sister went to New York. (I may have told you this.) When she came back, she decided she wanted to run a marathon. I decided I would train to run with her, and that has become my resolution for this next year - to get in better shape, and learn to run. I started at the beginning of December instead of waiting for the first of the year. I am currently following a running schedule that really isn't that hard - for the most part... I so far have been enjoying it! Anyway, two days a week I end up having to walk for at least 30 minutes. One day I decided to take my walk up to the streets at the top of the hill from where I live. Shannon and Tacey came with me. At Christmas they transform into what is called Christmas Card Lane. They have been doing it for years, and every year it grows! People create giant Christmas Cards and display them on their lawns. Some of them are cut-outs, and some of them are more traditional looking Christmas cards, but all are fun to look at! Here is one of this year's new ones. Wall-E! Tacey wanted her picture next to him, so I took one for her.
This one was one of my favorites. It was very funny! The picture came out very dark because the people who live in this house either forgot to turn on their lights, or go to bed REALLY early!
One family made a Christmas card of Elf! The funny thing is they cut out his face, and added a step and platform to the back. You could make YOURSELF into Elf! Here is Tacey - after Elfing herself!
So, this year I also got a Facebook page. One night, not too long ago, I decided to look for my cousin's from my Aunt Mary's side of the family. I found my cousins Juanita, and Maggie, and from their the flood gates opened! Everyone was trying to get together for a mini-reunion over the Christmas break! Well, it ended up not working out - too many people to find one place for, and too little time for places to prepare. In the meantime, most of us went for an hour or two to my Aunt Mary's house on Christmas Eve. Santa came to visit! He brought presents for all the kids - I didn't get one, so I guess I was on the naughty list this year - and everyone had a chance to visit. It was the closest to a mini-reunion as we were able to get. Here is a picture of all the kids with Santa. There are so many, you can't even see Santa!
After Santa left, Tacey decided to jump into "Big Grandpa's" lap. I wanted to take a picture, and... well, you can see where the clowns in our family come from... ha ha!
I also decided that I was going to take a picture of Aunt Mary and Pama. I usually try to take pictures of them on the sly, because sometimes they do not do well posing for pictures...
BUT, they posed, and smiled and EVERYTHING for me! I got this cute picture for my efforts! I love it! There is a picture of the two sisters in very pretty dresses that hangs over my Pama's fireplace. I've always liked that picture. Now I have this one I can look at - until I can figure out a way to get that one too...
Earlier in the month I decorated Mom's Christmas tree (with help from Shannon) and my Pama's Christmas tree as well. If you didn't know before, I should tell you that if you ask a Christmas Tree what its name is, it will tell you. I mean, they spend all their lives growing and becoming beautiful to be able to stand in someone's home for a month or less looking beautiful and bringing joy and evergreen freshness to the lives of those who live in the house they call home. Shouldn't we know their names? :) So, this year, we were lucky enough to have Norma the tree join us in our holiday festivites at mom's house. She is very lucky! My mom always does a fabulous job decorating the house. It always feels homey and warm and filled with the Christmas spirit! Here is a picture of our house from the stairs.
This is a picture of Norma in all her Christmas splendor!
Here is what Norma looked like on Christmas morning. We sure had a lot of presents! We must have been very good this year! Either that, or some of Santa's elves were slacking at work...
As I said, I also decorate my Grandma's tree every year. This year we put an angel on top of the tree instead of a star. It looked very pretty! The tree at Pama's house is named Joaquin. Joaquin is a VERY BRAVE tree! You may ask, "Why, and how can a tree be brave?" Well, first off, Joaquin spends most of his Christmas life next to a big white cage... with a big white bird in it... who likes to reach out and grab things! He's very brave! But, you should see what is under the tree at Grandma's house on Christmas Day! EVERYONE comes over, so there are always so many presents in the house that three trees wouldn't be enough to keep them under! Joaquin did an awesome job, but the present amount gets overwhelming!
Here's the presents at Pama's house on Christmas Day. See what I mean?? He looks like a DWARF!
So, needless to say, Christmas was another smashing success! The day after Christmas is a day to rest from all the running around and eating. But the day after that, we were off again!
December 27th my cousin Cindy got married! She was married to Kevin Sproul in the San Diego LDS temple. Her wedding colors were purple and silver, and I have never seen two people that looked happier than they did that day!
At the reception Cindy danced with her dad - my Uncle Curt - to the song "Butterfly Kisses." It was cute, and I shot a little video of it on my camera. (I'm not going to post it though... I'm not a great cinematographer.) They were funny because they would go to turn, both mess up, and start laughing. Here's a picture of them together. I wish my camera did better with the flash. Sometimes they turn out dark and grainy anyway...
After they danced, Kevin, Cindy's husband, danced with his mom. That was also very cute, because he sang the song to her as the danced. Sweet.
Here's a picture of Mom and Dad at the reception. You can kind of see Grandma Kitty sitting in the background. Don't they all look so excited?? ha ha ha!
That night we came home from the wedding and I cheked my e-mail. I had one from the TA in my Imagineering class. I had been waiting to hear from him - he is the one who tells us whether or not we are going to get into the winter quarter Imagineering class. You know, the one with field trips, models, and a final that includes giving a presentation to Disney executives AT the Disney Studios! Anyway, he said that the grades were posted, and those that got A+'s had been approved to move on to the next class. It's hard, because the class is going from over 100 people down to 40. I checked my grades next... I got all A's! But no A+'s... **Sigh** So, my Imagineering class career is over. I'm sad, but it's ok. I will be taking History of American Musicals instead. I figure, wherever I am supposed to end up is where I will be. For some reason, it was not my time to be in Imagineering. So, I'm back to focusing strictly on Stage Management, and look forward to the classes I get to take to help me be the best Stage Manager I can be!!
So, now we are up to December 30th. I was lucky enough to be invited by my sister and her husband to join them for a trip to Knott's Berry Farm! I hadn't been to Knott's for a full day of fun since 8th grade, so I was excited to go! See, we have it all worked out... Shane and Danielle have 3 kids, so when I come with them, it makes equal adults to kids, and no one has to sit alone on a ride. I was doublly (sp?) excited to go because my friend Cassie (who I worked with at Disneyland) now works at Knott's! She is in one of the stage shows there and in the holiday parade. Here is a picture of Tacey, Dallin and McCade standing in front of the fountain in front of Johnny Rockets inside Knott's Berry Farm.
We were by the fountain waiting for the parade. It was a cute and quick little parade. My friend Cassie played the Snow Queen! She looked very beautiful in her winter dress!
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Here's a picture of her more close up. It's hard to take pictures of people on moving floats. Cassie is an actress, and besides working at Knott's, and previously Disneyland, she has also been in several movies! She was in Princess Diaries, Princess Diaries 2, Raising Helen, The Other Sister, Georgia Rule, and a couple others I am sure I am forgetting. She also has a very good singing voice! If you want to read about her adventures, I have her blog listed to the right. She doesn't update that one very often, but if you have MySpace, she does have a page with a blog she updates there on a more regular basis. She has a huge heart for animals, and always has exciting adventures to share! I've known her for 14 years, and love her to death! Hopefully living in LA right now will mean I can see her a little more often than once a year in passing...
After the parade we decided to eat, and then go on another roller coaster! ... Yeah, we probably did that in the wrong order, but it all worked out! ;) We had gone on Ghost Rider earlier in the day, and were surprised by the speed on the old wooden roller coaster... It kind of soured my partner's desire to ride roller coasters for the rest of the day. So, McCade and I waited at the exit for Shane, Danielle, Tacey and Dallin as they rode the Boomerang. They had a very good time, and McCade is looking forward to riding it next time we go.
So, that's basically all the big things that have happened in the last few weeks! In the next few hours 2008 will be over, and another year will begin. Along with a new year comes new classes - which start in less than a week. I go back to school in 3 days. I have been on vacation long enough that it all seems kind of surreal... but I am excited to hopefully get into classes that will allow me to become more involved in the theater department - the whole reason I am in college!
But, I'll post again tomorrow - the first post for 2009, and we will talk about it then. Happy New Year's Eve everyone, and Happy Birthday to my cute sister Laura!