What else could go wrong?

For a couple weeks now we have had a few misfortunes and just bad days.

*On the way to San Diego a tire flew off of a truck and slammed right into our van. Noah did a great job swerving so the damage was not as great as it could have been. The cost to fix my van came to about $3,000.*While helping with the decorations at my sisters wedding one of my prongs broke on my wedding ring causing one of my small diamonds to fall out get lost. I had to take it to my mom's friend who is a Jeweler(and where I bought my ring) to have him fix and replace my lost diamond.

*Then while at our last day at Disneyland I drooped the digital camera and broke it for good. Every picture I took after it fell came out all black.

*The other day I lost Aubrey in Kohl's for about 20min. (She had unbuckled herself.) They called in a Code yellow and locked the store down. They found her crying in the Men's department. I was pretty much a wreck from it all. The rest of my day just didn't play out they way I hoped.

*Then this morning I locked my self out of the house and had to go to Pittsburgh to get my garage door opener form the Auto body shop where my van is getting fixed.

*And to top it off Aubrey got really car sick on the way back home. I had to pull over and clean her and the car up.

I hope that this is the end of some really rotten days. It can only get better from here on out right?

Having Fun at Grandma's

So we spent a few more days with Grandma and we had a great time. On Monday we wanted to go to Daffodil Hill, but they had snow in the morning and needed it to dry out they said by Wednesday they would be open, but sadly we would be back home. So we went to the movies and watched Hotel For Dogs. It was a cute movie and the girls really liked it. On Tuesday we took the girls to Folsom for a day at the park and a visit to the Folsom Zoo. My little girls had a blast running, playing, and making new friends at the park. They also enjoyed chasing after the numerous amounts of Chickens and Rosters running around as well.We headed to the zoo which was right next to the park. This is a small zoo, but the girls didn't seem to mind the size. They had fun watching all the animals. Many of the animals were awake and very active. They have peacocks all over the zoo and at the park. They also have a section where the local deer mingle with the zoo animals too. Aubrey was a little frightened by the bears, but I would probably be too, if I were seeing them at her level. What a nice time we had with Grandma and we were sad to say goodbye.

Kylee's Play and Cheryl's Birthday!

This weekend we headed to Cameron Park on Friday morning and met Noah's mom at Noah's old office. While Noah went to work we went to play with Grandma. We did some shopping and went out to lunch just like we used to do when we lived down the way from Grandma. That afternoon the cousins all got together to play and well hang out. On Saturday we went to see our niece Kylee perform in her first official play. It was a musical called "The Maxwell Detective Agency" She played one of the main Characters named Payton. She did a great job. After her performance we had an early birthday lunch for Noah's mother. At her favorite Chinese restaurant. We headed back to Noah's sisters home to have cake and open presents. It was a fun filled day and when Grandma got home my girls surprized grandma and had decorated her bedroom for her Birthday.

The Passing of My Grandpa Martinez

Last week I got a call from my mother letting me know that my grandpa Martinez had passed away. She didn't have to many details so I called my aunt to get all the information I was looking for. On Monday the 16th they buried my grandpa, Eli Martinez, at age 83. I wasn't real close to my Grandpa, but I did go and visit him every chance that I got. I will miss him and I am grateful that I had the opportunity to get to know him better as I grew up. I loved to hear him tell us stories of when he was a young man or when he was in the Navy during WWII. I know he is in a better place, but he will not be forgotten.

Griffith Park

Even better than Disneyland was Griffith Park(At least Anissa and I got a kick out of it). I thought it would be fun to go eat lunch over in Griffith Park since we would be going past that area on our way home. I decided to stop over at the area where they had train rides and pony rides. After eating our lunch we headed over to the miniature train rides. There are two train rides in the park this particular one has been around since 1948. The website said " Youngsters of all ages will enjoy the experience of riding the FREEDOM TRAIN on the Griffith Park Southern Railroad. The track stretches over a mile and takes the rider past pony rides, through a lush green meadow, through an old Western town, and past a Native American village." Well it was definitely enjoyed by us and an experience we will never forget. As we rode into the western town it was like a town straight out of little Mexico. They had a horse in town, like this: it was still completely attached. Then they pointed out the prison on your right which was a storm drain with a grate kind of like this: Anissa and I could not stop laughing. The fake people weren't much better, and the conductor of the train was low riding the entire time. Every time I think about that train ride I am going to sing "Low Rider". Next we took Ashlyn and Autumn to ride the ponies. That was comical as well, because they strapped our girls on their horses, slapped the horses rear, and we wathched as the horses took off like a bat of Heck. Ashlyn and Autumn had to hold on for dear life as the man ran to catch up tp the horse. Anissa and I just laughed and laughed. It was great!

Our Last Day at Disneyland!

Our last day at Disneyland started bright and early at 8am. We had special passes for early entry into the Disneyland Park. We too advantage of this by going straight to Fantasyland where we rode most of the little kids rides. We rode Peter Pan first, walked on most of the rides with no wait and ended with Dumbo. After riding these rides we headed to Toontown this was Aubrey favorite area, because she got to see Mickey, Minnie, and Donald Duck's houses. The characters made her a little nervous, but she did not have a problem telling them Hi. We spent the rest of our day going on all the rides we missed and doing some of our favorite ride over again. The highlight of the whole day was shopping for souvenirs and the firework show. The girls knew exactly what they wanted to buy to take home. We were able to get an amazing spot in front of the castle for the fireworks show. The girls loved it. Aubrey loved seeing Tinker Bell Fly through the sky from the Matterhorn to the Castle. She cried when Tinker Bell was all done. She didn't want her to go home. She became very fond of her.

Our 2nd Day at Disneyland!

This morning we had an awesome complimentary breakfast we made waffles had sausage and eggs with fresh fruit, and many other choices of things to eat. We were able to get right onto the shuttle. When we arrived at the park we went to California Adventure again running straight to the Tower of Terror. Noah and I got a baby swap pass meaning that I would go with the two kids and when we got off the ride he would go to the fastpass and get on the ride much faster. He would take the two girls so that they could ride again. While one of us waited the fastpass would recommend things to do while waiting. Noah and I did a lot of fun things with Aubrey while we were waiting. After that we went from ride to ride that we did not get to ride yesterday. When we had done all that we wanted to do in California Adventure we headed to Disneyland and spent the rest if our day there. We rode lots of rides. A few that stand out for us was the Nemo Ride. The girls really liked being under the water and seeing all the sea creatures. Plus we obtained a special pass for it, because one of the rides had to be temporarily shut down and they gave us a pass good for six people to be used on any ride any time. We choose to use it for the Nemo ride. The girls really enjoyed driving cars in the Autotopia ride. Noah took Aubrey and Autumn and I drove with Ashlyn. This ride made me laugh the whole entire time. We all loved it. As the day went on we all got hot and tired. That's when we decided to head to the Pirates Lair and let the girls go at their own pace. The girls ran around through the tree houses, caves, bridges, and found the pirates booty Noah and I were able to rest a little too. We spent a few more hours at Disneyland, but left early to go eat dinner at our hotel room, swim a little, and get some rest for our last day at Disneyland.

The Happiest Place on Earth

This morning we left Grandma and Grandpa's house for Disneyland(which was way to short of a visit). It took us a about an hour and a half to get to our hotel where we parked our car and jumped on the shuttle to Disneyland.
When we arrived we got our tickets and headed over to California Adventure where we stood in line to watch the Aladdin Show. We were there nice and early and we were able to get excellent seats. The girls loved the show. Especially when the show came into the audience. On our way to the Bug's life area we watched the High School Musical 3 parade. Ashlyn and Autumn loved watching the dancers and singing along to the music. After riding all the rides in the Bug life area and watching the Bug life 3D show we watched Disney's Pixar Parade. Aubrey was so funny she did not like the bug noises in the bug life area or the giant bugs they were "Scary" she would say. It didn't help that Ashlyn and Autumn kept hiding in the foliage and scaring her.We decided at this time we would go to our hotel and check in. After waiting for the shuttle for 40min. we finally arrived at our hotel. Our room was like a studio apartment with fully operating kitchen. We made hot dogs and ate some sides. After a much needed rest we headed back to Disneyland. We rode all the rides in Fronterland and most of Adventureland. Autumn rode on her first rollercoaster at Disneyland the Big Thunder Mountain. She was a little nervous, but after the first ride she just wanted to go again and again. We located a spot to sit at to watch Fantasmic. The girls barley stayed awake to watch the show, but loved every minute of it.

Tiffany and Daniel's Wedding

Today was the big day for my sister and our family. We went with my parents out to breakfast and then went to the store to get a few last minute things for the wedding. We headed back to my parents to get dressed and ready for the wedding. At 3pm we meet at the church to take pictures. At 4:30pm my sister Tiffany and Daniel were married by Bishop Stafferi (the same man who did the ring ceremony for me and Noah). My girls held Tiffany's long train as she walked into the chapel. Tiffany looked beautiful and the wedding was wonderful. Once the wedding was finished we all went into the gym where the reception was being held. We had a great time at the reception. Everyone had a great time, the room looked perfect, and the bride and groom looked wonderful.

Pre-Wedding Activties

On Thursday we headed down to San Diego or my sister's wedding. Friday morning was spent helping my mom and dad with the decorations for the reception. Noah and I put up lights on the palm trees, brought things from my parents home to the church, put lattice together, finished decorating the gazebo, and did whatever needed to be done. Around noon we left the church to drive to downtown San Diego for lunch at Tom Ham's Lighthouse with the bride and grooms families. It was nice to meet Daniel's family and enjoy each others company. After lunch we ran a few errands and headed back to the church to finish up the decorations. By the end of the night we had ourselves a beautiful reception room.

Sick Again!

My girls started to feel worse after we got back from Bakersfield so on Monday afternoon I took Aubrey to the doctors I was told she had an ear infection. On Wednesday Autumn started to complain of a ear ache and was running low grade fever. I tried to book an appointment the same day, but all they had was Thursday at noon. Autumn was bouncing off the wall at the doctors and I was certain they were going to tell me that she was great, but I soon found out that she did in fact have an ear infection in both ears. She also had a nasty fall from the play structure where she bit through the bottom of her lip. She also keeps falling or running into things. She has bruised check and her nose got a little banged up too. Poor thing she has been having a rough week. I think her balance has been off due to her ears. I am glad that the medicine is kicking in and they have started to feel better. It has been a little crazy at our house with 2 crabby little girls and an emotionally drained and exhausted mommy.

Weekend in Bakersfield

This past weekend we went down to Bakersfield to attend Noah's cousin's baby blessing. In the morning went by the nursing home where Noah's Grandma lives and visited with her a a little while before going to the park(she would come a little later).We spent the rest of the afternoon at the park with family. It was like a mini family reunion. It was a lot of fun to see Noah and his Aunt Marge's family. Noah's mother, grandmother, sister Rachel and her family came into town too. His aunt Nancy,Uncle Craig, Uncle Bruce and Aunt Htway also came. We all ate lunch, played, visited with one another, and had a blast. Our girls loved playing with their cousins and their 2nd cousins. Aubrey was a little under the weather and stayed close to me and Noah, sleeping most of the time. By the evening we were kind of zapped from traveling and playing all afternoon. Instead of all getting together again we opted to eat dinner and get to bed early.

Sunday was the big day for Noah's cousin Kathryn and her husband Jaren. At 11am we blessed their little baby boy Nathan. What a wonderful thing to be a part of. We visited with family a little after the blessing and took pictures. Then we ate lunch with Grandma Kyle, Noah's mom, and his sister Rachel and her family. After our sunny lunch we had outside we headed back home to the rain. It rained the rest of the week.