Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Eagle Scouting

Supporting Family

Supporting our family and having their support is very important to us. We went together over to California to Joyce's sisters house to support her son, J while he received his Eagle Scout Award. J is the oldest of our nieces and nephews. He worked really hard to earn this award before he turned 18.

Joyce, Daisey, Grandma G, and nephew.
We helped get the refreshments ready, and chairs set up. Watching the nephews (there were four of them) and keeping Daisey out of trouble gave us all plenty to do. Doug was asked to read the Eagle Scout charge for J.
Doug reading the Eagle Scout Charge
Shortly after that, it was time to give J his Eagle Scout award. It was such a great experience to be a part of.
Nephew J pinning his Mother's pin on his mom.

J's Mom and Dad celebrating with a smile!
Daisey's favorite part was all the cousins to play with! She loves to make-up games, and imagine all sorts of things with her cousins. They had a great time and played really good together.

Daisey and cousin.
Even though we're a state away, our family is important to us! We love getting together to support each other in the triumphs and happenings in each family. We count ourselves truly blessed to have such a large, loving, and supporting family!

~Doug and Joyce

Sunday, January 12, 2014

The Zoo

The Zoo

We decided to head to the zoo, so we took a few friends with us. It was great to be outside in the fresh air and spending time with family and friends. The kids like to see all the animals and the adults like to let them run!

Doug helped the kids look at the turtles in the pond.


Lil'miss L, Daisey, and Lil'mr K looking at the prairie dogs in the zoo. They were eating lettuce and other vegetables and making all sorts of noise!








Daisey  had a great time watching the Giraffes.







Lil'Mr. K, and his sister Lil' Miss L. 
They loved each other, and looking 
at the  animals! 






The kids had such a great time looking at all the animals! We brought a picnic lunch and sat to eat by the Giraffes. We walked around to see all the animals. The Lions and Tigers were out laying in the sun and the Otters were busy playing in their little pond. It was a great day with each other and we were glad to have been able to bring some good friends along too!

~Doug, Joyce, and Daisey

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Christmas Morning

Christmas Morning!
We love Christmas! We get together with our family here in Arizona on Christmas Eve and sing carols, eat good food, and then go see the Christmas Lights around town. Daisey always gets a new nightgown from her Grandma G to snuggle up tight with while she waits for Santa to come.
Daisey modeling her nightgown 



In the morning, we all had a great time opening presents. Daisey loves everything she got from Santa, her parents, and all her grandparents!
Our Christmas Tree

 There's nothing like a decorated tree, filled with presents!

Daisey loving opening her presents.

 Doug got a K'Nex kit for a semi trailer of
his favorite Nascar driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Joyce got a new set of sheets. There's nothing 
better than a nice, soft, smooth set of sheets!







We loved spending the day together, and enjoying the Christmas Spirit with each other! We hope to have another piece of our family to enjoy Christmas with in 2014!
Merry Christmas!

~Doug, Joyce, and Daisey

Thursday, December 12, 2013

ZooLights

ZooLights!


We got a pass to the Zoo this year, and after Thanksgiving they put animal lights up around the zoo! We thought we'd try it out. It turned out to be a lot of fun! There were all sorts of animals. It was cold, so we got some hot chocolate!

 

Daisey got all bundled up and 
ready to go look at the lights!








 The Giraffe lights were Joyce's favorite! The Momma moved down to touch the baby's head. It was sweet!
 This was a true Arizona display!
 Wild Pigs, or Javelina! 
It was fun to see all the things
 they put into lights!

 Daisey loved the peacocks!
All the colors were so bright.
These blue lights were wrapped 
around Saguaro cacti! Joyce thought it 
was pretty cool, and risky!








We always have a good time together as a family, but this was one of our favorites. It's certainly something that we'll be doing again. As we walked around, there was Christmas music playing, and cheer in the air. Nothing better to get us in the Christmas mood. 

~ Doug, Joyce, and Daisey

Friday, November 1, 2013

Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween happens to be one of Joyce's favorite times of year. It's cool outside, the colors on leaves are pretty (unless you live in the desert, then it's still green), you get to dress up and pretend to be something-or someone- else. It's magical! 

This year, our house was not decorated as it usually is. But that didn't stop Daisey from having fun! She enjoyed getting dressed up for the church's Trunk-or-Treat!

She even got to make pumpkin shaped sugar cookies with Grandma G. Oh how she loves to help and be in the kitchen. This girl is a big helper all around..
Helping Grandma G cut out cookies.

It was her turn to roll out some dough! The rolling pin weighs as much as she does...

There's nothing like adding frosting to any cookie.. She got to frost her own!

The next week, she got to get dressed up again for her preschool's Halloween Party...



 
Such a bewitching little witch!



That night was Halloween! Doug was on the night shift and went into work late so he could take her around the neighborhood Trick-or-Treating. Joyce stayed home and handed out candy. It was gone by 8:00!
Once Daisey and Doug got home, we had a little visit from two very dressed up friends! Little Princess Sophia the First, and Batman!
Daisey had such a great time, it wasn't all about the candy, it was about friends, spending time with her Dad, and getting to do one of the things she enjoys best, dressing up!


Happy Halloween!
Doug and Joyce

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Disneyland-Again! Day 5

Riding Splash Mountain
Not much happened on our last Disney day. We had to pack our hotel room that we'd lived in for 5 days! Add in shopping, and exhausted evenings and you get quite the mess. While Joyce cleaned up and bought a few souvenirs, Daisey and Doug swam in the hotel pool with all the cousins. It was a good trip, we were glad that we were able to go, and even happier that we got to spend time with Family in the happiest place on earth-Disneyland!

We've been to Disneyland three times and DisneyWorld once in the last two years! Maybe the next big vacation we take will be to somewhere else. Who knows, we'll have to see how it all rolls out. But for this little family of three, Disneyland has been a wonderful place of magic and memories!

Getting on the airplane to come back to Arizona!

Disneyland-Again! Day 4

This morning we got together with the whole family and had breakfast at Ariel Grotto in Disneyland's California Adventure. It's a character breakfast filled with all your favorite Disney Princesses! Which is really what little girls, at least ours, is all about!

 As a group, we take up a lot of space! There's about 28 of us in all. Quite the  breakfast!


 It wasn't too long after breakfast appeared than all the Princesses started coming out! We met Cinderella, Snow White, Belle, and of course Aurora! We got pictures of Daisey with them all, but none of them brought tears to my eyes but her meeting Aurora. She couldn't get out of her chair fast enough! She was at the head of the table, so she got to meet them all first. It was awesome to see her meet her Princess Hero!





Not sure how many times Daisey hugged her, but it was definitely more than once!
After all the princesses came by, we got to actually eat the food! It was great! Waffles, Eggs, Hashbrowns, Sausage, Bacon, fruit, cheese, rolls, danish. You name it, they had it! Joyce made our little family matching outfits. Daisey had her cute dress, Joyce's shirt was yellow with a Minnie bow, and Doug's shirt was red with a matching Mickey head.

After that, it was off to the rides! Daisey rode with one of her Aunts on the Symphony Swings! They have a ride just like it at Lagoon in Farmington Utah.  It spins around and around to music!








Our little Diva! She was all decked out. Her cute dress, her Minnie Mouse sun glasses, Minnie hair bows, and Minnie mouse shoes. Not to mention all the attitude! We rode all that we could in California, so we went back to Disneyland to ride Winnie the Pooh and a few of our other favorites before we had to get ready to say good-bye to Disneyland for a while.








Disneyland-Again! Day 3

Day 3! We planned the day for California Adventure, and so that's where we started the day! There are so many fun rides over there, it's just like a Pier by the ocean. Daisey's favorite ride is the Jumpin' Jellyfish! Joyce and Doug like the Tower of Terror and California Screamin'. Since the time we first went to Disney's California Daisey has wanted to ride the Ferris Wheel. So we made sure we did that this time.


At first, Daisey wasn't too sure about it, the seat rocks back and forth! We didn't even get a booth that spun or moved anywhere that a normal ferris wheel moved. Once she got used to it, she was happy to be riding up so high in the air! The Ferris Wheel is taller than our hotel!

We found some cousins and went on Toy Story Midway Mania. They had fun pulling faces while waiting in line. This face is a classic for every kid of any age!

Doug and Joyce rode together and had a little bit of competition. Doug didn't end up very happy, he got beat by 700 points!

Joyce always wins! It's just fun to have a little loving competition!

 Lightening McQueen and Mater strolling down the street in Cars Land!

We even saw Red, the firetruck! 

 Daisey and Doug sitting outside of Mater's Junkyard Jamboree. Daisey and Joyce rode it earlier and after, we watched a tiny family member that wasn't old enough to ride. It was fun listening to all the giggles and laughter coming from the ride.
Doug, Daisey, and a cousin rode Luigi's  Flying Tires with a bunch of other family members. It was fun to watch them bash into each other on these huge floating fabric tires on a floor that's like an air hockey table. Lean the direction you want to go and away you fly!




Another fun filled day in Disney! By this time, we were so tired at the end of the day. It's been a lot of walking, a lot of sunshine, and a lot of smiles! Tomorrow, another fun and magic filled day!














Disneyland-Again! Day 2

Day 2! We aren't really morning people when we're on vacation. So we took our time getting up, getting breakfast and getting into the park. Most of the family went to a character breakfast, but we decided that while Doug had the time off, we were going to enjoy lounging in the hotel together for a bit. We all had matching shirts that Doug's Mom had made for everyone that we all wore. It was fun to walk around and have people ask us how many of us were there on vacation! Some people even asked Joyce where she got the shirt, or who made it. One lady even asked to take a picture of our shirts so she could make some like that for their next trip!
We hadn't met up with everyone yet, but we took our picture in front of Aurora's Castle.

We actually got to meet Silvermist Fairy in Pixie Hollow! Daisey hadn't met any of the Fairys before and it was so fun to watch her interact with them. 
Tinkerbell was very impressed with Daisey and all her pins and buttons on her lanyard. Daisey loves to collect little pins and things and was even more excited because Grandma made it! Daisey loved to tell Tink all about the things she had collected and all the Tinkerbell movies she's watched.











 We went up to Toon Town and met Minnie Mouse! Daisey had Minnie Mouse bows in her hair and on her lanyard. It was fun for the whole family.


One of Daisey's favorite rides in Disneyland is Gadget's Go Coaster. She'll ride it as many times as we'll let her. This time she rode with Joyce. She screamed and held her arms in the air for almost the whole time! Such a little adventurer.







 Daisey and Doug rode together on Autopia. She got to steer the car and Doug said it was quite the ride. Joyce followed them in the next car and had a rough time keeping up with Doug and his lead foot! They have so much fun together and bring laughter into our home all the time.

One of our favorite parts of this trip was that Doug's Grandpa G was able to come with us. The last time Grandpa G had been to Disneyland was when his wife was alive with Doug and all his family. This time she wasn't with us, she passed into heaven 3 years ago and it was special that Grandpa G was able to come with us. Daisey had many fun times with him, riding on rides with him and holding hands walking through the park. It was special to see them together and know that even though we don't get up to Utah very often, Daisey and Grandpa G have a bond that can't be replaced.
We got most of the family together to ride Pirates of the Caribbean. It was awesome! We took up the entire boat all on our own! 
 Four Generations! Grandpa G (Daisey's great grandpa), Grandpa, Grandma, Doug, and Daisey! All in line to ride Peter Pan.

 We met up with Doug's brother and his family right next to the Mad Hatters Tea Party. It's Joyce's favorite ride! No one wanted to ride it but her and the little girls. So all of us ladies climbed in and spun ourselves silly! Daisey loves to play and be with her cousins! Joyce likes to see the smiles on their faces and be able to make them laugh and giggle riding a ride that she loves!

 Not many women can say that they have two mothers. But Joyce can. She get's along wonderfully with her Mother-in-Law, Doug's Mom. On a previous trip to DisneyWorld, Joyce made her, Daisey, and Mom matching Minnie Mouse bows.

Of course we saw Princess Tiana again, so we went and said Hi for the second time. Tiana even remembered that she had seen Daisey the day before and this time, we had Daisey's autograph book for her to sign!
We went over to California Adventure to spend the evening and meet up with more family. 

Daisey loves any carrousel and this was even more fun because she got to ride it with some awesome cousins! 

Doug, Joyce, Grandpa G, and Dougs Dad riding California Screamin'! It's Dougs favorite ride in Disneys California. Grandpa G even had to take off his cowboy hat and hold on tight. The roller coaster goes from 0 to 60 in 4 seconds (or something like that- it's really fast!) It's a lot of fun and leaves your stomach behind!










We had a great day at Disneyland and went back to the hotel to get ready for another fun day filled with magic and memories!