DISNEYLAND day TWO...

The second day of our trip we went to Disneyland!! It was Friday and the park was open from 8am-12am... so needless to say we were ready for a FULL DAY of FUN!! We had a GREAT night sleep because everyone was tired from the previous day so we  woke up and headed to have our Continental Breakfast!!

 We got to the gates early and they let us in to wait on Main Street U.S.A. until the park opens at 8am. Can you tell we were excited to get going... look at the kids below...

 We hit up Fantasyland first and got a TON of rides in... first we did Pinocchio's Daring Journey, Snow White's Scary Adventure then we hit up DUMBO the flying Elephant... Hailey was scared to go on it at first but the second I let her control the elephant she was in heaven! We rode this one TWICE!!

 Then we went on King Authors Carousel, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (which neither kid enjoyed) then waited for a while for Peter Pan's Flight... Landon LOVED this... it was worth the wait!

Then we headed over to Casey Jr.'s Circus Train where we saw... AMANDA!! She is the awesome cousin that got us into the park for FREEEEEE..... (minus us paying for Hailey's ticket) She was the conductor and it was SO fun! The kids wanted to be in the cage area so I jumped in with them...

Then we decided to head over to the Mad Tea Party cups... Hailey really liked this one...

 Then we hit up the Alice In Wonderland Caterpillar ride and then the Storybook Canal Boats... The beginning of this ride was horrifying for Hailey. She took one look at the whale's mouth we were to enter and told us that it was not a good idea. LUCKILY as I was forcing her to go, a nice ride helper gave Hailey a "Magic Flashlight" so she would be safe on the trip. Once we got through the whale she calmed down and said "Oh Mommy, that was not bad!" I just giggled and enjoyed the ride. At the end of the ride the same ride helper gave Hailey a button because she was SO brave! It made her day!!

 We headed towards the back of Fantasyland and noticed there was a line for seeing the Princess's. Mom, Myself and Hailey waited about an hour in that line while Matt and Landon rode on the train then rode some other things... Half way through our wait they switched out the princess's so we missed Aurora Belle and Cinderella.... but we did get to meet...

Tiana!! FUNNY STORY... so we walked around the side to get into where the Princess's were and the first thing we saw was a yellow-green dress... I KID YOU NOT... my mom says to the kids "LOOK It is BELLE!" and I laugh and say "MOM, she is black... take another guess..." and we all laugh and get our picture with Princess Tiana from the movie The Princess and The Frog. THEN...

 ARIEL!! Landon walked right up to her and gave her a hug before Hailey was even over there... it was ADORABLE! The got to hold her shell necklace that held her voice. She was very sweet to the kids. I think Landon liked her the best. THEN...

 JASMINE!! She was a TALKER! She had Hailey telling her who everyone was; and when Hailey asked her where Aladdin and Abu were she was quick with her responses. It was a VERY neat experience meeting the Princess's. We were surprised how into it Landon was. We got our Family Picture on the Royal Castle seat...

 We decided to finish up the rides so we got in line for It's a Small World... It had been decorated for Christmas and it was BEAUTIFUL! The kids were in shock looking at everything! And that had just about finished our Fantasyland Area so we headed over to Mickey's Toontown Attractions...

 We waited WAY to long in line for Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin... but had fun chatting in line. Then we played in the Jailhouse and the Toon Car; then hit up Goofy's Bounce House. We had to hit up Chip n' Dale's Treehouse only because they were my favorite characters as a kid. We all enjoyed that.

 Then Grandma rested while the rest of us headed to Gadget's Go Coaster... this was the ONLY roller coaster that we made Hailey go on. It was about 30 seconds long and after we got off she told me she never wanted to go on that again...

While Matt was riding other rides with Landon and we were waiting to see the Princess's he picked up some Fast Passes to Star Wars. So we headed over to the Tomorrowland Attractions. The kids were not able to ride this one so we took turns. My mom and Matt went first and I took the kids potty and got them in line for the Astro Orbiter. They got out in time so Mom and I switched places and she got to ride this with them. We did not have the camera out at this time. We decided it was time to get some food in our bellies so we left the park and went to lunch. We took the Disneyland Railroad back to the front gate and got in the car and hit up TACO BELL.We rested our feet and just had a nice break... We went back to the hotel to get ready for colder weather and then we were BACK for more... Matt ran to get fast passes for Indiana Jones ride and we headed for Autopia. We let the kids drive and we had alot of fun. Then we went to the Nemo Submarine Adventure. The kids really enjoyed seeing Nemo...

 After that we were able to meet up with AMANDA, she got off work and came back to hang. It was fun talking with her about her job and family and future wedding... we hit up Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blaster. MAN Landon was in HEAVEN!!...

 Then we went over to Adventureland to get on the Indiana Jones Adventure. Again we took turns and while Matt and Amanda went first mom and I took the kids into Tarzan's Treehouse. The kids liked that so much they went again when Mom and I went on Indiana Jones. I had NEVER been on this ride before and I loved it!! We hit up the Jungle Cruise; the cruise director was FUNNY!! I wish we would have gone during the day so the kids could see better... we were hungry AGAIN by this time so we headed for the MONORAIL which Landon had been pointing out since we first got there...

We took the monorail  into Downtown Disney where we ate at The Rainforest Cafe. We had reservations so we got to shop a little before our reservation time. We traded more pins and Mom got some cute little coins for her Primary Kids. The food at the Rainforest Cafe was SO good... I think everyone enjoyed it except for the sleeping Hailey and cranky Landon...

 After dinner Mom took the kids back to the hotel to rest and Matt, Amanda and I went back to the park to enjoy some ADULT rides. (THANKS MOM) We went on the Matterhorn Bobsleds which I had never gone on before either. Then we went on the Haunted Mansion which was "Jack the Pumpkin Kinged OUT".  Our last ride we got in was Big Thunder Mountain... it was GREAT to end on that one!! We got a beautiful pictures of the castle at night; shopped on Main Street U.S.A, then headed back to the hotel.

We gave Amanda a ride home so we got to see the outside of her apartment which was neat. We sure are lucky she offered for family to come and enjoy Disneyland with her!! It was a WONDERFULLY MAGICAL time and we all slept in the next day and woke up just in time to get breakfast and check out! We missed a few rides here and there and we hope to go back before too long to enjoy them while we can... On our drive home we shopped a little at some outlets in LA and made it home to sleep in our own beds... it was a WONDERFUL little Vacation!!

DISNEYLAND!!!

 Or as LANDON would say "Di-ne-wand!"

Our family got the AMAZING opportunity to attend the HAPPIEST Place on Earth earlier this month!!

Matt's cousin Amanda Bird works there and was able to get us in for FREE!!! Actually we WOULD have all been free, but Matt and I decided we wanted more help so we asked my mother to tag along (only because she is the BIGGEST MICKEY MOUSE fan AND the biggest help with our kids that we know) So we had to buy a child's ticket but to get 5 people in... = SCORE!!~~

We drove up EARLY Thursday morning and hit up Denny's for breakfast. We did not want to get stuck in any traffic; we missed all morning traffic and arrived at 6:30 a.m. (the park did not open until 10:00 a.m.) Our nice warm breakfast was a perfect start to the day!! We were able to get an EARLY check in at our hotel across the street from the parks and got ready for our BIG first day...

(click on the picture collage to get a closer look)

 Matt and I decided to buy some Disney Toys before we left (WAY CHEAPER) and so as we were driving  we gave the kids a special prize... Landon got Buzz Lightyear and Hailey got the girl kitten from Aristocats... I am sure she has a name, but like anyone would know if I used it... Above are the EARLY morning pictures. Then we made it to the gates and waited for our cousin to get us in.

 The first day we went to California Adventure~

 We went inside and headed to see Ariel's Undersea Adventure (Hailey's Choice) Then we ran over to my mom's favorite ride Soarin' Over California; we had gotten Fast Passes to ride it. Hailey went with Matt and LOVED it! Landon was not big enough so we had fun watching him play with all the airplanes in the store...

 We headed to the "A Bug's Land" area and enjoyed EVERY SINGLE RIDE there! ~ Fliks Flyer's, Francis' Ladybug Boogie, Heimlich's Chew Chew Train, Princess Dot's Puddle Park, Tuck and Rolls Drive "em Buggies and then enjoyed the show "It's tough to be a bug". That was the kids first 3-D experience.

 And as we were leaving the Bug Land we got lucky enough to catch Mickey Mouse and Pluto!!

Landon went right up to them and had no problem taking a picture... Hailey on the other hand... well you can tell by the pictures. Pluto got her to at least go near him on her own... that was GREAT!~

 We got a few more pictures taken, went on The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror a few times (THANKS to the fast passes), went on the Monsters Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue; which the kids LOVED! Then split up for a short while. Mom went shopping with Landon and Matt, Hailey and I went on The Grizzly River Run... HAILEY'S Idea... luckily she did not get wet. She did get a little scared but not wet!!

 Then we ran to make the showing of Disney Junior LIVE on Stage. I think this might have been the kids FAVORITE thing, and we loved it because we got to sit back and relax. They had a LIVE show with the characters from The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Little Einsteins, Handy Manny and Jake and the Neverland Pirates. The kids were dancing, singing and clapping along. It was GREAT!~ We had a LATE lunch at McDonald's after this and got our Jackets so we were ready for the rest of the night...

 When we got back we headed over to California Screamin' probably Matt and my favorite rides at Cali Adventure and got some Fast Passes. As we waited to ride that we went to Toy Story Midway Mania! It was a HUGE hit!! We probably waited the longest for this but it was well worth the wait. Hailey even talked Matt into taking her back to ride this again as we waited for the World Of Color show... 

Another HUGE hit for the kids was King Triton's Carousel. They rode this while we went on California Screamin'. The person running the ride told my mom they could just stay on the ride as long as the line does not get too long. I am sure the kids rode this over 10 times...

 We missed a few rides we think the kids would have enjoyed but we knew they wanted to ride the last two rides and we just went along with that. We got a GREAT seat to watch The World Of Color water show. It was amazing and I have to admit a few tears dropped from my eyes... We headed back toward the hotel after the show was over and decided to just hit up McDonald's again for dinner... The kids were OUT before we were even finished eating...

They were spoiled rotten before they even knew it! Grandma treated them to some Mickey Ears. Landon picked the Pirate Ears and Hailey picked the Cinderella Ears with the glass slipper. Grandma was surprised because we thought for sure she would get the regular PINK PRINCESS ones... it was a GREAT First Day!!~ And that night WE ALL slept wonderfully!!~~

Lawry's ~ Recipe Mixes

Looking for something SIMPLE and EASY to make for dinner??
Yeah SO AM I!
Lucky for YOU and I ~ I have had the opportunity to sample what Lawry's has been cooking up!!
My BUZZ AGENT (remember how I told you I try stuff for FREE and then report back on it, yeah this is another one of those things I got in on...) sent me my LAWRY'S Packet and I was SO stoked!!
Tonight for dinner we enjoyed the Southwest Chicken Skillet ~

I already had the ingredients needed... corn, diced tomatoes, black beans, instant rice, water, and cheese...
it was SO easy and SO good! My house smells wonderful too!!~~
This is all I had to do, cook the chicken (OK, I did have to cut the chicken first before I cooked it) until browned, all all the rest of the ingredients bring to boil, stir well then simmer for 10 minutes, then take off heat add cheese and let sit for 5 minutes. BOTH kids ate it and Hailey even said "Mommy, I tried it and I like it!" (yes we tell her she has to TRY things before she can say if she likes them or not... I am a MEAN mommy)
SO hit up the store and get you a Lawry's Skillet Packet! And if you need a coupon LET ME KNOW!!~~
HAPPY COOKING!!~

Where Have I Been??

WELL, Again it has been a little while since I have blogged.... this time it is because of some AMAZING Vacations that I have not been updating my Day to Day Life...
FIRST we went to the Happiest Place on Earth...

MANY more pictures to come about that...

SECOND my kids went on the Amtrak Train back to Sacramento with Grandma on Sunday which left me CHILDLESS for almost 4 full days... would YOU be on your blog if you were in my shoes?? HAHA!
Matt and I drove into Sacramento last night in celebration of Thanksgiving. This year we are going to be able to visit BOTH families. We know we are truly blessed to be able to have our families so close and we are thankful that they still want us around year after year...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!

Family Wish List

I wanted to keep a running list of what everyone wants for Christmas so i could remember AND let family members know... I will update it when I know of something new... hit the Hyperlinks to see items under the kids names ~

MATT
Surround Sound System
TV 50'
Garage Door Opener
Home Phone System
Gift Card to Marshall's or Harbor Freight

MELISSA
Desperate Housewives Season 6 or 7 ( 7 was at Target for $20)
Deep Freezer (stand up)
Gift Card to Marshall's or Ross
Cookware (not sure what I really want yet)

HAILEY
Pink Doodle Bear  DONE
Princess Squinkies (at Costco for $20)
Unicorn Pillow Pet DONE
Zoobles Playsets (any playset or toy)
Vet Playset  DONE
Little Pet Shop Toys (she likes the ones with the little people)

LANDON
Fresno State Pillow Pet DONE
Spider man Playset (any spider man toy, not too small)
Batman Playset (he REALLY wants this...) DONE
Little People Airplane
Optimus Prime Transformer
Construction Vehicles DONE

BOTH KIDS
Sandbox (not sure if I want to allow a sandbox yet)

Andersen Christmas Present Swap ~

Every year we draw names in the Andersen Family (my side of the family) to make Christmas shopping EASY and stress free! We have 2 parents, 6 kids, 3 in-laws, and 8 grandkids so it would get a little crazy everyone buying for everyone...
I put this on my blog so people have a reference when they are out shopping if they have forgotten...

It's SANTA time!!!

We have been telling Hailey whenever she wants a toy (which tends to be EVERY time we go into ANY store) that she needs to put it on her list and tell Santa. Then if she is a good girl maybe Santa will get one of the toys she wants FOR her... So far it has worked pretty well...

Adult List
Dad- Sharon
Mom- Preston
Steven- Nicole
Tiffany- Mom
Matt- Brian
Melissa- Crystal
Brian- Tiffany
Nicole- Matt
Crystal- Dad
Sharon- Steven
Preston- Melissa

Kiddie List
Kimberley- Katelyn
Logan- Landon
Owen- Hailey
Evan- Johnathon
Hailey- Owen
Landon- Logan
Katelyn- Kimberley
Johnathon- Evan

I am working on getting our LIST'S together... that will be another blog post soon!~

Holiday Pictures 2011

We took our Bird Family Holiday Pictures last weekend... wanna see them....
FIRST do you like them in BLACK and WHITE or COLOR...
and SECOND No I am not pregnant... the "flowy top" was not a good choice for tying to look skinny...
THIRD this year Landon did not cooperate... FOURTH Hailey's smile in some of the pictures are PRICELESS... ENJOY ! ~

 I think this last one above is my favorite...

 Hailey "I'm stuck in a cage" picture...

And Landon at the end of the photo shoot... SO SLEEPY! It must have been lots of work for him to NOT look at the camera!~ HAHA!~
Again these pictures were done by Kresta Kraucyk just like last year... LOVE her! ~ Check out her photography blog! And local people hit her up for your own photo session SOON!!

Happy VETERANS Day ~

Some people just like Veteran's Day because it is a day off work...

I LOVE Veterans Day because I live in the land of the free and the home of the Brave 

BECAUSE

of the great MEN and WOMEN Past Present and FUTURE that serve this great nation...

THANK YOU is not enough...

You and your family are in my prayers always...

We appreciate your service.

CATCH UP! ~

So I officially SUCK... yeah like I have not put ANYTHING up from Halloween... REALLY Melissa...
But I have TWO really good reasons... wanna hear them
1) Matt was trying to "sync" his iPhone to google or something and LOST all the pictures on the phone... INCLUDING the ones from Halloween...
2) I am a lazy butt...

REALLY... I have been...
Not sure WHY...
I have not blogged for like 2 weeks... UGH... So here goes...

Carving Pumpkins 2011

Landon picked the Yo Ho Pirate that Mommy carved and Hailey picked the Kitty Cat in the boot that Daddy helped carve!~ Landon won the SCARIEST Pumpkin at our ward Halloween Party! :)

 Landon in one of his MANY costumes...

Landon is ADDICTED to yogurt. I caught him red handed in the fridge searching for his beloved yogurt one day when he HAD to wear Buzz Lightyear. (The costume is too big, but works for now...)

 Trick or Treating... sorry for the bad pictures... yes I was ELMO...

Landon was Batman, Hailey was the Princess riding the Unicorn then we also had baby Morgan with us the happy little pumpkin... Along the way Hailey became The Princess and the Frog riding the Unicorn when she found a frog and HAD to take it door to door trick or treating... NO JOKE...

Yeah that is a real frog...

We put him in a bucket when we got home and he "jumped away" over night... that is my story and I am sticking to it!!

And here is the picture from our Halloween Ward Party...

Landon was a Cowboy riding a horse, Hailey a Princess riding a unicorn, Matt was Big Bird and I was Tickle me Elmo. Notice Hailey looking down at her TREAT she won on the cake walk... it took about 10 times in the cake walk to win those brownies... she LOVES them can't you tell!!

We had a GREAT Halloween! Hope you did too!!~~