Trick or Treat...

Kasen was really excited. He had been preparing all day. "we go knock on the door and say trick or treat, they give us candy, then we say thank you and leave." I think they prepped him at preschool. Quite funny. We went over to Zac and Crystals house and went with them and their kids. Kasen and Brielle had such a blast. I really think Zac and Jeremy did too!!

Ding dong!!

I know you're home! Open up!
Daddy andUncle Zac standing by on portion control for the bowl that was left on someones porch.
1 whole neighborhood, over 200 pieces of candy, 2 black slippers that were once yellow, and STILL wanting to knock on more doors!
Kasen and Brielle, Halloween 2007

What you've all been waiting for....DISNEYLAND!!

Kasen and I went to Disneyland on Monday. His Grammie and Boppa sent us a ticket for his birthday to go because they knew how much Kasen LOVES Mickey.

On Sunday night, I kept telling Kasen we were going to Disneyland. Since he didn't comprehend what that meant, I told him we were going to Mickey and his friends house. He was so excited and ran over to Jeremy and said, "daddy! Me and mommy are going to Mickey's Clubhouse tomorrow!" I thought it was so cute!

We got to Disneyland around 11am with a friend and her son as well. We were told at the ticket counter to go to the City Hall and they would give Kasen and "first timer" button and a "Happy Birthday" button. We went and they were out of the "first timer" buttons but he got a cool "happy birthday" button that he was quite proud to wear. Every time we talked to an employee or got on or off a ride, they would tell him HAPPY BIRTHDAY! They are very happy people there.





After we went and got his button, there was a band playing outside of the castle so we went to go see what was going on. This was Kasen's first spotting of Mickey Mouse. He flipped out! "mommy it's mickey! mommy it's mickey! mommy it's mickey!" over and over again. We went over to the crowd and I held him up high to see. He was stunned. It was the first time he had realized that Mickey was actually REAL. Not just a cartoon on tv or a game on the computer. He was REAL!! I think after that he was too shocked to talk. So we took a picture of him from a far when he walked off and then went on to toon town.





The friends that went with us were such good sports. This was Kasen's first time so everything was so new to him. Our friends have season passes and try to go at least once a month. So I am sure we slowed them down a bit, but they hung in there! Thanks Amanda and Shane!

Once we got to toon town we went straight to Goofy's house. We went and played, and then I spotted Pluto walking around. I grabbed Kasen's arm and took off running! I got my camera ready and stood in line. I tried to get Kasen to pose by himself, he was all smiles, until I left to take the picture. Then he panicked a little and so I am in the picture. He kept telling Pluto " I want to see Mickey! I want to see Mickey!" Poor Pluto got the shaft!


We went back around and started going to all the characters houses. Kasen LOVED it! These are his friends. He tells me everyday that Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy and Pluto are his friends. EVERYDAY. Every time we would leave a house, he would tell me he wanted to go to somebodies house. It was cute.

The time arrived to go to Mickey's House. I didn't realize Mickey would be there. We walked through his house and at the back of the house there was a long line that took us about 20-25 minutes to get through. They had some Mickey cartoons playing to keep us entertained while waiting to see him. Kasen was very patient, he knew that in a matter of minutes he would come face to face with his best friend for the first time. When we walked into the room...there was Mickey standing and waiting. The photographer was there and ready to take pics. Kasen couldn't stop smiling. That was probably the best moment of his life thus far.
We walked around and went on more rides. Ate some food. Walked some more. The whole time Kasen was still asking to see Mickey again.
While Shane fell asleep in his stroller, Kasen and I took advantage of that time and went on a big kid ride. SPACE MOUNTAIN. I hadn't been on it since they re-did it and so I really wanted to go. I walked Kasen over to the "You must be taller than this sign" sign and stood him straight. He was taller than the 40in. sign. I was happy. We walked off and waited in line. While we were in line I kept trying to warn him that it would be DARK and FAST. There would be lots of little lights that looked like stars and it was going to go really fast like a race car. I don't think words could have prepared him for what was about to come, but I sure tried to give him warning. We got in the roller coaster and he pulled the bar down before I even had gotten in. He pulled it down WAY too far and was complaining that it hurt. It was tight in his ribs. It was too late. I had my left arm stretched across myself holding his bar away from him so he wouldn't crush his ribs around the corner. NO biggie. I could do that. Then the ride took off...different ballgame. Wow. Poor Kasen. I was pretty concerned. We were whipping around corners, he couldn't hold his head still or up for that matter. It was so loud from the music and the coaster itself that I couldn't hear if he was crying or freaking out. It was pitch black, I couldn't see his face and see if he was crying. I just had to wait it out. I decided to use my right arm and wrap it around his head and hold his head back against the seat as best I could so my 2 year old wouldn't get whiplash. I kept yelling, WHEEE, THIS IS FUN, WOO HOO, stuff like that so he wouldn't get scared. Alas, the ride was over. We came to a screeching halt and the lights came on. I quickly looked over at Kasen. He was all smiles. I couldn't believe it. I said that was fun wasn't it? "Yeah it was!" My 2 year old liked Space Mtn. Good for him! I couldn't stop telling him how proud I was. That made him smile even more.

The rest of the day was a blur. We met some more characters. Walked around more Enjoyed all the pumpkins they had displayed EVERYWHERE.



He fell asleep within about 5 minutes of getting on the freeway. He slept really well that night too.

Thank you Grammie and Boppa for paying for the ticket for us to go! We had a blast!!

Trunk-or-Treat

Saturday was our wards Trunk-or-Treat. Kasen was so excited. He got to wear his costume for the first time. (Well, officially...I can't count how many times he wore that thing for fun)My parents came with us, as they usually do for our Ward Halloween and Christmas party. It was fun to hang out with friends and family all in the same setting. Kasen loved playing the carnival games and running around with his friends.

Here are a couple pictures that we took beforehand. The one of the family was taken at the party.

Silly boy!

Kasen was supposed to be getting dressed so we could leave. I was in the bathroom doing my make up and getting ready myself, and it was awfully quiet in Kasen's room. I went in there to check on him expecting the worst, crayon on the wall, glue on the floor, something bad...but this is what I found....




By the way, Kasen doesnt color on the walls, or spread glue on the floor. He doesn't do stuff like that thankfully. But I was still concerned that it was quiet, because he isn't perfect and he does do stuff he shouldn't sometimes.

Goodbye crib! Hello BIG boy bed!!

Kasen is turning 3 next week and I decided it was time he said goodbye to his crib. I am one of those lucky parents in that he never learned how to crawl out of the crib by himself. His crib dropped the mattress to about 5 inches above the ground so he wasn't able to climb out. I just knew it was time for a big boy bed. He will be 3! He was having to curl up at night in his crib because he was too tall to lay straight out. That's no fair...so we went on a search.

We went to about 5-6 different furniture places and found a GREAT deal on a full size bed. Kasen loved going and laying on all the beds. He totally felt like a big boy and he didnt even understand the concept at this point. We kept telling him we were going to buy him a big boy bed, but I dont think he grasped the idea.

The next day Jeremy and a friend went to go pick the bed up. I made Kasen take a nap in the downstairs bedroom while the bed was being put together. So he didn't know that Jeremy was home yet. I went out to get some bedding while he was sleeping too. We wanted to have the bed ready to sleep in when he woke up from his nap.

We finished the bed and this was his reaction!







AND HE SLEPT HAPPILY EVER AFTER!!

The Book of Mormon and your Cell Phone

I found this on a different person's blog and I really liked it. I just need to apply it in my own life.

Wonder what would happen if we treated our Book of Mormon like our cell
phones?

What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?

What if we turned back to get it if we forgot it?

What if we flipped through it several times a day?

What if we spent an hour or more using it each day?

What if we used it to receive messages from its text?

What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?

What if we gave it to kids as gifts?

What if we used it as we traveled?

What if we used it in case of an emergency?

This is something to make you go ...Hummm...where is my Book of Mormon?

My backyard friend.....Pablo

Last night Crystal and I decided to carve pumpkins. Here was the problem...I had a short skinny pumpkin. How am I supposed to carve something fancy schmancey in a small pupmkin? Well, I didn't. I tried to carve Dora, and she started out great, but as I tried to add the face, all her features were crowding fast. So, in the end, she was evil Dora. She is now in the trash can.

This morning I went and bought a new TALL pumpkin and tried again. I had decided that since Crystal had done Dora as well last night, that I would try someone new today.

This is Kasen and I prepping the pumpkin for surgery.

BEFORE.....<
He wasn't quite sure what to think of the gooey mess in the pumpkin. He's a very clean kid.

Me showing Kasen it was ok to have messy hands, mommy did too!

The bowl of mess...

AFTER...Pablo from Backyardigans


I'm giving myself a pat on the back for this one. Even though it's not perfect, let me PROMISE you that it's a million times better than the EVIL Dora one last night!