California Etc.

We did more in California than go to Disney.  We also visited my Egan grandparents' graves.  It was really touching to be there...after we finally found the graves.  Thanks to the parks department for helping us find them.  Online they have a handy grave finder that doesn't help at all.  This is the first time I have been here since my grandpa was buried when I was in 1st grade.

My mom was looking for this giant V tree.  She just looked in the wrong direction.  I took this picture for future reference.  

Mildren Egan "Our Angel Mother"
And David Moroni Egan

Supercalirandaliciousexpialadocious

Yes, that is the name of the Randall Disneyland Adventure of 2013.  It was so, so amazing.  I laughed, I cried, got to be with my family.  It was great.  It was so great, I rarely even stressed about our upcoming move.  After our first night at Disneyland, Sarah was in the car, exhausted. I asked her how the day was, she sighed contentedly and said, "Perfect!"  And, the whole vacation was pretty close to that.

Lodging:  Perfect.  We rented a great house.  

Weather:  Is there a word that means Better than Perfect?

Disneyland crowds:  Pretty perfect....it wasn't too bad at all!  (Plus, they have an app for your phone to tell you how long the lines are to certain rides.  Great idea!)

Beach day:  A tinge cool, and the waves got the best of Derek giving him a huge sand burn on the face that bled A LOT.  But other than that, Perfect.

Food:  Disney food, OK.  The other food we ate, AWESOME.  I especially liked a place called the Pizza Press. Kind of like Subway, but they make you a pizza with your choice of toppings.

Health:  (Because we always get sick on vacation) Derek, sick.  Ben and Sarah, still coughing.  Trish and Libby, healthy.

Anyway, the pictures are worth 1000 words.

Notice who is NOT wearing the Randall T?  Yep Ben.  The Hulk.  He wore it the first day but refused on day 2.  Sigh.

He was all about Buzz Lightyear

My favorite part of this picture is that Libby has the princess arms too.  Did you know that the princesses sign autographs?  And that their autographs are consistent anywhere in the world you meet them?  It is part of their training.  

Nick's girlfriend Drea is an Oregon Duck fan.  So Derek is flashing his Ws anytime he has the chance, all trip.

Breakfast with a the princesses was one of the highlights of the trip.  And the best food we had at Disney.  Except the Pomegranate Lemonade.  Nasty!

So it has been awhile...

Do you want my excuses?  They are legitimate.  Sort of.  Really we were in California with my family for a week.  It was epic.  Then we came home and moved in.  If you can call it moving in.  Really we just moved stuff around in the new house as the flooring and electrical guys finished.  And the most important excuse is that every time I thought about blogging, the pictures I wanted to post were on the laptop....and the kids were watching a movie on said laptop.  Oh yes, it has been a good mommy week...month...(s).  I have promised myself that once this move is complete (which I define as stuff out of boxes), I will give more quality attention to my kids.  PROMISE!
Anyway, This post is going to be a shout out to my husband and Mike (our roommate for the past few months).  While we were in Disneyland, Mike suggested to Derek that Mike organize a group of guys and move our stuff out of our storage unit and into our new garage as a surprise for me.  So, they did.  Derek brought me over after church last Sunday so we could see the progress of the flooring guys.  He opened the garage, and my tears just started flowing.  I had been so worried about getting people together on a Monday to help us--and now, it was already at the house!  Hooray!  Our realtor had also let in the delivery guys so our washer and dryer were in the garage.  She also had the house re-keyed with new doorknobs on some of the doors.  Her welcome home gift was an awesome coat rack for my giant entryway.  She is the best!
What an amazing surprise!  I love happy surprises.  Mike is offically invited to dinner anytime!  (And also to advise Derek on any and all gift surprises!

Best News EVER!

We should close on the 16th of Oct.  But the SOLD sign is up!

Even Superheroes Have Bad Days...and other epic photos

I had a great time taking pictures of the kids this week...

Life in the Interim

Well, we are waiting.  Waiting for our house to close, waiting for Disneyland, waiting for life to start for real again.  But, life doesn't ever really stop.  So between driving Libby to and from school (a 20 minute drive in good traffic--which luckily it usually is good traffic), driving 25-30 minutes each way to the gym to teach classes, driving to pick Sarah up from preschool, and trying to make sure Ben gets home to get naps, here is what I have accomplished so far toward our house:
-Found a dining table for the dining nook at DI for $10
-Found the Ikea Jr. ingolf dining chairs on Craig's list
-Found the Ikea adult size dining chairs on Craig's list
-FINALLY ordered the carpet and tile for the house.  We loved the carpet in our old house, so I ordered basically the same thing (but a darker brown for the master).  I also got an AWESOME tile for the master dressing room and bath.  It is tile, but it is called "Brown Fabric" because it looks like linen.  They are 12" x 24" so they will be so awesome.  I get chills.  Anyway, I comparison shopped until I was sure I was getting a good deal on install and the goods.  I am SO excited.

Oh yeah, and this week I had the stomach flu that floored me for a day and a half. (Libby and Sarah had it last week).
And I had to wipe my iPhone and set it up as a new phone to handle the new iOS.  (It is a serious time commitment to get all your apps back, ringtones restored, calendars and emails added, favorites added, etc.!)
Finally I cleaned out and reorganized Mike's kitchen.  He may be cursing me for months to come as he is looking for things, but it was a great job for listening to conference yesterday.
Whew.  A whirlwind week.

Photo Book

Click here to view this photo book larger

Turn your favorite photos into a photo book at Shutterfly.com.