California Fresh Strawberry Pie

If you don't know the difference between a strawberry and a strawberry from California, you may not appreciate this post. After living in California for 5 years and enjoying fresh strawberries all summer bought from the stands right by the field, we have come to know the difference between a strawberry and a California Strawberry. My sweet friend Melissa showed up at our house last Sunday with a flat of strawberries from California bought as they left the L.A. area (thanks, Melissa!) I'm not sure I could have been happier then the moment my lips touched the first one! It was a great surprise and made up a very tasty pie for our Memorial Day!

Disney Days

Meeting "The Boss of Disneyland"

Every trip to Disneyland is unique and fun because the kids are into something else that year. This trip was no different. We loved having a lot of cousins come from the Jackson side for part of the trip. Carter, Hanna, and Jake were in heaven riding the big kid stuff with their cousins! Josh enjoyed having Sabrina along for Pirates of the Carribean and Pooh Bear. Jared and Uncle Patrick stayed late the last night with Carter, Hanna, and Harrison riding all the fun rides in the dark like Thunder Mountain, Indiana Jones, Space Mountain, and Matter Horn. Carter claimed it was the best trip ever!

Kiddo favorites:
Carter: Matter Horn, Space Mountain. (we finally made him try Splash Mountain, but he did not love it)
Hanna: Matter Horn, California Screamin
Jake: Space Mountain, Matter Horn,
Josh: Pirates of the Carribean, Soaring Over California, Buzz Lightyear
Cole: Small World and Pooh Bear
Wouldn't you know, Mickey's workers couldn't focus my camera
Lots of boys in blue is what we heard all day our first day!!
Da Boyz
Matter Horn Carter and Hanna's favorite ride this trip!
Mommy always loves to ride the tea cups the kids indulge me
I'm so cute at my first trip to D-land! I always stick my tongue out now.
Small World was finally open this trip. We loved it! Hanna and I thought it looked like one giant art project. We decided we want a job like that. Decorating neat rides like "Small World". We also discovered the top of Small World has an Eiffel Tower, Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Taj Majal, and other famous buildings in its sky line. Cool (the kids helped me discover this)

Pluto making us laugh at the start of our second day
The "Celebrate" statue, giant balloons and an envelope inviting everyone to come and celebrate something at Disneyland this year!
Tinker Bell is a new character you can see at D-Land. they have converted the old Little Mermaid grotto into a Fairy area. You wait in line to see tink and a fairy friend.
Josh got this sword after riding Pirates the first day. He carried it the rest of the trip everywhere we went!

My cute brother Anthony and little boy Oliver. They along with my parents joined us for the 2nd and 3rd days of the trip.
Cole and siblings meeting "Tigger"-- He is Cole's idol. Cole loves to jump like Tigger!
My favorite photo of the trip. I'm not sure who is happier in this shot.

I waited in the Princess line for 1 and 1/2 hours so Hanna could meet some Princesses. I didn't mind too much because I know I won't do this many more trips sadly. I wish the Princess days would last longer!! Grandma and Grandpa Jackson who watched babies, sat under trees, bought food, took kids potty, smiled and pretended they had nowhere else they'd rather be. They actually were awesome and wouldn't rather be anywhere else. Love ya!
Grandma holding Cole and Oliver (both 7 months old) Oliver holding Cole's hand, Sooo cute!
Waiting for the parade on the curb: jake, hunter, josh, hanna (Sabrina in the back)
My brother Clark and son Brandon. They came for the last day. They are both really even kill can you tell??

My brother Clark's daughter Jessica. She is such a teenager!! We love ya anyway. She is so beautiful even if she spent a lot of time being a teen. (Hungry, tired, and too cool for the baby rides)

American Girl Weekend

We've been planning this weekend for months now! Hanna and I have been looking for a reason to go back to AG Place as our first experience was so fun! So when we found out how many of her friends had AG dolls, we started planning a weekend with them. It was so fun again!!!
We were starving after sitting in hours of L.A. traffic when we finally got to our hotel. We quickly dropped our stuff off at The Residence Inn Beverly Hills and headed to Maggianos Italian Restaraunt so yummy!!
After dinner we explored "The Grove" shopping area and gorgeous fountain.


The moms all contributed to these adorable little boxes we presented to the girls and their dolls the night we got there. One box for the girls and one for the dolls. Inside they found lip gloss, nail polish, lotion, candy and most importantly: Matching bracelets for girl and doll (adorable-- thanks Kristen and Melissa for this awesome idea)

After a very short night of sleep for some of us who could'nt stop talking(good times:)!, we got up and ready and headed back to the Grove where AG Place is located.

Aspen and Hanna playing 1-2-3 WEEE with Aspen's doll
The group waiiting outside the CAFE to go in for lunch
One happy mommy with the most beautiful and special girl in the whole world. I couldn't help but get a little emotional this weekend realizing just how blessed I am to have her
How can you resist these precious little girls! And yes I realize the "Mamarazzi" took a lot of pictures of our "little dolls"
Our beautiful table!!

The girls enjoying a very quick first course: warm yummy cinnamon rolls! They were followed by an appetizer plate, main course and this yummy dessert plate!

A true natural smile something I got to see a lot of this trip!!
Some very cute purchases. Hanna has been saving up for almost three months for this trip. We circled things in the catalog and made a sheet with circles that we crossed off for each dollar earned. Hanna saved a lot and worked really hard. I'm so proud of her it means so much more when you feel like you earned it! Oh yeah, the doll in the middle is mine....it some how jumped in the cart at the end of the day. (try explaining that to your husband) I have adored it for years....its my immortalized little girl. Hanna says her name is of course Lindsey. Thats only funny if you know the story behind it and if you've gotten this far in reading this long post, chances are you do.

odds and ends

This week has flown by with all kinds of stuff going on. May is always so busy!!
I've been practicing for two months for a stake music program for Young Women, moms, and leaders. We performed on Sunday night. It was called "Daughters of a King". I was so thankful to be part of this. It turned out amazing. We had an orchestra complete with a harp, and lots of short thoughts expressed along with many choral numbers. It was so fun!! The stake even bought all who were performing corsages. It was a sacrifice on my families part, but I'm so glad to have done this.
This is a cute picture of Carter on Monday on his 10th birthday. I'm not supposed to post about his life before he gets a chance to do so on his blog. He gets really made when I do!! So be checking his blog for birthday fun!!

Ryan's Visit

Ryan, a family friend who lives in Georgia, got to come and visit over the past few days. It was great timing since it was Carter's birthday weekend!! Here's a letter I wrote to Ryan's parents via email describing some of the things we did:

Dear Mom and Dad,
On my three day "field trip" to the desert, I learned the following things:
1. Water is very important to survival in this climate
2. I conducted EXTENSIVE personal research on the effects of screen usage and eye strain

3. How to ward off the "enemies" of the desert. (They look a lot like the enemies in the South)

4. I researched the effects of gravity on the human form through roller coaster experiments and jumping into water from great heights

5. And again learned over and over that water is necessary for survival here.
Please include this list as I return to school at Eagle Ridge Academy...lest they think I'm a slacker and just been vacationing for a few days. Thanks mom and dad for an awesome trip. The natives here loved having me visit their domain. your loving son, Ryan