Taylor Swift Eras Tour concert in Glendale!

Emily had a wonderful time at the Eras Tour concert in Glendale!  We couldn't get tickets for the family in Glendale, but Emily had an opportunity as a "super fan" to request tickets.  I couldn't let her pass up that opportunity and she was able to get fantastic tickets on the floor in the 14th row!  It was a dream come true for her and she had a fantastic time with her friend Kayla!  

Her red dress is for the Speak Now era.

They had fantastic seats!

1st Date Anniversary at Disneyland and Expo West

Michael and I had a blast on our Disneyland date weekend! We were celebrating the 28^th anniversary of our first date. On Friday, I got the boys off to school. I didn't plan enough time for packing but it only took me half an hour to get to the airport so I made it to my gate right on time. The shuttle I was going to take to the hotel left without me, even though I was on time, so that was a bust. I just took an Uber instead. I asked the Uber driver if he'd wait for me for a few minutes and drive me over to the convention center. He kept saying that it was so close that it was right across the street. Well, right across the street means a different thing when you're in Anaheim and you have to walk all the way to the convention center, so I almost gave up on him and then he finally agreed to wait for me for a few minutes so that was nice. I got my key, put my suitcase in the room, changed into my pants and different shoes, and went back to his car. He dropped me off close to the badge tent so that was nice. I easily found the booth. Liz, Claudia, Stacey, Sai, Melissa, and Jen were all there today. I talked to people, I wandered around to the other booths, and I came back and stood by the samples to talk to people some more.

After the trade show, we went to a nice dinner right across from our hotel and then relaxed for the night.

Saturday was the official 28th anniversary of our first date. The weather app said it wasn't going to rain, but it was drizzling when we walked over to the convention center. We got over to the booth a little after 10 AM. All the same people were there except for Jen, but it was a much shorter day. One lady that came up looked at me and gestured to my outfit and said, you look so classy! That was so sweet. We were trying to give away all of our samples, including the glass bottles and whole boxes and everything. Michael met with a lady who wants to be on the sales team. Then a guy from a monk fruit company snagged him. Jorge Cruise came by and we talked for a bit. He asked me to be in his video and he put it on his Instagram and he tagged me and SweetLeaf. He also did a link to our website so that was very nice of him. Before we knew it, it was after noon so we got ready to go. We walked back to the hotel. We took a little break and got ready for Disneyland. Emily was having a rough morning because her laptop broke. As in, the two pieces broke apart at the hinge. She tried taking it to Best Buy and then another place and both places said it would be expensive and would take at least a week to fix. We talked to her on the phone while we were at the hotel room and ended up just buying her a new one at Best Buy and she went to go pick it up later. It took us half an hour to get through security. We made it to Jolly Holiday in plenty of time to get the mobile order I had made at around 8 o'clock this morning. I wanted to make sure we got the raspberry macarons and we did. I ordered three of them so that I could take two home to Andrew. While I picked up the Jolly Holiday order, Michael got a violet pretzel from Refreshment Corner. It's one of the hundred-year celebration special food items. It was delicious! The frosting was wonderful and the filling was cheesecake and it was really good.

We also ate one of the three raspberry macaroons I had bought. They were setting up for a parade but luckily, we were still able to get across the street and get a locker and put the food and a few other things in it. Then we went back across the street and got a peanut butter sandwich from the Candy Palace to share. We watched a couple minutes of the parade and then we headed over to Toon Town to ride Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway. That was the first Lightning Lane I got. I couldn't resist stopping for a picture at the castle on the way. A nice lady offered to take our picture.

We stopped at the Sleeping Beauty Castle walkthrough along the way. I had read about it online and I was surprised that we never knew about it before. It was pretty cool! There were little vignettes from the story.

This is where it begins 

and this is where you exit. 

When we got to the ride, the Lightning Lane line outside was super long. It was a really cool line, though. I can't remember exactly what the ride was like at Disney World so I don't know how it compares but it was fun. 

There was a part where they show you a little movie where there is a train that crashes and there's a big bang and makes it look like something has shot through the movie screen and smoke came out. A little boy in our group started crying. Poor kid. Next, we headed over to Big Thunder Mountain. I couldn't resist stopping at the Red Rose Tavern on the way. We got a Green Stuff treat and some water. It tasted a lot like the Gray Stuff but it was a little minty and green for St. Patrick's Day. I sent a picture to the kids. 

Then we headed over to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. I love that ride! We had a Lightning Lane for it but it still was actually a bit of a long line. Our next Lightning Lane wasn't until 7:10 PM at Haunted Mansion so we rode Pirates. The line looked really long but it moved fast. That was nice and relaxing. After the ride, we took a bathroom break and went to the Royal Street Veranda where we got some Mickey beignets and a mint julep for Michael. We shared the beignets. There was a little spot with tables and umbrellas over by Harbor Galley that I had heard about online. It's actually a really nice area right on the water. We sat there and Michael drank his mint julep and we shared the beignets. I explored the other seating areas, including the one I saw online and I figured out how to get to the more secluded seating area. You exit out a different way and you get to see a different view of Splash Mountain. As we got onto Haunted Mansion, it started drizzling again. It's pretty frustrating because it said there was 0% chance of rain all day but oh well. After Haunted Mansion, we headed over to Winnie the Pooh. I had read online that at a certain point if you turn around you can see the bears from the old Country Jamboree attraction but that was a bust because I never saw them even though I turned around at the right spot. Oh well. Next, we headed over to Frontierland and Michael played at the Shooting Gallery while I went into a shop and waited for him. 

Then we walked over to the princess area. I told Emily I would go to Rapunzel's pole and watch when the hair lights up. When we got there, a little girl was spinning around the pole, looking dejected. She looked at us and she said, “I've been here since 7:20 PM waiting for this thing to light up and it hasn't done it yet.” She said that it happens at random. By then it was 8:10 PM so she'd been waiting almost an hour. I asked the cast member and she said she doesn't really know when it goes off but she had heard that if you touch the hair at the bottom then it will light up. I tried that and it didn't work. I had Michael take a couple pictures. 

Then a security guard came over because he was curious about it and we all tried to figure it out. Michael suggested I knock on it and so I did and right then it started working so either we were really lucky or he was right. He was able to get quite a few pictures next to it being lit up so that was fun. The little girl was gone by then, unfortunately. We went to the Plaza Inn for dinner. It was really nice; we should definitely go there with the kids sometime. I remember it from when Jonny and I went there for a character breakfast and it was a buffet, so I didn't really know what to expect. Well, this was cafeteria style. Michael got fried chicken and a salad and I got the pot roast. I couldn't resist trying both of the desserts, a strawberry layered cake and a lemon cheesecake dessert. I don't know what else to call it. We were able to find a table pretty easily and enjoy our meal and relax a little bit. Then it was time for the fireworks to start and we tried to find a spot outside at the Plaza Inn to watch but Michael couldn't see through the trees so we just walked across to the big circle and found a spot there and watched it. It was pretty cool. It had cool music and beautiful fireworks. It was a bummer, though, because it was so cloudy that some of the fireworks got lost in the clouds. It was still really nice. After that, we headed over to Tomorrowland. I had a Lightning Lane for Buzz Lightyear but the standby line was only five minutes so we just walked on. Then we went to Space Mountain. The Lightning Lane line was actually really long, but it wasn't too bad. Michael and I sat in the back and we decided we were going to try and kiss when it takes a picture. I was worried we wouldn't be able to react in time and that's pretty much what happened. The picture is pretty funny because it was quite a fail. 

We walked back over to Buzz and used our Lightning Lane pass but it was kind of useless because the standby line was still only five minutes so we literally walked right on. Next, we decided to head over to Fantasyland. We rode the teacups and then headed over to Peter Pan. The line wasn't short, but it's the shortest I've ever seen that line so we went on that.

Here are some pictures we had taken by a Disneyland photographer in Fantasyland. 

After Peter Pan, Michael wanted to go to the Shooting Gallery again. I went back to the princess area and barely got a video of the pole lighting up again.

I couldn't resist a Flynn Rider picture 

Then Michael went to get some ice cream and I got another pretzel. We got some more treats at the Candy Palace, including my English toffee, then we went to the lockers and got our stuff and left. We took the Toy Story shuttle which dropped us off way at the back of the lot but I still think that was less walking than walking all the way from Disneyland. It's been a wonderful, exhausting day.

We flew home on Sunday morning. We got up around 8:30 AM and by 10:30 AM called the Uber and got to the airport in plenty of time. We had some lunch at Ruby's Diner and then got on the plane. The plane ride was quick and uneventful, thankfully. Andrew was so excited about his raspberry macaroons that he literally jumped up and down with joy. He ate both of them today already. 

We talked a little bit about our week. I did some unpacking and took a nap. Then we read the Come Follow Me lesson and talked with the boys about being guided by the Spirit. Then Andrew, Michael, and Jonny all got in the hot tub. Daniel took a bath and went to bed.

It was such a wonderful trip! I am so grateful we were able to go!

We talked a little bit about our week. I did some unpacking and took a nap. Then we read the Come Follow Me lesson and talked with the boys about being guided by the Spirit. Then Andrew, Michael, and Jonny all got in the hot tub. Daniel took a bath and went to bed.

It was such a wonderful trip! I am so grateful we were able to go!

Jonny's Band Concert

Jonny did a great job at his band concert!  It's hard to believe that this is the last dinner band concert we will attend.  Michael was at Expo West, but I took the boys with me and they enjoyed hot dogs and hamburgers while we listed to some great music!  

"The Incredibles" Theme Song

Seasons of Love

The Hollow Knight

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Great job, Jonny!

Emily's Birthday

Happy 20th Birthday, Emily!

We didn't get to see her for her birthday, but I ordered a cake with a Taylor Swift theme with the colors from her Lover album.  Emily loved it!  

She also got a homemade cake from Karen Eldredge, Audrey's mom.  

We love you, Emily!

Disneyland Band Trip

Even though it was exhausting, I am so glad I was able to chaperone Jonny’s band trip to Disneyland!  We had so much fun!

On Friday night, we had to be to the school by 10pm. They had a chaperone meeting, then all the kids started arriving. We had another meeting and posed for the group picture and got on the bus.

The back was so loud and it was so much quieter at the front. The only problem was there was a window or something that kept rattling and squeaking all night long at different intervals and it was really hard to sleep. A couple of the boys kept getting their phones out even after I told them not to but eventually, they all put them away and tried to get some sleep. It wasn't easy to sleep but we tried. They got us up at 5:30 AM to get ready to go into breakfast. It was raining pretty hard. I got the boys situated, or they situated themselves actually, and then I went in the bathroom to get changed and put some makeup on. The boys all said they ate well but they also had ice cream, so whatever. Thankfully, the buses dropped us off right by the door so we didn't get very wet going in and out of Golden Corral. The bus parked very far from the shuttle buses. It was really nice to go through security at the Toy Story lot and not have to do it at Disneyland, but then when we walked in, I saw that the security line was pretty short so I guess it didn't matter today.

Here we are on the shuttle bus. 

We got into California Adventure a little after 8 AM. We stopped at the bathrooms so the boys could change and we got lockers. I got a Genie plus pass for Guardians of the Galaxy so that's where we went first. 

Austin and Reid and I didn't ride it but the other boys liked it. We tried to go on Web Slingers on the way to Guardians of the Galaxy but it was closed. I went ahead and booked a Lightning Lane for it and sure enough it was open after Guardians so we went right on. The boys loved it. 

They wanted to stop in the Spiderman shop after the ride. After that, we used our Lightning Lane pass for Toy Story Midway Mania.

I was pretty proud of myself for beating all the boys on Toy Story. 

Incredicoaster wasn't available pretty much all day. After Toy Story, the boys wanted churros. Graham and I got cookie Num Nums and then a couple of the other boys saw it and got some too. 

Next, we went to Cars Land and explored it for a little bit. 

They did a little shopping and I finally had a minute to text the parents. Then we headed over to Soarin’ to use our Lightning Lane. The boys really liked that one. By then, it was around 11 AM and we were right next to Smokejumpers Grill so the boys wanted to have lunch. I did a mobile order and it was ready immediately. Everybody got burgers and fries and Jonny got chicken and fries. 

At first, the times for Rise of the Resistance didn’t seem like they would work, but then I decided to book Millennium Falcon Lightning Lane and Rise of the Resistance individual Lightning Lane because they were available pretty soon and I knew we could get it done before the boys went to their workshop. It wasn't raining at that point, but I was nervous that it was going to start raining again and they might miss out. Some of the boys were dying to do the Star Wars stuff. It had stopped raining for a little bit; it was raining on and off all day. It was nice to have a break while the boys ate. Once they were done, we walked over to Disneyland and went straight to Galaxy’s Edge. 

We went to the Millennium Falcon Smuggler’s Run ride. I didn't ride but I took their picture and got off the exit. 

We got a few pictures with R2-D2

And got the obligatory Millennium Falcon picture

Then we all rode Rise of the Resistance together. It was nice to walk right on both rides. By then, it was after 1 PM and the boys still wanted to look at a couple shops at Galaxy’s Edge. They also stopped to get sodas that are in cool, spherical bottles. I had to rush them so we could get to our meeting spot for the workshop. We walked the kids all the way through Downtown Disney and that's when it started raining again, right when we got to the meeting place by the Downtown Disney stage. I made sure the boys were all settled and then I headed back. They went into their workshop. I went to back to California Adventure to get some real food. I did a mobile order at Cocina Cucamonga for some QuesaBirria tacos. They don't really package things to go very well; they just put it on an open plate for you even when it's raining. I got another plate to cover it and put it in a Ziploc bag and carried it over to Avengers Campus to Pym’s Test Kitchen. The line was super long and all I wanted was a Chocosmash candy bar.  I swear there were 40 people in line. I saw that they did mobile order so I did a mobile order for it and I got it in about two minutes. I found a little table for myself where it was outside but covered and sat there and ate my tacos and half of my candy bar. 

I organized the pictures and sent them to the parents and the kids in the chaperone group chat. I read my scriptures and did my Duolingo lesson. By then, it was after 4 PM and I had to go meet the boys after their workshop at 4:45 PM. I stopped at Trolley Treats and got a sugar cookie and two bags of English toffee and then I booked it over to meet the boys. I made it in plenty of time. They were running late so we had to wait about 10 minutes for them to finish up. I had made some reservations for Tomorrowland already. First, we went to Buzz Lightyear, then Space Mountain. 

It started raining right before we walked across to Space Mountain, then I realized it was hailing! 

Then they wanted to do a little shopping. They wanted to stop to shop quite often. I can't remember all the times but it was many times that they wanted to stop and look around and get souvenirs. We spent quite a bit of time at the one outside of Space Mountain. While they were shopping, I set up a mobile order for Alien Pizza Planet because that's where most of the boys wanted to go. Then we went on Star Tours. Then I ordered the food to be prepared and it was already ready by the time we got there. Actually, at that place they serve it as you come up; it's not already ready. We found a table fairly easily and the boys ate their pizza and we decided what we were going to do next. I was getting concerned that if we didn't head over to California Adventure to ride the Incredicoaster, we might miss our chance so we decided to do that next. I asked the boys to pose for a picture on Main Street so we did that. 

Then we headed over to California Adventure. At the Incredicoaster, it said the wait was 40 minutes but it was super short, probably less than 20. Jonny and I got to sit in the very front. I don't think I've ever done that before. They asked us to use a little strap to hold our backpacks just to be safe. It was as fun as ever, but it was so cold. At least it wasn't raining right then. 

We stopped at the little store on the way out and headed to Disneyland. 

We stopped at a couple of hat stores for the boys and I stopped at Jolly Holiday for my Matterhorn Macaroons. Then we walked over to Haunted Mansion and got in the Lightning Lane. I figured Big Thunder might be closed because of the rain, but we walked over there and got right on. I had done a Lightning Lane earlier in the day but we weren’t able to use it. I tried to make another one and it wouldn't let me so we just got on it like normal even though the Lightning Lane ended hours ago. We headed to Galaxy’s Edge and passed the pretzel cart and of course I had to try the strawberry cheesecake pretzel. It was kind of underwhelming. The boys wanted to go to the Droid Depot. Reid and Elijah each bought one. 

They really wanted to ride Millennium Falcon again and the standby line was short so I waited while they did that and ate my pretzel. We walked over to Fantasyland because they wanted to take pictures of themselves trying to lift out the sword in the stone. 

By then it was almost 10:30 PM and so we went to Main Street and they looked at a couple of shops. I bought a bunch more bakery items to bring home to Michael and the boys. We went to the lockers to get all our stuff and headed out to meet the teachers. The walk to the shuttle and to the bus was kind of hard because I was carrying a lot of junk I had bought. It was such a relief to finally make it back to the bus. That night on the bus was pretty rough, but it was actually a little easier than Friday night because I was so tired. We got on the Toy Story shuttle and had to walk forever just to get to the bus and it was still raining. It took me forever to get settled because I didn't know where anything was. I had put things in different bags and I couldn't find my charging plug. Today, I discovered it was actually in my backpack that I used for the parks. Halfway through the night when we stopped at to go to the bathroom, I just got out my portable charger and used it instead. Anyway, once we got on the bus it took me forever to get ready for bed. I didn't bother washing my face and I couldn't get everything situated like I had on Friday night so it was just open at my feet and I just laid to the side. My feet were so wet it felt like there was a lake inside each of my shoes. It's like there was a time limit on the shoe covers and they just stopped working eventually. (I found out later that they had a slit in each one and I returned them to Amazon.) I took off my shoes and socks and put some fresh socks and my slippers on. Jonny fell asleep within five minutes of us getting on the bus last night. He was out. I was so relieved. I finally got myself organized and was able to get some sleep. I didn't wake up until the bus driver came over the intercom and said we're in Arizona and they were switching drivers and if you had to use the bathroom you could. Hardly anybody even woke up. The entire bus was sound asleep. One other lady and I got off the bus to use the bathroom. We were pretty far ahead of the other buses. For some reason they were 10 to 15 minutes behind us and we never did find out why. After the bathroom stop, I went back to sleep. I had to switch my position a number of times but I think I mostly slept until we were about half an hour away. There was no way I was going to wake up those boys until we were about 15 minutes away. Then she got on the intercom and gave everyone some instructions. The boys got all their stuff organized. They didn't want to get up and get their bags from the shelf above. Jonny looked at me and he was so sweet and he said, “Mom can you get me my backpack?” He didn't want to stand up while the bus was moving. So, I got all the boys what they wanted from up above. One of the boys in our group was feeling sick and vomited.  Luckily, I had a Ziploc bag to give him so it wasn’t too bad. We asked the bus driver to turn on some cool air. Anyway, he was OK after that and the mom said he was feeling better later so that was good. By the time we walked back to the car, most of the people were already gone. We got home and brought everything in. We put a few wet things away. I said good morning to Daniel and Andrew. They woke up a little bit after we got there. Jonny was so tired. I told him he needed to go to bed so I went upstairs to make sure that he did and he was already cozy in his bed and half asleep. I got in bed around 9:30 AM. I didn't set an alarm clock because I figured I would only sleep for a few hours but Michael woke me up at 6:30 PM. He sounded a little guilty, like he wasn't sure if he should let me sleep longer or if he should've woken me up earlier. Apparently, he came into the bedroom at 4 PM to sleep and I was completely out and I don't even remember that. I was shocked when he told me it was 6:30 PM. Michael made dinner so we ate and had our family home evening lesson and talked about our week. I just focused on doing the things that needed to get done and left everything else till tomorrow. Jonny was kind of moping this evening. His Wi-Fi wasn't working properly. I had sent him a bunch of pictures but he never got them. I was worried that maybe he was upset about something that happened on the trip or maybe I embarrassed him or I didn't do a good enough job. He assured me he was just tired and he wanted his Wi-Fi to work. So, I had him turn off his phone and turn it back on and suddenly the Wi-Fi worked. Later, he looked so happy and he was showing me pictures and he really brightened up. I realized that was what was bothering him all along is that he wanted to see the pictures from the trip. He was much happier once he got those pictures.

Like I said, it was exhausting but wonderful! I’m so glad I was able to go and Jonny had a blast!