Disneyland 2019

What a trip! This was the first time we took all 10 of us on a vacation, and it was GREAT! We had Eric and Sally and Eric Jr staying with us; and Jeremy, Lauren, Lucy and Max were there for most of the same time period. And I got my photo op with Chadwick, so that was cool.

I like to take notes on what worked and what didn't, so each vacation can improve and avoid pitfalls from the past.

First off, my pre-vacation prep work was wonderful. We left to a mowed and trimmed lawn, and a clean house. That was a win for when we came home. Granted, the lawn now needs to be mowed, but it's not a jungle out there!

Driving down in two days was also a good idea. We stayed in Mesquite. It was fairly cheap (Virgin River) and the breakfast buffet was affordable.

The house we stayed at, in my opinion, was optimal. It had 3 master bedrooms, two other bedrooms with bunk beds, plus two large sectional couches. We had a total of 4 bathrooms, a pool and hot tub and a barbecue. We easily parked all 3 vehicles in the driveway. You could see the parking structures from the house, so the walk to the park entrance was well under a mile. We used the pool and hot tub a lot, and the bbq twice.



When we arrived and unpacked, we walked over to Downtown Disney. Traven was being an absolute BEAST. Turns out he was just really nervous about having to ride on rides he didn't want to. Once I made a deal with him that, if he was good, he could pass on any rides, he was GREAT! We ate at BlackTap. The burgers and shakes were so yummy, but I had hoped the portions would be slightly bigger for the price. Probably won't go back there.

MaxPass was definitely a necessity. The lines weren't long at all, but being able to bypass the lines for the more popular rides was a win. Another perk of MaxPass is PhotoPass is included, so you get some fun photos from different rides. My favorite is from The Incredicoaster! For months, T said he was going to face his fears and do it. We got there, and the first look he had it, he tapped out. But that night, he amped himself up again. With his heart racing, he rode that bad boy and LOVED it! From then on, he begged to ride it!

The Halloween party was a must do. The parade was short, and the special World of Color show was just plain weird. I did not care for it. But we got a ton of candy, and walked onto the rides.

I won't eat at the Blue Bayou again. They were the pirates, and I was the innocent victim being robbed and looted.

The Halloween Screams show plus fireworks was a highlight for me. Fun/gross story from that night now follows. I think maybe Lauren was tired, as they started saving a bench for the fireworks around 2 pm. I'd say by 4, they had been joined by Kaylee and were saving 3 benches! When the rest of us trickled in, Lauren, Jeremy, Lucy and Max left to ride Winnie the Pooh. When they returned, they asked to leave the kids with us while they picked up food. Max was buckled into his stroller, in front of his Grandma. She looked at him and said he didn't look good, and was going to hurl. She unbuckled him, aimed him away from us and POW! To her credit, she used some wipes to clean up the best she could. However, it's a rough, brick surface, so obviously some bio hazard remained. Well, as the time for the show approached, the game that we call Human Tetris began. Before we knew it, a couple had wormed their way right in front of us and immediately sat down. And guess where his hand landed? Yeah, I told you this was gross. We then had a great time texting back and forth about where his contaminated hands went. The lady's hair, shoulders and arms. His own mouth and straw. Does this make us bad people? I don't know, but it was HILARIOUS!

Smuggler's Run was great, but did not meet my expectations. However, the entire land is simply incredible. We saw storm troopers, Kylo Ren and even some First Order governor floating around. There were also some heroes, such as Rey and Chewy. You really feel like you have stepped into another world, with the buildings and star ships that can be seen. I tried blue milk and green milk. Bought some thermal detonators.

Driving back in one day is a no-go in the future. The only thing that made it bearable was I could listen to the Chargers game and then the Rams game, until around the Utah border. On the way down, I streamed the BYU game for my father-in-law. They got whooped, which made me happy!

3 days in a row is also a no-go. We were just too tired by Saturday, plus the Saturday crowds were just plain HUGE. If I did this again, I might do 3 day park hoppers, but also do 2 days of the party! Drive down on Saturday and Sunday. Full park day on Monday. Party on Tuesday. Rest on Wednesday. Party on Thursday, full day on Friday and then journey back. Yeah, I think that's what I'd do.

Sally and Eric Sr. didn't go with us on Saturday. She spent the day reading and doing laundry. 11 loads! How awesome is that? We arrived with clean clothes instead of dirty, stinky ones. YES!

The grandsons seemed to have a lot of fun. Mason was so observant, just trying to take everything in. Outside of just being on an adventure, I'd say his favorites were Jesse's Carousel - seemed to love the blue bunny the most. He also loved the boat rides - Jungle Cruise, the sailing Ship Columbia, Nemo - he loved them all. He didn't seem to get scared by anything either. Parker was his usual friendly self. Just smiling and flirting. He also seemed to love just looking around and being there with all the sights and sounds.

It was tiring. I totaled over 110,000 steps over our 5 park days, for an average of over 22,000 per day. That's a lot of steps and a lot of miles.

On a personal note, I now have 3 rides on my list of things I will not do. All 3 hurt me in various forms. So for me, Space Mountain, The Matterhorn and Monsters Inc. are all a no-go.

What a Weekend!

I've had a desire to record some experiences our family had this weekend. I won't dwell on some. Sure, the Jazz game was fun, and dinner with the family at Milagros was nice, but the real meat of the weekend started on Sunday.

First, Alyssa gave an amazing homecoming talk. She related a story of an older man, a devout Catholic, who had no interest in hearing from our missionaries. They said fine, but still wanted to talk about Christ. Slowly, this man's heart was softened. He hadn't been able to read for years due to failing eyesight, but they felt impressed to give him a Book of Mormon. He accepted it, and found that he could read it. He was frustrated, because he still couldn't read even the headlines of a newspaper, but the Book of Mormon was crystal clear.  He soon found himself deep into the book.

They then felt impressed to invite him to church, even though he hadn't left his house in years. This man walked for over 3 hours to get to church, and was so blessed for doing so.

She told another story of a very rainy Nicaragua day. The streets were filled with water up to their knees, but the missionaries decided to go to church anyway, since it was Sunday. As they neared the church, they could see a group of young men waiting anxiously. As people neared the church, which was surrounded by water up to their chests, these young men would go out and carry the church members into the church. They were exhausted, but they didn't stop and helped each church member arrive safely.

The story that she told of the last Sacrament she had in Nicaragua touches my soul each time I hear it. Things were scary as the missionaries had been evacuated to a hotel in the capital, and were awaiting word on where they all were going. They had passed through explosions, protests and barricades. They had left most of their possessions behind. But the main desire these missionaries had was to partake of the Sacrament. They gathered in a large conference room, and the bread and water were blessed and passed. She says it was the most spiritual meeting she has been in, and I think some of that same Spirit shows up when she tells the story.

It was so great to have friends and family attend church with us and gather at our house afterwards. However, one of the most touching interactions was with someone who could not attend. Due to work, health, weather, etc., Alyssa's friend Anna was stranded in Logan. There was just no way she could safely make it down late Saturday night. She sobbed on the phone, and you could feel her love and friendship for Alyssa. We speak of BFFs, and I know Alyssa has found one with Anna.

Now, let's turn our attention to Jason. It's tough being a college student, paying your own way through life, and he does his best to save each and every penny he can. He attends school in Rexburg, and found a ride down for the weekend which would save him some money. They have an app for sharing rides, so it ended up being Jason, the male driver and two females.

When he arrived on Friday, Jason mentioned that the driver was probably the worst driver he has ever been with. We laughed as he told of a few incidents on the way down.

Sunday afternoon came, and Jason was picked up and on his way back to Rexburg. He sends me a SnapChat around 5, showing the blizzard conditions they are driving in. At around 5:30 pm, I receive the following 3 text messages:

Don't worry. I'm totally okay but the driver lost control of the car and it rolled over.

Everybody was wearing a seatbelt so we are okay

Could you Venmo me some money so I can get a hotel room for tonight?

If that doesn't get a parents heart racing, I'm not sure what would! Side note, I was slightly impressed that even in this harrowing moment, he made sure to think of  a way to save some of his money.....

After he had sent the SnapChat, he had a prompting to say a prayer. In it, he asked that the 4 of them be kept from any serious injury. It was like he knew something bad was coming, and did the only thing he could think of. Well, after a high speed rollover accident, all 4 people in the car were able to walk away. The responding officer said they were lucky, that it should have been a lot worse. I tend to think that prayer might have had something to do with the results.

Big J was still shaken up, had managed to bump his head and was feeling sick, so they called the EMTs. To be safe, he was taken to the hospital in Malad. He checked out ok, which we are very grateful for.

And can I tell you how awesome Malad is? Lori called to get Jason a hotel room for the night. Hotel Malad, in case you ever need a vacation spot! The guy who answered said he had one room and would go open it up and turn on the heat. He also said he wasn't near the office, so he'd just call tomorrow and arrange for payment on the room. He also kept asking if Jason was ok.

The doctor from the ER gave Jason a ride to the hotel!

And I don't know how many of these random strangers are from Malad, but at the scene of the accident, strangers stopped to help. One lady took them into her car so they could stay warm while waiting for help. A fish and game officer stopped and helped. Heavenly Father seems to always slip in tender mercies into our lives.

Of course, back home, we were torn with what to do. The weather was fine, and Jason was only about 2 hours away. We said a prayer, and asked that we know if we should go to him or not. We didn't feel strongly one way or the other, so Alyssa and I decided to head out. We did feel we needed something with 4 wheel drive, so we headed to Mapleton to borrow a car. When we arrived, Alyssa almost immediately heard from two of her friends. One was in Logan and showed us the weather there. It was bad. Another had just arrived back in Logan, and had a treacherous drive. She also said she had friends stranded in Pocatello due to road conditions. We still weren't sure, but then for some reason we could not reach Jason on the phone and were delayed about 15 minutes. In that time, the storm arrived and road conditions worsened. It was evident by then we weren't supposed to go.

One final star of the story is another BFF of Alyssa's, Emily. Emily just happened to be headed back to Rexburg on Monday, and offered to pick up Jason. So, he might be sore, but he ended up safe and sound back at school.

God is there for us. He allows nature to run its course, and He doesn't stop all bad things from happening. But so many times I have seen that He knows we are going to pass through a trial, but provides tender mercies to us to help and strengthen us.