I Hate Long Goodbyes

The fam who came to see me in California. Minus my oldest sister, her husband, and D. Don't know where they were.

Grammy and Poppy with the grandkids.

This gun was a gift from Aunt S. Loved it. He would point it at you, say, "Say cheese," and then after you said cheese, he would shoot you. It doesn't make much sense but it made him happy. And made us laugh.

Rock. Paper. Scissors.

Will play it with anyone, anywhere. Have I ever mentioned how much Mads likes games?

Waiting in line for Pirates. Does it look like we've been waiting a while? We did! Pirates broke down too. We decided to stay in line to see if it would start again.

Not feeling the "happiest place on earth" vibe.

It did start again! We got a whole boat to ourselves.

That's my bright, shiny forehead.

Waiting for lunch.

Hungry.

Plotting.

Just before we got on the Tower of Terror. I didn't realize everyone was so scared.

More scared people.

More rock, paper, scissors. Notice I only took pictures of Mads winning?

Aunt K, Aunt S, and Jordan. The boys loved Jordan. We're glad we got to meet him.

I think this was Ryann's favorite ride.

Oh look! It was Jaren's favorite ride too!

I'm so glad the big kids took the little kids on the lame rides. How cool are they?

Yup, this ride was lame too, but G loved it.

Disneyland day the 3rd = Success

Seeking Rapunzel

I forced my kids to get a picture with somebody! But, as you can see, I didn't get B.A to go up there. I think Mary Poppins and Bert were a good choice. They didn't try to hug anyone.

On Thunder Mountain Railroad again...

So glad Uncle and Aunt J came. They almost didn't.

Some more fam.

R and G...

This is where G spent a lot of his day. He was R's buddy. It was great for me. He hardly paid attention to me at all. And of course he wouldn't smile for me.

Winnie the Pooh...

New hats...

Grammy bought all the kids hats. Which I loved because they are the perfect souvenir.

They also got Mickey ears hats from Uncle R and Aunt K. Which I love also!

Rhon and R...

She got the same hat.

Tinker Bell's little area...

I was a little annoyed that we waited in line for this.

Space Mountain...

Yes. We got stuck on another ride. And I don't even think this was the second one. It was like fourth or fifth. It was kind of cool to see Space Mountain with the lights on. We got to ride it like this, and then they let us just stay on for another ride. So that was cool. Mads wasn't too thrilled about it. He was sitting next to me, and he wanted to get off. Too bad for him that I was stoked to go again. I talked him into riding again.

Dare's quote of the day, "If you want to get stuck on a ride, go to Disneyland."

Jungle Tour...

I think that's what it's called. Love this picture.

Disneyland Day #2 = Success

They Go Where They Want

This is why I am happy I bought the boys a carry-on with 4 wheels. And it's not because G fell, it's because they had so much fun pushing those things around.

This is back tracking a bit, but I couldn't get the video on the other day. This was taken at the Dulles Airport.

Happy Doesn't Even Begin to Describe It

Disneyland!

Since Nate had to "work" in Los Angeles for 2 days on our way to Jakarta, we decided to stick those 2 days next to a weekend and buy some tickets to Disneyland. It was one of the best choices we have made. Probably THE best choice. Probably in our whole life.

Waiting in line for our first ride...

Then we met up with my family who came to California to see us! Yes, they got to go to Disneyland too, but I like to think they only came to see us.

Why are my kids so short?

Thunder Mountain Railroad...

I think this ride won for the greatest number of rides. Probably because the line was always short. Adults, don't sit on a small child's right side. You will squish the heck out of them. Always sit on the left.

Then we met up with Nate's family too! They came to see us too, Disneyland was just the venue.

Loey!

Mads was so excited to climb a rope...

How do you find things like this for kids to do in the real world? He would have climbed that rope all day.

Teacups...

I had to focus on the boys so I didn't get too sick. But I realized if you don't look around, the ride is pretty lame. At least I didn't puke.

Toon Town...

I love this picture because it looks like B.A. just told Uncle J the most hilarious joke ever.

This must have been after Uncle J got out of 'time-out'. He lost his ticket on the walk from the car to the entrance, and spent hours trying to figure out how to get in.

Jet lag?..

He only took a nap the first day, so I'm pretty sure he got used to the time change quickly.

Thunder Mountain Railroad again...

This time with Dad! He joined us after lunchtime.

This time the ride stopped, and we had to walk out. You'll see that this happened to us a lot at Disneyland. The whole park is falling apart.

More lines...

First of many cotton candy cones...

He ate this whole thing 100% by himself. I let him because I was doing the same thing. You could see the sugar take effect right away. He was wired!

Disneyland Day One = Success

You Say That Like It's a Great Sale Day

Getting settled in the Super Shuttle...

We left DC at about 2pm. Our morning was crammed with cramming bags. But everything fit, and we didn't go over weight, so it was good. The drive to the airport was comfortable. And everyone was giddy with excitement!

Here is our luggage. This isn't even all of it. We had 25 pieces in all. And if you count personal items, it was 32. Check out the guy helping with the cart. He's awesome.

Looking back, I'm kind of annoyed I lugged those car seats around the airport 6 times. We haven't used them since our last car ride in DC. Not that I'm happy about not using them, I just figure since I'm not using them, it would have been a lot easier to put them in our shipments. And no, we have not used car seats here. It is kind of hard to use them when you are squeezing 6 people in the back of a taxi. But more about that later.

On the plane...
As you can see, Mads was perfectly fine on a plane for 6 hours. All the kids did really well. We just kept them connected.

More luggage shots...
I thought we would be like a circus walking through the airport, but no one really stared. It was disappointing. Not really. It was sure exhausting carting all this stuff around though. I think the people at the hotel in LA were shocked. I know they were wondering why we brought so much luggage on a trip to Disneyland.

Next up... Disneyland!

It's So Fluffy!

We had planned on going to New York for a night right after pack out. So the girls' last day of school would have been that Wednesday. We decided we couldn't fit it in, so I told the girls that they could keep going to school if they wanted to. The older two said absolutely not, but Dare for sure wanted to keep going. That's why she wasn't at IKEA. So her last day was supposed to be Tuesday, but she ended up getting strep throat, and she had to miss those last two days anyway. But since she never got to say good bye to her class, I brought her in on Day 1 of the countdown. Dare loved school! She had so many friends and loved her teachers. She was very sad to have to leave. She cried a lot, and she still does. When I brought her to school this day though, she didn't cry at all. I think she must have been cried out. But her teacher cried, and I cried. The kids were so sweet. They formed a hugging line. All of them gave Dare a hug. That class had such an amazing dynamic. They were all great friends, and they looked out for each other. I'm so glad we got to go to school in Falls Church! It was an amazing experience.

I took this picture later that day when Rachel came to say good bye. Rachel was an great friend for Bryn. She was always so nice to all my kids. Some older kids will ignore, and seem bothered by younger siblings, but not Rachel. She always took the time to talk to G, and let Rhon and Dare play with her.

I'm so glad we had the support system we had in DC. We lived by many State Department AND Mormon families. It was really good for us, and especially the kids. They were able to see how even though their life isn't going to be "normal", other kids do it, and they are amazing. I will always be grateful for the Blacks, Petersons, Flemings, Fowlers, Bremners, and especially the Patchs. Nate and I, and all of my kids had great friends. That's not even mentioning the rest of the ward. It was a great place to be. I'm so glad I got to live there a year. We had a wonderful time.

You Popped a Hole in My Juice Box

So, I'm pretty mad at myself for not keeping up with my countdown. It is so much better when I write while things are fresh in my mind. Now I have forgotten all the fun details. But I'm over it, and we are moving on. I'm still going to catch up, but it will be less interesting, and abbreviated.

Day 7 - Pack Out

Since we had such a rough day the day before, we were able to relax a bit during pack out. The packers got there at about 11. Seemed kind of late, but who am I to make a fuss? To my surprise, two women showed up at my door. Not to stereotype genders or anything, but it was just not typical. They were s l o w. And it’s not even because they weren’t good at it, or less experienced, or weaker, it is because they couldn’t stop talking to each other long enough to get any work done! They would gossip, pack a few things, gossip, get in an argument, gossip, pack a few things, and the pattern would repeat. It didn’t really bother me because I was able to hang out with the boys which is something I hadn’t gotten to do for a while. I even took a little nap! Then around lunchtime everything changed. The guys who take the boxes down to the truck arrived. They came in and realized the women were nowhere near ready, so they called in reinforcements. It was funny to us how the whole mood in our house changed. No more talking. No more laughing. No more arguing. Work only. But they got our stuff packed and out in no time at all. That was it. Our stuff was gone. I wish I would have taken a picture of our stuff being crated up downstairs. It’s not everyday you get to see your stuff being prepared for a long boat ride.

We left our empty house right away. We went to have dinner at Cheeburger Cheeburger one last time with the Patchs. And other than my waning cheery mood, everything was perfect.

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Day 6 has no title. We went to IKEA. I remember that because I took this picture...
I think we just wanted to hang out, or maybe I needed to buy something there. A kid is missing. I remember why. That will come later.

Then Nate and I went to our favorite Vietnamese place and had banh mi and bubble drinks. I do remember them being SO GOOD. Like, roll over and die right there in the restaurant because your life will never be the same, good.

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Day 5 - Busy-ness

Rhon went to school for one last Fun Friday. Her class was terribly sad she was leaving. They made her an awesome book, gave her lots of hugs and attention, and said good bye.

B.A. had a Luau! Her primary teachers were the best party throwers ever. This luau was amazing. She even got to make and eat her own poi. She also made a lei with real flowers. So cool. We're going to miss the Bradshaws!
Then we had to rush home to have our own party. I let the girls invite some friends over for ice cream sundaes and a movie. It was kind of a going away/birthday party. It was great, even though we had to watch the movie on a lame tiny TV because all our stuff was gone. Everyone had fun.

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Day 4 - Farewell Patchs

I didn't take any pictures on this day! How could that happen? I (of course) can't remember what we did that day, but we had dinner at the Patchs house that evening. They made videos for us that made us cry, and gave us a book that we will treasure forever.

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Day 3 was Sunday. I had to go to Primary because I had a crying child. I got lucky because the kids were practicing the Mother's Day program. I knew I wasn't going to see the real show, so I was happy to see rehearsal. Especially because it was G's first time singing in sacrament meeting. He didn't disappoint. He was entertaining to say the least.

I snuck a picture...

And I can't remember why I took this picture. I'm sure there was a reason. I'm hoping it will come to me later.

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Day 2 - FHE

We had the Elders over for FHE and dessert. Both of which were pretty lame, but we had a good time. We used Oreos for a game. You stick it on your fore head and try to get it in your mouth by using your face. It was a crack up!

I don't think G even tried. He put it on his head, and then just grabbed it and put it into his mouth.

Then we said farewell to Elder Hill. We are so glad we got to have him and Elder Paswaters in our home so much. We will never forget him. We will never again find a missionary whose favorite band is MCS. And who loves Nacho Libre!

Day 8 = Sucky

Day 8

Nate took his language test. He was not worried necessarily, but it is kind of stressful. He passed. He did well. It's a good thing too, because if he didn't pass we would have had to stay here for another month. And we have plans! We have family meeting us at Disneyland! But that didn't put any pressure on Nate. No, none at all.

I didn't take any pictures on day 8 because it was my busiest day, and picture taking wasn't even on my radar. I wish I had taken a picture or two though. I prepared for pack-out ALL DAY. Basically that means sorting through all our stuff and deciding if we need it, and how soon. It is an exhausting process, and I've decided I hate it. Yes, hate. I am having a hard time believing I have to do it every 2 years or so. I'm trying to decide if it would be easier to just throw everything we own away, and just buy new every time we move. It wouldn't be that expensive, would it? We don't have that much stuff. If we were simply moving, it would be much easier, but there are several different categories things to go into. Such as: slow boat, air shipment, luggage. And luggage has a couple sub-categories. Like what we want to have access to while traveling, and what we don't want to touch. Each category gets to us at different times, so we have to decide what is important enough to go into each shipment. But don't forget about the weight limits! Argh! Just writing about it is making me tired.

Maybe I should have started earlier, but I felt like we had to wait for so many reasons. Anyway, Nate and I were up until 3-ish. It stunk, but we were uber prepared when the movers got there in the morning.