Disneyland

We went to Disneyland last week with my parents and Kami & Paul's family.  Brad and Karlee pooped out on us.  3 days of awesomeness and enchantment combined with exhaustion!

The first day we went to CA Adventure by ourselves, meaning just the Ben & Niki family.  In fact, it was just Niki and kids for the first half the day because Ben planned a meeting so that we could write part of the trip off.  Nice, eh?  BTW, Cars land is super fun and totally like you're walking right into Radiator Springs!  So cute!

Everyone else flew in that night and the next day we enjoyed everything Disney!

The last time we went Luke was 3 and Caleb was about 9 months old.  We have a picture of Caleb playing in this fountain as a tiny babe!

Greta loved, loved, loved all the characters!  No fear.  Pictures of her with the Princesses coming soon.  It was so adorable and the Princesses do such a great job!

She was absolutely star-struck during the parade.  It was so fun!  I kept thinking, "yea, parade, that will be fun, sure."  And then forgetting that everything Disneyland does is AMAZING, found myself overwhelmingly impressed!

I believe we were all a little star struck.

Shane and Nikki have season passes so they and their kids joined us for dinner in Downtown Disney.

The new Nemo submarine ride.

Kami, Paul, Henry and Gwen

Did I mention, it was so, so, so, so much fun??  Already plotting our next trip!

Broken Arms

On the last day of school our neighborhood had a fun BBQ to celebrate.  Caleb ran through the grass, tripped on a hole in the grass, fell and busted his arm.  We visited Grandpa who was fortunately working a shift.

Last summer, Luke was running, tripped in the grass, fell and busted his arm.  We visited Grandpa who was fortunately working a shift.

Next summer, I expect Greta will run in the grass, trip and bust her arm. We will visit Grandpa who, hopefully, will be working a shift.

Before, During and After

So these were no abs of steel, but after 3 babies, they were no embarrassment.  This was the night pre-splenectomy.  February 13th.  Yes, I had surgery on Valentines Day.

4 days post surgery.

2 weeks post surgery

3 months post surgery

It was no picnic, but now I have a platelet count that is safe.

O Yea!!

For Grandma...I look like this these days.

Cousins

Hi Grandma!  You're probably the only one who wonders about my blog anymore.  That's understandable.  In May we had a Dutson family reunion down in St George.  We visited Gramma Janice's grave and Greta and Henry had a little episode that looked like this.

They both want it.

Henry wins.  It is his toy and all.

Both pout and cry.

Grandma consoles while I take pictures.

It took awhile to get a family picture....figuring out the remote and all.

But we got something.  There is representation of each of the 4 Dutson siblings but many are missing.  This is probably half of us.  Grandma, double click on the pictures if you want to see them bigger!  :)

Funny Or Sad?

A couple weeks ago we were saying prayer before dinner and Greta just stopped near the table and folded her arms. Typically she doesn't close her eyes but I noticed that this time she was trying to keep her eyes shut. Right as the prayer was ending she fell forward and slapped the floor with her body. It seems standing, folding arms, closing eyes, and balancing is still pretty tricky!

It was dang funny although she was sad and crying. That'll teach her to pray, right?

Maui

Our parents are awesome!!  Last week I actually had to paint my toes because they were going to be exposed for the first time since September.  All the grown-up Rollins went to Maui for a week and it was fabulous!  Thank you Mom and Dad Dutson for staying with our kids and thank you Mom and Dad Rollins for taking us on such a memorable trip!

Took a drive to Hana.  Above is Hamoa beach just passed Hana.

Swam in the 1 of the 7 sacred pools on the road to Hana.

Did some early morning kayaking in the ocean with the whales.  One swam right under us and then came up to breath a few feet away.  Yes, totally awesome!

Luau at the Grand Wailea.

Biking down the volcanco.

Above the clouds on the way down the volcano.

Snorkeling.

The last beautiful morning before taking the last waterfall hike.

Not the typical relaxing, sun-bathing Hawaii trip.  In fact I think I was more tired and exhausted when I got home than before we left, but also one of the most fun and exciting trips we've taken in a long time.  It was really nice to just be outside for so much of the day and without our kids fighting, yelling or needing something!  Not once for a whole week did I say, "stop touching your sister," "finish your dinner," "don't spit on your brother," or "turn off that DS off before I throw it out the window."  It was wonderful and I want to go back soon!

A few more Hawaii pics

Forgot a few things...took a whale watching boat tour and saw 2 full whale breaches (where they come fully out of the water). I missed the closest, coolest breach because a big, fat guy was standing right in front of me with his camera. I heard all the 'ohhs' and 'ahhs' but all I saw was a giant man with big splashes on each side of him. Bummer.

Hanging from the Banyan tree in Lahaina where we did some eating and shopping.

Stand-up paddling or SUPing with Nathan's high school friend who lives on the island and took us on a awesome hike the last day which included necessary swimming in a freezing pond in order to continue on the hike. I screamed the entire swim. Cold is not me thing, but the hike was super fun. Just my level of treachery.

I never did catch a wave, but I got up without falling.

Ben did catch some waves, but he also fell onto a sea urchin.

It seems some are venomous and others are not. Luckily this one was not. Left a few little barbs in his fingers which are still working their way out.

Our wonderful family minus Tammy and Dan. Tammy had a baby days before we left! We missed them!

Luke is 8!

In January Luke turned 8 and had a bunch of parties. First, with cousins at Grandma Rollins house.

Second, at Jack & Jill Lanes with friends. They played Laser Tag, ran, screamed, and tackled each other in the party room. It was fun to see Luke with his friends. Usually they play outside or at school so I don't see how he interacts with kids other than Caleb and Greta. He's quite crazy.

Lastly, a small party after he was baptized this past Saturday. It was a great and memorable day!

December

IN DECEMBER 2011...

Greta turned 2 and we went to Chick Fil A!

Ben turned 33 and we went to Ventanas.

Ben went on a snow hike...

...and got wet.

Church Christmas Party

Christmas Eve with Dutsons included entertainment by Caleb and his Kindergarten Elf song.

Also, the annual treasure hunt. That's Greta jumping out of Grandma's arms. Grandpa is holding Brad and Karlee's baby, Perry.

Christmas Eve with Rollins included cousin group hug...

and wrapping paper wrestling.

Christmas Day included a miserable attempt of getting a picture of my kids and the Christmas tree (Greta insisted on the chocolate pudding and the Dora chair, otherwise it would have been a picture of the boys and screaming Greta), but also tons of presents, family, love, food, and fun!

Happy 2012!