The 480.

Sorry my posts are so long. I need to catch up.
This last month I have been home in the good ol' AZ.

I've done puzzles.

I've witnessed several monsoons. Love them.

Hung out with this cute girl multiple times :) 

Worked out/took pictures of my mom working out. haha

Rode my mom's beach cruiser bike and found this in my neighborhood. Super creepy.

SYTYCD. This year a girl from my elementary school was on the show. Alexa Anderson. Yes, I beat her in the running for student body historian. We're super close. Surprised she didn't mention me in her vote-off speech. Whatever.

Went and saw the Dark Knight Rises. Carson and Chase told us they needed to run to their car. When they came back, Carson had transformed into Batman. Everyone in the theater went nuts. He did the voice and everything. It was awesome. 

Love my Karlie! 

This movie terrified me. It was good, but I was terrified. 

 

Sent this handsome kid off to 8th grade! Look out, ladies.

Celebratory "I survived the 1st day of 8th grade" dinner at Los Fav's. So gooood.

Babysat my favorite boys a few different times. Ah. I love them.

The gang came over and we had way too much fun playing the Disneyland game. 

Went to the DBacks game with my Dad! We sat next to some crazy Mets fans who had way too many drinks, but it was so fun! We crushed the Mets. 

After the game they played a little bit of the Olympics Opening Ceremonies on the jumbotron and let off some fireworks to start of the Olypmics!

Went home and watched all the Opening Ceremonies. I LOVE THE OLYMPICS. 

Here were some of my thoughts....

As if a 6 ft. Voldemort isn't scary enough, let's throw a 100 ft. one in the opening ceremonies! Yikes!

The flood of Mary Poppins people floating down made me want cry. 

The Queen? Does she not know how to smile?! Seriously! Grumpy pants!

Why were the US athletes dressed like we're French? 

How do you get the job of joining the giant 80's dance party? I want in! 

The grown men in the beginning trying to dance during the settler's part were killing me.  

The next day, I stayed home ALL DAY watching the Olympics. I only left my couch once to go to the gym....where I continued to watch the Olympics. I'm obsessed. So much so that I actually started dating Michael Phelps in my dream last night. Oh, Phelpsie. Come back to my dreams, soon.

The next day was Carson's farewell. It was so fun to see everyone and he did a great job. You bet he threw some Star Wars references in there. 

Last week I babysit these 4 kids in my ward for 4 and a half days. It was a job, for sure! Being a mom is hard work! 

I got to drive a minivan all week and even sported the socks with sandals. 

Ethan came to play on Friday night.

If the kids were good I told them they could watch the Olympics...as if that was really a reward for them. 

Saturday was a sad day for my ward. A lady in my ward/my neighbor was killed in a car accident during the week leaving behind a husband and 3 young kids. Saturday was the funeral and my dad was asked to speak. I'm sad that I missed it due to babysitting, but I loved hearing the testimonies the next day in church and hearing how much the ward has really come together to help. 

Saturday night, Rachel, Mckenna, and Sandra came over. I love these girls! We had fun watching old videos of us performing.

Sunday was my last day in my home ward. I love my ward!! Ahh. My mom and I were asked to sing in relief society. We also got to substitute a primary class of 9 years olds. They were hilarious. We asked one girl what she read in the verse of scripture we gave her and she said, "I think the guy took the Nephites' oats." haha and when we talked about the Strength of Youth, they all asked me if I had a boyfriend. I told them no but the questions continued. Eventually one kid looks at me and goes, "Yeah. College is crazy." 

We also asked the boys where they want to go on their missions some day...the responses were Phoenix, Mesa, and Idaho. Okay.

Went and saw Step Up Revolution with these girls and Shannon ended up being there too! 

Okay...Is Twitch single!?? SERIOUSLY. I love that guy. 

The main guy too! Hot dang! WHERE DID HE COME FROM? 

Also, Moose comes back. We went cray cray. 

I felt pretty cool knowing a lot of the dancers from SYTYCD and felt like I knew one of the dancers just because I saw that he dated Alexa Anderson on Facebook. We're so tight. 

 Those people should probably stick to dancing. Their acting was not so good. We still loved it though.

On a sad note, the boy I was supposed to marry is getting married this week. I have 4 days to try and stop the wedding. 

On a happier note, my first crop of missionary friends are all coming home! Over the next month I'll have 4 good friends coming back. So happy and proud of them :) 

There you have it! I go back to Provo this Wednesday! I loved being home but can't wait to get back up there! 

See you on the other side.

More Disney.

I feel like a broken record. Here we go again. Day 2 at the happiest place on Earth. 

We had planned on waking up early and driving to the park so we could be there right when it opened but after the alarm went off we knew that wasn't going to happen. We took the shuttle again and made it to the park by 9ish. Remember when I said that Disneyland brings out the worst in 96% of people. That just may have been partially true for this day. Not really....but kinda. We were super super tired. 

We started the day off right with Splash Mountain...and duck faces. 

This ride was on steroids or something that morning. It was going so so fast. I got to sit in the front...lucky me. Thanks, Soak Mountain.  

Okay fine, I loved it. 

Then to Thunder Mountain. Words of wisdom? Do not try and fit 3 young adults in one car. Ouch. 

This day is somewhat of a blur to me. Partially because I didn't take as many pictures and partially because we were practically sleepwalking the whole day. 

Here are some of the things we did during the day...

The Jungle Snooze. Those jokes? WHEN WILL THEY END!? 

Autopia. 

The Tea Cups. After this ride we left fantasy land. Not a good place for the middle of the day. 

My favorite, Captain EO. Wassup. 

Innoventions. Haha. 

This is me volunteering during the Peter Pan storytelling. He had me reach for the dresser and then it started shaking..cause Tink was in there, obviously.

Over the next few hours I didn't take hardly any pictures, but here's what I remember. 

We got a Dole Pineapple whip. YUM. 

We went on the Tower of Terror and found another favorite employee. He loved us and creeped on us the whole time we were in line. When we told him we rode the ride the day before he said, "Oh...well let's hope I get it right this time." Muahaha. Round 2 was even better. 

We ate at the Rancho again. Partly because of the food, but mainly because of Hugo. 

We saw Aladdin the musical. Pretty neat. 

We did the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail. I fell...multiple times.

At this point we decided to just face the crowds and do the attractions in Cars Land. 

First was Mater's ride. 25 minute wait. Not too bad. The ride was actually really fun. Way better than the tea cups.

We explored a bit.

Then we headed over to Luigi's Flying Tires. It had been broken down, but right as we got there it opened back up! Walking straight on a ride in Cars Land? Are you kidding? Unheard of! Booyah.

This is such a weird ride, but it's so fun. You sit in a giant tire and lean in the direction you want it to go and throw giant beach balls at the other people. Who thinks of these things? 

Then we stumbled on a street dance party with the DJ car. I want to be one of the people that gets paid to dance around the car! Hello! Best job ever! 

This is where our good luck ended. Despite the 120 minute wait sign, we stepped into the line for Radiator Springs Racers. It was light outside when we entered the line...here is the progression. 

Happy to be there..taking pictures of the ride. 

30 minutes in...still happy.



An hour in...goin a little crazy, but still happy. Making wishes in the Radiator Spring.

About 30 minutes later, the nice man over the intercom informs us that the ride has broken down. This is where the craziness set in. We all saw a whole new side of each other over the next hour. I don't know if I have ever laughed harder. Super tired kids trying to keep happy and entertain themselves turned into the best  cousin bonding ever. I hope I never forget that hour of craziness.





By the time we got to the front of the line we had spent way more than we ever wanted to in that line. The last 20 minutes or so in line we decided that we wanted a yellow car really bad. Our chances were slim. As we got to the loading station and the cars were pulling up we see...A YELLOW CAR pull right up to us. We screamed and without saying anything turned and had a big group hug. The yellow car that we had been talking about was worth the wait. We were so happy.







This ride was so fun! Having to wait forever made it that much better. Go Cars Land.



Then we hit Bugs Land. No one was there. Literally. We walked onto all the rides and could have stayed on them. I think we had a little too much fun there.

Then we rode the rapids...and I don't remember what else. I just remember running again to catch the shuttle. Crazy day.

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Last breakfast at the Howard Johnson, thank goodness.


I'm not sure why the last day was so great. It was the day where we had to do all the dreaded attractions, but it was great.

We drove to the park so we could be there when it opened.
We started out the day with Matterhorn. They changed this ride. It was bad before, but now? I thought I needed to go to see a Chiropractor or something afterwards! Seriously! The also threw some more Yeti guys on there and they come out of nowhere so you've been warned.
Then we went to the Nemo Submarine ride. A little weird and sort of scary for some reason.
We went straight to Fantasyland so we could knock out all those rides before all the little ones arrived.

Dumbo.


The Carousel.






Casey Junior's train.



Storybook Canal Boats.





We also went on Snow White's Scary Adventure and Pinnochio's Daring Journey...UM. TERRIFYING. The scariest rides at Disneyland by a landslide. 

Also, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride takes you to heck and back. Literally.
PETER PAN'S FLIGHT. Ahh I love it. Jeff and I were so excited for this one and it didn't disappoint.

Small World. Best.



Then to Toon Town...against the boy's wishes.













You better believe we hit every single house. We took this challenge very seriously.



We snuck through Minnie's back door so we didn't have to meet her.


Then we went to the Thunder Ranch petting zoo. Yes, you heard me right. There is a petting zoo. Not sure it's sanitary, but it's there.



The Davy Crockett canoes. That's one of those things where you just see others do it but never do it yourself. Now I can say that I did it.





We decided that the canoe guys have the worst possible job at Disneyland. Their shirts were drenched.

Splash Mountain again, for kicks and giggles.



Then we (kind of) rode the boats. Ok so maybe we just walked on them and then got off. Still counts.



We took the raft over to Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer's Island. You climb into little caves that go all over the island! It's pretty cool but there are some scary surprises throughout the caves.  I also came away with a battle wound on my knee.







On the way back from the island we came in contact with a little Pirate band. One of the guys in the band soon became one of my favorite employees. He stared at us from the time he spotted us on the raft until we had walked clear out of sight. A good 2 minutes at least.

We shot things.





The Sleeping Beauty Castle walk through. I didn't know it was an actual thing! I just thought you walked outside through the castle! Pretty neat.

Sleeping Beaut, herself.



Then, the freaky Tiki Room. So weird.

Then we went back to Cali Adventure to hit our last thing there....Disney Junior Live on Stage. haha we sat on the floor right next to all the little kids and participated with Kasey, the overly enthusiastic employee. Loved it. Also, physically ran into Jake the Neverland Pirate.

Ate lunch at the Pacific Wharf for a change. Don't worry, we hit the Rancho again later to visit Hugo.





Back to D-land for the last and final ride to complete the challenge. Astro Orbiters.





Jeff sang "Love lifts us up where we belong" for all to hear on this ride.



WE DID IT! EVERY SINGLE ATTRACTION. I might not have named them all here, but we did them. All of them in 2 and half days. Not bad.








Then we relaxed and hit up the favorites again :)

Rancho...with Hugo behind Daniel.





Tower of Terror. Back row hooligans this time. You lift up our your seat way better back there.



As I was looking at our picture once we finished the ride I noticed the picture next to ours and saw my friend Brittany Oliver/Noble from LIGHT! I ran out to catch up with her. So fun to see her!

Went the Mad T party for a little bit, watched some of World of Color, and some of Fantasmic show. Pretty dang cool.

Space Mountain.



And we finished the trip with Soarin Over California. The perfect way to end. Thanks, Disneyland!
Daniel is now in the MTC and Jeff leaves in less than a month. I will miss these boys so much.
Love my cousins!!