Connections

One of the best part of Christmas is reconnecting.

These are some of the most amazing women I know:  my mom, my Aunt Jan, and my beautiful cousin Gina.

Here are five generations of Williams women (and brand new baby Maxx who was always in the arms of one of the women) surrounding the matriarch Virginia.

This is Lilly, I want to steal her.  She is the daughter of my much older cousin Cathy (ha—1 year older, next to me in the picture before).  Cathy got me into a lot of trouble when we were growing up.  OK, well, let’s just say we had a lot of fun together:)  Unfair that Cathy gets this little angel AND lives in Italy raising goats and driving her own tractor. 

And then…

And then I saw this article after posting my videos of snow vomit and fireworks…

http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/01/19/legal-limbo-disney-could-go-after-you-for-posting-vacation-vide/

Now I’m really done for.

Nightmare

Am I neurotic?  (rhetorical question, don’t reply to that.)

I woke up in a cold sweat at 5:08 this morning, a scream lodged in my throat.  It was a really bad nightmare.

I dreamed I was running around doing errands.  I get home and Bryce is helping me unload the car when I receive THE call.

“Mrs. P, this is Dr. P….”  but before he can finish, I KNOW what he’s calling about. 

I hurriedly say, nay scream, “Bryce, get your stuff, we gotta…” but then I look at my watch.  It’s too late. Much too late.

The doctor continues in my ear:  “Uh, yeah, you missed Bryce’s orthodontic appointment AGAIN.  I’ve called the police…”

The police?  What?  They care about our orthodontic compliance????  Send them to England!

It was then I woke up.  When I calmed down I realized it was Wednesday, early Wednesday.  There was still time to make that 2:15 pm appointment today.  Or, to miss it, depending on where the brain goes.  Where does it go?  I miss it sometimes.  I’ve also missed a lot of appointments relating to teeth.  Coincidence?  I had a lot of time to think about it though, I couldn’t get back to sleep.

Disney for Adults

I know what you’re thinking but this is not an XXX post… better luck next time.

So, it’s great to live in California because every time someone comes to visit they want to go to Disneyland.  Well, it turns out, every time we go, Jeff gets stuck going to work to pay for it.  I had gone to Disneyland with my friend Carolvee (I had been her YW leader in Long Beach 20 years ago *gasp*, when we were both much younger:) in November:

And well, let’s just say that was the straw that broke the camel’s back.  So, I suggested that WE (Jeff and I) go in December to celebrate our anniversary.  So, we booked a room and planned a 2-day getaway to the happiest place on Earth.

It was beautiful weather and it had been a lifetime since I’d been to Disneyland during the holidays, so we took it slow.  Crowds were good which always improves the experience.

We spent most of the first day in California Adventure…

 

 

      

 

 

The Disney magic must have been working because I even talked Jeff into watching the fireworks!  Here’s Sleeping Beauty’s castle decked out for the holidays:

 

There are lots of smiling attendants everywhere telling you where you can and can’t stand.  A lot of people wanted to stand in this one particular area and being neophytes we didn’t know why—we did hear one of these smiling helpers say something about “snow vomit” (?? I swear that’s what she said, at least that’s what it sounded like…)  We soon learned what that meant:

 

Snow in Southern California, Disney magic at work! 

The next day I introduced Jeff to Buzz Lightyear.  He’d never even heard of this ride. This is when we figured out it had been 8 years since he’d been to Disneyland!  Poor Jeff.

Clearly, my laser was defective.

More Disney magic.   Cap’n Jeff Sparrow AND Jeff willingly went on It’s a Small World.  The boys NEVER would have endured that.

We decided our favorite ride is Tower of Terror, so we ended there. 

Notice the group think going on.  During the first ride—no hands showing, everyone looks like they’re on an enjoyable bus ride (hopefully it’s a fully enclosed bus because otherwise Jeff and I would be catching flies).  During the second ride—JAZZ hands abound and everyone is much more lively. 

We decided we missed having kids to share the wonder of it all with, so we fantasized about all the granddaughters we will have in the (*cough* distant) future.

Happy Anniversary to us.  We heart Disneyland.