Hair Achievement

Not the best pictrues but that is two pigtails! She was occupied by my toothbrush and we got them in. Within 15 minutes she was trying to pull them out. They were cute while they lasted!

Happy, Happy Birthday Peter Dear!

Today is Peter's birthday and we have not been separated for this day since he was on his mission so I send this blog with love to my love in Dallas! Isn't he just the sweetest looking baby! It is hard to see but I like that Peter had his signature mole on his left cheek even when he was a baby!

Peter has a great family! They have some of the most amazing stories of the adventures they have had living in 4 states and well 6 kids is an adventure itself. Peter is the middle holding his sister Lindsay if you can't tell.

I know there are many of you out here laughing at this photo but I remember this night almost like it was yesterday! Peter was brave enough to ask me to the Sweetheart's Dance our junior year (1996). I had a state swim meet that day and night so he being the self confident sole that he is came and sat by my family and watched my meet. I raced home and changed and then we had a fabulous night of dinner and dancing. I remember when he took me home and it was a chilly night but the stars were shining bright and I knew that he was someone amazing. I had immense respect for him and cherished his friendship.

Wrestling+cross country + track= this hunk! Peter apparently did not like to wear shirts when he was younger and there are quite a few shirtless pictures but this is one of my favorites!

Peter reading his mission call on Christmas Eve. He was so excited to serve a mission. The Lord really knows each one of us because Peru was the perfect mission for Peter.

Valentine's Day just before Peter left on his mission.

Peter leaving for his mission. He was so pumped up and truly full of the spirit! I remember Peter's mother telling me, on the day he was ordained an elder, that when he was born she knew she held a wise old spirit. His parents always felt that he would be a strong missionary and they were right. I have come to cherish Peter for his wisdom and his testimony. In high school, I was so impressed by his knowledge of the scriptures.

Despite the appearance of this picture, Peter really did work hard as a missionary!

He is beaming with the spirit!

At the airport when he came home! He is beaming again and I like to think that it is because I am there. Peter did not waste anytime letting me know he was still interested. He was released that evening and kissed me that night. His canteen was dry.

Can you believe that just a few months after this picture I married this crazy guy?! My roommates were the witnesses to countless such occasions. He was a wrestler and I must have looked like a willing competitor but I never won. Looking at this picture I can hear him laughing!

I love this man! He is a fabulous husband and a great father. Our kids have missed him so much over the last 4 weeks. Friday can not get here soon enough for any of us. This has been a hard year for Peter but he has faced the challenges with faith, humility, courage and strength. Peter truly is my rock. Have a great day Peter E! I love you!

Garbage Truck

The boys had a Halloween party at their Tae Kwan Do studio. It was a fun afternoon.

First there was a costume parade with boys under 10 and girls under 10. Jon wanted to be a count again this year, he has a great laugh for it. Joey wanted to be a garbage tuck! He actually wanted to be several different Thomas engines none of which really seemed possible. So, when he suggested a garbage truck Peter agreed. Peter was able to make most of the pieces before heading to Texas. I spray painted them and did the final assembly.
Joey won the contest. The sign reads: Rabner Rubbish Removal.

He will collect the candy in the can in his hands and then lift it up and dump it in the chute over his head. It goes down the chute and into the big box on his back. It is held on by a backpack that we threaded the straps through the box.

This it he cake I made for the cake walk. Nothing too fancy. I actually made two thinking, I have two kids participating so I should contribute two. Well they each tried to win 4-5 times and no winning! We went home and made more cupcakes and that was good enough. The other highlight was bobbing for apples-completely unsanitary but Jon would not put his face in so he just used his hands. Joey was able to get the apple using his teeth by catching the stem. He was so proud of himself. We have school Halloween parties on Thursday and a ward Trunk or Treat on Saturday! Happy Halloween!

Disneyland Part 2

These pictures are actually from the beginning of our trip but oh well.

This is how we entered the park. Two little sleepy heads! We went in on Sunday night and watched the parade and fireworks. Joey fell asleep while we were waiting for the fireworks and managed to sleep through them.

Joey with his new favorite treat. He liked that his tongue was all yellow after eating it.

Mickey and Minnie stopped right in front of us for the parade. The kids thought that was really cool.

I don't know what to call this face but it is too funny!

Looks of amazement!

"Look Mom it's Mickey!"

Arabella clapped through the parade. I think she really liked the music and the bright colors.

I believe this may have been my first time maybe the second that I have ever ridden on the rockets. Wow!

Peter Pan, a must if you go to Disneyland and look the line was short!

Dumbo-Jon said this was his favorite. I rode with the boys and Grandpa took sweet Bells!

This was the no spinning teacup!

Joey loves the teacups and Grandpa was nice enough to go in the spinning cup and go really fast! Joey was squealing with delight.

Alice in Wonderland a unique ride but some classic characters!

Waiting for Finding Nemo submarine ride. Arabella liked this ride quite a bit except for a few loud sounds. She loved the bubbles.

Such the serious driver.

Joey did a pretty good job driving.
We had fast passes but the line was so short they did not even take them. That is definitely a first for me! Joey and Jon would argue over who would ride with me on so many rides. I was glad to have my parents there who were willing to ride with whoever and take Arabella so many times. I love Disneyland- it makes me happy!

Disneyland Part 1

My parents took me and the kids to Disneyland for one last trip before we moved. We were sad that Daddy could not come. I will have to do this in 2 posts because there are so many cute pictures. We drove down on Sunday and came home late Tuesday night. These pictures are all from Monday and Tuesday.

The Jungle Cruise Ride

Jon posing in Tarzan's treehouse. He explored this while Joey and I went on Indiana Jones. Joey was tall enough to ride but I don't know that he liked it all that much.

Pirates of the Carribean. Arabella was happy to be out of the stroller and seeing something new.

Joey was such a good sport for the whole trip. He was helpful and stayed by us really well!

Pirate Jon, arrgh!

Arabella is always putting her feet and legs up. People were smiling and laughing to themselves while she was doing this so I had to take a picture. What a silly girl!

One of my favorite places to get a treat in Disneyland is the store by Splash Mountain and the Winnie the Pooh ride. I took the kids in to get something. Joey chose this amazing caramel apple, Jon picked a chocolated covered pretzel with sprinkles, and I had a delicious marshmallow stick covered in chocolate, caramel and cashews, yummy! Arabella ate one of Mickey's ears and loved it!

As we came off of Splash Mountain, my dad and Jon were at the front of the line to get pictures with Winnie the Pooh and friends. We lucked out! Jon thought it was great, Joey was a bit shy and embarassed, and Arabella did okay with the characters except Tigger. He made her nervous.

Jon was asleep. This was the easiest picture to get, no line!

Arabella loved It's a Small World. She clapped and laughed and just could not seem to quite take it all in.

Cute of my family but we missed out on Mickey's amazing pumpkin ears.

This is a horrible picture because we took it at nigth but Mickey is done in all oranges, yellows, reds and whites. He has a party hat on and there are huge flower mickey balloons on each side. The theme is all about Celebrateing.

Goofy looks great! We were the last picture that he was out for!

Joey chillin' in the fire truck.

Titan's merry-go-round in California Adventure. Grandpa and I rode California Screamin', a great roller coaster!

Some pictures of the renevations they are doing at California Adventure. They have drained the water that was in the middle and are installing Bellagio style fountains to do a water and light show kind of like Fantasmic focused on the Colors of Disney. There will also be a new Little Mermaid ride and something to do with Cars. Jon wanted to go down and see what the workers were doing.

You can not tell that well but I am soaked!! Joey loved the Grizzly River Run so we went twice, the line was not very long. I faired better the second time but the first ride I was drenched.

Jon and his Cars buddies.

Joey and Grandpa and their Cars buddies.

Arabella sleeping really well in her stroller but yes her leg is up again. She usually had that leg up on that "window" or the bar right there as we walked around. What a funny girl!

Bugs Life bumper cars

Jon had just hit his head so we were trying to make sad bug faces.

Jon had so much fun getting wet! We could ring the water out of his shirt by the time we finished. Arabella got an entire outfit change and Joey soaked the front of his shirt but they had fun!

Mickey actually had no line! He looks great all set for harvesting his candy corn fields.

I loved the candy corns in the palm trees.

My parents got sprayed with water during the parade. I wished I would have centered them better but I spun around really fast trying to capture the moment. It was really funny and they were so suprised.

I loved the guys swinging, you can't see them that well but they have a fun job there is no way around it.

There were to people swinging around on poles for Toy Story and you can see the one really well in this picture. Again a really fun job!

This was how we ended our Disneyland experince. I have so many fond memories of that place with my family. It is part of who I am really. My mom loves Disneyland and my dad loves it because she loves it so for me it is part of what I admire about my parents marriage. They share in each others interests and dreams. I have already told Peter that whether it is Disneyland or Disney World (being in Texas it is almost equal) we will be going again in the not too distant future.