Epic Girls Trip to Disneyland

I gathered friends from Manila 2nd ward and we headed to California. We left EARLY Sunday morning, August 5. We left super early because we wanted to get ahead of the Vegas to Los Angeles traffic on Sunday afternoon. It worked.

Cara Rogers and Amy Bowden and I were the original travelers. We picked up Kim Blight in St. George. We later picked up Amy Christensen in Baker, California. Maria Trump drove down from the Bay Area. It was a smooth ride. I got in a 2 hour nap and that made the trip go really fast.

This is the way moms travel. Drinks and naps in the back seat

I had reached out to Derek to see if he and the family wanted to meet up with me at the park. In hindsight I wish I hadn't. I wish I had just driven up to their house. It's much more relaxing to be at their house than at Disneyland. It was just not a good idea, but I'm not gonna dwell on that. What's done is done. It was a fun afternoon with the Hunters. Derek looks great and Rose got to go to Beast's Library and find which Disney character she's most like.

I hung with the Hunters at California Adventure while my friends did big girl stuff at the park. Amy Christensen hung with us Hunters for a couple of hours and really enjoyed spending time with D and Rae. After a couple of hours. the Hunters went home and I met up with my friends. Amy and I went back to the hotel early, though, because we wanted to get to bed.

Rose is Lilo from "Lilo and Stitch"

We had an adventure and found out our spirit animals. I'm a bear, just like my mom

Milo loves cars and got a new toy

the boys

I bought Rose a friendship necklace to share with her friend

Sad to see my people go. I love them so much

Monday morning I got up early to get to the park and get Amy a ticket. The others had military tickets they had purchased with Amy Bowden's military benefits. We wanted to open the park. That requires getting in line about 30 minutes early. We stayed at a hotel just under a mile from the park. I didn't mind walking to the park. It's a long walk after a long day, though. The rest of the girls got there about 20 minutes after the park opened. I had to keep letting people in front of me to keep my friends from having to get in a long line. It all worked out well.

We hit lots of rides on the Disneyland side. We really used that max pass for ultimate rides. We were resting, eating lunch and waiting for our Space Mountain fast pass when I realized I knew where the single rider line is for that ride. What was I thinking? It's a hidden gem. Probably my best Disney hack. So we rode Space Mountain using the single rider line. Then I went back to the hotel for a nice long nap. I know from experience that you only get about 2-3 rides in during the middle of the day and I needed sleep more than I needed 2 rides. That's the beauty of an annual pass. I got some good sleep.

The girls reached out to me when they were at Cheesecake Factory eating dinner. I was gonna go back to the park, but I realized I can go to the park anytime, but I had limited time with 5 friends, so I went to the restaurant. I had brought my own food, so I just kept them company and we all headed back to Disneyland/California Adventure for the rest of the night. Some went to Disneyland and I went with Kim and Amy Christensen to California Adventure. I wanted the new lemon non dairy treat and I wanted to ride the Incredicoaster. Kim and Amy wanted to ride Guardians again.

Maria Trump, Amy Christensen, Me, Amy Bowden, Cara Rogers, Kim Blight

Beginning the day. Fresh and ready to go.

By Haunted Mansion

Got my lemon treat at Pixar Pier. Would get it again

Amy C, Kim and me on Incredicoaster

Surprised!

LOL. Amy C has a tradition to get a pic by the whale

Here we are running away from Monstro

Cara, Amy B and Maria on Luigi's cars

Maria had stayed in the hotel to rest some. She joined us all at Disneyland in time for the fireworks. That show is spectacular. Maria had jokingly asked if she could just youtube it. I looked shocked. WHAT? NO!!!!!

After the fireworks, Kim and I went back to the hotel to get to bed. Earplugs and an eye mask work great. I slept as well as can be expected with 6 women in a room. We got up and I went to the park with Amy C. to get her tickets for the day. She was meeting with Dane to take the girls. We got on the road around 10. We stopped at 2 outlet malls to hit Kate Spade stores. We didn't get home til around 11:00 after dropping Kim in St. George to drive her parents to Utah County. It was a fun time.

Cathy Voorhees Moved

My friend and neighbor of 18 years moved shortly after I got back from Italy. Starlyn, Cathy, and I have been going to movies together for about a year. We saw one last movie together - Mama Mia 2. It was actually cute.

Cathy, Gloria Pratt and I have been yogurt buddies for about 5 years. This is our last trip for yogurt.

Yes, Cathy and I have the same Old Navy shorts on.

I also took dinner to Cathy and Bill on Sunday. It is hard to say goodbye. They are in Missouri now. I'm so excited for them, though, that I'm not too sad. They built a beautiful home with a guest room for me and they are closer to 3 of their grandkids who really need them. It will be good for all. Cathy has been there for me through a lot of things, raising kids, callings, marriage, etc. She always listens without judging. She and Bill are so kind and share with everyone. Cathy even had a Diet Dr. Pepper for me on our last visit together when someone had taken mine from our fridge. Love that girl.

Starlyn and I went to the movie today and we missed our movie buddy.

Viva Mi Patria Bolivia

Some folk dancers were in Utah County for a festival in Springville and did a free performance at BYU. You bet I went. As I was walking to the spot where they were to perform, I heard the familiar pipes and string instruments. It was so fun to watch. They danced for an hour. It was so fun to watch their enthusiasm, both the dancers and the musicians. It was a really hot day and I appreciated their dedication to sharing with us. LOVED IT.

I forgot about these tire shoes that people wear there

Bonus, as I was leaving campus, I saw Chase Crockett and got to see how he's doing in his first semester at BYU. He's working hard and is doing great.

Gave him a Dr. Pepper from our walk in fridge

The Missionaries Are Coming Home

It's hard to believe that 2 years have gone by since Mel's friends left on their Elder missions. Kaleb Greening got home from Chile about 5 weeks ago. Scotty Hughes returned from Germany a couple of weeks ago. Makei Tupou gets home from Nebraska on the 23rd at 10:15 am, but who's counting?

I missed Kaleb's homecoming talk. I hear he sang a song. That would have been special to hear. Scott told a very interesting story about his mission. He had experiences before his mission that led him to believe he was going to be called to Cambodia. He couldn't shake the impressions. He was called to Germany. He wondered what the Cambodia thoughts were about. He got excited to go to Germany. While in the MTC, Cambodia came to his mind again and he prayed to know how to reconcile things. He felt impressed to buy a Book of Mormon in Cambodian. Right after buying it, he saw Elders who spoke Cambodian. They helped him write his testimony in the book in Cambodian. Scott put that Book of Mormon in a large ziploc bag and carried it EVERYDAY of his mission. 6 days before coming home, he found himself on a bus/train next to a man from Cambodia. He gave the man the book and the man is meeting with the sister missionaries and is preparing for baptism. What faith.

Kaleb, Kobi, and Allie have spent a lot of time at the house and I'm not complaining. One time I came home to find them working on tie dye projects. Allie and Kobi worked on a delicious cake for Megan's bachelorette party. I never know how many people I'll be feeding for dinner, especially while Allie's friend Desmond was visiting from Indianapolis and while the Japanese boys were here.

Crazy how these kids are growing up.

Kaleb hugs Mysti Tupou, Makei's mom

Megan, Kobi, Kamiko and Allie

London, age 10, with her big brother

We have since laminated this sign so we can use it over and over

Chocolate cake, homemade toffee, homemade caramel, whipped cream frosting

We hiked to Timp cave for exercise: Me, Keenan, Allie and Kaleb

Genki, Hiro, Reo, and Shunsuke

We hosted Japanese students again. That was a blast.

We were to have 2 boys for about 13 days, Hiro and Genki. Then we got an email requesting we take 2 extras for the first 4 days. We got paid extra and it was fun. We got Reo and Shunsuke. We picked them up on the 4th of july and took them to JCW's for burgers. We got them matching t-shirts to wear. Keenan also gave them socks from the freedom run. I made apple pie and we went to watch fireworks. The boys had school everyday, so we only had evenings and Sunday for fun. We kept the fridge stocked with soda and they liked that. I made them pizza, pancakes, french toast, eggs. The funny thing was that they were pretty excited to find out I am a cooking teacher then the first morning I made them breakfast, I made probably the WORST batch of rice I've ever made. LOL. My friend joked that I should just pretend that we like mushy, sticky, wet rice here in the US.

We went to City Creek, dressed like cows for Chick fil A Day, went to Harley Davidson Store, Keenan took them to an Orem Owlz game, they met Brock Watkins and played baseball with him, got soda, got treats, went to Music and the Spoken Word, church, hiked Battle Creek Falls, taught them to play 5 Crowns, went to a car show, etc. We got attached to all four boys.

Genki means happy and that name suited him. He was such a pleasant kid, always smiling. Hiro seemed like a tough kid. The first thing he did when we got to JCW's was to put in his earrings. I suppose he couldn't wear them while traveling. He always fell asleep in the car and wherever we were. Shunsuke was pretty quiet. He was a sweetheart and all the boys said his English was the best. I wouldn't know because he was so quiet. Reo was big for a Japanese kid and was so excited to shop for shoes and clothes. He has a 10.5 wide shoe and says it's hard to find shoes at home. Reo is my guy. He likes Dr. Pepper and root beer, while most foreigners don't. We utilized google translate a lot.

After 4 days, Reo and Shunsuke went to be with a family in Lehi so we carpooled to school. That let us still see them. Our boys went to their house one night for dinner and activities. It was a really fun time.

Keenan, Shunsuke, Hiro, Reo, Genki, me

the boys LOVED the bulk candy section at Winco

I love seeing the boys squat

Keenan took the boys to get big sodas. He also took them to get pizza at 10 pm.

Genki and Keenan

Hiro and I won twice

grandpa did a nice bbq for us

Kaleb and Kobi and Kamiko and Allie spent a lot of time here.