Save the CHERUBS!!!

Our son, Tyler was born with a birth defect called Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia. CDH affects a baby every 10 minutes. Over 600,000 babies since 2000 - killing 300,000. Fortunately for us, our son survived.

Children born with CDH are referred to as CHERUBS. I am asking today that you please help us raise awareness and save the CHERUBS!!!

http://www.savethecherubs.org

It will only take you a minute to read through it and you can't say that it doesn't matter to you because it hasn't effected someone you know. It has, us, and in a HUGE way. Please help us today with this for just a few minutes of your time!!!! And if you feel that you have an extra minute, you could re-post this as your blog post today. You just never know who it's going to take next.

THANK YOU!!!!!

Easter clothes

Randy's mom always buys the kids a new church outfit for Christmas and for Easter. They LOVE it!!! She is so fun about special times like this!!! She gives them their outfits early so they get plenty of time to wear them, not just on Easter Sunday or just the Sunday before Christmas. This year, like always, was a total hit with the girls. My girls feel so pretty in their new dresses. Cambelle is calling hers a mushroom dress because when she sits down on the ground, it poofs out like a mushroom!!!! Maddison is getting so big, when she put her dress on, she felt all grown up!!!Tyler likes getting his new clothes also!!! He loves to get new ties, so when it's time for a new outfit from Grandma Clyde, he gets excited to see what the tie is going to look like!!!





I took this picture right before we walked out the door to go to church. Sadly, Maddison got a really bad tummy ache during Sacrament meeting, she was even crying. It takes a lot to make that girl cry in pain. She's pretty tough. So, I took her home. She can wear her new dress next week and show all of her church friends!!!

It's so fun that Peggy has such fun traditions and that she does them for the pure joy that the children will feel. She's great like that!!! Thanks Mom for the fun outfits!!!!

WELCOME SPRING!!!

Where dreams come true!!!!

The last couple of days of our Disneyland trip were so amazing. I can't even tell you the state of bliss that my family is in when we are there. It's such a magical place for all of my children. They get to ride the rides not only with us, but with Grandma and Grandpa, aunts and uncles and cousins.
There's not a lot of things that are more fun than my children getting to ride Disneyland rides with their grandparents. One year was especially terrific, my parents went with us, so our kids got to go D'land with BOTH sets of their grandparents. HOW COOL IS THAT????

This year, more than ever, my kids were actually excited to see the characters. In the past, they couldn't have cared less if there was a character around, but not this year!!!!



And what girl isn't a princess at heart?




We kept finding "hidden Mickeys". Maddison was the one that spotted them the best (thanks to those Albrecht eyes!!!!). Can you see this one? It was a piece of glass in the cement outside the gates of California Adventure, it's only about 2-3 inches across!!!!
Togetherness has no price.




Look what I found!!!! Not a hidden Mickey, and I've seen it before, but this time I took a picture of me by the secret Club 33 just for fun!!!! Then something very special happened. Randy's mom has been wanting to go back to see the park during Christmas time and this year she decided that because we had just bought 5 day passes, to upgrade to an annual pass for all of us would not be that much more money. So, Peggy bought us all annual passports with the promise that we would take another family trip down for Christmas!!!! I can't tell you how exciting it was for me to actually become an annual passport holder. For as many times as I have been to Disneyland, I have never had an annual passport!!!!

Can you see the excitement on my face? I am such a Disneyland nerd!!!! And I am so excited to be able to go back anytime we want!!!! It's such a generous gift for Peggy to give us for Christmas. I can't wait to go back over and over this year!!!!! Yes, I cried!!! I told you I was a D'land nerd!!!




I can't wait for more fun times like these........

Uncle Randy running to the next ride in Toontown with the kids.......



My little "Freaky-freak" Cambelle LOVING Space mountain....
The Clyde clan on Thunder Mountain, one of our MANY times on that ride.......
Maddison holding Grandpa's hand walking down Main Street USA......

Randy showing off his "sexy" face!!!! hahaha!!!!

My favorite part of the trip!!! A whole week with this guy.......

Oh yea, and don't forget stealing smooches on the rides in the dark!!!!!





I know we just got back, but my clock is ticking for the next time we get to go down!!!!! If you haven't been down to see Mickey lately or ever, it's time. Do it, you wont regret it!!!!

Days 3 and 4 give me some more!!!!

Day 3 started out at California Adventure. We went on Soarin Over California. I HATE this ride, but I hate being called a baby even worse!!!! I am DEATHLY afraid of heights, so this ride is a killer for me, but I will go every single time, just to bi-pass the name calling!!!!!

There was some family lovin!!!! Jamie LOVES me ;)

Then we have Cambelle, trying to make the birds come to her!!! She would get sooo mad when they wouldn't just jump into her hands!!!

There was a lot of looking for Hidden Mickey's!!!! Maddison found this one on a rock wall in Bug's Land!!!

And don't forget this part!!!! Hanging with my honey for a full week? I'M IN!!!!
Maliboomer? Ok, 6 times in a row? Y-E-S!!!!!! So dang fun!!!!

And by the end of the day, Tyler fell asleep on me and this drool mark is pretty much symbolic of the time we're having..... A HEART!!! Can you see it? That's how his drool was on my shirt!!!!

Yea... you could say that we wore the kids out!!!!

Day 4.......

We spent the day at Disneyland today again. We went on Splash Mountain today, the kids LOVED it!!!! We have done EVERYTHING at D'land except for Pixie Hollow. We got to play with Holly and her family again today. That was a lot of fun. There might have been a moment when we might have lost the 2 grandmas, maybe, I'm just saying that may have happened!!!

Steven and Amy decided to leave the park early, but my family along with Cory and Jamie stayed. In that few hours, we went on Haunted Mansion, Pirates and Thunder Mountain 3 times!!! It ended up being an amazing night!!! It really was fun!!!!

I will post pictures later, I'm thinking my bed is wanting me to lay on it and I don't want to make it sad. I hope everyone is having a great week, I know we are!!!

Day 2- Feel the love

Day 2 at Disneyland, our first FULL day at the park and we used our early admission today, so we got a LOT of rides in and a lot of fun was had!!!!! We started out looking like THIS.

As the day wore on, I got to play with my friend for a minute.....

And the kids did a little celebration at the top of Tarzan's Tree House.......

And don't forget THIS..............

Then I took my kids on Autopia, as I do EVERY TIME we go to the park to teach them my memories of my Grandpa Albrecht. He would always take me on Autopia when we would go to Disneyland and he always let me drive. Now as an adult, I realize that this ride was probably like torture for him, but for the love of his granddaughter, he went anyway!!!! This ride brings me good memories and also horrible sadness that my Grandpa is gone.

And then you have THIS..... WHO'S YOUR BROTHER?

We had shirts made that Cory designed and wore them today. We got so many comments on them!!!! We didn't need all the fun feedback for us to love our Clyde shirts!!!! We wore them with pride!!!!! Even though it was hard to control my hand from smacking the other boys' bums!!!!! I had to look really close to see that is was Randy!!!



March is the perfect time of year to come. We have always had a good time, the lines are short and it's not hot!!!! The longest we have waited in line was 20 minutes!!!! NOT BAD!!!! But you can't tell that by looking at this photo!!!! Ok, I admit, it's totally posed, but funny, huh?

Day 1- the trip down!!!!

The time for our family Disneyland trip is finally here. It started out at 8am at our house. The rest of the Clyde crew came to our house to load. It took AN HOUR to get all the luggage for 15 people loaded into 2 cars, but we got it and were OFF!!!!! After a couple of stops and Randy driving to Barstow, it was my turn to drive. I shouldn't drive down here, I really shouldn't. I am all to comfortable traveling around 100 MPH and it doesn't bother the locals here, either!!!! I tried to keep it under control a bit, knowing that there was a cop behind me the whole way, following my EVERY move!!!!! Oh wait, it was Steven, Randy's brother!!!! HAHAHA!!!! We got to our hotel, Comfort Inn Anaheim Maingate, had to run to Target to replace a lost jacket for my niece and we were OFF TO SEE MICKEY!!!!! We only spent a couple of hours at the park, but it was well worth it!!!! We started off on my MIL, Peggy's, favorite ride, PIRATES!!!!! Then Haunted Mansion and Thunder Mountain- IN THE DARK (our fav)!!!!! This place is so magical. Cambelle kept asking me about stuff, like, how they make the sidewalk sparkle, ect... all I could tell her is that it is magic. Disneyland IS magical. Everything about it is magical. I love spending time here with my family. I can't think of anything I would rather do!!!!! I will be posting everyday about our adventures!!!!!! Now, it's time to sleep, we have a full day planned tomorrow!!!!!

Oh Mickey you're so fine!!!!

AND we're off!!!!! To the Happiest Place on Earth!!! It has been 2 years since our last Disneyland trip and that's a record for us. We usually go at least once a year. Last January, my SIL had a baby, so our spring break trip was postponed to September, but then Elvis broke his pelvis and kept us home. So, here we are, the night before I get to see Mickey for the first time in 2 years. I wonder if he'll remember me? I might blog while we're down there, we'll see how it goes. But if I don't, I miss you ;) We will be at the park for 5 days!!!! We are so excited!!!!! So, if you don't see me blogging before, you'll see me blogging when we get home!!!! Now kids, be good and don't do anything your mama would be ashamed of while I'm gone!!!!!

Talking in Sacrament Meeting

So, I'm not one of those people that get asked to talk in Sacrament Meeting and then fret about it for 2 weeks and then feel like I'm going to pass out at the microphone. I know you're surprised!!!! I got to speak this last Sunday and the talk I was assigned was from the last General Conference. It is called Moral Discipline and HERE is the link if you want to read it. Studying this talk really made me realize how many times in my life I have shown moral discipline. It's doing what you KNOW is right even when it's hard or when no one is watching. We all have times when it's hard to do what's right, but Randy and I have always tried to live our lives in a way that we wouldn't regret anything we've ever done. Going through this process with the state has made this talk come full circle for me. The popular thing isn't always the right thing. We are blessed to have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives to give us a compass on how to live. What better of an example do we need than Jesus Christ? In that talk by Elder Christofferson, he specifically tells about our job as parents to teach our children how to have moral discipline and how important that job is. Some parents say they just want a guide book on how to raise children, well, there ya go!!!!! If we open our scriptures or the Ensign or any of our church manuals, we HAVE a guide book!!!! And thank goodness!!!!! Anyhow, I was reminded how important it is to always try to have discipline in all we do. Sure, I know I'm not perfect in this, but I try every day to be better then I was the day before and I'm grateful for the chance to talk in Sacrament Meeting so I could learn so much about that topic. Ahhhhh, I feel better now!!!!!! Off to bed!!!!!

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

I don't want to brag, but I'm going to see Mickey Mouse next week!!!! Look at the ticker up top to see how soon!!!! HEHEHEHEHE!!!!!!!!