It's a Great Day....

...when you wake up in Disneyland!

For our Herbst Family Reunion/Vacation, we went to the Magic Kingdom.  And it was truly magical.  Since Mark served his mission in LA, our family arrived a couple of days early to tour his old stomping grounds.  We met up with some wonderful people that he worked with and taught on his mission.

Mark worked in a lot of Samoan wards on his mission.  Tao and Maetala are one of the families that he met, taught, and has remained close to through the years.  After hearing so much about them, we finally got to meet face to face.  What an awesome family!  Maetala put on a feast for us - Samoan style.  Knowing how much eating is part of the Samoan culture, we went hungry.   Mark tucked in considerably, but I'm afraid I made a disappointing showing.  I just could not eat enough to satsify these people.  Luckily, Brielle made up for me.  They were so proud of how much food she put down.  She was especially fond of the shrimp in coconut milk.  It was neat to see this side of Mark's past.  Now we have both visited each other's missions.  I love sharing that part of our lives with each other.

Then we hit Disneyland.  Brielle was SO excited.  And I am grossly understating that.  We spent Sunday night at Downtown Disney, just walking around and looking through the shops.  She was so happy, and pointed out everything that was Mickey.  She looked at us and said, "I LOVE Disleyland (that's how she says it)!"  And we weren't even in the park yet.

We went to the park bright and early Monday morning and hit up all the rides we could with our family.  Brielle loved being with her cousins.  We hung out a lot with Mark's sister Misty and her kids.  Our kids are around the same ages, and it was a real treat to see them, since they live in Minnesota and we don't get to see them often.  Here are the highlights of our first day at Disneyland:

First Ride:  The Astroblaster

Hanging out with the cousins.  Notice the sweater?  We were NOT prepared for the cool mornings and evenings!

In front of Aurora's castle.  This is one of the iconic things Brielle was dying to see.

On the carousel in Fantasyland

Driving Mickey's car in Toontown

Minnie Mouse sighting #1.  Don't let the pose and the face fool you.  She was ecstatic to give Minnie a hug and a kiss on the nose.

Waiting to see Aladdin with Aunt Merri.  She sat mezmerized through the whole show.

Exhausted!

Waiting for the parade.  See the frustrated faces?  The wait was worth it.  She loved every bit.  Too bad the sun was right in our eyes so we couldn't get any pictures.

Her end of the day treat.  The best sucker we have ever eaten.

An Official Cubs Fan

My husband and his family are Cubs fans.  No, they are not from Chicago.  They don't have any family in Chicago.  Somehow they started watching the Cubs on some random Idaho channel when they were growing up.  And a love for the Cubs was born.

Uncle Paul found some awesome Cubs gear for Brielle and sent it her way.  Now she is an official Cubs fan.

And a pretty cute one at that!

I Mustache You a Question

Are we awesome?  Or are we AWESOME?

(Brielle's comment, "Hey, mommies don't wear mustaches.  Only fancy guys do!")

 

 

Serving in Young Women has been a wonderful experience for me.  The girls have reminded me how it feels to be a teenager again, and I love learning from them.  They have truly been a blessing in my life.

 

I didn't get many pictures of girls camp.  I was too busy having a blast!  It was so fun - spending a few days at the beach and getting to know the girls from our stake.  I was with the 2nd year campers, and they quickly caught me up on the latest dances.  Who was doing The Wobble at 11:00 p.m.?  That was us!  I didn't realize how much the dance scene has changed since I was a teenager.  I have so much to learn...

 

However, I did get some pictures of some of the amazing crafts the girls did, including this jar, which held a tea light.  We placed them all around during our testimony meeting at the beach.  It made for perfect ambience:

The girls also had some workshops.  This one was about building a testimony.  The girls made a handprint to remind them of the 5 elements of a testimony.  Then they wrote their testimonies on their hands.  I thought they turned out cool.

And then came skit night.  Our girls did a skit, written by one of our Beehives.  Did I mention that the girls in my ward are AMAZING?  I really thought their skit was one of the best - well thought out and well written.  It even had an original song!

 

 

I love having great spiritual experiences with "my" girls.  These girls are strong and deep.  Their testimonies are deeply rooted at such a young age, and they work so hard to keep their standards high.  We have wonderful Sunday lessons and weekly mutuals.  Oh yeah, and we have a TON of fun.

A Hiking We Will Go

We took our incoming Beehives on a hike for their camp certification.  We had wanted to go to Tunica Falls - which is gorgeous, but because of time constraints we ended up hiking at Fort Desperate - an old civil war battle site.  I had been throwing up like crazy the night before, but thanks to a blessing was feeling much better and able to hike with the girls.  We brought Brielle along, and she was in heaven being part of "the young womens" for a day.

Our awesome first year campers

Brielle and the bishop found some blackberries.  Brielle LOVED them!

You Take the Cake

As our fundraiser for girls camp this year, our Young Women decided to put on a spaghetti dinner and cake auction.  I underestimated exactly how much work that was going to be.  But we pulled it off, and it was a HUGE success.  We got food donations from some of the local Italian restaurants in town and the girls each made a cake or two to auction off.  Such a fun night, and we raised more than enough to send our girls to camp this year.  Thanks to all of our generous ward members who made it possible!  Here are some pictures from our big night:

This was my first attempt with fondant.  I was pretty happy with how it turned out...

The Auction Table

The Centerpieces

Stomping Grounds

Mark had a conference in Houston for a week, so Brielle and I decided to join him at our old stomping grounds for a little vacation and to see our friends.  We have sure missed them!  While Mark was in meetings all day, Brielle and I went and played!  We hit up the children's museum and then it was play time with friends.  Brie was so happy to see all her old besties (and Mom was too!).

Testing out a car at the children's museum

The old gang together again.  Brielle loves Claire and Noah!

Unfortunately, our trip did have one casualty.  Our new car had a run-in with a post at the gas station.  :(  I was the one driving, and I just misjudged the turn.  Mark was good about it - after he got his share of digs in on the way home!  :)  My response is:  At least we're not afraid to drive it now...

Hoppy Easter!

We spent Easter weekend doing LOTS of yard work.  We pulled all the weeds in our flower beds and mulched like crazy.  It took eight hours, but the end result was worth it:



Brielle got a dress from her Grandma Herbst.  She LOVES it and thinks it looks just like the dress Belle wears in Beauty and the Beast.  She has dubbed it her "Belle" dress, and loves to dress up in it.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the Easter basket.  The Easter Bunny brought lots of candy, a Nemo movie, and a Curious George Easter book.  After church, we attempted some Easter pictures in the back yard.  Not easy with our little cheeser.  She just loves pulling silly faces!