Went To Disneyland

We went to Disneyland last night. Our passes are no longer blocked out from the holidays. But they're back to their off-season operating schedule, which means Ca. Adv. closes at 6pm, and D-land at 8pm. So even though it's usually only a couple hours that we get to be there, it's still fun.

Anna asked Duncan what rides we should go on, and he said he wanted to go to Toon Town. Liam thought that was a good idea too, so we took the long walk to the far end of the park to spend some time in Toon Town. We went on the roller coaster, played in Goofy's play area, and went on the Roger Rabbit ride. We were there till about 7:30pm and then decided to go on the Buzz Lightyear ride. After the walk there, the wait in line, and the ride, it was already pretty much 8pm, so we headed back to the car.

The kids had a great time because they were the ones deciding where we went, and that was fine by us.

Oh and by the way, it was also our first time going to Disneyland with our new smaller van, and everything fit just fine! The double stroller can fit standing up in the back (it does push a tiny bit against the back seat, but only barely), but I laid it down. We also had our fleece blankets, pajamas, and jackets back there too. And because we're a little more compact in there, Anna can pass items directly to the back with both hers and the boys' reach, which is really nice. We recently clocked the gas mileage at about 18 miles per gallon, and that was with mountain driving. But I guess with all the convenience that a mini van provides, it's not for everyone... right Sara? Thanks again.

But even with all of that... there's one more story...

We get to the Disneyland parking lot, we're unloading the kids, and loading the stroller. Anna helps the kids get their sweatshirts on, and suddenly looks at me worried... "Did you grab my sweatshirt?" she says, slight panic in her tone. I reminded her that she was wearing hers when she got home, so I couldn't have packed it. "I'm pretty sure I forgot it. I'll just wrap a blanket around me." I tell her she can wear mine. I'll be fine. She is glad I am letting her wear it, and says she's sorry. We spend our time at Disneyland. I am handling the cold just fine, but make no mistake, it's still cold. We're back at the van, we're getting the kids ready for the drive home, and I'm unloading the stroller. On the floor in front of the passenger side front seat is a black wad... looks suspiciously like a wadded up sweatshirt. I pick it up... and lo and behold, it's Anna's sweatshirt. I show it to Anna. She smiles an "uh-oh" look. "Where was it?" I explain that it was right at her feet the whole drive there, she would have been close enough to touch it when she was telling me she thought she forgot it, etc. All I could do was shake my head as she laughingly tells me she's sorry.



Oh yeah, well...



Hey look everybody, it's a picture of Anna...






Oh yes... I just did that.

Snow Day

Last week, on the 30th of Dec., we went up to the McAlister family cabin, in Wrightwood, for a snow day. All those rainy days we had around Christmas were the same days it was snowing in the mountains. But by the 30th, the roads were dry and the snow was still thick.

The cabin is just around the corner from the Mountain High ski resort, so traffic getting in was really thick. But there's nothing you can do but be patient. The kids had a tougher time being patient when they can see snow, but we're not stopping to play in it.

Once we got to the cabin, (I think it was about 11am) there were some people playing in the snow in the entry way to the driveway. Not that we can drive on the drive way, it's covered in snow, but it made it a little awkward.

Anna's dad came out to meet us at the street with a toboggan to pull the kids on, over to the cabin. It's about a 40 yard walk. The trick was to walk in the previously made holes from someone else's steps, so you didn't sink in the 12 or so inches you would have otherwise with each step.

Once inside the cabin, Anna's mom was setting all the kids up with snow gear for playing in the snow. Snow bib pants, jackets, gloves, boots and even hats if they needed them. They have a bunch of all that stuff for snow days at the cabin for the grandkids. And we are glad they do.

Once the kids were set up to play in the snow, they were out the door. Grandpa showed them where they could slide down, and that's pretty much what they did for hours. They have a two person snow boogie-board that's super light, and it became Liam's favorite. He was on that thing for most of the day. Eventually everyone had a turn or two inside, for lunch, or the bathroom, or warm up, etc., but Liam did those things the least; to the amazement of everyone. We also worked on a snow fort, threw snow balls at each other, built snowmen, and all that other fun snow stuff.

Anna's parents had to head back to Pasadena for the evening, so they left before we did. At about 4:30-ish we made the boys come in the cabin. We ate some of the dinner we brought, watched Wall-E, and warmed by the fire, before loading up to go home. I think we left at around 7:30pm.

It was a really fun day. I think we ended up taking over 60 pictures that day, maxing out all of our memory chips. Speaking of pictures, here are some from that day...

Good times.

Christmas Morning Pics

This Christmas we had a pretty busy family schedule from both sides, so Anna and I wrapped all the presents earlier than years previous. That meant that Christmas Eve night, we actually got to bed at a pretty decent time. That made getting up at 7am a lot easier.

Here's what it looked like after Santa visited us.





After all the "Holy Cow!"s, the kids sat for a quick picture before we tore into our presents.


This was the first year we took the kids shopping for presents for their siblings. We took them shopping at places like the Dollar Tree, 99 cent store, etc. We did our best to explain that Christmas was about giving to others more than it was about what we get from others. The kids were very receptive to that idea, and had fun choosing what they thought their brother or sister would really like. In fact, during our McAlister Christmas adult white elephant gift exchange, there was a mention of "grabbing" a present, and Liam was there and said, "Christmas is about giving, not grabbing!" He was very serious when he said it too. It got a chuckle out of all who heard it.

Anyway, back to our Christmas morning; Everyone took turns opening presents, and we all watched as they were opened. Christmas morning present opening expressions are the BEST! Everything the kids opened was met with wide eyes, and entusiasm. This year there were quite a few more "for everyone" presents than the past, and the kids did a great job making sure everyone got a tear on the wrapping paper before it was completely torn off.

Here are some of the aftermath pictures...

We didn't rush through our present opening. I think we opened everything in a little under two hours. That left us time to get dressed and ready to take family pictures that morning in El Monte without being horribly late.

We spent the rest of the day in El Monte at the Foutz compound. Apparently we didn't take any pictures, though I know there were pictures being taken. I'll have to track those down from those people. (Kristi)

We had a wonderful Christmas. It was extended by having McAlister-Christmas Christmas Eve, then extended Foutz family that night. Then Christmas morning at our house, then the Foutz compound the rest of that day, and Friday. Then some family at our house Saturday evening, and then another evening at the compound Sunday.

It was very fun to have my whole family around and in from New Mexico, Arizona x 2, and Utah.

On Pause

Today as I continued to convert my CDs to mp3 format and uploading them to my itunes library, I got a computer prompt that I was low on memory space. So now I'm looking into getting an external hard drive to hold all the music/media files.

Or,

my computer actually has a second hard drive with about 58 available GB of space, so I might be able to move my files over there. But there's a chance I could get pretty close to maxing that out as well. In which case, I would then need to move to an external HD. So I'm thinking I might as well just get an external HD.

My iPod is 120GB size.


I wish I could just upload the music onto the iPod directly without having to use a managing program, then I wouldn't need anything extra, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't work that way. If you know differently, please let me know.

btw, as it stands, I'm up to a little over 1000 songs uploaded.

Cool stuff.

Duncan's Birthday Stuff

Duncan's birthday party was Dec. 20th at a park in San Bernardino. It is a nice park with plenty of room to play.

Duncan's birthday cake was actually 4 cakes (all wheat and dairy free), in the shape of various balls. Anna did a great job with them as usual. Duncan actually wrote his own name on the bowling ball cake.

We held the party in the afternoon, but this day was particularly chilly. It felt like the first really cold day of December. We were not prepared for the cold weather, so none of our kids had jackets. They didn't seem to mind while they played on the playground, but once we were doing cake and presents, they got a little cold. Luckily, others that came to the party were better prepared for the weather, and shared some extra jackets.

Cake and presents time. We had ice cream too, but it was too cold for anyone to enjoy it.

Duncan had a really fun time at the park with those that came to his party.

Then on Duncan's actual birthday, the 22nd, we went to Red Robin for his birthday dinner. Jason and Kristi were driving into So. Cal. that afternoon from AZ, so they joined us. Red Robin is the kids' favorite restaurant.

One of the nice things about Red Robin, is their bottomless fries. So after the kids have picked at their grilled chicken or hamburger patties, they'll usually eat a bunch of fries. The kids meals also come with a plastic cup you can take home, so the kids like that too.

Duncan was not shy about telling our server that it was his birthday, and because we mentioned he had a dairy allergy, they gave him a nerf type football while they sang their birthday song to him. We were not expecting anything other than the singing, so that was very cool.

At home we cut into the bowling ball cake after a little happy birthday singing and candle blowing. Duncan was insistent on making a wish first though.

It was a fun birthday weekend for Duncan. Now that he's 7, we're looking forward to the fun of Duncan preparing to be baptised next December/January; And so is he.

Monday Music

The day after Christmas, KOST stops it's Christmas music. That was a pretty clear indication that Christmas was over and done.

I even got a cd of Christmas music for Christmas that I didn't listen to before Anna packed up all our Christmas stuff.

That means we're all back to regular music again at my house.

Also, for Christmas, I got an iPod classic. Very cool.

I'm in the process of loading my CDs on it. I haven't kept track of how many CDs I've put on it since for some of them, I'm only putting the songs I like instead of the whole thing. But so far I have about 620 songs, and I've only just begun. But it's been pretty fun so far putting them on the iPod, so I'm eager to keep going.

So, today's music is inspired by my iPod loading...

Duran Duran "Ordinary World"



Green Day "Walking Contradiction"



And one song actually inspired by playing Rock Band 2 at my brother Kyle's house recently...


Lush "De Luxe"

Friday Flashback 1.2.09

Today's flashback photo is of Angus.

It was 3 years ago on Dec. 31, that Angus died. Anna and I are not the fanatical type of pet owners, but to put it in perspective; We had Angus longer than we've had kids.

We got Angus when he was 6 weeks old and we had only been married for about 6 months. He was 9 1/2 years old when he died. We had him for over 9 years. Duncan just turned 7.

We still miss Angus, and smile when we see his photos and appearances in home videos.