Our Family Is Complete

Look who finally made their appearance at the castle house to make our family complete--Abe, Klarissa and Newland. It was so good to see them!

They got to the house right after we returned from going to church in the Disneyland Ward as one member of the bishopric called it because they are the ward that has Disneyland in their boundaries.

Dallas and Rebecca took their family to the LDS visitors' center in San Diego, the Mormon Battalion Historic Site, and they stopped at a beach to watch some seals.

It was blue day. We had gotten matching t-shirts for all 22 members of our family to wear each day. This design has our family cheer making up the Mickey ears: "We are the best. We stand the test. In us you trust, the family Thomas." The bottom part of the head says: "THOMAS FAMILY REUNION 2013."

Sarah's family and Ben did the morning posing in front of the castle for their picture with their matching t-shirts.

Jacob's family, Abe's family and Glen and I did our posing as well.

Our first ride of the day--the tram ride from the parking lot. 

Disneyland was all decked out in Halloween decor.

 It wasn't long before we hooked up with Sarah who was trying to get Carson to sleep.

Ahhhh... Success! For both Carson and Newland.

When he woke up, we had a ride Newland would be able to go on.

Klarissa bought Newland some Mickey ears.

Perfect headgear for posing in front of the castle.

 We got in on some of the castle posing as well.

Then who to our wondering eyes should appear but the fairy godmother--the very one who sprinkled fairy dust on my side of the bed where I slept every night.

We had her all to ourselves on that secluded sidewalk that dead-ended. Newland was not immediately as happy as I was to have her in such close proximity to us.

No question about it--Newland loved the frozen lemonade treat Abe was sharing with him and I loved the frozen treat as well! It was a hot day at Disneyland.

Cheese balls were a popular treat the kids took for snacks every day.

Glen had bought a huge container of them and a popcorn popper for the grandkids to have popcorn and cheese balls for snacks and he ended up going back for another barrel of cheese balls because they were eaten so quickly. The popcorn popper was a dud because half of the kernels in each batch never popped. 

We ate at a delicious all-you-can-eat BBQ chicken and ribs, corn-on-the-cob, coleslaw, beans and cornbread meal that was so tasty.

Jacob's family found us after we finished our meal and there was a perfect spot for us to get a group picture taken.

Jack-o-lantern Mickey was all lit up when we made our way out of the park.

Our last ride for the evening--the tram ride back to the parking lot.

 Back at the house we were chilling and getting the kids into p.j.'s.

Such darling children who needed their sleep for another big day the next day.

Belle's Castle House

Jacob gets all the credit for our family trip to Disneyland. And I mean it was a family trip. The whole family was there. Some for some of the time. Most for all of the time. Jacob titled it the "first annual Thomas family reunion."

Once we figured out all of the kids were planning to go, I got busy finding a house to rent so we could all stay together. Success! And it was a good one, too! The kids loved pushing the numbers of the code to open the front door.

Right inside the door was a note welcoming us to Belle's Castle house.

There were beautiful murals all throughout the house and a spiral staircase leading to the second floor.

There was a huge master bedroom and bathroom with a gigantic walk-in closet where Jacob's family slept. Natalie and Emma got the closet.

Dallas, Rebecca and Spencer had one bedroom right next to the upstairs mid-floor bathroom with Brooke and Caroline across the hall from them on the other side of the bathroom in the Peter Pan room.

Glen and I were on the other end of the upstairs in the princess room.

Notice the fairy godmother on the wall sprinkling her fairy dust right over the place on the bed where I slept.

There was a bathroom for the upstairs which had a sink and a vanity across from it outside the bathroom which worked out perfectly for all of us to have enough room to get ready in the mornings.

Ben slept in the man cave room on a mattress between the couch and the pool table.

All the kids loved playing in the little toy room with the Toy Story mural on the wall.

This is the huge master bedroom on the main floor which Sarah's family slept in that had another big walk-in closet for Carson to sleep in.

 This is the half bath on the main floor.

It is right next to the laundry room.

This is the front bedroom on the main floor where Abe, Klarissa and Newland slept.

There is a huge living room where the men liked to watch t.v. and the little kids liked to play cars on the rug.

The big, beautiful kitchen where we did a lot of cooking breakfasts and dinners and fixing sack lunches for our day excursions.

The house had a playground in the backyard.

Glen and Jeff went off to a baseball game. Jeff loves the Dodgers and Glen was happy to obligingly go with Jeff when they found out the Dodgers were in town.

The rest of the group ate pizza and went swimming in the backyard pool.

Lifeguard on duty. Wait! Isn't he on the wrong side of the fence?

The kids had been so anxious for us to open up the gate and let them go inside the pool.

 Brooke was ready--goggles, swim ring and all.

 At the end we all ended up in the hot tub, which wasn't really all that hot, but was warmer than the pool water. Emma's goal was to get me in the swimming pool. Here's picture proof for her.

I consider our first half day in Anaheim a huge success. Everyone loved the house and we were all happy to be together and were anticipating Abe's arrival on the scene to make our family complete. 

Quotes of the Week

"Too many people today are so busy trying to give their children what they didn't have that they don't take the time to give them what they did have."
--Unknown

"Don't confuse activity with productivity."
--W. W. Lusher Jr.

"Friendship is like a checking account and only works if you continue to make deposits."
--Anonymous

Quotes of the Week

"Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intentions, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution."
--Willa A. Foster

"The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it."
--Theodore Roosevelt

"Don't be content with being average.  Average is as close to the bottom as it is to the top."
--Unknown