Somewhere Over the Rainbow

My birthday came and went last week. Another year, another celebration in honor of me! This year I enjoyed a great day including lots of well wishes from friends and family, lunch with sisters, a brother, and dad, and just getting to relax with my favorite people:

My three favorite boysAnd my favorite little girl, who, in honor of the day, insisted on trying on my boots.


We did some of the usual things, opening presents (can you tell that many were picked out by the kids) and blowing out candles
My favorite part of the day was going on a walk by the river.
We have had a LOT of rain this year and the river at this point had gotten very high. We were curious to see it up close.

Those bushes in the river? Yeah, they are trees and used to be at the bank of the river.

That bench there? Yeah, last time we were here, you still had to walk past the bench and down a slope and several yards to get to the river.
As of last night, that bench was completely under water.

Joe and Chloe went closer to investigate and are standing just inches above the waters.
Yesterday, that same area looked like this:
On my birthday, our walk ended when we reached this point and found the tunnel had about 6 inches of water in it
This top view shows what that same pathway looked like yesterday.
The parkway, completely covered and the parking lot to the right submerged as well

Although my birthday was a fun day and seeing the river rising was interesting, yesterday became a scary day as the water kept rising and eventually found it's way into neighbors homes. Joe spent the hours before and into his work day working with so many wonderful neighbors and volunteers helping as best he could, and spent the rest of the night in uniform trying to do the same.

Chloe watched Joe go in and out of the house, heard his reports, and saw the emergency vehicles at the end of our street working to help. During one of Joe's last stops home, he asked me to clear our basement out, bringing the computer and any other valuable items upstairs on the chance that we got water too. Immediately I went to work but was stopped by the sound of whimpers and followed them to Chloe who was worried that our house was going to flood and float away.

Sometimes I forget that she listens to our adult conversations and comprehends more than I know. What she gleaned from Joe and my talks caused her great fear. We went outside to talk and show her that so far there was no water near our home yet. We looked up and saw a beautiful rainbow. I reminded Chloe of the story of Noah's Ark and the promise that the rainbow represents. As her tears dried and she stared in awe at the rainbow, I promised her, that even if water got into our house, our family would be safe and that Heavenly Father would take care of us. We went up to get ready for bed and as she said her prayer that night she asked that "our neighbors and our home be kept safe from water and that we would all be okay because of the rainbow."

Although, I wish we didn't have neighbors who had water in their homes and the threat that some of it could reach us, I am always grateful for teaching moments, when I see my children understanding and developing faith in the things we have taught them and they have learned at church. This was a sweet experience on a not so sweet night.

Someday soon I hope this path is clear again to run and spend peacful afternoons on, until then, I hope our homes and neighbors stay safe.

*Special thanks to my friend Jamie, who is not only awesome for having a quote on the cover of Richard Paul Evans new book, but also because she got much better shots of the flooded river yesterday and allowed me to copy some of them! Thanks!

Disneyland, Part Third & Final

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. That is what I thought as we pulled up to beach on our last full day in California. Even though it was March, it was a beautiful, clear, 85 degree day. My kids had never seen the beach before and, having grown up close to one, I couldn't wait for them to see something that I loved as a child and still crave being near as an adult.Our last day in California was pretty relaxing. We spent most of the day at the beach and then hung out in the Downtown Disney area. I love this picture of this car we were parked right near. Chloe LOVED the ocean. She loved the waves, finding shells in the sand, and just being out in the water and sun.

Noah was not quite so in love. After feeling the power of the first wave that hit him, he was much more content in the drier areas of the beach.

Joe and I went to Jamaica on our honeymoon, so he had seen the ocean once before, but this was his first trip to a non tropical ocean. I think he was a bit disappointed that it was so much colder.

That didn't stop him from giving Adam a chance to feel it though.

Perfect day

Here are some random other shots from our trip and then I am done. You don't have to hear about our best family vacation to date anymore, at least until the next one!

Chloe wanted a picture of Rapunzel's tower

Noah having a meltdown from too much excitement and too many late nights

Chloe showing off her yummy treats

Noah showing off his yummy treats

Crazy toon town kiddos

Disneyland, Part Princess

"Do the princesses really live at Disneyland Mom?"

"Which princesses will I see there?"

"Are the princesses really the real princesses?"

"When are we going to Disneyland so I can meet the princesses?!"

These are the type of questions I was hammered with in the days leading up to our trip, and from the get-go, Chloe was on the lookout for the princesses she loves.

We started off just viewing characters from afar. Our cameras were too slow to catch Mickey and Minnie, as well as Goofy and Mary Poppins, but we did catch sight of Woody

Chip & Daleand replicas of Lightning McQueen with Mater (I love Noah lovingly stroking Lightning)Princesses though. "I want to meet the princesses!" We did get to see them from further away dancing in a coronation ceremonyand got a quick wave as they hurried byIn the meantime, Chloe was still happy to meet PlutoSilvermistand Tinkerbell with VidiaFinally it was time to go and actually meet some of the princesses with a lunch at Ariel's Grotto. As we waited our turn to go into the restaurant, Chloe got sight of one of her favorite princesses, Ariel, and watched , excitedly waiting for our turnI am so impressed at how well these characters stay in character at all times. My kids were in heaven. Along with meeting Ariel the also got to meetSnow WhiteCan I tell you that this lunch was worth every penny to watch Chole's face light up as each princess walked into the room. We never got a fantastic picture of her face, but these two do pretty good in conveying the excitement. Even Noah was in awe of them.CinderellaPrincess AuroraBelleAfter lunch, Chloe had still yet to meet Jasmine, Tiana, or her current favorite, Rapunzel. We were able to catch sight of the first two as the walked by and said hello, but the only way to meet Rapunzel in her tower. An hour and a half after Chloe had decided she didn't care how long the wait was, she wanted to meet Rapunzel, she finally got her wish.

For how long the wait was, we actually did get to spend some time with Rapunzel. She asked Chloe if she liked to paint and dance to which Chloe shyly responded yes. She then asked if Chloe liked to sing and again received a nod. "What do you like to sing?" Chloe responded that she liked Justin Bieber. "Who? Will you sing me one of his songs?" Chloe said she would sing in her ear because she was too shy to do so in front of the rest of us. She ran up, sang the chorus of Baby and Rapunzel thanked her for teaching her a Justin Bieber song.

When we got home from our trip a little boy told Chloe that the princesses were not real. She told me that and said, "He will know when he meets them that they are real. I met them and they are my friends now. They ARE real."

Next up and finally, the rest of our trip and a day at the beach.