Baptism and Birthdays

Vilate turned one on June 18th. She was more interested in eating the cake than blowing out the candle!

Vilate got a doll! The first and only girl toy in the house!One week later on June 25th Joseph turned the big 8! He had an awesome transformer party and had tons of fun!

The special part of his day was his Baptism! It was so wonderful! I can't believe he is grown up so much! He had a very neat baptism with both grandparents there, (way to go grandmas on the great talks!) Kaelynn & Royce and kids came, and several friends. Dana performed both the Baptism and Confirmation. What a blessing it is to have the truth in our lives!

Way to go Joseph we are proud of you!

Here is James!

He turned 3 on September 12th! Oh how the terrible two's are not really two's but three's!

Just look at that smile! So cute!And of course James got another puzzle, and went right to work!

Family Reunion

I suppose I should finish updating the rest of our Summer vacation, especially since it is almost fall!


After we went to Disneyland we did enjoy going to Sea World, the San Deigo Zoo, and Universal Studios. It was tons of fun and I would love to share pictures, if I had any! I forgot to bring the camera charger, and so we ran out of juice, and so perserved our memories in our heads....Oh well!

In June we had a Nielsen Family Reunion at Bear Lake. It was tons of fun to see my family, and my kids especially loved being with their cousins!

On the way to my family reunion we stopped in Eagle Mtn. to stay a few days with Jason (Dana's brother) and Andrea and their kids Macy, John, and Laura. This is Vilate and Laura looking cute in the grass!

Mason at Bear Lake!

James!

Ammon, ooooohhh you are buff!

Does that hurt Joseph?

Vilate why are you crying? Emmalee and the twins Addison and Alexia are happy!

Tying for a family photo after exiting the Minnetonka Cave.

Dream Suite Dream

I used to be able to say that I never win anything... well not anymore! While in California adventure park we were checking out the Animation Studio interactive rooms, when I picked a chair to find out which Disney character Mason, James, and I were most like, through an animated picture book. It wasn't a few minutes into the casual converation with the two name-tagged Disney staff that approached me that I began to put two and two together. Yes, I had heard of the "Year of a Million Dreams", ID? No....wait I think I gave my driver's licence to my husband...Here it is. All seven of us were escorted to the front of the park into some offices where we were presented with a video of what we had won. A one night stay in the Disneyland dream suite! We were given the royal treatment and nothing could have topped our first trip to Disneyland! It was truly amazing! On top of getting to sleep above the priates ride inside of Disneyland we were treated to dinner at the Blue Bayou (probably an almost $300 meal, sooooooo good!), We recieved Fast Pass tabs to use any time on all the fast pass rides in both parks, We got to ride in the parade- I was the grand marshal-and yes I got to keep the huge signs that hung from the sides of the car-cool!, After the park closed at ten we got a private tour of the park and, as tradition, we wore the bath robes they laid out on our beds-this was so fun!, In the morning we recieved a character breakfast and loved getting our pictures with several characters! I think the kids especailly loved it! In addition they gave us free hopper passes into the park on Thursday, so we got to stay a whole extra day in Disneyland!

I can't describe the Dream Suite adequetly. It was so amazing and magical! Both bedrooms had a good night kiss button. You could push it only three times between 6 and 12 and each time the room would magically come to life. The bathtub in the master bath had a button and when pushed the lights would dim stars would appear and music would play, and every little while mickey's head would appear in the stars. It was so cool. On certain hours the grandfather clock would strike and different magical themes would fill the room, things would move, music would play, lights would come on, It was sooooo cool! The fireplace, which was always going, would actually give off tiny fireworks every minute or so! On the padio at night the tree had fireflies in it. Our kids loved it, and of course Dana and I were in heaven! I suppose dreams really do come true! It was so glad I was in the right place at the right time. It was an experience we will never forget! So we are Disneyland fans forever, and it will always be a magical place to us!

Just after we accepted the prize. If feel bad but I forgot her name, anyway she is the dream team member who found me, and she is LDS too!

Going to see the dream suite.

Getting the tour.

They had a crystal bowl filled with cool things. It had our name "Carwin" etched on it and the date and dream suite logo.

Ammon in the "boys" room.

Out on the balcony.

Getting ready to leave for the parade.

Now this is what I call a bath!!!!

Vilate being cute!

After the park closed and we came back to get ready for our tour we found this tray of chocolates! Joseph and Ammon were excited!

Hanging out in their room, eating chips and drinking soda.

Here is the goodnight kiss button. Below are pictures from our tour. Boy that tour wore everyone out! So we came back at midnight and put on Cars with the Blueray disc. It didn't last long!

Next morning before breakfast we were the only ones in the park, and we got to see everyone enter at a dead run to get in the lines first! It was funny to watch!

James and Tigger.