The Happiest Place on Earth

The week after graduation we made a quick, last-minute trip to Disneyland to celebrate and meet Raegan's current favorite person, Minnie Mouse. We really wanted to take a final trip as a family of three and take advantage of only living four hours away from the happiest place on earth before we had to move. We're very happy we decided to go. We had a lot of fun.

FYI - Derek and I went on our honeymoon to Disneyland 6 years ago. Here are some pictures for comparison:

What do you think? Derek looks older for sure, which is definitely a good thing. I don't want all his patients first question to be, "How old are you?" My comparison is a little more difficult being pregnant and all.

Here's a video of the trips highlight. Raegan loved meeting Minnie Mouse. She especially loved playing with her nose and cried on cue when we had to leave. These 2 minutes made the entire trip worth it. Too bad she probably won't remember it, but that's why we got it on video!

This photo is from dinner our first night. Raegan had ketchup that she sucked off her french fries.

On our way back to the hotel she was distracted by this mural. She just stood here for 5 minutes talking to Mickey. Needless to say, she did not understand why we were there. Raegan loved the hot tub once she actually got in (which took 15 minutes).

Disneyland Day 1: When we woke up it was pouring. When we arrived at the park it was still pouring. Luckily it stopped after only an hour or two and the weather was beautiful for the rest of our trip. Our first stop was to see Disney Junior Live at California Adventure Park. Raegan loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. This is here watching intently.

Notice all the rain, but we're still all smiles.

On the Mickey Ferris Wheel.

Much needed nap time, while Dad went on the "fun" rides. Luckily we chose and excellent time to go and the lines were never very long.

Mac and cheese for dinner at ESPN Zone.

Family photo-op after watching the Aladdin show. Raegan loved it and sat still the entire time. Day 1 was great. We stayed late to watch the fireworks, but only lasted a few minutes because Raegan hated them. She wouldn't stop crying, so we headed back to our hotel exhausted after a long day.

Disneyland Day 2: Our goal today was to make sure we saw some characters. Luckily we saw Minnie, Goofy, and Pluto and took pictures with them.

Raegan picked up some Minnie Mouse ears when were first arrived at the park. Aren't they adorable?

Did I mention Raegan hated pretty much all the rides. Well, she did and Dumbo was no exception. She screamed the entire time. She did enjoy the railroad rides, It's a Small World, and driving a car with Daddy, but really the rides weren't her thing. I was quite surprisied.

Raegan's two favorite people: Minnie and Mom (sorry Dad!).

Once again Raegan wanted to play with Goofy's nose.

I just love this picture.

Overall, it was a great trip. Can't wait to go back someday.

Dr. Johnson

Well, it's official. Derek is now Dr. Derek Johnson DMD. How great does that sound! Last weekend we celebrated at several graduation festivities with lots of family. It was awesome. Derek told me a couple of weeks ago that dental school was the hardest thing he's ever done (even harder than the mission). I can't believe how fast those 4 years flew by. We're so proud of him and how hard he worked to get where he is. Good job honey!

The first party we went to was the Senior Gala on Wednesday night at the Red Rock. I was excited because I got to get all dressed up for the occasion (we're talking hair cut and color, new dress, shoes, jewelery, and makeup - the works!). Derek got to buy new shoes. Thanks to Blake and Courtney for babysitting Raegan during our fun night out. The food was great and Derek got presented with an award for Excellent Operative Dentistry. The high heels were a little much for this 7 1/2 month pregnant lady by the end of the night, but it was way fun.

Friday we had our family (Lyle, Lori, Ali, Emily, Mont, Elaine, Blake and Courtney) in town for the convocation (graduation ceremony only for the dental school). This ceremony was very personal and the best of the weekend. The faculty member who spoke was very funny. However, the lighting was terrible for my camera so this is the best shot I could get.

After the ceremony we all went to Lucille's BBQ to celebrate. The food was great. Oh yeah, and I surprised Derek with an iPad for a graduation present. Needless to say he was very surprised and can now be found playing angry birds quite often.

Saturday was graduation for all of UNLV at the T&M. It was cool that they got to sit in the front, but otherwise very typical. Lyle, Lori, and I may have left before it was even over.

It was a great weekend. Thanks to everyone for coming to share it with us. We decided we needed to celebrate a little more so on Monday we went to Disneyland!

Raegan update

What can we say Raegan? She is growing so fast and becoming such a cute little girl. She has such a fun personality. She makes us laugh every day with something she does or attempts to say. She is constantly chattering, but nothing she says makes any sense. She knows several words like Momma, Dadda, baby, bee, mine, ducky, doggy, and Minnie. She also uses sign language to say please and thank you. These pictures speak for themselves about how funny she is.

She got into the marker and drew a Hitler mustache.

Playing with Mommy's lipstick.

Coloring Easter eggs with Dad. All She wanted to do was color each egg with the green dye. Not only did she want to dye the eggs with the green coloring, but she also wanted to drink it. Eating ice cream from Harmon Junction.

Getting into mischief with Coral. These two are a lot alike.

Making funny hairdos in the bath.

Raegan's Photo Shoot

In February my good friend Brianne (who I played volleyball with) was in town for a photography convention. She stayed with us for one night and I just couldn't let a professional photographer stop by without getting her to take some photos of Raegan. We didn't have a place picked out and the weather was windy and cold, but because Raegan is so cute (and Bri is really patient) we got some good pics. Raegan wasn't very cooperative and almost all the photos were "action" photos. Eventually my mom and I had to leave Raegan alone with Bri because we were too distracting. I highly recommend Brianne as a photographer. He company is Brianne Hall Imagery and she lives in Pocatello, ID. Here is a link to her website: http://www.briannehallimagery.com/

Here are our favorite pictures. The following facebook link shows more photos from the shoot. http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=300156&id=31740234559 Also, Brianne is offering us a FREE PHOTO if we can get at least 25 people to comment on Raegan's page on her blog by Saturday. Please click on this link and leave a comment if you can. We would really appreciate it. http://www.briannehallimagery.com/blog/?p=751

A Love Hate Relationship

I currently have a love hate relationship with these people.

Yesterday I HATED them. Today, they're OK.

Raegan on the other hand LOVES them more than anything, especially Minnie.

I've come to the conclusion that our life quite literally revolves around Minnie Mouse. To say Raegan has an obsession is an understatement. She carries her Minnie Mouse with her everywhere (can you say dirty) and constantly wants to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. "Minnie" is the word she says most often. Every time we change her diaper she gets excited because they have a picture of Minnie and Mickey on them. Sometimes this is a great thing. She'll sit and watch the show and allow me to get things done. While Derek and I watched General Conference Raegan sat on our bed and watch MMC for hours. Last week we went to Applebees for dessert. Raegan spotted a picture of Minnie and Mickey on the wall and stared at them the entire time we were there, pointing and yelling (loudly) "Minnie" for everyone to hear. At the time it was very cute. However, her ability to spot Mickey and Minnie has led to my change of heart.

Lately Minnie has resulted in meltdown after meltdown. These are only of few of many. Example #1: Yesterday we went to the grocery store to pick out a card for Grandma Adams' birthday. Note to self: never take her there again. Do you have any idea how many cards have Mickey or Minnie on them. She proceeded to scream (no joke) and point at every card. I let her out hoping she would be content looking at them, but no. She started grabbing all the cards she could find and she ended up sitting in the cart with 20 of them while I make a quick getaway to a different aisle.

Now we literally have a meltdown every time we go to the store, be it Target, Walmart, Smith's, or Costco. She spots them everywhere. On books, or balloons, or clothing. At Costco she spotted the Mickey Mouse chicken nuggets so once it was time to buy new ones we caved. Yesterday while I was making lunch I took the nuggets out of the freezer. Well Raegan saw them and refused to stop crying until she could hold them. So this is how she ate lunch.

Well I feel better now after having vented my frustrations. But I'm sure there are worse problems to have.