A week after school was back in session, we took another holiday and headed to California to cash in on our Christmas trip to Disneyland! We were beyond excited to experience Disneyland for the first time as a family (and see our Wilson family!!!) and even planned a fun road trip to get us out there.
We left Round Rock at 3pm right after Thad got home from school and drove six hours to Fort Stockton in west Texas. Unfortunately six hours does NOT get you out of Texas very easily, but it was the perfect head start we needed.
Basketball was on when we arrived so we had to finish the game, of course.
We stay in Marriott hotels whenever we can because it guarantees a nice room and Texas shaped waffles when in Texas!
We got back on the road and saw a side of Texas I didn't know existed...
Mountains!
They were small, but I was still impressed that west Texas had something to offer!
We took a little detour when we hit Las Cruces, NM and headed north east to White Sands National Park. Our good friends, the Hatches, told us all about it and hooked us up with sleds and said we wouldn't regret the detour.
We checked out the visitor's center before heading to the dunes.
The kids were so excited to get out on the dunes, but we still weren't sure what to expect.
(And it was clearly very, very bright that day!)
We found our dune, claimed our spot and sled down that hill over and over again for more than an hour!
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Go Eve!!
Eve also braved it several times with Dad. Such a big girl!
We had all sorts of races against each other and took a lot of fun video, too!
And before we knew it we had to get back on the road. We could have stayed longer, but knowing what was ahead of us made it a little easier to leave!
We had a little lunch and were on the road again heading west!
We made it to Phoenix, ate some delicious Cafe Rio and hit the hay so we would be all rested up to make it to our final destination the next day.
But before going to bed, the kids wanted to see all the funny video we took at the sand dunes!
We did go to sacrament meeting at the church house right next to the Phoenix Temple on Sunday morning and even though the grounds weren't open, we had fun walking around the outside before church started.
And we were clearly struggling with pictures, so headed to the side for some without the sun blaring in our eyes!
I sure love this forever family of mine and hope stops like these will help them to start and grow their own testimonies of the temple and the important role it plays in our lives.
We enjoyed a wonderful fast and testimony meeting with a nice ward and were finally on our final stretch to California!
Brian is THE BEST DRIVER in all the world. I never drive and it makes me happy.
Eve wasn't the happiest when she woke up for her nap...
Haha! I love her sleep face!
Our final stop before Anaheim was the Redlands Temple, about 45 minutes from our hotel. I am so glad we made this little detour, this area is so incredible! There were big mountains, snow on some of them in the distance, palm trees, orange orchards and beautiful, perfect sunshine. I would live here in a heartbeat! I finally get all the hype about southern California.
And finally, finally, finally we made it to Anaheim!!
Our cousins were all at the parks so we checked in to our hotel, got ready to swim and waited to see the Wilsons.
Yay for Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Kent!!
The kids were so excited when it was time for dinner so we could see all of our favorite people!
After dinner we headed to Grandma and Grandpa's room to hang with the Henrie kids because we knew we wouldn't have another chance to spend down time with them because they were leaving on Wednesday. The kids had fun and we enjoyed catching up!
I'm always so glad cousins can pick up right where they left off!
Whew.
And that was just the road trip! Can't wait to post all about our days at the parks!
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