Surprise...Disneyland!

 For fall break we surprised the kids with a trip to Disneyland and California Adventure! We have been planning the trip with Israel and Kati for a few months, so it was so fun when we met for breakfast and told the kids we were leaving right then for California!

 The kids all had so much fun together and being there together made it even better!

 Cadence loves Eli and Eli loves Cadence. They are so cute together :)

 California Adventure

 Crazy kids. Had to entertain themselves somehow waiting in the long lines!

The kids did really great even while waiting in the lines but I was so tired of being hung on, or toes stepped on, or sitting on my feet, or even hands being held always. Although I love the affection...I was done being touched. The picture below captures the moments of too much touching! :)

 We also spent a day at Newport Beach. It was a cloudy day and pretty cold but still fun being at the ocean.

 We took a little boat ride to Balboa Island...only to be met with a down pour of rain. So we came back over right away since we didn't know when the rain would let up...we were soaked and huddled up under 1 beach towel. Even though we were cold, it was a adventure!

Happy Birthday Dylan!

 One week later and it's Dylan's 9th Birthday!

His day involved me bringing popsicle treats to his class, which the kids were all super excited about.

 I had to snap the above picture...I've always known that Dylan is tall for his age. But when they were all standing together it really puts it in perspective!

 Dylan choose for his birthday day to go to GameWorks for some video game time and then he wanted to eat at the food court at the mall (he is so fancy! :)).

 And then on Saturday he had all his friends over for a huge nerf and water balloon battle!  Mark and Dylan set up forts and we let him "graffiti" them and everything. He was so excited for his party to start that he woke up at 4:20...way too early!

 The boys all had a great time!

We had a pizza lunch and Dylan wanted a sundae dessert instead of cake. 

(love the fake mustache for the birthday candle blow out :))

 And gift time!

Such a great day of enjoying Dylan. He is becoming such a man...full of leadership, independence, fun and a soft heart. Love him so much!

Happy Birthday Cadence!

 We celebrated on the day of Cadence's birthday with a dinner of her choosing to Peter Piper Pizza. The kids all had a great time winning a bunch of tickets and Cadence's choice was these silly glasses. Which she happily made crazy eyes while wearing, such a crazy girl!

 And then we celebrated over the weekend with a birthday party at Skypark Trampoline Park. She had a bunch of friends come and they had a great time bouncing around. It was fun to see her interact with some of her new friends at school.

 The party was during nap time for Isabelle...and this is how she spent part of the party. Snuggled up in the loving arms of Grandma B.

 After the party with all the friends we invited the family and our adopted family the Whittemores over for a pizza dinner and some more gift opening.

Thankful for this last year of seeing Cadence grow into a little lady. She has such a sweet, creative, tender heart. Can't wait to see even more of her personality this next year.