Disneyland!!!

So, for Memorial Day Weekend we flew to California. Jason's dad got called as bishop in the Singles Ward in their stake, so we wanted to be there for his setting apart. We also got to spend some time at Disneyland for my first time and have lots of fun just relaxing and spending time with family.

We woke up at 4 A.M. MDT on Friday morning to get to the airport in time to fly to CA. We got to CA pretty early as well then headed straight to Disneyland. Jason's mom dropped us off and we spent the morning going on rides and having fun. Star Tours was my very first ride and it did not disappoint. It was a lot of fun. Some of my other favorites were Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, and Splash Mountain. Jason's mom joined us after lunch and we did the required Tea Cups ride which actually turned out to be a lot of fun. I think we were spinning it by hand the entire time which made us stumble off the ride very dizzy at the end. We met up with Jason's dad shortly thereafter and headed to California Adventure.

First picture at Disneyland!

Jason loved these robots in Star Tours

Jason told me "This is the closest you'll ever get to having a CA driver's license"

Autopia!!!

Self portrait

Fantasy Land

Jungle Cruise

Splash Mountain

Pirates!

Trying on Captain Sparrow's hat. It looks better on him. :)

French quarter. New Orleans.

Trying to pull the sword from the stone.

Tea cups!

So excited for California Screamin'!

At California Adventure we walked around for a bit looking at the different sites and then Jason's parents stood in line at the Toy Story Midway Mania ride while Jason and I went to ride California Screamin'. The line was long, but the ride was worth the wait. I haven't been on a roller coaster that intense for a loooong time. You know the kind where you get that tingly feeling in your stomach because you are going so fast and so high? It was awesome. We joined Jason's parents in line for the Toy Story ride and it was lots of fun. I even beat Jason in points on one of the games. For dinner we ate at Ariel's Grotto. Very good food. They had this delicious cheese that made me miss France. We then went to save our spots for the World of Color show that started at 9. Jason's dad insisted on being in the very front, right against the railing, and a few feet from the water. They were great front-row seats and it was a beautiful show, but we were all pretty wet and cold by the end. The show was definitely worth it though. Jason took a couple videos of it, hopefully they turned out okay because I'm posting some of them on here for your viewing pleasure. We went on one last ride, Soarin' over California, before splitting up. Jason's parents headed home and we headed back to Disneyland for one more ride, Buzz Lightyear. It was fun, but we were pretty worn out and cold after that so we headed home and went straight to bed.

Toy Story Midway Mania. Sweet 3D glasses huh?

We didn't get to ride on the Mickey Ferris Wheel, but we
watched the lights on it for an hour while waiting for World of Color.

This was the dessert bar at Ariel's Grotto. Delicious.

Pretty lights.

Kate in a coin ride car. Sadly it didn't work.

Saturday, we gladly slept in until 8ish trying to recover from our 20-hour day the day before. We went to the cemetery where Jason's grandparents and other relatives are buried. It was neat to see the volunteers putting all the flags and crosses up. Jason's sister and brother-in-law joined us after that and us girls went to a bridal shower (a cousin's fiancée who is getting married in July). It was enjoyable and I got to be swathed in toilet paper in the attempt to create some form of wedding dress. It was pretty funny. We met up with everyone else at "The Block" afterwards for a delicious sea food dinner.

Jane's ride worked. Too bad I can't figure out how to rotate this picture though.

Sunday was a nice relaxing day. We went to Jason's parents' ward in the morning and then after a quick lunch at home we headed back to the church for the Singles' Ward where Jason's dad was sustained as bishop and gave a very nice testimony. We also attended the setting apart just after Sacrament Meeting. It was all very nice. We had family dinner afterwards and had fun visiting with everyone.

In line for the Peter Pan ride

On Monday, we woke up early and headed off to Disneyland to go on the rides we missed on Friday. We went on the Peter Pan ride, Snow White, Pinocchio, It's a Small World, etc. Then we went to California Adventure and got our fast passes for Tower of Terror before we walked around and went on Mickey's Silly Symphony (the swings ride). Our time eventually came for Tower of Terror and when we finally got loaded into our seats in the elevator shaft, our elevator conductor guy told us that there was a malfunction with that shaft so we had to eventually be loaded into the other elevator. While he was figuring things out for us, he put Jason in charge. One guy complained that he hadn't voted for Jason and we all had a good laugh when Jason reported him to the elevator conductor. :) We eventually did get to go on the ride and it was lots of fun. The best part is that you don't know when you are going to drop; the anticipation definitely adds to the excitement. We only stayed until about 2 PM because it was just getting crazy busy.

Had to go on Space Mountain one more time.  

Class of 2012! (I graduate in August)

This is us with the optical illusion street behind us that you can't see very well.

Tower of Terror! 

After we got back to the house, we all collapsed onto couches and took a nap. That evening we dropped by the Singles' Ward FHE just to see some of Jason's friends and see how his parents were enjoying their first Singles FHE. After that we were able to go to the Williamsons' house and spend some time with Jason's good friend, Ryan and his wife D.J. We also met their little boy, Owen. While we were there, we caught the end of the Dodger's game and it was fun to see how much they enjoy baseball. I didn't grow up watching or playing baseball or softball, so it's been something fun for me to see. We also watched the Bachelorette episode and had fun making fun of the funny things that always happen on that show.

Well, school and work awaited us, so we had to fly home Tuesday morning and return to real life. It was a very enjoyable and relaxing vacation and we're so grateful to Jason's parents for letting us stay with them and showing us such a good time and to other family and friends we were able to spend time with.

P.S. 3 years ago today I entered the MTC. So did Jason's brother, Brian, but I obviously didn't know him back then. :) Crazy how fast time goes by.