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Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Christmas at the HAPPIEST place on earth

Christmas was amazing this year! We got to go with my family to Disneyland, California adventures, Universal Studios, and Sea World! The trip started on the Saturday before Christmas when we went to Utah for the whole Carter family Christmas. On the way there we hit traffic because of a thirty something car pile up... it took a lot longer to get to my grandpa and grandma's house. We should have known it would be like that the whole way.... But anyways we finally got to Utah in time for dinner! Then it was time for the party. My Grandma put together the cutest thing for every single aunt, uncle, grandkid, and great grandkid. She had everyone take a brown paper bag while we listened to "My favorite things" from the Sound of Music. Then when the song was over she started handing us little things to put in our bags that were her and my grandpa's favorite things. We got her famous cookies, a big balloon to remind us of the Carter Family Games, a toy boat, and a whole bunch more little things, and my grandpa gave every grandkid a framed leaf from his huge maple tree with a poem on it. At the end of the presents they handed everyone t-shirts that say "I am one of Grandpa and Grandma Carters greatest blessings" the whole thing was so sweet it made me get tears in my eyes. I love my grandparents and am so lucky to be one of the grandkids!

This is my Fabulous Carter Family in our shirts minus the missionary in Holland, but I am sure when he gets home he will have a shirt!

We went to bed that night, and woke up to be on the road at 6:30! The drive took forever, because we hit traffic right outside of Vegas at the time that everyone else in California decided to go home! The twins did very good and everyone was just excited to get there so we all just had to wait patiently until we finally made it to Jolene's house that night! Everyone was just so happy to get out of the car that we all ran in looking homeless! She had dinner for us, and then everyone just relaxed! The guys played pool, and then saw Mark's Porche so Hayden and Brek got to go for rides.... When they came back they all had big smiles on there faces, and when we asked how fast they went the only answer we got was 80, no one knows how fast they really went. Then Brek decided that he wanted one, and talked about it until we went to bed. Maybe someday he can get one! haha


playin pool

My dad playin pool

Brek getting out of his new favorite car... the picture didn't turn out very good it was dark.

Monday was the first day of our adventures at Universal Studios! It was very rainy that day and I didn't wear any socks so I was freezing!! The big thing going on there were giant blow up swimming pools full of snow, it had a huge sign over it that said come play with REAL SNOW! We thought it was so funny because we had just got a call from our neighbor back home saying we had three feet of snow in our driveway. People were all over the "real snow" taking pictures and everything like they had never seen snow in their lives! People had pulled off the side of the freeway just outside of Vegas too because there was maybe an inch of snow probably not even that, but everyone had their cameras out then too! Anyways the first ride we went on was the Shrek ride! It was perfect because my family calls us Shrek and Fiona, it was a cool 4D movie that moved your seats. We went on the tour and tv shows were being filmed while we were on the tram so that was exciting! The next two rides were the best, because not only were they fun, but the twins were so terrified they didn't know what to do! The first was Jurassic Park, the big drop off is huge it takes my breath away when I scream. When we got to the point we were about to drop Issy had the look of pure terror on her face! We don't think she new if she was supposed to cry,scream, or pass out! The picture of it was hilarious! Her little face with eyes the size of golf balls! Then was Brek's favorite ride the whole day was the Mummy. It was a very dark ride with a bunch of scary things in it, but it was a awesome roller coaster. when we got off both twins were balling their little eyes out! Hayden said that the whole ride Gabi was screaming "I'm going to die!" they HATED that ride! Then it was Gabi's picture was the best in that ride, her head was thrown clear back, mouth wide open we could see all her teeth with the look of looking like she was dying! haha They would not go on that ride again if we payed them, but lucky for us there were no lines so we went in shifts. It was a fun day, and by the time we got back to Jolene's we all pretty much collapsed!

Walking into the park with my cute husband


Me and my sisters being the Gargoyles above us


The boys at actual seats of the dodger stadium

Me and Brek at Shreks castle

Gabi after the mummy ride

this was a real air plane that they tore apart for a movie set


Shrek and Fiona

The Grinch!
Then after Universal Studios Hayden wanted to go to Nike town to see if he could get his new shoes, so we ended up going to the big mall in LA where all of the movie stars have their names on the sidewalks. It was FREEZING and the mall was outside! But we thought it was way cool anyways! We took pictures in front of the stars, got to walk on the staircase that they put the red carpet out, and see the theater that they hold the academy awards in! The boys never found Nike Town but the girls found a build a bear that was all Christmased out that was so cute! After shopping we all ran through the shooting fountain to see who could get the least wet!

Nicole Kidman's star (we just picked a random one)

The Olsen twins with the Carter Twins

walking on the red carpet stairs

The theater the Academy Awards are at

The next three days were at Disneyland! The first day was perfect with no lines, except for Indiana Jones. That ride we waited for over an hour and watched over 100 people walked through with fast passes... we were all a little annoyed! But it was a fun day it wasn't very cold, and we got to do basically whatever we wanted. After the Christmas parade we split up while Is and Gab went with my parents and the rest of us went over to California Adventures. That place had even less people and had no lines anywhere! We went on Tower of Terror first, none of us had ever been on it so we didn't really know what to expect... When we got off the ride our stomachs were all going crazy, it even made Brek scream! haha it was great and turned out to be one of my favorite rides! We also got to go on Grizzly Peak twice in a row without even getting off because absolutely no one wanted to get wet except the crazy people from Rexburg where there was three feet of snow, this was warm to us! haha Well pretty much we got soaked, but it was ok because we were going home. We met the twins and my parents and headed out... we went to Denny's across the street and were so starving that we didn't leave one scrap of food left! Then we completely crashed when we hit the pillow! The next day was Christmas Eve and it was a little bit cold that day... so before we left my parents had us all up in their room and they gave us matching hoodies! Those were the best present ever because they got worn everyday for the rest of the trip! Well Christmas Eve at the park started out in California Adventures at the Tower of Terror! It was my moms favorite ride and everyone loved it except for issy, she was scared but there were no lines so she was a good sport and we went again. We were in California Adventure the whole day and one of the other rides we went on was like Wild Mouse at Lagoon, Brek HATED that ride it scared him so bad he still swears that that was the scariest ride in the whole park! We watched the Pixar parade and did some shopping and did everything we waned over there and then had to go home early because Jolene had made us a big dinner and we had to act out the Christmas Story. The story turned out pretty funny I was Mary and Brek was Joseph, I had to ride the "donkey" who was there friend greg and I kept falling off. Luke (Jolene's baby) was baby Jesus and he kept running away, everyone kept laughing and it was just a lot of fun, not exactly the spiritual story you always read! haha but then we all got to open our pajamas! They were monkey butts this year and everyone loved them and thought they were funny!
The next day was Christmas! We went downstairs and Jolene had a stocking for everyone full of fun presents! Then I had another present too. It was a blanket that Brek had made for me that said "Our first Christmas Brek Loves Abbie" It was so cute and I loved it!! Jolene made us a big breakfast and we were off for the last day at the park! It was super rainy that day and I had long pants on... so They got so drenched that I was miserable! So Brek took me back to the car for a little bit to see if we could get them dried off. Then I lucked out because Millie had some skinny jeans in the back so I through those on... well Millie is a whole heck of a lot skinnier than me so they kinda looked like they were painted on but hey at least I was dry! So we were walking back to the park, and I was lookin hott with my black socks my grey and pink shoes, painted on jeans, and a green hoodie! I bet Brek was so proud that I was his wife that day! haha But it was a lot better being dry going through Disneyland! It was a lot more crowded that day but we got fast passes for Indiana Jones, and California Screamin! So we still got to do everything we wanted! The boys got to eat their disgusting turkey legs for dinner and the girls got to go shopping. Then to end the day we watched the fireworks. They were so AMAZING! The theme this year was "Sparkle with Joy" so the Castle was completely lit up, but so was the whole park! The music was so good and at the very end they made it snow with tiny little bubbles! It looked like it was really snowing until you could pop it but it was really cool!

The First day at the Park

Thunder Mountain Railroad

Hayden's Grumpy Hat


Waiting in Line for Indiana Jones





The Christmas Parade!

Gabi Was a little scared that Issy was driving


Denny's and Christmas Krispy Kreme

The Cutest picture ever!




Mr and Mrs Incredible

Just being Bugs...


Grizzly Peak getting Soaked


Monkey Butts!




Christmas Morning!!!

Matching Glasses



SICK!

Tower of Terror!



The End of Happiest Place on Earth....
The next day we were all a little tired but were all packed and ready to head to San Diego at about eight in the morning! We got to Sea World and it was pretty crowded... We still had fun and went to all the shows and the best part was the sun was shining and it was way warm! We walked around and looked at the animals and then split up for the last part of the day. Hayden, Lila, Millie, Me, and Brek all decided to go on the new ride... we watched everyone get off the ride and no one was really that wet, well of course with my luck I got drenched! And to top it off the ride broke done when we were in the middle of it... So we sat in our cart thing freaking out that we were going to fall off but we made it! I was just a little bit soaked and I wanted to go to the hotel and get in the hot tub! Well our Hotel was right in downtown San Diego and it was a way creepy one! So we canceled the reservations, went to the temple parking lot to feel better then found an in-and-out burger for dinner and a nice hotel in a town called Carlsbad of something.... No indoor pool though so I never got to go swimming! haha but we all hung out and watched a movie together. We slept in that morning and headed to Mesquite. The traffic was horrible and we were bumper to bumper for about two and a half hours all because two guys were fixing a pot hole! We were ticked! But finally we made it to the next hotel. This Hotel was a little creepy but not to bad, but when we went to eat it was so smokey the twins were crying because they said it hurt their eyes! haha eating there was an adventure but we made it! The next day we got it the car ready to go home. With a short stop in Utah to say hi to grandparents we were almost there! Then the roads were horrible so that added on an extra hour! But finally Home Sweet Home! When me and Brek got to the swamp we were welcomed with all of the snow shoveled in our stairway to our door. So Brek spent a half hour shoveling that out. But we made it home! Even with the stupid GPS Victoria who got us lost more than she helped us!





Sea World!
It was a great trip and we loved every second of it! Thanks so much for the great Christmas Mom and Dad! We love you!

5 comments:

9 Crazy Carters in the Coop said...

Abs! You did it perfect!!! I love it! I love your pictures and I love your descriptions of what we did! We loved the trip so much and we loved it the most because you and Brek went with us. We love you sooooo much and miss you even more! You are great at blogging!! Don't let it get the best of you ever again, XOXOXOOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Momma Fran said...

You go girl!! I love all the pictures of the "Happiest Couple on Earth" at "the Happiest Place on Earth". Love you, Fran

melanee said...

Abb you did it and I LOVE it! These are the most fun pictures.. i loved everyone of them. You are darling and i love you. and miss you. keep calling anytime cuz it makes my whole day!

Cami said...

I love tower of terror too!!! It looks like you all had so much fun. Thanks for posting pictures. Love you

Danny & Branae Porter said...

Hey that looks like it was a blast! i love all of the pictures! abbie did you cute you're hair...it's super cute i like it! how are things in washington? hope all is well :)