New Year's Eve at Disneyland 2020...

We were SO excited to check out Galaxy's Edge, the new Star Wars land at Disney. We were at the park waiting in line for the rope drop, and we literally ran to get in line for the Smuggler's Run Ride. I have to say, the buildings and ships and atmosphere there was all so cartoonish and not as we expected at all! I was hoping for an experience that made me feel like I was really on the movie set, but this all felt so fake and representational! And we still ended up waiting for 60 minutes for the ride, which was much better than later on in the day when the wait times reached 250 minutes! But, this ride was the dumbest ride I've ever waited that long for! We just felt like we were in a cheap video game at the Nickelcade! 

It was pretty exciting to spend our very last hours of 2019 at Disneyland with like 50,000 other people! The park was still decorated for Christmas, and it was cool to see It's a Small World and the Haunted Mansion in Christmas style! The weather was still a little bit chilly, but it definitely felt better than Utah! We were able to ride all of our favorite rides with our Max Pass. Thank goodness for those, or we would not have had an enjoyable day as wait times for most rides were beyond 90 minutes!

These kids tried to tell me that they were too old for Toon Town, but here's evidence that they were still having fun there!

So this is the Millennium Falcon...not super impressive in my opinion!

There were dance parties and fireworks all over the place! Blaze really got into dancing for us!

It was a very long day! We started waiting in line for the park at 7am, and didn't make it back to our hotel until 2am! But we will always remember how we rang in 2020!

The Fantasmic show was amazing! A perfect way to celebrate a new decade!

Newport Beach and Downtown Disney...

After a long 10 hour car ride, we stopped at Newport Beach. It was pretty cold still, for me, and it was a little bit rainy. The ocean was very calm, and several people were still out there playing in their bathing suits! They must be from the North Pole or somewhere similar! 

Downtown Disney wasn't too crowded! They had a great cover band that the kids enjoyed listening to, and the Lego store will never be outgrown! I wanted to try some ice cream from the famous "Salt and Straw" shop. We were lucky that there wasn't a huge long line, but I was pretty disappointed after all the hype about this ice cream. They did have some different flavors, but even Cold Stone is WAY tastier, and much less pricey for what you get. 

Perc Christmas Card Photo 2019!

It's pretty difficult to get a decent picture with this many people, especially the kids! Mom and dad ended up using this picture as their Christmas card that they sent out. 

Christmas Morning 2019...

Blaze, of course, always makes the best faces! It's so fun that these guys still get so excited to see what Santa has brought them!

Blaze and Alanna got the Hoverboards they asked for! They were already so skilled at riding them....much better than James and I ! Now they ride all over the house on them and will even try to balance on them while they do chores.

Our vacation announcement was a New Year's Eve trip to CA! James decided at the last minute to take the week after Christmas off, and he wanted to go to Disneyland for the big 2020 celebration!

This funny girl provided on of the highlights of the day! Presley saw James wearing the Santa hat for our picture together, and when we were done she put it on. She asked James to sit on her lap, and then she said "Ho, Ho, Ho, What do you want for Christmas?" It was HILARIOUS! It's is SO much fun to hear Presley talking so much now and find out what's been going on in her mind!

I also got to have a picture with Santa Presley!

Gran hadn't been out of the hospital for too long when Christmas rolled around, so she mostly took it easy down stairs. We brought her a box of Sees Chocolates and visited with her for a while that evening. She told us stories about riding her bike as a kid, friends that she had, and her courtship with Papa! I got it on video!