The Happiest Place on Earth...

....according to some. I happen to be one of those people that think Disneyland is, in fact, one of the happiest places on earth. Nick and I thought it would be fun to take his boys for a little vacation for a few reasons-

1. They had never been on an airplane and were DYING to
2. Nick said he has been talking about taking them to Disneyland for the last couple years but it never worked out in the past.
3. We felt a little guilty taking a week long trip to Hawaii without them (Not really, but kind of ;)
4. Having some time away from everything would be a good bonding experience/family vacay
5. It's Disneyland... Need I say more?

We booked the trip back in June so needless to say October took ffooorreeeevvveerrrr to get here! I had always wanted to go to Disneyland during October because I love Halloween! My parents joined us, and I am SO glad they did. They were able to get to know the boys better and it made it easier so everyone got to do what they wanted as far as rides go.

Both Logan and Bridger were a little nervous for their first plane ride, but ever since we got off the plane in California all they've wanted to do was take a flight somewhere.

We spent 3 whole days at Disneyland and loved every second of it! We talked Logan into going on a few of the bigger rides (Splash Mountain, Tower of Terror, Matterhorn) but Bridger wasn't having any of them. We did however get them both on Space Mountain - Ummmmm.... I didn't realize how fast/jerky/scary that ride is and during Halloween they change it to "Ghost Galaxy." Nick and I both felt horrible after... I wouldn't be surprised if neither one of the boys ever wanted to go on it again.

  

Toystory-mania - This was more of a favorite for my dad and Nick than anyone else although we all loved it.

 

Carsland was AWESOME!!!! We went on the Radiator Springs Raceway ride a few times! While my mom and Nick went on Tower of Terror, Logan and Bridger talked me into going on the 'Mater' ride in Carsland. I get motion sickness pretty easy so I was a little hesitant to go. Bridger told me "You won't get sick, I promise. I'll hold your hand." He was right. I didn't get sick, the boys and I laughed the WHOLE time and it ended up being my favorite ride as well as the boys.






* Tower of Terror- My favorite ride!!! I think I went on it 4 or 5 times.

* Splash Mountain

* Grizzly River Run- I think this was Logan's favorite ride. We got drenched when we went!!!

* I LOVED the Nightmare Before Christmas Haunted Mansion- LOVED IT!

* Pirates of the Carribean (I think it scared Bridger a little more than he would ever admit to)

Bridger LOVED Toontown. we took him through Mickey's House so he could meet Mickey. SO cute!

What would California be without a dip in the pool?







California Screamin'




 
I don't have any pictures of this, but on Sunday AND Monday we went to Ruby's Diner. Ruby's is one of my favorite places to eat and Nick and boys loved it too so we went twice. Since our trip, anytime we ask Logan or Bridger what they want for dinner they always ask if we can "just fly to California and go to Ruby's and then we'll come back." If only money grew on trees, boys.


 Monday we headed home, but not before stopping by the beach. The boys had never seen the ocean before. They LOVED it! It was so fun to watch them run in the waves, laughing hysterically. We had such a fun weekend and made a lot of great memories!! We are currently brainstorming where to take our next family trip!!!  

Hawaiian Honeymoon

Don't worry, it's only been 2 months since we went to Hawaii. Where does the time go?!!!! Unfortunately, all my pictures are on my laptop (which does not happen to be the computer I'm currently blogging from) so I only have a few.

We had such a great time in Hawaii. We spent 4 days on the island of Molokai, and 3 on Oahu. Both islands were complete opposite of each other, but we loved every second of our vacation. Some of the main highlights of our trip included:

• Spending LOTS of time on the beach. I'd estimate a good 80% of our time
• We had our own private ceremony on the beach at sunset. (This was planned and paid for before we decided to do some wedding festivities here so we decided to still do it. It was PERFECT)
• Snorkeling off the shores of Molokai





• On Molokai, there is basically.....nothing. So we went to one of the only grocery stores on the island and got food to make for the majority of our meals in the condo we stayed in. I would much rather have a home cooked meal anyway.
• Ate way too much food on both islands. I don't regret it, and I also got my beloved shave ice at Matsumoto's on Oahu. It was even better than I remember.
• Went to the Polynesian Cultural Center
• Talked Nick into getting his first pedicure with me. (If he tells you he hated it, he's lying ;)
• We took a lot of naps! :)
• Saw a fire engine in Hawaii equipped with a surfboard that took me 5 minutes to get Nick to break focus and walk away from. He went back to the hotel and put in an interest card for Honolulu FD. Silly boy.
• Watched AND finished season 1 of "Once Upon a Time".... we're both now addicted.

We spent a perfect week with each other in paradise! Until next time Hawaii......
















I sure do love this man! <3


Horrible Blogger

I have been a HORRIBLE blogger. There are so many things I have to blog about, but never seem to have the time to do it! I've also been horrible about taking pictures of the fun and eventful summer we've had and let's be honest- A blog post isn't nearly as fun without pictures, right?

Here are a couple pictures I DO have (Thanks to Heather posting this on their blog :)



We did a small/family ceremony with just our families 

 We had a small,  way bigger than originally planned luau/party/celebration/reception to celebrate with family and friends! A few pictures coming soon! A huge thank you to everyone who came and helped us celebrate! (And even bigger apologies if you didn't get an invite... like I said- it was originally going to be small and somehow ended up lots bigger than expected).

AND.... tomorrow we are headed here...

To drink some of these....

And to see sights like this....

And to eat lots of these....

And TONS of this..



In the meantime... ALOHA!!!!!!!!!!!!

A little vacation, a lot of fun, and a BIG surprise!

I am sloowwlllyy getting better at blogging again. This post is only a month or so late...

Last month, Nick and I took a trip to California for a little getaway and to see the Bello family. (I had to have "final approval" from Vail, Tonia and the kids ya know ;)

I could go into SO much detail on this trip, but I'll touch on the main highlights!

Thursday-

We flew into California early afternoon and got settled at the Bello's. Logan had his last little league baseball game that night so we went and watched him play.

*Side note- Tonia asked if we wanted to go check out a winery that they are wine club members to the next day because they had to pick up their monthly wine shipment. (What?! I'm obviously living in the wrong state)

Friday- (Here's the BIG surprise)

Tonia had some errands to run so we spent the morning lounging around and then got ready to go to the winery. We had planned on going to the Giant's game that night so I was super excited for that! We headed to the winery, it was a fun drive to see all of the other wineries along the way except for the fact I started getting a little car sick :/. We made it to Truett Hurst Winery and went in for some wine tasting.

Truett Hurst Winery

We walked outside to see the rest of the winery and the vineyards and lost the Bello's somewhere along the way. Nick walked me down by the river where they had a bunch of these cute chairs set up. I wanted to sit on the chairs but he insisted on walking down a little further. When I saw where he was taking me I saw 2 chairs, a tablecloth over the table, a bottle of wine, grapes, chocolate, cheese, and wine glasses....and it hit me. I knew what was coming next and I couldn't wipe the smile off my face.

Nick told me he had this whole speech prepared, but couldn't remember any of it. He did remember the most important parts though I'm sure. He got down on his knee and asked me if I would marry him! I can honestly, whole-heartedly say that I have NEVER been so happy. I said yes (of course). I sat there thinking for a minute, put my hands on my hips and said, "My parents aren't in New York, are they?" Nick said "Turn around"... and there were my parents and the Bello's walking towards us.

*Another side note - My parents told me they were going to New York for the weekend to stay with my dad's friends. Nick had planned the whole thing with my mom and Tonia. Sneaky, sneaky :)



The Proposal

I can't even tell you how much I truly LOVE this man!!! We had sat and ate lunch, drank a little wine, took some pictures and then headed back to the Bello's to get ready for the baseball game. Vail was able to get tickets for my parents too so we all got to go to the game! The Giants lost, but it was still fun!

Saturday-

We took a drive to through wine country- did a little wine tasting, my mom took some pictures of Nick and me, tasted a little more wine, lunch, wine... you get the idea :) We came home and took a nap and then went to a BBQ with of the Bello's friends.

Sunday-

Nick and I took Logan and Rylee to Black Bear Diner for breakfast. After breakfast, Rylee and I had our annual "girls date" getting pedicures while the boys went and hit a bucket of balls. We stopped for ice cream before we headed back to the Bello's. That night, Nick and I drove out to the beach to watch the sunset. We got there in enough time to play in the water for a second (literally a second, the water was freezing!). We layed a blanket down and talked while we watched the sun set. The communication that Nick and I have is A-MAZ-ING. I have never had a relationship like this before, completely honest and open about everything... good, bad, ugly.... I love this man with everything I have!!! I'm quite confident he feels the same way about me, and he definitely knows how to make me  feel loved and special every second of the day. I am SO lucky and SO blessed!

Monday-

We took a day trip into San Francisco. We were originally planning on going to Alcatraz, but didn't reserve tickets beforehand and they were sold out until that Wednesday. We walked down by the Wharf and had clam chowder, went to Ghiradelli Square, ate lunch on one of the pier's, and then stopped at the Golden Gate Bridge on our way home. Nick and I went and got much needed massages that night!



Ghiradelli Square



Tuesday-

Sadly, our trip had to end sometime. We had so much fun and Nick got the stamp of approval from the whole Bello family! We can't wait to come visit again!!!!!

Holy Hiatus!

I'm alive! Promise.

It's been forever since I have posted anything on my blog. Better late than never, right?

So.... Here's a brief recap of "Life as Bree Knows It"

* First and foremost....I got lined up with the most AMAZING guy in January. We have been pretty much inseparable since. (He deserves his very own post though... More on him coming soon ;)

* Went snowboarding a few times (Not nearly as much as I wanted to)

* Helped coach an awesome group of girls during the high school softball season! Hawks Rock!

*Took a trip out to California to stay with the Bello's. Went to a crab feed and did lots of R&R!

* Moved out of my apartment and back in with the parentals.

* Had hip surgery. (Yes I know, I'm way too young for that) Although the plus side to that, this AMAZING guy I mentioned above?.. He took SUCH good care of me, even took time off of work. He didn't leave my side. 

* Traded in Tonka (Still a little sad) for a more sensible/fuel efficient car. It was a good, grown-up choice.

* Had a little weekend getaway to Park City. (I'll give you one guess who it was with :)

* Upgraded from my droid to the Iphone. Haha

* This hasn't happened yet, but we're leaving tomorrow to go to California for a little va-ca!!! (By "we" I mean I am going with my AMAZING guy. PS, his name is Nick) I will blog about this trip when we get back!

And last of the recap, but certainly not least.....

* I Have come to realize that everything happens for a reason, people come into your life when the time is right, and good things come to those who wait. I have honestly never been so happy with myself, and my life as I have been these last few months! I feel SO lucky and SO blessed!

That's all for now! Gotta get back into the swing of things blogging again! Stay tuned for more updates!