Orange Ribbons Everywhere

Last September our incredible friends in our neighborhood decided to surprise our family with orange ribbons on every tree in the neighborhood!  They were placed on each tree to honor my husband John during his fight with Leukemia.  We woke up to an orange ribbon decorated porch and at first didn't realize they were on every tree!  It was a wonderful surprise just to see what our friends had done for our own home.  They also put a beautiful poster on our door.

When we made it outside later to take the kids to school we were overwhelmed by a sea of orange!  Just to drive down the street made me tear up with the thought of our friends spending so much time planning, making, and then attaching all those ribbons.  Still today we have people ask if the ribbons are for us.  Yes, the ribbons are still on most of the trees!  It has been so many months and they are looking a little tired after all this time, but they still make me smile every time I walk or drive down our street.  It is an amazing reminder of the love and support we have here in First Light.  We truly have the BEST neighborhood.   Funny story...back in October last year someone commented on how much our neighborhood must love Halloween since we had "decorated" with all the orange ribbons!   Anyone that drives into our neighborhood is impacted by the sea of orange ribbons, especially when they find out it's been done to honor John and our family.

Thank you First Light friends so  much!  We are truly blessed.

Inspired by Cookbooks

There are always cookbooks and recipes waiting to be read or tried here at the Wright house. The picture below is a recent collection of cookbooks that Peyton and I picked up at the library.  Jamie Oliver is a fav of course, especially with his amazing work with the Food Revolution.  I can't wait to see the new season starting on April 12th on ABC.

Giada De Laurentiis and Ina Garten are two amazing ladies we love to watch on tv and get inspired by their many cookbooks too.  Martha Stewart's Cookies book is full of mouth watering photos.  All the kids have found recipes they want to bake.  We might  need to renew that one a few times just to have time to try them.   Next week in cooking class we'll be making Blueberry Sour Cream Muffins from a wonderful new cookbook called The Sono Baking Company Cookbook by John Barricelli.  I think I'll be adding this one to my kitchen wish list.  I had been searching for a recipe to prepare with my HSC kids for the spring semester to substitute for the Cranberry Apple Crisp we prepared in the fall.  The trickiest part to teaching cooking classes in about an hours time is it has to be prepped/prepared/cooked or baked all in that one hour!  So needless to say it can be a challenge.  But I have to say it is a very fun challenge.  I'll let you know how the Blueberry muffins turn out in class.

3rd installment of Disneyland pictures

Well I guess these are mostly California Adventure pictures.  Here's Minnie in her flight suit signing the kid's books and Brena's Wright Cause t-shirt.  JoJo is looking on since she got Minnie to sign her's already back at Minnie's house in Toon Town. 

JoJo wasn't going to sit out of a photo op though.  It was so fun to see all the kids get excited about pictures with the characters, especially the big kids.

Lightning McQueen and Mater were not into signing autograph books but they posed well for pictures. 

Delanie and Peyton loving the vintage Minnie Mouse.

The ferris wheel on Paradise Pier is HUGE!  All those compartments where you sit slide along towards the center and back as the wheel rotates.  I just said no to that ride.  But it sure looks cool from far away.

BFF's

Not sure where I was while these were being taken?  This is a great photo op location!  BFF's in a box!

Brother action figures take one...

Brothers in action take two!

Back at Disneyland, the whole gang of kids with Goofy. Q is playing the part of Goofy's understudy.

Madhatter was awesome!  He had so much personality and really interacted with the kids. They got into the crazy spirit too!

It really is all about the cupcakes these days.  Delanie and Peyton were loving all the candy shops and bakery's with cupcakes and super fun treats.

More Memories from Disneyland

Here's on of our favorite rides, Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters in Tomorrowland.  Q is giving the thumbs up that he's ready for a fun ride with his sister!  John is already holding onto the blaster gun.  He's not too competitive. :-)

JoJo hoping to get some points by shooting the camera.

JoJo posing by the Buzz Lightyear map.

Switching gears, here's my little driver!  Kind of scary to see into the future.  I was driving with her and that's how I got this close up picture of her concentrating.  She could barely see over the wheel.

This ride is just like I remember it from years ago.  I guess the car models are a bit more updated but still a great time cruising through Autopia in Tomorrowland.

When we first got to Anaheim the kids noticed all the palm trees.  I wasn't driving so I could snap up pictures of the beautiful surroundings.

Grammy Janet helping get the Goofy hat set just right so it wouldn't fall over JoJo's eyes.

The final shot with the hat in place.  Yeah, she doesn't like getting her picture taken.

After enjoying the Astro Blasters we got the chance to meet Buzz in person!  JoJo noticed him and asked to get in line.  So Grammy and I waited with her since the others were on Space Mountain.  Perfect timing they came looking for us and JoJo was just about to the front of the line.  He's signing all the kids books as they watch in amazement.

Then here's the final shot with Q and his thumbs up again! 

Back to the Mad Hatter shop...Goofy and Donald in disguise.

I couldn't take a good picture of both faces at the same time.  Can you tell it's Q under that famous quacker?

JoJo was the queen of trying on hats.  It is amazing to see all the choices of hats and ears they offer now at Disneyland.  Anything you can imagine they will make for you.

Here's Sorcerer JoJo using some of her magic and putting a spell on the camera.

I loved this shot of the giant Etch a Sketch. 

Let the Memories Begin!

This is the iconic Disneyland sign that sits in the middle open area between Disneyland park and California Adventure park.  I, of course, didn't catch the sign while it read Disneyland.  Here it is showing pictures of many happy faces on kids of all ages.  

JoJo was waiting so patiently while John got our tickets.  She was taking in all the details...like the Mickey head shaped benches and the monorail tracks. 

We first went to City Hall to get John's special pass.   Donald was hanging out right outside but the kids weren't used to lines yet and didn't want to wait for his autograph.  They learned more about lines as the days went by.

There's Sleeping Beauty's castle and our crew about to walk through it!  It was so fun to see the excitement for every new thing they discovered.

JT and Quinn were fascinated by the "magic" apple.  When touched the witch's voice spoke.

JoJo didn't like the Snow White ride too much.  I think the fact that it's called Snow White's Scary Adventure should have been our first clue, but it had been a long time since we'd been on it.  I know that's a poor excuse for traumatizing her.  We all decided to go on It's a Small World next to convince her that there are very fun and not scary rides at Disneyland.  Something new is all the characters from movies that they have put into the doll form and strategically place throughout the lands.  Here's some I snapped up...Alice, Dori, and Woody and Jessie.

I did remember all the fun shaped bushes at Disneyland and Peyton requested pictures of the elephant and giraffe, her favorite animals right now.  They were super cute and hard to resist snapping their pictures. 

Okay that's all for today.  I'll post more pictures and details from our amazing trip real soon.

Disneyland 2011

The boys were super excited even at 6:30 am when we left for the airport!

The girls were a little more subdued...they would have loved a little more sleep before heading off to Disneyland.

Grandpa Chuck dropped us off at the airport.  Then when bags were checked and the gate was found we settled in for a bit of a wait.  There were the readers and the DS players.  And then there was the "coffee" drinker too!

John was so ready to get to a true shorts weather destination.

The plane going was not full at all and we enjoyed stretching out with lots of space.