Disneyland Day 2

That morning we received the news that Grandma Hill had passed away early that morning.  It was a fairly quick passing and pretty unexpected so it took us all by surprise.  We were sad that we couldn't be there in Utah to comfort Grandpa that day, but were grateful that we could at least all be together.  Mom and Dad changed their flight plans and left a day early to get back to Utah and Brandon and Holly did as well.  We all spent as much of Day 2 together as well since we knew it would be the last day that we could.

Our second day at Disney was spent in California Adventure.  The day began at Cars Land trying out the new rides and exploring the amazing Radiator Springs.  It really feels like you are walking into the movie when you turn to go down that street.  Cars Land is still so new that the fast passes for any of the rides are all taken by 10 am.  We were able to use baby swap passes for most of the rides so it didn't make too much of a difference for our group.  The babies couldn't go on the first ride of the morning so they all hung out together with a few Aunts and Uncles.

Baby Serena 

Baby Alyssa

Baby Allison

And of course the Colbster.

Spence and I headed over to Bugs Land while we waited for some of the group to finish a ride.  Colby hated waiting in line and it was nearly impossible to keep him in one.  But once it was our turn, it made the wait worth it.  My pictures aren't great from Day 2, but hopefully we can remember the crazy days at Disney by them. :)  We had a blast!

I'm pretty sure this was on the ride "Radiator Springs" in Cars Land. 

While we waited to find our seats at the World of Color, the kids ran around with their glow sticks - they somehow still had tons of energy... I was pretty exhausted at this point! :)

Radiator Springs

Disneyland Day 1

We all tried to stay together for the most part on our first day at Disney and we had a blast!

It was Colby's first time and he was in awe. :)  The first ride of the day was Buzz Lightyear, and he was SO happy.

The Hill stroller brigade.

Mickey's house in Toon Town

Colby wasn't scared of Mickey at all!  In fact, the first thing that he did was grab Mickey's nose and smile at him. :)

After taking all of our family photos with Mickey, the camera man finally noticed Russell's little tummy.  Silly boy!

Passed out on Mom's shoulder during Pirate's of the Caribbean. 

We got home from Disney and waited until midnight so we could find out who won the Epic Room Makeover Giveaway.  I had totally convinced myself that I was not going to win because I didn't want to be completely bummed if I didn't.  All the Hill's that were still awake gathered in Mom and Dad's hotel room and waited until the final results were posted.  Mandi had sent out an email to the top ten saying that she would announce the winner in a blog post at 12:00 am since the linky that keeps track of the votes would automatically display the person who won by showing how many votes that person had over the entire week.

We waited and waited and waited... and there was no blog post.  I looked on the linky and my picture thumbnail was the only one that had a number of votes underneath it, so I thought that maybe by some miracle I had won!  BUT, I couldn't be sure or let myself really believe that I had won until I saw the blog post myself. :)  

12:10 am, still no blog post, so Spence leaked the news that he had talked to Mandi a few hours before and sure enough, I had won!!!!!  I still was slightly in denial, but couldn't believe that we had done it!  We had spent the entire last week thinking, breathing, dreaming about how to get more votes, and it finally paid off!!  A few minutes later, the blog post appeared and officially showed that I was the winner.  The next morning I talked to Mandi and the planning had begun.  We had a crazy few days ahead of us, but we were both excited.

California Here We Come!

We started our drive to Anaheim around 11 am and made it there by 5 pm.... my kind of road trip.  Colby did pretty great and lasted almost the whole drive without any movies.  We tied the computer up with a rope to ensure that it wouldn't fall on Colby.  Pretty legit, right?? ;)  Don't worry.  I sat next to him the whole time just incase.

 We made it to the hotel, met with the rest of the Hill crew that we hadn't seen in months, and we all jumped back into our cars and drove to Huntington Beach for the evening.  It was Colby's first time at the Ocean.  He was a little weirded out by the sand getting between his toes, but that didn't last long, especially once he got to the water.

It was a pretty cold evening.

Spence and Colby kept running away from the waves... they managed to get caught a few times though. :)

We finished the night off with a beautiful sunset, then headed back to the hotel to get some rest before our first day at Disneyland!!

Makeover Reveal!

Remember this?  

That room is a long distant memory because it no longer exists!  Thanks to Mandi, I now get to live in THIS...

It is unbelievable how perfect this room reflects Spence and I.  A few days before the transformation began, Mandi and I had been discussing the room and her plans, etc.  I was explaining to her that I was a little nervous, but more than anything, just plain excited.  Mandi went on to tell me that she really didn't have any specific plans for the room other than that it was going to be awesome. :)  She needed to meet Spence and I and see the room in person before she could really decide what direction to go.  Then the ideas would start flowing like magic... and MAGIC it was.

The wall was one of the largest projects in the room.  It took about four hours of trial and error before we got it just right - but holy cow - I love it. 

The headboard was a craigslist find that came to us in bright red velvet.  Jilly painted that bad boy and seriously it is a piece of art.

I really wanted hanging pendant lights at the sides of our bed so we found these glass vases at Home Goods and the lovely Mandi worked her magic once again.

I stinking LOVE the hot pink legs on this fab dresser.  A little paint can work wonders.  P.S. It's so nice to finally have a dresser large enough to hold more than my pajamas!

Oh, and can we also just chat about the rug for a second?  When the girls brought them (and the fact that I just said "them" will be addressed in a minute) home from World Market, I loved them, but to be honest, I was a liiitttlle nervous about how colorful it was and how it was going to look up against the amazing wall.  Once I saw the whole thing put together... it all made sense and I fell in LOVE with the rug in the room.  I swear, Mandi is a genius.  Oh and yes, this rug is actually 6 rugs woven together to create one and is one heavy beast.

Honestly, I love everything in our room, but this is one of my favorite little areas.  The canvas is AMAZING and I just love to sit on that couch and kick my feet up.  And I am not the only one that strokes those freaking awesome sequin pillows... Colby's pretty obsessed too.

Our cute little yellow gnome is our door stop.  While thrifting one night, Mia found a thumb sucking elf (the gnome above) and decided that it needed to be the designers challenge.  I mean, how random is a thumb sucking elf???  That thing was a one of a kind find... and it HAD to come home with us.  At first I thought that they were crazy, but then it became our mascot with a name, Mincemeat, and soon we all fell in love with that crazy thing.  Cheers at Lowe's, Goodwill, Restore, etc. were had in his name. 

I love that the canvas has a line from our wedding song painted on it.  I definitely didn't want to pick something cheesy for it to say, but this is the first line that Spence and I could think of.  I love that it is unique and personal to us.

The lighting in this room is the bomb.  Enough said.

The sliding barn door is not only awesome to have in our room... but it truly is a piece of art!

And I was under the impression that the bathroom was not included in the deal... but they stenciled the wall, added some art, as well as got some super cute bath rugs and a new shower curtain.  They outdid themselves.

Every night I lay in my bed and tell Spence how much I love our new room.  I. Love. Everything.  No joke.  I feel so blessed and grateful for not only a new bedroom that I love, but also being able to spend a whole week with Mandi, Hailee, Mia and Jill.  They are the most genuine, wonderful group of girls with an insane sense of humor.  After spending nearly every hour of everyday together the entire week, I feel like I've known these ladies for years already.  I will forever call them some of my greatest friends.  

And I have to do a HUGE shout out to the one and only Mandilicious.  It takes some serious guts to stroll into some strangers house for a week and overhaul a room, hoping that they will like it when all is said and done.  Apart from my little family, this is the best gift that I have ever been given.  Hands down.  You are so incredibly talented, dedicated, and the creativity never ends.  Love you so much girl!!

Jilly, Mia, Hailee (aka hardest worker on the planet), Mandi, Jamielyn, Lindsey.

Jamielyn and I

Mandi brought an incredible group of women to help her make our sweet room possible!

Miss you all like crazy!!

THANK YOU!!!!!!