"Happiest Place on Earth"

Growing up in Florida, I had many opportunities to visit Walt Disney World and experience Magic Kingdom! I have such great memories with my parents and sister that I will always cherish! This past Saturday, Joshua and I had the amazing privilege of introducing our own children to the magic that is Disney when we took them to Disneyland in Anaheim, CA! What a fantasmic (I'm pretty sure that's a Disney term) experience! The bright smile that came across our sweet Samuel's face every time he saw a new Disney character in person or rode a new ride brought so much joy to my heart. I honestly had no idea that going with children (with all the chaos that that entails) could actually be more thrilling than going without them! It is a day that Joshua and I will forever remember and hope that Samuel does too! 

Donald was the first character we found as we entered the park! It was actually convenient that Samuel wasn't able to  officially meet him right away (Donald had a strict schedule to follow…) because when Samuel followed him away, he followed him straight to the "CAST MEMBERS ONLY" door. WHAT A TREAT he got himself into! Being there early and stumbling upon this door, allowed Samuel to be the first child to meet each character as they came out (or in) the door!

 Samuel wasn't the biggest fan of Daisy, but enjoyed the hugs…

Chip & Dale were heading back in when they, too, stopped to show some love to Samuel before the greatest part of our day………...

 See that HUGE smile on Samuel's face? That is what made any hard thing about the day completely worth it!! Minnie decided Samuel was going to be the apple of her eye for a few minutes and boy did he feel special.

 Not only did she kiss him…

 …and cuddle him…

 …but she proceeded to take Samuel under her wing and give him the special treatment…

 As Minnie was walking around, holding Samuel's hand, he spotted the one and only MICKEY MOUSE walking around! She could tell he was so eager to see him so…

 She hurried him straight over to Mickey Mouse himself and presented Samuel to Mickey before any of the other children could reach him. Joshua and I were SO very excited for Samuel! When we think about the entire day, we can definitely say that the first 20 minutes of our day was the absolute BEST!

 Our first ride (and Samuel's favorite of the day!) was the Astro Orbiter! The line was super short (compared to later in the day when Samuel insisted on riding it again) so they almost got right on. We were planning on it being just Samuel and Joshua but last minute, we tossed Benjamin in the mix and I think they all had a great time!

 Toontown was such a great place for little kiddos! Here, they were able to run around and be more free (especially in the earlier morning hours)

 Meeting Mickey for the second time…definitely not as climactic as the first encounter ;)

 So many great things to see!

 Benjamin waiting for the parade to start while brother took a quick cat nap.

 So many things to see during the parade! It was so nice to take a minute, sit, and enjoy some entertainment! 

 We watch parts of Lion King probably once a week!

 I had to get a picture of The Princess and the Frog float because it has a special place in my heart ;) The movie had just come out around the time that Joshua and I got married so the day after our wedding, we were staying in Orlando and Joshua took me to see it in the theaters! It was our first "married" date! 

 I love this kid's fascination!

 Between "Buzz" and the "Rockets," Samuel chose the rockets to be his last ride of the day. It was getting late and the sun was setting so we thought just one very long line would be enough. Throughout the day, the boys got to experience some great attractions: Pirates of the Caribbean (he LOVED this one, too), Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, and more! Lots of walking, eating, and family time!

 Classic.

 Love that face.

 The sky was so magical as the sun was setting behind Sleeping Beauty's Castle (made me miss Cinderella's castle in FL!) See my earlier post about Abba and the balloon!

 Love them!!!

Such a happy day at the "happiest place on earth!!"

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Happy Birthday, Benjamin!

Our precious little Benjamin is a whole year old! This year has flown by us, yet so much has happened in the past 12 months! Benjamin has been such a source of joy for us and we praise the Lord for giving us such a pleasant and happy little guy. 

One year ago today, we made our way to Norton Suburban Hospital in Louisville, KY (boy, do we miss that place!) to induce labor! We were so anxious to meet our second son and welcome him into this crazy world! Since we had been so very blessed by God giving us Samuel, we were that much more excited to add another little one into our lives! Who would have known how blessed we really would be! 

We have learned that Benjamin has a very different personality than his big brother! It's been fun, over the year, catching things that they do differently and some things they do the same. One thing that is different is Benjamin's "Stranger Danger" mentality. Samuel has always gone to others with such ease, but not so with little B. One thing that is the same is their love for music! Benjamin LOVES to dance and bop to almost any type of music (we even played some reggae and he bopped to the beat!)

I wanted to give a little year-in-review to remember what a precious time this past year was! Join me in praising God for Benjamin Henry Clutterham!

 Our precious friend, Melissa enjoying newborn Benjamin snuggles!

Being explored by big brother!

First time meeting Aunt Jen!

First Christmas Morning ;)

Staying with our friends, The Ginns, while transitioning to CA!

Enjoying one of the many parks in SoCal!

Taking a bath in the sink in our 300 sq ft home! :)

A visit from Grandma and Grandpa...in person!

First Dodger's Game!

What a fantastic year of milestones, memories, and changes! We are thankful to God for all the joy that this little life has brought to us!! What a blessing!

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Mom&Dad's Visit: Day 1

This is the first post from my parents' visit to Santa Clarita, CA. It was SUCH a great visit and we loved our time with mom and dad! It had been a long while since we had seen my parents, but it didn't seem like that because we do FaceTime with them almost everyday! It gives us something to do during the day and we all love it! 

Mom and dad arrived on a Thursday night and stayed overnight in L.A. They came to us as soon as they could and immediately basked in the awesomeness of their little grandbabes! It was fun to watch them goo and gah over each other. I love how my parents love our kids so much and how our kids adore their grandma and grandpa! What a blessing to have grandparents that love them SO dearly even when they live over 2,000 miles away!

My in-laws were out of town the week my parents were here so it worked out perfectly that they could stay over there. We all stayed a few nights together and then let them have the house to themselves half way through the week. Each morning we would meet up and decide what fun things we were going to do that day. The first day was PACKED as we drove to the Getty Museum, Santa Monica, and Malibu! Here are a few pictures from the first two full days with mom and dad!

Samuel just loves being with his grandpa! (whom he affectionately calls "humpah"...love it)

Tickles!

They adore each other!

Wearing one of abba's old snow hats from when he was a little guy! While we were at my in-laws' we went through a couple boxes that had a lot of Joshua's clothing and toys from when he was little. It was fun going down memory lane and picking out clothes that we thought would be fun for the boys to have.

Such a sweet face!

Benjamin smiles at grandma ALL. THE. TIME!

Lovey!

While staying at Grandpa's (Bill) house, Samuel just loved playing the piano! And driving his trains on the keys, too :)

Grandma made a great big breakfast for everyone on the first morning together! 

Yummy! Thanks, grandma! :)

This helped get us all over SoCal! The whole time, Benjamin tried to strain his neck so that he could see what Samuel was watching. He's going to LOVE being in his forward-facing carseat in just a few months!

Waiting for the tram to take us to the Getty Museum in L.A.

More waiting...

By the way, Samuel did SUCH an awesome job being schlepped all over the place with little naps. There were many cranky times, but overall, he was pleasant and fun. Again, blessed we are!

The start to our day of walking! Everyone was a trooper (especially mom who had a BROKEN TOE!)

Just about nap-time!

The Getty in gorgeous! The last time I was here was when Joshua took me the first time I visited him in CA. It brought back lots of memories and was amazing to see how far the Lord has brought our little family in such a short time!

3/4 of my favorite men in the world!

Messin' around. I wanted to see what I really look like when I take pictures, so I had my dad do this. I'll have to post one of those when he passes them on to me :)

Yay! It was so bright in the courtyard, but such a fun place to run around and get some energy out!

Joshua went into the Sketching Gallery where they gave him paper and nice pencils to sketch paintings, or sculptures, or even photographs.

He chose a painting.

And did pretty well if you ask me!

Love love love! Photo credit: MOM!

Parents with the L.A. Skyline

I love my family.

After spending some time at the Getty, we drove to Santa Monica and walked around a bit. We stopped at P.F. Chang's for a late, yummy lunch!

Banana Spring Rolls. So good.

Benjamin enjoyed some, too, after he woke up from his nap in the stroller. Samuel was still sleeping, so we won't tell him what he missed ;)

Pigeons on our walk to the Santa Monica Pier. I thought this photo turned out pretty cool!

The houses down there are pretty extravagant...and...colorful!

Beautiful scenery. Really, CA is such a pretty place!

The Pier!

YUM YUM ice-cream!

Monkey and Abba...Samuel's two favorites!

The beach was crowded and beautiful!

In the arcade area of the Pier, they had a basketball game and FLORIDA GATOR balls! I felt like a piece of home was there on that pier :) GATOR NATION!

FUN!

A short photo-shoot of the little man, while Samuel and Abba walked in the arcade!

Thought this was a cool one, too :)

Happy boy!

Eating feet. That's the life!

After a LONG day of fun activities, we drove down the PCH listening to the Beach Boys and looking for the moon! It was SUCH a fun start to my parents' visit to CA!

More to come...

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