Fall Break

 We made a quick trip to see Jer's family. 

First off, theWheats came over and Jer's mom cooked us all an amazingly yummy dinner!  

Oh boy do we love our little visits with them but they always seem to go by way too fast.  

And their cute babies are getting so big.  Bailey and Maggie are adorable!

Grandma and the kids made a yummy chocolate fondue spread, and everyone was in heaven.  And we were so glad Robyn was able to be there!  She must have a sixth sense about our travel plans:) 

(btw, she has an adorable esty shop -  click here)

 Next day we hit the zoo. 

(Oh I should add that Jer, Jake and Gma got up early and hit the LA Temple then met us at the zoo.  

Jake did 30 baptisms!) 

Back to the zoo...It was the perfect day, no crowds.  We got to get up close and personal with Slash's former snake, Jake.  Apparently Slash donated it to the zoo when he started having kids.

 We got to watch them feed the gorillas.

 It was a splendid day! Love those Tolentinos !

 Then we hit Magic Mtn.  And to our GREAT delight, we met up with the Fischers there!

These girls are about to get SOAKED on the Log Jammer.

 Soon to be drenched too!

 We owned Looney Toon Town....we just went on ride after ride all day with no lines!

 They even had trick or treating at all the rides, thanks Tweety!

 Cousin Tyler and Luke

 We tried to get Luke on the Gold Rusher but he got the kicked off for being vertically challenged.  

He was so sad, but Jer cheered him up with a little photo shoot.

(I said take a picture of me!!! You know you love me:)

 Chad and Gpa getting some serious bonding in.

Like Chad's Cadillac?

 Jet Streamers was a solid hit!

Quite possibly my favorite pic!

 But the Ninja was the ultimate fave for those of us who stayed with the younger crowd.  

I lost count of how many times we did this one.  

And these two reaped loads of attention from the ladies for being so cute riding all by themselves.

 We almost got out of the park without incident.  But after riding Ninja for the umpteenth time,  the kids wanted to do Gold Rush again. And because Luke was too small, he sat and waited and drown his sorrow  in eating trick-or-treat candy and pretzels while the girls and Harry rode it over and over (no lines rule!).  We rode a few other rides together, then he and Harry wanted to hit the Swash Buckler Swings.  The girls wanted to do Jet Streamers so we decided to split up and Luke picked Grandma to go with the boys. So G-ma, Harry and Luke hit the swings and when us girls caught up with them after our ride, we found the Swash Buckler Swings completely cleared out except for poor little Luke sitting lone dog on a swing, covered in puke.  Harry was manning the exit gate and poor Grandma was there trying to round up something to clean him up with.  And she ended up cleaning it all up, boy Grandma do I ever love you!  

Other than the puking, we had a blast!  

Jake's Top 3 rides: 

1. Riddler's Revenge

2. Goliath

3. X2

Bree's Top 3:

1. Ninja

2. Colossus

3. Gold Rusher

Luke's Top 3

1. Road Runner Express

2.Daffy's Wilderness Tour Bus

3. Log Jammer

4.NOT THE SWASH BUCKLER SWINGS!

I can't even say how HAPPY we were to have the Fischers with us. Having them there with us just made our little vacay perfect!  (They got to the park early both days and saved us a spot in the front of the line and to all of our amazement, we even lived to tell about it:). Their kids are just awesome and our kids love them!  And of course they loved being there with Grandma and Grandpa and Tyler too!  

Can't wait til next time!!

(And Michelle, so sorry we once again did not get to see you guys! Our trips always seem to fly as we try to squeeze everything in! We thought about you guys lots!!)

The Eve of all Eves

The night we've all been waiting for finally came and it lived up to every expectation.

Exquisite food, great games, perfect presents, fabulous fireworks and bucket loads of fun.

Those Heaps know how to do Christmas Eve!

After dinner B-I-N-G-O!

Jamie's giving her boys some pointers.

Paiger's checking to see if he's called N32 yet.

Presents for all those who got BINGO (after the official caller Matt verified your BINGO was legit).

And there were even presents for those of us who didn't end up being legit.

There were lots of winners....

Love the looks on these boys faces. This was pretty exciting stuff.

Waiting for the works.

And look how perfect they all are.

Not one of em takin a chance on naughty this late in the game.

 Jer exclaimed his arms were gonna fall off after the 3rd attempt at this pic.

 Hitting the weights after early morning basketball... possible New Year's resolution.

From Pepsi to onionless potatoes to car fresheners to earrings,

Jamie, you thought of everything and it was magnifico!

Thanks Heapsters for a most memorable Christmas Eve!

Back at home we cozied up to a few of our own Christmas Eve traditions...

Luke 2

PJ's

Stories

Jaybez Dawz

Milk and Cookies

Late Night Movie for Mom and Dad

Off to spy to see if reindeer really know how to fly.

Snapshots of a Sick Weekend

Bree was sick. Luke was sick.
Our car smelled sick. 
But at least we got some fun games in;)
And of course, there's nothing like just hangin out as a fam.

And you might not know it, but these people, well, they're all about love.  

And that just might be why I kind of like them.

Especially the one in purple.

Boating in November

 After the Veterans Day Parade, these guys were nice enough take us out on their new toy!

 Miss Georgia making it look oh so easy!

 Despite the lure of the island, Jake decided to hold off & give it a go next time.

If it weren't for the sharks and alligators Luke would've been in.

He loved holding that flag (Ava, you're so nice to share!) and yelling FASTER, FASTER!

 But Breanna wanted to try.

We forgot to warn her that water up her nose can make everything confusing.

 She gave it a shot, but hit the water and came up screaming in pain, something about her knee....

We all started having flashbacks about broken bones.

We were sweatin it for a second or two.

Those slurpees can get expensive.

 Yeehaw those knees are looking pretty good to me!

The key to this pic is where his finger is.  That would be the horn.

Probably what James and Sarah loved most about letting us tag along.

That and Luke's obsession with the driver's seat and rolling around the floor or hanging off the boat.

On second thought I think the dog at the dock that jumped into their boat and hung out for a while

might of been the winner.

My favorite was pulling into the dock and James saying,

"Hey Camie I forgot to ask if you wanted a turn".

You know, he's always looking out for me:)

You guys have the sweetest set up with that boat.

Thanks for sharing with us and for putting up with our skills:)

It was a blast!