The First Official North Family Vacation to Southern Cal

Yeah, I know...I'm alittle late on posting this...post. In my defense, I got really sick the day after we got home and I just starting getting better last week..ugh...I feel like I'm playing catch-up. Anyway here's our recap.

Todd and I decided that it was time for Ashlyn and Ethan to visit the most happiest place in Earth...DISNEYLAND!! We got a condo in Carlsbad which ended up being a good neutral location between Disneyland and San Diego where Todd's dad and Myrna were residing.

It was raining and super windy on our first day - bummer. We really couldn't do much but stay indoors then Todd had a great idea. He found a Costco in Carlsbad so we made a trip out there. It was really fun to compare items they had there and all the fun stuff that we would like if we had that extra cash.

The next day, we went to the San Diego Zoo where we met up with Grandpa North and our friends, the Bows:




The next day, we were off to Disneyland. It was so fun!! Ashlyn loved all the rides...well, most of the rides. We went on the Snow White ride. Well, that was a bad idea because it freaked Ashlyn out. After that, she didn't want to ride anything that was "dark" or anything like that.





The next day, we went to Disneyland California Adventure and when we asked Ashlyn if she was excited. She said "no" - well, there goes Disneyland as the "happiest place on earth." We probably should have given the kids a day of rest in between the 2 Disneylands. Oh well. Too late. They had a good time. Ashlyn's favorite part was when we went to see Mickey Mouse Playhouse..she was in awe.




They were 2 crazy days, but so worth it and so much fun. Can't wait to come back.
We spent our 2nd to last day in La Jolla. We started the day with breakfast at The Cottage then met Grandpa at the San Diego Temple and to the Birch Acquarium.



We ended the day with friends, the Fellar's and the Romney's. We got pics with the Romney's but sadly, not with the Fellar's.

Thank you Erika and Todd and Miles and Amy and for spending time with us during our vacation. It was too fun catching up with you all. We hope that we can keep in touch with you throughout many years to come. We love you!
Last but not least, on the very, very last day we spent some time at the beach. Need I say more except "therapeutic?"

Happy Birthday Love...

Honey, your so great. Your a wonderful dad. Your so awesome when it comes to playing with the kids. They love it when you do the 1-2-3 during bedtime. Ashlyn loves playing xbox with you and watching movies with you is never a dull moment-no matter how bad the movie may be (and we've seen some real losers!). And Ethan can spot your car a mile away and start screaming...dada, dada! And my heart always gets alittle warm and sentimental when I see you hangin' out with your son watch SportsCenter or ESPN. He's just as enthralled with sports as you are.

Well, 6 years and 2 kids later your still so wonderful. Raising a crazy family is just plain...crazy and fun with you. I definitely got more than I ever dreamed of in a hubby. I love you darling. With all my heart....Happy Birthday.

A new favorite blogsite

So as some of you know, I'm a FoodNetwork junkie. Well awhile ago, they were doing the Ultimate Recipe Showdown and out of all the contestants, I totally adored Emily Hobbs. She's young and an amazing foodie whose recipes were simply amazing. I just found out that she has a blog site and I found it - yeah!!! So for those of you that may be interested in this budding culinary artist, here's her site: Visions of Sugar Plum

She also has a list of her favorite foodie sites. Good luck, have fun and happy cooking everyone!

So cute...

He still has a hard time staying awake through dinner when he doesn't take a nap.

Ashlyn's sleeping habits

So Todd and I always check on the kids before we go to bed. Well, one night, Todd went to go check on Ashlyn....

Huh????.....where did she go?....ahhh...got it....

...she decided to opt out of the bed and go for the chair.

Another night, she wanted to sleep in our bed, so we let her. Later that evening, Todd went upstairs to check on her and this is what he found:

She again opted out of the bed for the floor this time.

Ashlyn dear, you crack me up and I love you for it!!

Field Trip to the Fire Station

Well, this was Ashlyn's first preschool field trip. I really thought she would be excited about it...and she was..until we got there and she wanted nothing to do with any of the firemen or the station or truck BUT Ethan just loved it!! He kept on saying...trrruck....vroom, vroom!!

December 2008 Recap (it's a long one!)

December was sooo crazy!!..fun, busy but crazy. And unfortunately, I don't have pics of everything that happened. This will be like a journal entry for the Todd and Hyo North family so if your not interested in reading it, no worries :)

Saturday, December 6th: We started the Christmas holiday with a party at our place for my family, the Kim's. It was so fun and chaotic and crazy!! As always, there were tons of food, everyone ate till they were stuffed and then we just hung out and talked and played. One memory from this party was Ashlyn volunteering to say the blessing on the food. It started out with.....Heavenly Father, thank for this day. Thank you for Todd and Hyo (this was when Todd and I opened our eyes and looked at each other trying not to laugh) and Ethan and...she proceeded to name all of the family members that came (which was about 11). Then she was just about to end the prayer when Todd prompted her to bless the food. We all laughed. How cute. We also celebrated my birthday since some of the family members were going to be out of town till Christmas.

Monday, December 8th: Had ANOTHER party at our place for the play group families which included Ernie and Emily Kim, the Ortons, Powers, Starbucks, Defudis', Bridans, Sumsions, Tanners, Browns, Wolds, Van Fleets. It was wild...we had about 20 kids running around rampant and everyone talking and laughing. It was so great. I loved it. And everyone loved it too. I find that I'm like my mom when it comes to social parties and feeding people. Two things she did when we were growing up. She seemed to always invite families or groups of people and sometimes the whole Korean Branch over to our home and feed, feed, feed. It was her way of serving those she cared about. I find great satisfaction in having people over too. I love the chaos, especially when there's good food and great friends. Thank you everyone for coming. We'll have to do it again.....in the summer!

Wednesday, December 10th: Ethan FINALLY had his tear duct surgery done. It was about time. He was the first one for the day and so we had to check in at 6:00 AM @ Primary's. Ethan was very good natured throughout the whole waiting period. There was even a boy about his age that was also named Ethan. They were so cute playing with each other. It got super sad when I had to hand him over to the Anesthesiologist who then took him into the surgery room. That was when Ethan knew something was up and started crying....it broke my heart. The whole process only took about 10 minutes. It wasn't very long. I got to finally go to him and he was just screaming. He was much happier when he realized that we were leaving the hospital and so was I.
(Sorry the pics are bad....forgot the camera and so these are taken with the camera phone)
Thursday, December 11th: Ashlyn's Preschool Christmas Program. Their class (the Polar Bears) sang "An Australian Christmas" and "Reindeer Pokey." It was so cute!

Saturday, December 13th: TraskBritt Firm Christmas Party at the Grand America Hotel. It was fabulous as ever. While many of the law firms had to cut their Christmas party from their budget, Trask was in great financial shape and we all benefited from it. And as always, we were given Vchocolates as a party favor...yummo!!

Sunday, December 14th: Stake Christmas Program. Turned out great. Our ward choir did "The First Noel/Pachabel's Canon." Bob Sullivan, one of the choir members and salesperson that he is, recruited a few more men from other wards to sing with us...as a result, the women recruited a few of their own (we are the smallest choir). So, it all worked out.

Sunday, December 21st: Ward Christmas Program with the Choir.....yeh, I was totally nervous. I've never done the whole thing by myself. The choir was awesome. I'm glad that it was all done, but at the same time, I started thinking about next year's program....call me nuts...

Thursday, December 25th: CHRISTMAS!!! It was great. We had the video camera rolling so we didn't have a lot of pics taken. Ethan's first present he opened up was some puzzles and he wouldn't let them go until he realized that he had other fun presents. He was all over them. Both he and Ashlyn were so excited to open all the presents from Santa, Grandpa and Myrna, friends, as well as from us. Afterwards, we had breakfast, cleaned up and got ready for Christmas dinner at my parents where there were more presents from cousins and from my parents. It was an amazing day.

Ya know, Christmas has gotten so much better with kids involved. But my favorite.......

...Yeah.....I cried...just like the day he gave me my first set of diamonds...for keeps....thank you my sweetheart. Love you tons...XOXOXO...LMM.