Great Weekend

Our family took our annual retreat this year to Disneyland. The Sampsons have not been to the mouse house for two full years, which is a record for our family we hope to never beat again.

Everyone in our family filled out our handouts which ask everyone to list things they liked and disliked about last year, and what they think we can do to make this year great. Most of what is said is too personal to share here, but I will let you in on our youngest daughter's suggestion on how our family can improve in 2009. She recommended "we need a new mom." I asked her "a new what" to which she answered (this is word for word what she said) "a new MOM, not Tiffany, blonde hair."

Tiffany has made it clear to me that our daughter's idea is a bad one that we will not implement.

Part of our experience in taking a retreat to recharge and set goals as a family is to get away and have some fun together. We spent last Friday at Disneyland and had the most fun we have ever had as a family there. I got up early and ran a figure 8 from our hotel, through the center entry area of the parks, around Disneyland, through the entry area again, around California Adventure and back to the hotel (5.6 miles in all).

Once we got into the park everyone rode everything and nobody chickened out of any of the rides. Even our three-year-old was excited to ride Splash Mountain, Big Thunder, the Matterhorn, and even Space Mountain. The park was pretty empty for most of the day. I don't know if it was the rain, the economy, the fact that it was a Friday in January, or all of the above, but we really felt like we had the park to ourselves. We did not stand in any lines at all until after 4:00 p.m. It was a blast.

My three oldest and I rode Indiana Jones and it broke down on us. We were stopped just after the first turn when the lights came on and we were asked to wait to see if the ride would start up again. A few minutes later the ride began with the lights on. We took another corner and everything stopped again. This time we were stopped for good and eventually had to unload from the car and walk out of the ride. While we were in the rise we saw that one of the skeletons on the ride is wearing sunglasses, and another one has Mickey Mouse ears on. I am kicking myself that I did not think to take pictures.

We rode the Buzz Lightear ride. Here is the pic of Tiffany shooting at aliens.



Saturday we woke up, went swimming in the hotel pool, and then drove to Hollywood. We had lunch at Pinks on LaBrea, and then drove home. It was a really fun weekend for all of us.

Great way to end 2008

Our family had blast ending our 2008. The day after Christmas we trucked down to Arizona to a little vacation rental in Queen Creek. From Friday through Wednesday we hung out with Tiffany's family. All of Tiff's siblings, together with all of their children, met together for the weekend. Saturday, Sunday, and Monday we had a get together with Tiff's aunts, uncles, cousins, and lots of other family. It was wonderful to hang out with everyone. As each day came more family arrived. The Saturday and Sunday gatherings were at Tiff's cousin Jeff's place. Here is a picture of all of Tiffany's siblings with their respective spouses, and all of their children together at one time.



On Monday we met at a park in Mesa. The kids got to feed the ducks and play basketball, wiffleball, and soccer.



On Sunday I attended my home ward from when I was 13-18 years old. It was almost 20 years since I had been in that building. I talked to my old Bishop and got the chance to thank him for all the time he spent helping me learn how to be a husband and father. I also got to see my High School Speech and Debate coach, who had moved into my old ward several years ago. In Priesthood I was asked to introduce myself. After I sat down the guy next to me said he knew my father. He introduced himself as "Brother Smith" and I asked him "are you Karla's dad?" He said yes and I told him that he and I used to be home teaching companions.

We were having so much fun I suggested we stay an extra day. The drive home Thursday took a long time because the Hoover Dam traffic was backed up over two miles with California folk heading to Vegas for New Years.

Once we got home I took two of my neices to "Partyland" to get New Years party favors. We also picked up a bunch of "over the hill" decorations for Tiffany's sister (my neices' mother) Janelle. We gave Janelle an inflatable walker, a sash that said "40 and fabulous", an "over the hill" pin that had flashing lights, and a couple of books (we had to throw in a few real gifts). Janelle was a good sport and wore the gear all night. When midnight came we toasted with apple cider and we watched the fireworks on TV. It was a fun ending to a neat year for our family.