God is Good!
When Loren left Starbucks they gave him a check. A check we were not expecting to get.
When he got hired they gave him Starbucks stock for free.
When he left left they gave him what it was worth. Ummm...ok! Thank you, Starbucks.
After praying about what we should do with the money we were lead to take a little family vacation (totally out of my comfort zone....I'd normally rather use money to pay off debt). The check he was given paid for our flight and our rental car. Our friend Dee who lives in California offered us her home to stay in while we were visiting and my mom sent us Disney tickets. What a blessing and so perfectly laid out for us. We couldn't feel more blessed and cared for. If it were not for this check and Dee and my Mom we would not have been able to go. Thank you all!!!
And, thank you Amy for house sitting while we were away and Uncle Chuck and Aunt Barbie for letting us park our car at your house and for dropping us off and picking us up at the airport.
I was really worried approaching our trip as they weather was suppose to be terrible.
Rainy & cold. Boo Hiss Boo Hiss.
I prayed. I even had friends and family pray. And, God answered. He answered with abundant beauty. The day we left the weather report still said the weather was suppose to be awful but from the time we arrived until we left it was sunny blue skies. Glorious weather. Not too hot. Not too cold. Thank you God for answered prayers.
Here are some photos from the most relaxing vacation any of us have ever been on.
Day 1
-We told Grace our surprise at 7am after she woke up. She was so excited that her prayers came true. She's been begging us to go to Disneyland for almost a year.
-We left our house at 9:30 and flew out of Seatac after having lunch at Uncle Chuck and Aunt Barbies.
-We arrived in Tustin, CA that evening and made it to Dee's house at around 8pm.
Day 2
-We started our day off with a morning of play time, pancakes and new friends.
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| Grace learning to play telephone for the first time around the breakfast table |
Then we all headed to Downtown Disney to have lunch at the Rain Forrest Cafe with Dee and Lauren
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| OH MY GOSH-we are here!!!! |
After lunch Dee and Lauren had to attend a birthday party.
So we headed to Build A Bear. Gracie's first time there.
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| Meet Rainbow |
And, what a treat.
Rosalee & Sue, my mom's cousins, joined us at Down Town Disney for the afternoon along with Sues daughter in law and grandson.
We strolled through the shops, stopped to eat Ice Cream and caught up.
It's been 9 years since we've seen them. So wonderful.
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| Rosalee bought Grace this special princess wand |
When we got back to Dee's we ate a lovely turkey crock pot meal with Lauren, Dee and Norm (Lauren's dad). The girls played, bathed and then hit the hay.
Day 3
DISNEYLAND
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| tram ride to the park |
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| 1st time meeting Alice and Mad Hatter |
Last year in Florida Grace wasn't too fond of the Characters. This year was a whole different story.
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| Iradessa |
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| Tink |
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| On the tomorrow land rocket ship ride |
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I love the Disneyland's It's A Small World Ride.
Finding all the Disney Characters was a lot of fun. |
The Disney Princess Coronation. We just happened upon it and so glad we did. She got to learn how to be a princess while getting to dance with Cinderella, Aurora and Snow White. Every little girls dream.
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| Best Princess experience ever! |
Meet up for lunch with friends from the Burg!
And, back to the rides....
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| That is our child in a tea cup with another family. Thankful for nice families who take in random little girls whos parents get sick on twirly things. |
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Zero wait time to see Mickey Mouse.
Yes, please. And, look at her hugging on him. |
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| 1st time meeting Minnie |
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Waiting for the parade.
Started to get chilly as the sun went down. |
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Mickey was totally rocking those drums.
He was really playing. Amazing Amazing Parade. |
After the 6:30 parade we booked it to the Pooh Bear Ride. Zero wait time. Score
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| She is seriously the happiest little munchkin I've ever met |
And, she said her favorite ride of all is: Peter Pan!
The Magic The Memories and You!
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Waiting for it to start
Grace happy cried during it because it was so beautiful |
And, drum roll please....
Our girly watched the
FIRE WORKS!!!
She loved them. And, I cried.
She has been through so much these last three years. Such a milestone. Proud and grateful for healing.
I have zero photos but I must say this was the best of all the fire work shows I've seen.
And, what they can do with Tinker Bell at this park blew my mind!
Thank you Disneyland for delivering!
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| Goodbye Disney Land |
After the fireworks we headed out. We were suppose to get a late night ice cream treat but my dessert lover turned it down because she was exhausted. I guess 13 hours on your feet and non-stop excitement will tucker one out, especially when you're five.
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| just seconds after getting in the car |
This was the best Disney park experience I've ever had.
And that's saying a lot because I've been literally hundreds of times thanks to having had family work there (Disney World in Florida) since before I was born until I was a grown up. It was pure bliss. I have never felt so incredibly happy after leaving a park.
The lines were minimal so we got to go on everything we wanted and without feeling utterly exhausted. The park was full but not crowded. And, everything was open for Grace to experience. There was so much for her to do. And, we just let her be a kid. And, in return we all felt like kids.
All my Disney Dreams came true!
Day 4
Beach 1: Newport Beach
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| On the pier |
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Lots of surfers at this beach.
The waves were very dramatic here. |
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| Our pelican friend |
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My girl and her crazy self running through the freezing cold water.
The water was like ice and it was cold out, too.
She didn't mind though-until we told her we didn't have a towel and the only clothes we had with us were shorts and a short sleeve shirt (we didn't think we would be in the water today).
Then she was cold. |
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Making up for not being able to get our Disney ice cream.
Let's hear three cheers for FroYo covered in yummy goodness. |
Beach 2: Balboa Beach
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I have ALWAYS wanted to ride around a beach town in one of these.
My sweet hubby surprised me.
And, it was a blast. We couldn't stop laughing & shaking (it was cold with the wind). |
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Where we stopped for lunch.
Best view atop a pier on the top floor of a Diner.
We saw dolphins and seals right off the pier while waiting for our food.
INCREDIBLE. |
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I just couldn't believe we were having this much fun.
And, we got to visit and actually enjoy two beaches in one day.
I couldn't stop pinching myself. |
After dropping off the Surrey we headed to the beach (since she got soaked and wanted more time in the water/sand, we picked her up a bathing suite in Newport Beach. Still no towel, but thankfully the waves here were so strong she chose to stay in the sand).
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| Sandcastle |
Day 5
Last full day in California
And, we went to Laguna Beach with Lauren. Her mom let her take off from school to spend the entire day with us. Grace was so grateful to have a friend to play with. They entertained each other the entire time.
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| Dolphins just about 50 feet out. They played in front of us for two hours. Most beautiful thing to watch. |
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| happiest girls alive |
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So you see, my husband and I are very different when it comes to the beach & sand.
Can you guess what the difference is? |
There was a rock island that we thought had seals on it. Since it was just far enough away that we couldn't see but close enough to walk to we headed out on an adventure to find out. So thankful we did. We found this incredible tide pool with much to explore.
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| No seals. Birds! And, stinky ones at that. I'm told the locals call it Poop Rock. |
Look what we found....
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| my little explorer extraordinaire |
Laguna Beach was my most favorite beach.
It offered so much. Lush beaches. Dolphins. Tide Pools. Rocks to explore in and on.
Artsy down town area. And, a scrumptious ice cream shop.
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| Who had fun at the beach, raise your hand? |
I will definitely be coming back to Laguna Beach.
After a long day at the beach we headed back to Dee's for Chinese take out (thanks for picking it up Dee!).
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| Gracie's first time eating Chinese food and first time using chop sticks. |
Bird watching and pretending to be babies out on their back patio.
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Dee and I!
So fun to meet you in person (we've been mama friends on line for almost six years).
And, thrilled at how well our girls get along.
My daughter will forever have a sister. |
Last moments together before we headed out for sunset at Laguna Beach.
It's hard to say goodbye. Grateful for super funny moments to help us forget that we are sad.
Gracie's first beach sunset
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finding shells for her collection.
She found two little sand dollars and two little starfish. |
Breath Taking....
After the sun set.....
After sunset we walked around town. We skipped. We oooed and awwwed at the different stuff we saw.
Then Grace swung on the swing on the beach while it was pitch black out. So neat to hear the waves crashing just a few feet away from the play ground. And, because we were hungry and we are crazy like that, we headed into Chick-fil-A for a late night snack. Grace got nuggets, I got fries and Loren got carrot raisin salad. Then home late for bedtime and packing.
Day 6:
Sadness. We had to go home today.
But our flight didn't leave until 4:30 so we had some time to spare.
We swung through Chick-fil-A for breakfast (one of the managers gave us free entree coupons when we came the night before-score).
Then we headed back to Down Town Disney.
Grace used up the last of her money on one more Build-a-Bear.
And, since she refused to get anything
"Disney" mommy bought her the cutest little Alice shirt with socks from Little MissMatched. Love that store!
And, we made a stop at In and Out Burger for lunch
(well, Grace got Jamba Juice since she doesn't eat burgers -smart girl). And, our final destination: The Air Port. 2.5 hour flight home. 2 hour drive home. And, to bed we went with giant smiles on our faces and longing hearts in hopes to go back some day soon.
This vacation was needed!
"BEST.VACATION.EVER!"
-Grace Statema
Time away from normal routine.
Time away from worries.
Time spent just with us.
No one elses schedules or plans to work around.
So relaxing. So rejuvenating. So refreshing. So lovely.
........we will see you again, California. We love that you are in our same time zone. We love that you offer beaches AND hills/mountains/hiking! We love that you aren't too hot or too cold. If it weren't for your earthquakes, we'd seriously think of moving there. But, you never know.
