2008 DISNEYLAND DAY 1

After a great, but long day at Disneyland Barry and I discovered a hidden secret of the magical land of Disney. We got up early Tuesday morning, Porter wouldn't have let us sleep in even if we wanted to, got everything ready to go and headed over to the entrance line were Great Grandma Ballard and Grandma Belcher were holding our place in line. The kids were so excited.

Everything was interesting to them. Porter kept having us look at the Mickey flowers that lit up every so often. The park opened and of course we ran to Star Tours as fast as we could, I think we were the first people in line by the time we got there. Star Tours was the only ride that I was excited for, mostly because Porter loves star wars to much that I thought he would love the ride and the characters along the ride's standby line. Porter ran up to the gate and the guy checking people in had him stand under the height identifier and to our dissappointment Porter was about and inch too short for the ride. I was so worried about how he would take it when I had to let him know that they weren't going to let him on the ride, but I told him anyway and to my surprise he was to sad. He just looked at C3PO and R2 at the start of the line and he was happy. I was pretty mad inside because I felt bad that Porter was so short for his age.


Fortunately for us all the Buz Lightyear ride was just across the street and Porter was excited to go on it too. We didn't have to wait in line at all for the Buz ride either. We walked straight on to the ride. Once we got closer to the ride we discovered that Porter wasn't as excited as we thought, we kind of had to force him onto the ride. Once the ride started to go he liked it, he didn't wan't to shoot the lazer blasters thought; so, Erin and I had a great time shooting all the targets. We both got to the 3rd level in scoring. We were pretty proud of ourselves.


Once that ride was done we ran over and did the Pirates of the Carribean ride, again Porter wasn't so sure about it, but when the ride was all done he loved it. No line again!
We called the rest of the family to tell them the sad news of Porter's shortness and that we had ridden on a couple of rides already. They had all gathered at the Nemo ride, so we decided to meet up with them. Grandma Ballard was able to jump to the front of most lines, along with 6 other people, with her special pass. The family was using it to bypass the monster line at the Nemo ride. One group was on the ride when we got there, Grandma Belcher offered to watch the babies while Erin, Lisa, Micha, Porter, and I rode on the autotopia ride. This was the first line we had to wait in of the morning. Everybody loved the ride, I personally thought it was kindof slow, but Porter loved driving the car and bouncing it from side to side. Poor Erin had to ride the slow ride all by her self. I think that would have been pretty boring if I was the solo driver.


By the time we were done with Autotopia the rest of the family was out to Nemo and it was our turn to jump to the front of the line with Grandma Ballard to go on the Nemo ride. This time the man at the front of the line wouldn't allow Grandma Ballard to actualy go on the ride with us, as they did the last group. They said her pass forbid her walking down the stairs into the submarines. So, she had to wait in the "observation room." We all thought it was silly because the time just before us she rode with the group in the sub.
Porter loved the Nemo ride and when it was done he ran over to Grandma Belcher to tell her all about it. The ride was over just in time for all of us to sit and save ourselves a spot to watch the Jedi Light Saber Training Show. Porter was so excited to see the Jedis. I told him that if he wanted to he could probably be selected to be one of the padawons that would be taught all he'd have to do is stand really tall and wave his hands like crazy when they asked for volunteers. He thought that would be pretty cool until they actually asked for volunteers. He kind of hid behind me during that part, but his cousin Tanner was selected and got to be part of the show. He was awsome and got to stand front and center behind the jedi instructor. There was about 30 kids that were up on the stage. They were taught how to activate their "training" light saber, then deactivate, then how to strike "left arm, right arm, left leg, rigth leg, duck, and head." They practiced it several times and then the Darth Vader music started to play and shortly after it started two storm troopers walked on stage and the kids and Jedi's ran off to the side of the stage. The storm troopers stood gaurd on the stage while the center of the stage rose up from the ground and Darth Vader appeared as the stage moved upward. Darth Vader emerged and started to talk with the Jedi instructor and while he talked more smoke came out of th stage and Darth Mal emerged from the center stage as well. He looked pretty scarey. While Darth Vader and the instructor talked about the young jedi's Darth Mal walked around and tried scaring people. It was all pretty cool. Then one by one the kids got to fight either Darth Vader or Darth Mal. Tanner got to fight Darth Mal on center stage. He did a great job. Porter was amazed just standing next to me with wide eyes. I asked him what he thought and he said, "I wanted to do that." I just laughed inside because I just told him how he could have been one of the trainees. For the rest of the trip Tanner and Porter played star wars and Tanner was the "new jedi trainer." He got a little certificate that said he passed his training. It was funny to listen to them throughout the park talking about star wars. Especially after they all got Mickey Mouse expandable light sabers toward the end of the next day. While waiting for the parade they boys were all "activating and deactivating" their light sabers.


After the Jedi training session we thought it would be fun to go to Toon Town with Porter. When we got there Porter let us know in his own way that he didn't like Toon Town. He didn't want to do anything. We tried Roger Rabbit's wild ride, meeting Goofy, and entering some of the building and he wanted nothing to do with it. We finally got him to go into Mickey's House to meet Mickey and about halfway through the 20 minute waite he started to wine and complain that he wanted to leave and he didn't like Mickey's house. We made him stick it out and eventually we were able to meet Mickey and he again loved it and had to tell everyone that he got to meet Mickey Moust and got his picture with him. We finally got it out of him that he wanted to be with Tanner and he said he would ride on more rides if tanner was around. So we called them and made our way to where ever they were.


We all met up and ate at the Bear Country dinner on the river near Splash Mountain. It felt so nice to sit down and rest. Porter actually fell asleep in his stroller. We all had hamburgers, over priced hamburgers at that, but what isn't overpriced inside the park?
Everybody kind of stayed together for a couple of ride after that the lunch break. We rode Dumbo, the Mary Go Round, and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Porter liked all those ride a lot and even asked to go on the Mary Go Round again.




I think after the Dumbo ride Grandma and Grandpa took the babies back to the hotel and allowed us to take the bigger kids on some more rides. It was pretty nice because I think the babies were getting pretty tired, it was definitely their nap time. Once Mr. Toad's ride was done I believe we all headed toward the Toon Town again, but the Acors weren't with us because they were waiting in line for the Toad ride. That's right we all jumped to the front of the line with Kim and Matt, they missed the line cutting and had to go through the whole line.
On the way to Toon Town we rode the tea cups with the Woods. Lisa loves the tea cup ride. We spun the cup a little and noticed that it made us queezy, so we didn't spin the cup too much after that.


After the tea cups we all felt pretty tired of walking and someone suggested a ride on the Disney Express. That sounded great and the wait time for the train said only 5 minutes, so we all jumped in line. After about 15 minutes we actually got on the train. We talked Porter into riding the train all the way around the park, he wanted to go on Buz Lightyear again, as did we; but the sitting felt so nice. He was pretty excited when we went past the dinosaur exhibit on the train. I wasn't surprised when after the persuation to stay on the ride to hear Porter tell us how much he liked it and actually wanted to do it again.
When we finished the full loop we got our strollers and headed back over to Future Land. Porter, Micha, Seneca, Kim, Matt, and I all got in line for the Buz ride while Erin and Lisa went shopping in some of the stores. Porter actually shot the targets this time. He did pretty good too. The adults goal was to hopefully advance past the level 3 status, but once again no one did. I think Seneca took the title of the most points almost reaching the level 4 status.
Wow, I'm really starting to understand why we all felt so tired at the end of the day. It was a very long and busy day. I think I'm only half way through everything that we did that day. Crazy! I think I'm just going to quickly list the things we did after the Buz ride.
We all met up again and went to California Adventure. While there we went on Soaring over California, Grizzly River Rapids, and Bugs Life 3D. While on the Grizzly Rapids we all got pretty soaked which felt pretty good. However, having a soaked pair of shorts didn't bode well after walking as much as we did. Lets just say that we got a little chafe. Once we were done with those couple of activities we all had to race over to where Grandma and Grandpa were. They were saing our places near the Pirates ride so that we could watch the Fantasmic show later on that night. Grandma said that "we should hurry, so we didn't loose our places." So, Erin, Peyton, Porter, Matt, and I decided we'd better "hurry" as she said. It was kind of fun to race through the throngs of people while pushing strollers. We actually made good time. I think I wore Erin and Matt out. About half way there they both were asking Porter and I to slow down. Once we got over there we couldn't find our group initially, but after some more detailed instructions via the cell phone we spotted them and we ready to watch the show.
The show was great! When it was done we decided to leave the park, get something to eat, and go to bed. We ended up eating at McDonalds with Porter and then at Quizno's for Erin and I. Porter was pretty excited because he got Starscreen as his toy.
Once back in the Hotel Porter and Peyton fell right to sleep. Erin wanted me to find a store to get some food for the next day. I looked a coupl up online and Barry and I took off in the car in search for some food. The first couple stores were pretty creepy and we dared not stop for fear of being mugged. The last one we found looked fine, but it was closed.
We got back to the Hotel and we both decided we had a second wind and wanted to go back to the park. It was already 11:00 PM but we knew that if we hurried we'd have time to go on a couple rides. So we did and that's when the Splash Party of 2008 was created. More to come on the Splash Party 2008.

Having fun on vacation!

So, we've been on vaction since last friday and so far it's been a blast! It has been over a year and a half since all of my sisters and I have been together. We are extremely close and I talk to at least one or two of them a day. Well, we caravaned to Utah with my sister Jodie and her family. Jodie and I with the babies in one car, Lynn and Barry in the other car with the older kids. We thought that the babies would sleep a lot of the time, but Jodie took the job as entertainer and chucked toys and snacks and bottles of milk to the backseat for them. She even sat between them and played peek-a-boo and other games. We stopped in Sydney, Ne for lunch at Cabelas. Well, we had given the babies so many bottles they both had diapers that were so full that they were leaking onto their carseats. So gross, no wonder they both were so cranky. The rest of the ride was long and we had a good time chating the whole way. Not to mention, I drove the entire 15 hours!!! Usually Lynn drives most of the way. We got to Utah at about 10:00 pm and the kids were excited to see grandma and grandpa and everyone, and were ready to play, so we stayed up way too late.

On Saturday we threw a baby shower for my sister Kim who is having a girl. I was put in charge of games (thanks mom). We were pleasantly suprised to see a lot of cousins and friends. My cousin Becky told me that she wouldn't be able to come to it, but she was lying and suprised all of us when she showed up. We spent the rest of the day chating and hanging out with Becky and her husband James. It was very fun!

On Sunday we went to church, then had a huge get together BBQ. All of us sisters invited some old friends that we haven't seen for years, so it turned out to be quite the production. We had the Cluffs and the Irelands come. It was good to see them and see how much their kids have grown. We wish we could have had more friends come, but we will have to get together with them another time!

THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

Well, I'm back from Ohio. It was a great trip. Tough to be away from the family, but a very useful and important trip. The reason I went up to OSU was to see what their Prosthodontic residency program was all about. Erin and I both decided that if we thought specialty school was right for our family that OSU would be the place we would most like to attend.
The trip started out with a bad start. I was suppose to fly out on Sunday afternoon right before church was suppose to start. Erin and I decided that we better attend another ward's meeting to ensure we were able to attend a Sacrament meeting. We did that and the ran home and got the last things I needed for the trip and headed to the airport. Erin dropped me off and then quickly headed down the road to attend our meetings. I stepped up to the Delta check in counter and was informed that "due to severe weather in Atlanta, my flight had been significantly delayed and I would have to catch the 7 AM flight the next morning." I wasn't too happy with that option, especially because that would cut out at least half a day at OSU out of the measly three that we had planned on. The other bad news was I had the cell phone and Erin was at church with no phone. I called all the people at church whom I knew had a phone, hoping that they would answer their phone while at church. After talking with a couple of people the missionaries were at the church and passed the message onto Erin in primary. Fortunately for me Josh came and got me so I didn't have to sit at the airport too long.
Once that was taken care of I made all the calls to Eric, in Columbus, and the pros program explaining what happened and I would most likely be there around noon the next day. They all were very understanding and helpful.
Monday came around and things went pretty well. I got to Cincinnati and our flight was delayed about 25 minutes due to lack of a pilot and flight crew?!? That was weird. Then finally I arrived in Columbus around noon. Kelly Anderson, Eric's wife, was wonderful and picked me up at the airport then dropped me off at OSU.
Once there I found my way to Dr. Holloway's office and met with her for a minute. She had meeting to attend so I went to lunch. At 1:00 PM I officially met with her and she explained the ins and outs of the program. She was very informative and helpful. I liked how organized and detailed she appeared, I figured I would fit in well with that type of organization. She then took me on a quick tour and then led me down to the pros resident's lab and conference room in the basement of the school. I then met about half of the residents and was able to talk with them while the worked on their lab work. There were 3 LDS residents out of the 9 spots. That was encouraging to me. All the resident were very friendly and seemed to be pretty good friends. Which is a good thing since they pretty much live together for 8 hours a day. They take 3 new residents each year. I was told that around 100 students apply for the three spots each year.
After the first day, I was a bit discouraged after talking to the residents and learning that the first year, mainly the first 6 months, of school is just like the sophomore year of dental school all over again. When I first heard that I was pretty bummed, I didn't like the 2nd year of dental school and I wasn't sure if I wanted to go through that again. After thinking about it a while I realized those 6 months would probably be with two other people that were as nice as the residents I met and would be at a school which seemed to have very helpful and nice teachers. Meaning that the fist year would be similar to the first year of dental school in Idaho; a small class and great teacher made that experience not too bad.
On Tuesday and Wednesday I has able to stay in clinic with the residents the whole day. I was very impressed with how much they knew and the work they were doing. It was exactly what I was hoping for. It was a lot of fun. The department chair, Dr. Swenson, was a great guy. He knows Dr. Nilsson from our school and I think that helped me out while I was there. Dr. Swenson kept pulling me aside to "pimp", in the words of the med students, me about treatment planning and such. I loved it! It was great to be put on the spot.
I think over all it was great experience. I at least know what to expect when I visit other schools for interviews. I felt that they liked me too. Dr. Swenson said I did a great job while I was there and some of the staff and residents hinted that I had a great chance to go there next year. I think I would go there if I was accepted. We'll just keep our fingers crossed.
I had a great time at the Anderson's. They were so nice and welcoming. I was amazed at how helpful they were. I owe them big time. They fed me and drove me around everyday. They showed me how great the city of Columbus is and I think they convinced me. They would be some great people to be around while we lived there.

Surviving

Lynn took off to do an extern-ship on Monday in Ohio, so it's just me and the boys for three days. So far things have gone great and we are surviving. I've been keeping the boys busy and myself busy. Yesterday we went to the sprinkler park and then to an IMAX movie courtesy of Alicia and Josh's winning tickets. Today we went to the mall to play at the play place and now nap time. I can't even imagine being a single mother. I'm so grateful that I have a husband who I love and who loves me. Porter keeps asking if it's Thursday yet because that's when dad gets home. We will be so happy with him home. Friday we leave early in the morning to drive to Utah. We are very excited!

Last Summer Session of Dental School

Yep, it's true the Gurney family can now start the count down of "lasts" that might occur in Dental School. Today was the last Summer Session day I'll hopefully have at Creighton Dental School. It was a busy day. I saw an implant patient, seated a crown patient for my friend that just had his tonsils out yesterday, and then a denture check on one of my patients. Then when I thought all was well I was asked to see an emergency walk in patient after hours while I was working on my clinic schedule for August. Now, it's time for the summer to begin. Well....almost, I guess a week at The Ohio State University Pros residency needs to come first.

Porter's Birthday Party

We decided to do a birthday party for Porter before we left on vacation so that all of his friends could celebrate with him. It seems that we are always in Heber for Porter's birthday and that will probably be the case again this year. I could not have asked for a better party. Everything went very smoothly and I think that everyone had a good time. I loved planning it and making all of the fun preparations for it. We had it at the Westwood Height Sprayground, which is so much fun. All of the kids played in the water for awhile, then we had cake and opened presents, then the kids wacked the pinata, and then it was over! Porter loved his gifts and has been playing with them constantly.

Here is Porter attempting the Yoda pinata. That sucker was sturdy. None of the kids broke it open. We had one of the dads take a turn and he got it to break off of the rope, but I ended up dumping all of the candy on the ground for the kids to run and get. Poor Becca got wacked with the stick a couple of times.

Taking turns

The Knight Kids

Peyton and I having a good time.

I decided to just do cupcakes so there would be "less mess". I found some cute Star Wars rings that went with the theme.

Blowing out the candles that had already been blown out by the wind. Notice the cute Star Wars cupcake rings at the bottom.

I love Porter's face in this one :)

The kids playing in the water.

Porter with Tyson and Mason

Our homemade Yoda pinata. Lynn was the mastermind behind this one, but I did most of the work. It was a lot of fun to do. Do you think we could sell one like it on ebay?

Alicia and Emmett

THE NEW STAR WARS KID!!!!!