Tolman Family

Hank and I took another quick trip to Disneyland last weekend for my birthday. We drove down on Friday, went to Disneyland on Saturday (my birthday), and drove home early Sunday morning (making it home in time for church at 9:30!). It was a really fun trip. We made it a point to spend as little money as possible so that we could eat at the Blue Bayou (pic above). That is the restaurant that you can see inside Pirates of the Caribbean. It was kind of expensive, but so worth it. We got fillet mignon and lobster tail. It was delicious! All we had to pay for other than that was gas. We packed a cooler full of sandwiches for all the other meals, and we slept in our car! Hank has an SUV, so we just folded the seats down in the back and put an air mattress down. It was actually pretty comfy - and free! So, since I can't go on any rides because I'm pregnant, we took it nice and easy in the park. We went on a Hidden Mickey scavenger hunt. For those of you who don't kno...

So, my birthday is coming up this Saturday, right? Well, Hank couldn't wait to give me my birthday present, so i got it just a few days early. It was an iPhone! I have been wanting one ever since Hank got his. When my phone broke last month I decided to ask for one for my birthday. Hank totally tricked me into thinking that they were impossible to get, but he got a super good deal on it. What a great husband I have. The real reason that I got it early is because we're driving down to Disneyland this weekend, so if I opened it there I wouldn't be able to enjoy it right away. So, I have it now and I'm loving it!

Ok, now you can't tell me that I'm not getting bigger. Look at that stomach! Our little girl's in there, 23 weeks old and kicking constantly. I'm six months along already; this is going by so fast! My mom offered to throw me a baby shower in Utah, and I just had two good friends here in Monterey offer to host one, too. How lucky am I?

We had so much fun with my Mom, Denise, here this last week. I was so sad to see her go. Hank and I both had the week off work so we got to enjoy a lot of time with her. I've been wanting a visitor ever since we moved here and she was the perfect guest. We saw all the Monterey sights. This pic is of us on 17-mile Drive in Pebble Beach. Sadly, it was cold the whole time she was here, but that's no different than usual. We went baby shopping, saw Cannery Row, took a knitting class, went to the movies, and ate out a lot! She even made Hank and I a delicious lunch (on her vacation!). We thought she should stay forever. Thanks for coming Mom, we miss you already!

It is so fun to have my mom here visiting us this week. We have spent days shopping for baby things (We are now registered at Babies R Us, by the way). Hank and I desperately needed her help. We've also had fun showing her around Monterey. This morning we lined up on the street to watch the 4th of July parade. It's cold here in Monterey so we covered up with this beautiful blanket that my Aunt Deanna made for us. Then we all got out our knitting and started practicing. We had so many strangers come up and want to take pictures of us. Even photographers from a couple local newspapers! It was so funny! I think they might have thought we were actually working on the blanket. Either way we looked pretty patriotic and we had a great time.

So, I've been wanting to learn how to knit for a long time and I finally found a lady in our ward who was willing to teach me (Thanks Mary Jane!). She and I set up a knitting class so she could teach a lot of people at once. Our first class was this week and I brought Hank and my mom. We all loved it. We spent the rest of the day practicing our new skill. Surprisingly, Hank is the best out of all of us! Here's Hank and I happily knitting our little hearts out.

Well, our friend Dimas Garcia passed his final Spanish test here at the Defense Language Institute so he and his wife, Crystal, are moving away. :( They will be moving to Washington state. We decided to have one last fling with them so we all piled in the car for a last minute trip to Disneyland. It was so fun! Dimas had never been there before so it was really fun for Hank and I to be there with a first-timer. Dimas thought Disneyland was going to be a kids' place, but he quickly realized that it definitely is the Happiest Place on Earth - even for adults! The Tiki Room Hank + Mickey + Danica = one happy family The best part was Hank and I got Premium Annual Passes for the first time. No blockout dates, free parking, discounts everywhere...awesome. And Disneyland is a short 5 hours from our house. We made a commitment when we bought them that we would come enough to get our money's worth, so if anyone ever wants to visit that magical place, we're game!