Service project

The other night, Luke and I had scouts, (I'm the Bear/Wolf Den Leader, and Luke is a Webelo without a leader).  I found out just before the service project that it was also the Mother/Son activity at the indoor soccer complex where I play.  They were having soccer and flag football activities, tag, and other activities for the kids and moms.  I wanted to go so bad.  For scouts we were taking Thank You cards and cookies to our local firemen as a thank you for their service and the most amazing field trip ever.  Then we were going to the Celery Flats to clean up the walking/running/biking trails.  I thought maybe I would go deliver the cookies and then head off to the activity with Luke.  I thought I could be justified in doing that by putting family first.  After we delivered the cookies, we just moved into the service project without much of a second thought about the other fun activity going on that night. 

I say without much of a second thought, because as I watched my son running around finding garbage, leading his peers in cleaning up the trails, I knew that we were right where we were supposed to be. Not that Luke is always the greatest of examples following the rules of the activity, but that night, he was a true leader, and he put his whole heart into his work.  My heart swelled and grew in love for my boy. 
Yes, we were right where we needed to be.  Thanks, Luke, for your service. 
(And as I'm typing this he is torturing his sister.  He is all boy.)

Discovery Cove

You had to be 6 to ride with the dolphins.  Olivia was happy to stay with Ishara.  She isn't exactly fearless about creatures swimming in the water.  They sold shirts that said, "I touched a stingray."  Had they had one that said, "I looked at a stingray" I would have bought it for Olivia.

Isn't it beautiful?

Mariah

Olivia connected with Ishara, Abe's sister.  She loved her so much.  Ishara was so nice to let Olivia bury her feet.

Have you ever been to one of those places that you feel like they are giving you the royal treatment?  Like a cruise, or a vacation resort?  Discovery Cove is one of those places.  It's like being at a day resort where they just take care of you in almost every way possible.  Upon arrival, there is breakfast available.  They provide you with a stroller, locker, wet suit, snorkel and mask, and sunscreen.  The changing facilities are nice, the people are there to help.  They have 3 different beach areas.  The snorkeling pool with all sorts of tropical fish and HUGE sting rays (with their stingers removed for safety).  Luke kept asking if I would like to see the shark.  I thought there must be a big fish that looks like a shark, but no, you are snorkeling along when all the sudden there are full sized sharks right there.  Now really they are in an underground aquarium, but at first you don't see the glass separating you from them.  It is a thrill, a major adrenalin boost. 

The next pool is the warm pool, which is just like stepping into a warm bath.  It is so nice and beautiful  There is a cave area to swim in, and lifeguards all over.  Olivia LOVED this pool.  She wouldn't even dream of going into the pool with the fish and stingrays.  This pool was so nice when you were cold, and considering our temps were around 75 at midday, there were times when we needed to warm up. 

The 3rd pool was where you spent the time with the dolphins.  This was such an amazing experience.  Our dolphin was Akai.  He is their model they use for all their pictures.  They taught us hand signals to have the dolphin to do tricks, we got to pet them, kiss them, and take a ride with the dolphin.  It was so amazing.  Such a great experience that I am so glad we got to do. 

They also feed you a wonderful lunch.  You could choose things like salmon, shrimp salads, hamburgers, pasta, chicken dishes and such.  Not your ordinary fast food.

After lunch we went back and snorkeled, and swam.  They had a lazy river, which from all accounts I heard because with Olivia I wasn't able to go around it, it was quite the workout, with no current to help you along. 

We also went to the bird conservatory, where I sadly didn't have my camera.  Olivia actually fed the birds and let them stand on her hands and arms and such.  She loved it.

They also had a snack shack where you could get pretzels, hot cocoa, soda, chips, cookies and a slew of other treats.

We had a great day.  And the best part after we left is that with the purchase price of Discovery Cove, we got free admission into Sea World for 14 days.  Not that we were there for 14 days, but we got our money's worth for sure.  Luke wants to repeat this trip as a family reunion.  I think he's on to something there.

On a side note that is difficult to note, we lost Olivia this day.  We had quite a crowd of people and it was one of those things where I thought someone else had her, and she really had just disappeared.  Once I noticed it, it was after we had packed up our strollers to go to the dolphin pool.  When I got caught up with part of our group I noticed she wasn't with them.  They hadn't seen her and they hollered up to the group in front and she wasn't with them either.  At this time we also noticed that Luke was missing.  Our friends have 5 kids and their kids were all accounted for, I had 2 and both of mine were lost.  Mother of the year.  The guys went back to look for her and they came back saying that they couldn't find her.  Realize that we are surrounded by water and unknown people.  My heart panicked.  Rushing back and looking for her I was just praying for her to be safe.  Finally I hear the guys yelling that they found her.  She was in the warm pool and Luke was with her.  When he came back to the place where we were he found her swimming in the pool with no one else with her.  He went and stayed with her until we found them.  How grateful we are that they were safe and sound, and that Luke took care of her until we found them. 

Merry Christmas Surprise 2010

This year for Christmas we were blessed to surprise the kids with a trip to Walt Disney World in Florida.  We told them we were going to their cousin's house in Ohio, (which we did), and told them we weren't sure how long we were planning on staying.  The night before we left, we gave them a gift that was written from Mickey Mouse that told them he was so excited because they were coming to see him.  They were told to get a good night's sleep because they would have a LONG drive the next day. 

We left the next morning at 6:15.  The kids went back to sleep which was such a blessing.  We stopped for the first time at the West Virginia/ Virginia border at a Super Wal-Mart.  We got gas, Subway sandwiches, and a haircut for Luke.  Olivia was actually sick to her tummy there and was able to go to the bathroom 3 times during Luke's haircut.  Luckily she traveled well the rest of the day and we didn't have extra bathroom breaks because of it. 

We stopped the next time in South Carolina.  The kids travel so well.  We only had to stop when the car needed gas.  Around Jacksonville, Florida Olivia's legs hurt from her car seat and she was tired of being in the car, but that was the only meltdown and it was short lived. 

We made it to our destination about 10:30 PM.  We were all ready to be out of the car.  We were actually staying at our friend's parents house with our friends Abe and Rachel and all their kids (Jackson, Tyson, Jordan, Mariah, and Juliana).  Our kids were in heaven to be out of the car and to have their friends to play with to boot.  We were finally able to calm the kids down and get them to bed to get ready for church the next day. 

Abe's parents were so good to us.  They treated us so well.  We all loved them and were so thankful we decided to stay with them even though we had only met them for 5 minutes previous to staying with them.  What amazing people who opened their house to us.

We attended church with them the next day, and also a Christmas fireside.  It was nice to have a day of rest to recuperate from our travel the day before.

On Monday we went to Disney's Magic Kingdom.

Olivia had so much fun seeing all the character.  Sadly (because I would love to have more of Luke) most of our pictures are of Olivia and the characters.  Luke was too busy going on all the adventurous rides, while Olivia would ask, "Is that ride fast?  Does it leave the ground?"

We were standing in line to see the Fairies at this point.  There were four 4 year olds standing near us in line.  I gave Olivia the iPod and then all sat and watch a movie while we waited.  When we moved forward, Olivia would pick up the iPod and move it and then the girls would all sit down again and continue watching.  Cutest thing ever.  :)

Belle was Olivia's favorite of the Princesses.  She was so good to Olivia.

Olivia loved Tinkerbell. 

Once we got done in line, Olivia asked if we could go to the back of the line again so we could see them all over again.  (I may of thought it was cute, but no, I didn't let her do that).

Luke's favorite ride - Splash Mountain, followed by Space Mountain

Olivia's favorite ride - It's a Small World

Gingerbread House Day at Preschool

Oh my goodness.  Can I just say how much I love this little girl?

She was so excited to decorate her Gingerbread House.

Isn't it just beautimus?

Olivia is holding the cute reindeer hand and foot print painting she made for me as a Christmas Present.

Olivia with her teacher Miss Ann. (Mrs. D)

Thanksgiving 2010

This year we broke away from the normal Thanksgiving traditions, and we went to the Detroit Lions Thanksgiving Day football game.  We went to Detroit the night before and stayed in a hotel in Greek Town.  We were minutes away (walking distance) from a 5 Guys restaurant.  We ate dinner there that night, and then headed back to the hotel for a nice swim.  The pool was so cold, but the hot tub was so nice.  We had plans to go to the Thanksgiving Day parade, but the kids asked if we could go swimming instead of to the parade.  Heck yeah!  It was raining outside and cold, you don't have to ask me twice to skip a parade.  Although I'm sure it would have been wonderful.  :)

We had a ton of fun swimming.  It was still cold, but I braved the cold pool for some fun pool walking for some exercise.  The kids had a blast swimming.

After swimming, we got ready for the big game.  We walked over to the dome and found our seats.  They were a reward Ryan got for his performance with Orbit Medical, so the seats weren't great, but they were free.

We had a great time and the kids loved the stadium food.  Yep, Ryan did too.  EWWYUCK!  Not so good.  The game was good for the first 3 quarters. In the 4th quarter the Lions just imploded.  They couldn't do anything right.  They played the Patriots.  Tom Brady didn't really play a memorial game, but it was obviously solid enough to get a win.  

After the game, we made a beeline out of Detroit back home.  We stopped once we made it back in town and ate a Thanksgiving Dinner at Perkins.  It was so sad not having any leftovers the day after Thanksgiving, but I must say, not spending the whole day cooking and cleaning was a refreshing change.  I'm not sure if this will be a new tradition, but it sure was fun.

Kid Rock did the Half Time show.  It was a good show.  My parents called during the middle of it, and no one could here the other person, so we gave up and had to talk later.

Autumn Elizabeth

This is my good friend Rollie.  I love her so much.  Rollie and I served together in the Relief Society Presidency.  Rollie is holding her beautiful little girl she waited 13 long painful years to have.  I am so happy for Rollie and Jonathan that they now have their precious Autumn Elizabeth.

Luke and Olivia were so excited to hold Autumn Elizabeth.  They prayed for many long months for this sweet baby's safe arrival.  Hooray that she's here.

cutest kids ever

Aren't these just the cutest kids you've ever seen?  We sure love our friends Derek and Maddie.  Olivia and Maddie were so adorable dressed very similar so I had to take pictures of them, and then the boys jumped in too.  It was priceless.  Jevin, Derek and Maddie's older brother, was actually doing his own photo shoot for some cereal, so we had our own photo shoot here.

Halloween 2010

 Olivia wanted to be a ballerina.  Our friend had this ballerina dress she wore when she was a girl, (a little older than Olivia), and Olivia really wanted to wear it.  There was also a veil which she really wanted to wear too, so she kind of looked like a bride, but she was adorable. 

This is during the Halloween parade at preschool.  Lots of candy without any peanuts or tree nuts.

Eli and Sarah. :)

Eli really didn't want Olivia to hold him.  But she sure loves him.

Luke's costume was the ultimate costume this year.  He wanted to be a hippie.  I thought he looked groovy.  I made his bell bottoms and actually added the extra material with Velcro.  I found his groovy jacket at Goodwill for $3.  He tie dyed his shirt all by himself. 

Too bad the pictures are a little blurry.