We missed the snow!

I have lived in Georgia since 1979, and I can probably count on one hand the amount of times that we have had "playable" snow! Two Fridays ago when we were on winter break from school, Georgia had one of the best snowfalls ever and guess where we were... in Florida!
So we missed the winter wonderland that is oh so rare to Georgia, but we had a really great family vacation.

We played in Downtown Disney...

(Racing cars at the Lego store.)


(Breaking cool rocks at the T-Rex Cafe.)


(Enjoying lunch at the Rainforest Cafe.)


(They also had some great entertainment throughout the day, even though it was so cold. And hey mom, we found you a band to play in!! :) They were really so good!)


(And what's a vacation without a great bubble bath!)


We had a Happy Valentine's Day...

(with chocolate chip, strawberry cream cheese, strawberry syrup, banana waffles!)




(We even had a fun dinner and treats too, but I guess we were too hungry for pictures!)

We swam with the manatee in Crystal River...



(Karlee getting anxious.)


(Kyler was the first one in.)


(After he got in a manatee swam right under him. He said, "Umm,that was a little scary!")


(Layne and Karlee were not so sure about the cold water, so they took their time getting in. Kenzie got in, then got right back out and had to psyche herself up to get back in the water again. It was funny!)


(Oh, did I say "we" swam with the manatee - no, no - Kavan and I manned the boat)


(and ate our lunch! There were so many manatee swimming around we were just fine staying dry!)


(After about an hour, Kyler and Karlee decided they were pretty cold and needed to try to get warm!)


(Layne and Kenzie were not done and went back out to play! They had such a great time! You can see some of the manatee with them in this picture! They even found one that really wanted to play and be rubbed on the tummy and fins!)


And We explored Epcot...



(We accomplished a Kim Possible mission in Norway!)


(Loved Mexico - and the food smelled so good! We tried to taste some different foods from the different countries - I liked China (pot stickers) and Morocco best - and I think the kids liked these chocolate wafer type cookies from Germany the best!)



(The girls loved China - wonder why?)


(I got picked to play "Edna" in Romeo and Edna - kind of embarrassing, but funny!)



(Loved the fish ponds in Japan.)


(Found Mary Poppins in the United Kingdom where Layne enjoyed some fish and chips.)


(And this was the last and one of the coolest rides of the day! We were lucky enough to get one of the last fast passes offered for this ride - as it had over a 2 hour wait for most of the day - so at 8:05pm we were able to get in line and it was AWESOME, and it was done just in time to see the fireworks!)


We had a great time together, and if you ask Kavan what was the best he'll tell you, "...flying to Mars!" Rides, imagination, good food, and lots of great fun! :)

Happy Plates!

I love dinners when nobody complains. (I always think it is especially crazy when they complain about dinners they've never even tried, or don't even know what we're having for dinner and still complain - that's just crazy, I say!) I love it when everybody eats and enjoys their food. And then I really love when everybody helps clean up! It makes me happy! :)

Just like this picture of Laney. I love her smile, and the way her hand squeezes Terry's finger when she gets excited!



So cute! :)

A Treat!

After my mom's birthday weekend, my grandma got to stay with us for a week! My grandma is 84 and has some really great stories. We had such a fun time! I loved listening to her stories about when she was little and young and in a very different time! She had stories about helping her dad in the candy store in Brigham City - traveling on the train - moving to Ohio after getting married (and finding out that Utah was 100 years ahead of Ohio in time)! :) She told stories about my mom that made me laugh so hard I was almost crying.

We ate, went through recipes, did a little shopping, watched TV, played the piano (grandma taught lessons for probably over 50 years),



and I got to show her where I work. She even helped me do some housework and homework with the kids. And grandma always gets the kids practicing the piano! She's a good teacher and the kids respond really well to her! Nice work, grandma (and kids)!



And just as we were leaving to see Downtown Augusta, I got a call from the school that Kyler was sick and needed to come home. So although we didn't get to do all I wanted us to do, we did have such a wonderful time together. And the kids loved having her here, too! It really was a treat!

Now, if I could just get her to write down her stories! :)

Gotcha!

January 28th my mom turned 60! We invited her up for a birthday dinner. We thought it would be a perfect time for a birthday surprise! So we called in some family and surprise is what followed!



Or maybe it was disbelief...because it's really hard to surprise my mom. (Check out my dad in the above picture. It was so great!)



Grandma, Uncle John, Aunt Patty, Sarah, Brian and McKayla came from Ohio! My mom couldn't believe they were actually here! It was just so fun!

Uncle Chuck and Aunt Linda got in on the surprise by sending beautiful birthday flowers and wishes from Washington!



Aunt Sandra, Uncle Dave, Judith, Bruce, Elaine, Avery, Melinda, Pat and Abby sent birthday wishes, pictures and love from New York and Maine!

And Heather, Terry, Ellie, and Laney came over on Saturday to join in the birthday fun!



Here are just some fun pictures from the weekend...

a little Wii competition,



some birthday cake,



birthday gifts and wishes.



(I was able to make my mom a necklace out of some of the beads from a necklace that my Great Grandma wore. That was pretty fun!)




(Heather and Terry framed a picture that my brother had drawn in college and added a scripture to it. Very touching, very special and I know very much appreciated!)



There was some serious eating going on all weekend. So, there had to be some sleeping





and good conversation!



This weekend was so much fun - good times and really special memories! Thanks everyone! We love you, Mom!!! :)