Sea World

In February, we had a fabulous family vacation with my mom and dad, Heather, Terry, Ellie and Laney!

Our first adventure...
Sea World!

First stop - the manatee.  This big huge manatee was wiggling juuust so - so as to scratch his back.  He had me laughing!

Laney makes me laugh!

After riding some awesome rides, we went to the dolphin show.  It was so good!!!!

The kids loved it!

 Well, maybe all the excitement caught up to Laney! :)

 More to see...

The Shamu show!

And how about lunch?  Park food is usually not great, but this food was pretty yummy!  Different kinds of BBQ - mmm!





Then, some of us went to the rides -

while others went to watch A' Lure.  It was so good - a crazy amazing acrobatic circus type of show!

(My kids could probably make a crazy show!  Oh and just so you know, Kenzie didn't really lick Kyler's cheek!  That would be gross!  Giving grandma picture opportunities while waiting - I guess!)

Here we are waiting for our last show of the day!

A favorite!  It was so good and so funny!  And this walrus is huge and kinda cute! :)

Last stop - the penguins!

A great day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day...

and an Ode to Mike!

O Mike,
Born on St. Patrick's day,
so goofy and spry!
How is it, that I can still see you
on the fly?

In Kenzie, I see your big heart of service.
In Kyler - your engineering mind at work.
In Karlee  - your "feisty" and determination.
In Kavan - your focus and mad soccer skills.

O Mike,
The ruckus and laughter you still cause,
is great for keeping your memory alive.
The funny tales we continue to tell!
And the stories we keep to ourselves!

O Mike,
You make this day a special one,
Even though, you'd be the first pinching one!

Oh boy, when we meet again!  :)

Mike

March 17, 1973 - November 14, 2003

Why?

Exercise and household chores are at times... quite "nagging."   I think for me it is a love-hate relationship.  I love the feel of accomplishing a "good workout" and I also love having a clean house with laundry and ironing done - but sometimes it seems sooooo hard to be motivated to do it.  Why is that?


Quite often, during family prayers in the mornings, my kids will pray that we will make good choices - and have good days in school or at work - and that we will be able to do so with safety.  One morning Karlee prayed, "Please bless us that we will have a good day at school.  That Kavan will be on green, that I will not get any strikes, and that Kyler and Kenzie will not go to the principal's office.  Please bless that daddy will have a good day at work and please bless mommy that she will have a good time doing whatever it is that she does...."

I wish we were still on vacation!  :)

Still catching up...

After Christmas festivities at my house were complete, we packed up, cleared the house for our floors to be refinished, and headed to my mom's house.  I love going back "home."  I grew up in an area where there are miles and miles of bike paths.  So we took some walks.  I love walking, talking with my mom, being with my kids and watching what happens when imagination is at work!

We walked all the way around the lake and stopped at every playground along the way!

They have running clubs in the area that have put in "workout stops" along the paths. 

My dad took us to see "Alpha and Omega."  What a great movie!  The kids loved it and so did I!   

We found another fun park!

A monkey!

Ellie and Karlee!

Don't put anything past my dad!  :)

Kyler was chasing Kavan and bonked his head.  Kavan is much smaller...

He got away!  :)

Crazy boy!  He did land on his feet!  Notice Kavan swinging with Kenzie in the back - makes me happy!

Then we were ready to usher in the New Year!  (When my brother and I were growing up we use to make construction paper confetti, throw it in the air, and bang on empty peanut butter or ice cream buckets with wooden spoons.  After the ball dropped, we would gather up all the confetti and save it for the next year in our buckets!  heehee )

But would we make it to midnight?!?

Yep....

 And who was the biggest noisemaker?!?

The next day Heather and Laney joined us for another Christmas celebration!

Kyler, Kenzie, Ellie, Laney, Karlee, and Kavan! :)

Nothing better than warm fuzzy slippers!

After a super fun holiday we returned home to beautiful floors! I had expected to come home ready to dust, move furniture back, dust some more and clean clean clean. But Layne and his brother, Kirk, worked hard and got all the furniture back in place, and Layne cleaned and dusted and dusted - even the baseboards! So my work was minimal! He's Awesome!  I love him!

I know it's already February and I am playing catch-up, but it's great to reflect on these fun memories! What a wonderful time of year to celebrate with family that I love so much! I am so thankful for our Savior - for His birth, His sacrifice, and His example!

"What do you call these?"

After fun in the snow we just goofed off for the day...

Kenzie very much enjoyed the laziness of it all in her jammies!

Kavan got the game Farkle in his stocking and we love it!  I'm losing count of how many times we have played, but it is pretty fun!

 Kavan is the "Farkle Champion."

Much to my dismay, as I cannot beat that kid!!!  :)

Us girls decided to do a little "after Christmas shopping."  Karlee was so excited to go!  My mom was looking for a winter coat so we hit a couple of stores with that in mind.  We ended up at Ross, and the outerwear is found right by the underwear aisles.  As my mom tried on jackets, Karlee investigated the underwear.  And if you know Karlee, she is not very discreet.  So first, she found a huge pair of undies, held them up and declared, "Oh my!"  Then she picked up a little thong and asked, "What is this?"  I said, "underwear."  She was okay with that for a little bit as she set them down and moved on.  A few minutes later she came back to the thong, held it up and said, "how do you wear this?"  After some contemplating she said to me, "I got it!  This part goes in the front and this in the back.  What do you call these...   buttcrackers?!?"

The day after...

The day after Christmas...it snowed!

But only a little!