I'm So Thankful

Thanksgiving is a day of traditions.
That morning Stan was off early in the cold rain/ice to play Turkey Bowl.
I watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade while making pies, sweet potatoes & stuffing.
We gathered at my sister Jody's house with some of my family and Jody's in-laws for a wonderful meal.

We later decorated gingerbread houses while the boys watched football and napped.


That night at midnight I went to Wal-Mart for some Black Friday deals (I'm not so sure that that will become a tradition).

It was an enjoyable day, spent with family, enjoying good food and good company.

Since we didn't take the time to express our thankfulness out loud that day, here's my thanks:

I am thankful for family.
I am thankful for the Gospel.
I am thankful for good friends.
I am thankful for so many comforts in life that I enjoy.
I am thankful for a beautiful daughter, who teaches me every day.
I am thankful for a loving, patient husband, who is always there for me.

7 years ago last week, my mother passed away from liver cancer. I am so thankful for her and all that she taught me and all the things she did for me.
As a mother myself now, I can clearly see how ungrateful I was as a child. All of the things you expect your parents to do for you, because they're your parents. I only wish I hadn't waited so long to figure it out. Better late than never, right? Thanks mom, for everything. I miss you every day, especially when I want to know how you made your wonderful meals! :-)

And thanks to my Dad and Stan's parents for all you did in preparing Stan and I to become what we are today. We are so richly blessed.

Happy Thanksgiving!

1 Year Photo Shoot

We finally were able to get Miriam's 1 year photos done, even though she's now almost 15 months old. Thanks to our friend Sarah Allred for taking them (bellytonest.com).

These pictures were a bit more challenging since Miriam it very mobile, and quite fast. She loved being outside, and Sarah basically followed her around with the camera.

Enjoy!

Florida Vacation--Final Day

Our last full day in Florida was on Saturday. We decided to take it easy and avoid the weekend crowd at the theme parks. Instead we enjoyed a nice morning session at the Orlando Temple.

Stan & Jenny
Jody & Cace

Then we headed off to the East Coast (about 90 minutes away) to Satellite Beach to visit my cousin Matthew and his family, as well as visit the ocean.

Sadly, not all of us made it to our destination. Jody, Cace & Anna were driving in a different car (since we wouldn't all fit legally into one car). When inputting the address into the GPS, they accidentally hit "yes" when it asked if they wanted to avoid toll roads. So they never made it to the freeway and were stuck in stop and go traffic. After we had made it about halfway, Jody called to say they hadn't even left Orlando and weren't coming--we were only going to be able to spend a couple hours there anyway, so at that point, it wouldn't have been worth it.

So we continued on without them and enjoyed a wonderful lunch at Matthew's house. His wife, Amanda, made some divine soup with homemade whole wheat bread, as well as pumpkin bread. She sent the leftovers home with Sara, who promised her free entrance into Disney anytime she wanted. Now we know Sara's weakness. :-)

Then we went to the beach and played around for a bit.
The water wasn't actually that cold, but the breeze was too brisk to take a swim.





If you can't read this one it says "Anna, Jody & Cace (should have been) here."

Stan trying to jump some waves.

Cousin Matthew and his family: Amanda, Daren & Joseph.


I love the power and majesty of the ocean, it truly is one of God's magnificent creations.

Later that night Stan and I went to see Cirque du Soleil's "La Nouba" at Downtown Disney. It was so incredible (and strange).

Of course we had to make one more stop at Ghiradelli's.


Yum! Strawberry Cheesecake & Butter Pecan!
And that's pretty much it. It was a long, exhausting but very entertaining and exciting week. I was definitely missing Miriam those last few days and was quite anxious to get back to her. Although it was reaffirmed to me once again how much of a Daddy's girl she is as she screamed when I tried to take her from Stan the night we got back. Oh well, at least she chooses me when he's not around.

Thanks for joining us on our vacation tour. Until next time (which won't be for awhile),
later dude!
(as Crush would say)

Florida Vacation--Universal Studios

Save the worst for last, right?? Well, we didn't know it was the worst. If you get a chance to go to Orlando, don't waste your time with the actual park, Universal Studios. It was by far our least favorite.

Oh, there are a few cool attractions, but overall, they are a bit outdated, and not very interesting.

The coolest roller coaster was closed down that day because of high winds. Unfortunately we had waited in line for over 30 minutes before they closed it down.
Then we went to wait in line for another ride, and they came over the loudspeaker saying there was a temporary delay for technical difficulties. We quickly got out of that line.

We decided to go have lunch at Emeril's Restaraunt, knowing that he's a famous chef and makes delicious food. The food was good, but not fabulous, and it was expensive and took us 2 1/2 hours at the restaurant.
BUT, we did have the highlight of our afternoon there. As we were waiting for one of our courses, we saw across the glass divider an older couple being served a delectable looking dessert. We all turned and drooled over the pie. The man saw us, held it up for us to see, and we gave him a thumbs up, wondering to ourselves, "where was that on the menu?"

Later when it came time for dessert, the waiter brought us the menu, and mentioned that the couple had paid for a piece of banana creme pie for our table (which is apparently their signature dessert, $10!). We were stunned. After having such a sour day thus far, it brightened the day significantly. They had already left at that point, so we didn't get to say thank you. I guess now, we pay it forward. It's nice to know there are still kind people willing to do something nice for complete strangers.

We headed back to the park for a disappointing afternoon, but had to remind ourselves of our lunch highlight, which made it better.

My favorite attraction was the Terminator 2 3-D show.

Jody's highlight of the day was a picture with SpongeBob.

It was quite a bit cooler that day, as you can see from our jackets and long pants.
Now we know, there are a few fun things at Universal, but overall, not worth the money you pay to get in.

Thanks again to the couple who paid for our divine banana creme pie.
By the way, if you ever get to go, don't worry about a main course at Emeril's, just get the banana creme pie, it is most definitely worth it!

Florida Vacation--Hollywood Studios

Thursday we went to Walt Disney World's "Hollywood Studios." The coolest ride was by far the "Tower of Terror" (that's the tall Hotel behind us). This park is obviously more film-focused, so there were more shows and entertainment at this park than any others. We saw the "Indiana Jones Stunt Show" and Stan got to be an extra. All of the extras were asked to do something that made them look silly after they had introduced themselves. Stan was asked to do some "prancy" dance moves. I think the hostess and crowd were surprised at how well he did (since he is a ballroom dancer).

It was a fun show, especially to watch Stan get into his role. We also watched the "Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show" with cars. It was pretty cool as well. This is the "Block Party Bash," a parade that stopped and did a dance party for about 10 minutes. This was where I saw most of my favorite Disney characters, from Toy Story and Monsters Inc.



And a few characters from Bugz.

And Mr. Incredible.
After the Back-lot tour was a room featuring some of the costumes that various evil villians wore in the films. One of my favorites was Queen Narissa's from "Enchanted."
And we had to try on all the silly hats they have for sell.

It was a great day. We did miss the most exciting show they have, "Fantasmic" because of rain. That is their evening show with fireworks and Mickey Mouse fighting the Sorcerer. Oh well, guess we'll just have to come back.