Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! It was a little strange not seeing family at all during the Holiday season. Fortunately Skype helped ease the distance.

Christmas Eve we continued our tradition of opening pajamas and eating a "breakfast" dinner in them. Everything turned out great thanks to Kirk's crepe making skills. This year we tried a new filling too, caramel bananas with Nutella and Whipped Cream. Yummy!


Luci is hot blooded and rarely uses all the warm pajamas she has. This year I bought her shorts and a t shirt for her pajamas figuring they'd get more use. Kirk wanted me to put a new drawstring in a pair of old shorts for his pajamas and Clara still got the classic comfy ones.
We heard that Santa would be coming down our street on a fire truck and we wanted to be ready to run out there when he came, hence the pants and shoes.

For our devotional, Luci cut out the Nativity puppets from the Friend magazine and taught us the story of Jesus' birth. We also told the story of his birth recorded in the Book of Mormon.

Midway through our devotional we heard the sirens and ran out to see Santa. Luci was scared to death and made me carry her. There was an ambulance and three fire trucks covered in Christmas lights all in a row. Santa was standing in the ladder basket of the very last one and threw Luci a stuffed pink bunny. She was so happy!!


Christmas morning Luci came running down the stairs at 7:45 claiming that Santa left a new playhouse. She was ready to run back upstairs, but we made her wait while we woke up Clara and brought her down. It was so fun seeing their excitement when we came back upstairs.






I'm so grateful for my family! I love my girlies and have the greatest husband! Just being with them made Christmas great. I'm also so grateful for our parents and extended family, they really spoil us. I really couldn't ask for better family.

Side note:

A couple of days before Christmas we were about to sit down for dinner when the doorbell buzzed. Kirk and Luci ran downstairs to answer it and found five buckets of foods storage and an anonymous note. Earlier in the week I had an impression that we should work on increasing our food storage. I wasn't sure how we would fit extra food into our budget, but really felt like we should try. When Kirk came up to tell me what they found, I was overcome with a peaceful feeling. I know that God looks out for us! I know whoever left the food was inspired. I pray that they will be blessed for their generosity.

Christmas Tree

This year we went to a tree farm to cut down our tree. We've never done this before, so it was a new adventure. When we showed up they gave us a saw and a cart and sent us out to find the tree for us. It was a big farm with a variety of kinds of trees to choose from, but Kirk new what type we should get and it didn't take long before we found the perfect one.




Luci was determined to help saw the tree down. What a great helper! I love her hat in this picture :)

Here's a prego picture. Not the greatest angle, so I don't look as big as I really am.

It's a . . .

Yep, we're having another sweet little girl! As soon as the ultrasound started, I saw the parts and recognized them! We're so excited! I'm a little nervous for the drama, but I'll hopefully survive:)
Before we found out Luci told me on several occasions that it was going to be a girl. I asked her once what she would think if it was a boy to which she firmly replied "It's not!".
It must be sisters intuition.

I know that ultrasound pictures are hard to decipher, but I had to post them anyway.

This is a picture of her chest and face with her arm across her face.

Throughout the whole ultrasound she kept her body rolled up in a ball. Every time the technician would start to get a good look at her organs, she would somersault over. This baby is going to be an active one!


And my favorite . . . her sweet little feet! I love little baby feet and hands. I can't wait to kiss them! It looks like she's got the same long skinny feet that Luci has :)

Halloween

Trunk or Treat

Luci had two costumes this year that I got for 90% off after Halloween last year. She was a witch for our ward's trunk or treat, and spider girl on Halloween.

We didn't have face paint, so Kirk colored her face with a green washable marker.


I found Clara's costume at a yard sale for $0.25 a little while ago
This is her M&M face :). So serious!




Halloween Party

On Halloween we had our traditional Halloween themed dinner and made haunted houses.

Mini Mummy Face Pizzas

Carrot Witch Fingers

Skeleton Bones and Blood

and Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies with faces.

Kirk also made homemade root beer and called it his witches brew. I forgot to get a picture of that.


We had some friends over for the party.

After we ate, we created our haunted graham cracker houses. The kids were interested for a few minutes (mostly eating the candy) then ran off to play.


I guess this activity is more for adults.


Our haunted neighborhood


Kirk made a super creative one again! We gave him a hard time since it wasn't a house, but he argued that a coffin is a house . . .a house for a body.


Here's my lovely the creation. The worst of the group, but probably the most haunted :)

Florida

In October we had the opportunity to fly down to Florida to attend Kirk's sister Janice's wedding. Kirk's parents, Grandpa, and sisters and their families all came. It was great seeing everyone again, and enjoying the warmer climate!

So much went on, so I thought I'd give a brief description of each day.


Day 1

We drove to Harrisburg then flew down to Orlando. It felt like going down the street since we usually drive to Baltimore and fly to Utah (more than double the drive and flight time). We got there around 2:00pm and the rest of Kirk's family didn't get in until late that night. Janice and her fiancée, Steve, drove up and met us at the Orlando Temple. They watched our girls while we went in together. It was so nice of them, especially considering all they had to do for their upcoming wedding. We are so grateful for them!



Day 2-Universal Studios

We spent most of the day in Suessland, where they had lots of rides for kids. There we met the Grinch and the Cat in the Hat. Clara was scared to death of them and wouldn't let us take her too close. When we went to see the Cat in the Hat, he bent down to give Luci a hug and his hat touched Clara. She let out the biggest scream! It was so funny!






Later we ventured into some of the other areas. Luci was tall enough for some of the bigger rides, so we decided to take her on the Jurassic Park river boat ride. I wasn't expecting it to be scary (I'm not sure why), but it was, and Luci was balling by the end of it.


We really enjoyed Universal Studios! I wasn't sure how it would work out with young kids, but there was plenty to do!

Day3-Sea World

When we were in one of the aquarium rooms, I asked Luci and Clara to make a fish face for the camera. Apparently they're part fish, because they did such a good job! I was laughing so hard. I still laugh whenever I see these pictures (not mockingly)!


I took this picture in honor of my family. The Great White Shark (said with a British accent)


Petting the Stingrays


Clara has never napped good at home. She prefers to cat nap in the car, stroller, or in our arms. It can be stressful at home, but it worked out well for our trip!

Kirk took Luci on this ride at first while Clara and I watched. She was so upset that she was not going on it with them, so later we went back with Grandma Dana and the cousins and I took her on it. She is really ten inches too short to ride, but the ride operator didn't seem to care (or notice). She was so happy! My little dare devil!


Grandma Dana took the older cousins on some kiddie rides. So nice of her!

At the very end we took the girls to the Shamu show. Stephanie and Tyson lent us their ponchos and we sat right in the soak zone. Luci was so excited to get wet! Clara was not happy to be wearing a poncho. Well, the show was almost over and the only soak zone not soaked was ours! Luci was in tears because she wasn't getting wet. So last minute I took her a few rows over and we were lucky enough to get the very last splash. Luci was happy, and I was relieved! I have to admit I was feeling a little disappointed too that we were so prepared to get wet and yet were not getting wet!


Day4-Travel to the Wedding

On this day we spent a lot of the day traveling to the beach where Janice and Steve live. We stayed in a house Kirk's parents rented that was just down the street from their's. In the afternoon, Kirk watched the girls while I went off with Kirk's Mom and Sisters to get manicures and pedicures. Such a fun wedding tradition that they have! Later we had a wedding rehearsal and dinner at a water front restaurant.

Day5-Wedding Day

The wedding wasn't until 5:00pm, so we spent the morning at the beach. It wasn't very warm, but we still had a great time!

I love this picture I took of Kirk and Clara. Right as I snapped it, a big wave came crashing into us!

My cute Luci! Sand and water to play in. What better combination? She was in heaven!


Wedding time! We got all ready then headed down the street to the beach. Aren't they good looking?!


Kirk walked his Mom down the aisle.


Damon and Kannon were ring barers.


Here comes the groom.


Clara, Luci and their cousin Kadence were flower girls. So precious!


Last, but not least, the beautiful Bride and her dad.

During the ceremony, the kids had fun playing in the sand. Luci was all business though and didn't participate.



After the ceremony they had dinner and dancing in their waterfront backyard.

Day 6-Church and Travel

We packed up everything, went to Sacrament Meeting, then headed back to Orlando. We dropped our rental car off at the airport and rode the Magic Express to the Disney World resort.

Day7-Disney World, The Magic Kingdom

I'm glad we went to this park. It had a lot of rides and shows that we could take both of the girls on. When we were at Universal Studios, I got chatting with a lady in a line about Disney World, and she gave me good advice for the Magic Kingdom. She said to arrive right when when it opens and head straight to Fantasy Land because by noon, the lines get huge. We took her advice and the longest line we had to wait in was about 35 minutes. We also found that most of the shows didn't have any wait time. We'd get fast passes for one ride then go to a show in the mean time.

At the Monters inc laugh floor, Clara was featured on the big screen. The announcer said, "and now I'm going to show you something that will make you go 'ahhh'", and then they showed my cute little Clara dozing off!

Grandma Dana took Luci on the Tea Cups twice. This was especially thoughtful, considering she was still recovering from the stomach flu!


Have to get the typical picture in front of the castle.


Nate and Danielle with their two kids.

At the very end we got fast passes for Luci to meet the princesses. We didn't get her an autograph book like most girls had (everything there cost way too much money!), but she made do by whipping a park map out of her pocket and having all of the princesses sign it. It was so funny!



Clara was sure excited to eat all the spaghetti off my plate at dinner time. We had meal passes while we were there, which were a life saver! They provided two meals and two snacks each day! It was plenty of food; we never had to buy anything else!

During this whole trip we had Clara and Luci share a bed. It was so cute seeing them cuddle up next to each other when they slept! One night Luci woke up scared and called for me. Before I could answer she discovered Clara next to her and said, "oh, Clara", in a relieved voice and went back to sleep. Sisterly love is priceless!

When you stay at a Disney Resort they have certain days where you can come back to the park after hours and we wanted to take advantage of that. Our room was right next to Kirk's parents with the joining doors inside. So, after getting our girls to bed, we opened the doors and headed back to the magic Kingdom with Stephanie and Tyson. It was a lot of fun going when it was less crowded, and without kids!

Day8-Stomach Flu and Hollywood Studios

Throughout this whole trip, the stomach flu went around Kirk's family. His Mom and Grandpa woke up with it on the day of the wedding. Luci and I woke up with it on this day. So, instead of joining everyone at Hollywood Studios, we stayed in bed watching TV with the garbage can right next to us. In the afternoon, Luci was feeling a lot better and wanted to get out. We headed down to get a light snack then sat by the pool with Grandpa Webster for a little while. After a little bit we headed back to our room. I didn't feel close to barfing, but as soon as we climbed on the elevator and the doors shut, it all came spilling out. Unfortunately they didn't have a garbage can outside of the elevator either, so I had no choice but to leave my markings on the path back to our room. Luci screamed every time, and was so upset that it splashed on her shoe. I guess I can't blame her.

Kirk and Clara had a good time at Hollywood Studios. Note, there are not pictures since I wasn't there :).

Day 9

We got up super early and started our journey back home. Clara barfed as we were leaving and I was so paranoid that we'd all be sick the whole flight back. Fortunately we made it all the way home without tossing any cookies (or airplane pretzels)! That was an answer to prayers!

What a great trip! Thanks to Kirk's parents and family for all the planning and providing they did for us!