Disney Cruise

Our amazing trip started with a two day drive to Orlando. We left on Friday at 12 and got to Atlanta around 10. I started to get a little worried when our first stop was Desoto Co. but things seemed to get better after we hit Tupelo. People who live around here will now about 3 weeks ago it rained everday for like a week and it did not let up to get us to our hotel. The next day, we left Atl around 9 and arrived in sunny Orlando about 5. Thanks to Catherine we found a great deal on a hotel across the street from Downtown Disney. Here's a pictures of us enjoying Downtwon Disney.


Sunday morning we reached the ship terminal. Now, going on during this time Annie had been expierencing some diaherra. She had been fine all day Saturday but got sick minutes before we go on the boat. But I said forget it. We made it this far, we aren't stopping now. Later that night when she started running a fever I thought maybe we had a made a mistake. Needless to say many prayers were said that day. None the less, Here is us with Mickey Mouse. As you can see Claire (or can't see) she really likes when strangers take her picture. So , most of our family photos with characters involve the back of her head. There are more pictures to come. I just didnt feel like uploading them all. So stay tuned for part two....

A Party, a Goodbye, and Some Bump-its

NOTE: You might want to start at the bottom and read up. I always forget to load my photos in backwards of the way I want them to appear. Even Mommy got in on the bump-it action! You know you want one too!
Annie attemping to wear the mini bump-it.
Claire saw the commerical for a Bumpit one day and asked me now and again if we could get one... and then one day I saw one at walgreens and Well, when your four year old asks you for a bump-it. You just go with it right?
This is my Goodbye. Devree Hambiln came into my life in Jan of this year. She is a 15 year old girl with a type of cancer that I can't spell something like medoblasma... The cancer was in part of her brain and some of her spine. After being at St. Jude for 9 months she has shown no signs of cancer and gets to return home to the rest of her family. Talk about amazing. Shana , her mother, was an incrediable source of postive thinking and I can't imganine the things they went through together! I love them and will be glad to see them on their check ups but hopefully won't be being seeing them for any other reasons!
She might be really happy in this photo.
Claire getting a pedi. French no less!!
For Claire's birthday she had a combined Glamour Party with Callie. Based on the smiles I think she had a great time! I wish someone would pamper me like that! (HINT HUSBAND). I love having so many friends and family close to make my lil girl feel special !

Visitors From Utah

My lovely Anut Shannon came to visit for my cousin Katie's Wedding! This is her with my dad (on the left) and my Uncle Tracy.
This our kids at the zoo. We had a blast. Her oldest son Ethan is 12 and proably thought he was too cool to be in this silly picture!
Here we are feeding the birds. It was really fun because the birds would land on your sticks and just peck away at that food. Great entertainment for a dollar!

Cheese girls! I love that Shannon came to visit. We only get to see her about every 4 years so it was super exciting!

Pictures from Trek

That us pulling our handcart down the first of many hills.
This is what they call the girl's pull. During the migration of Saints out west many men died along the trail from fatigue and others were sent to serve in the Mormon Battallions. (which was basically the mormon troops because we were being forced out of the United States) Thus it was not uncommon for the women to pull all alone. It might be hard to tell from the picture but it took about 4 extra girls per cart as compared to when the boys were helping. We had to push all 12 handcarts up this giant hill. The men were not allowed to help or talk during this period. It was humbling to know that the women had the faith to continue.
That is me in the blue bonnet leading the girls in my family up the hill.
This is our family. I'm in the pink. Jed is the super tall guy in the hat.
Our family eating lunch on the first day! Bread, apples, and warm cheese.

Guess what though! I'll do it again in 4 years!:)

Mom,Where does the baby grow?

Now some people might think we are crazy for wanting another baby but I mean take a look at Annie, she's got ice cream on her face, she is wearing both a glove and a fire hat, and she's got a toy. If that doesn't make you smile then I just can't help you!

So yes, its true we are expecting Mini Wheat 3 in March. Now, the kids are fascinated about how the baby grows and how it comes out, etc... WOW... when I had Annie Claire was one so she didn't care at all. Today, Claire asked to feed me goldfish so that the baby could have some. She's pretty smart. Also, they really seem to understand where the baby grow as you can see below. Pray for our family as we prepare for the Trifecta!

When Good Ideas Go Bad

Claire Turned 4 on August 7! Hip Hip Hooray! I love my sweet girl!
This is my good idea gone bad. So ya know when your watching an infomercial and your like I need that. Well this is not the BIG TOP Cupcake but something I bought off ebay for half the the price. I think I need some practice on filling the to pans. Obviously, it was a little off.
Claire was still happy about it but sadly this cake doesn't travel well so it ended up upside down on my feet. Needless to say, she had a pink round cake instead by the end of the day. O well!

Whole Hog Roast

For a church activity, we roasted a whole hot in our backyard. I tried to spare you the pictures of the actual hog cause it was disgusting but , just in case, you ever decide to try this. Here are a few tips we learned along the way. TIP #1 The night before the we had about 7 guys come dig a giant whole in backyard. The tip is don't let them cut the phone line whilst digging.


Tip #2 Don't get rocks that will explode at 5 am when you start the fire. Its not very safe and your neighbors start to wonder what the heck is going on. The picture above is what the fire looked like after about 2 hours of trying to die it down. Apparently the men did too good of a job making the fire hot. At one point, the flames were like 6 feet high.
Tip #3 Make sure to where gloves while digging said ash out of fire pit and try not to singe your leg hairs.


Tip #4 Don't look at whats inside that foil... It is nasty. At least the meat was so tender that one of the rib bones just slipped right out.

Tip #5 Don't stare at this photo too long if you are weak like me. Make sure when the men pull it apart there are lots of latex gloves for them to wear. Also, latex gloves make great balloons for the kids later.



Overall, I thought we had alot of fun. Almost our whole church group came and I loved having a reason to clean my house. The weather was awesome. It was during the week in July where it was like 70 at night. I wore a long sleeves just cause I could!! I love having friends over and can't wait for the next party. What should we do next !! ??