Disney Magic

This is one of the 20 pictures that Bethany took of  herself.  We thought this one was a nice ballet view.  She loves to get into everything...even the camera.

This is Cameron at his Safety Town field trip.  I got to be a chaperone.  His friend Briana was his little shadow all day.

Practicing what to do during a tornado drill.

Right after election day, I organized a luncheon for the teachers at Wesley's Middle School (I am the Teacher Appreciation person on the PTA board).  This is my good friend Rhonda who is always there to help me.  So great to have friends like her :) 

Off to Florida, for our Universal Studios/Disney Adventure.  I made a list for the two older boys of all the things they needed to pack for the trip.  The list included 4 shirts.  You will notice, however, that Wesley has the same shirt on every day.  He brought one shirt (the one he was wearing) and the funny thing is that the saying on the shirt is "ALL DAY LONG."  We almost taped a piece of paper with the word "week" over the word "day" because he wore it ALL WEEK LONG.  Luckily, we had a washer and dryer in the condo we stayed in and we washed it a few times so it wasn't completely disgusting.

Hogwarts express and Hogwarts castle.  "The Flight of the Hippogryph" was a favorite for Cameron and Carter.  Wesley loved the Hogwarts Castle simulator ride and we all liked the Butter Beer.

Inside Hogwarts castle.

There was a Dr. Seuss land that was part of Universal Studios Isle of Adventure.  It was definitely Bethany's favorite.

She was excited to get her picture taken with "the white and yellow Grinch" as she called them.

On the ferry over to the Magic Kingdom.

It was so fun to see Bethany interact with the princesses.   It was precious!  They were so sweet with her and spent quite a bit of time talking with and complimenting her.  Bethany was in heaven.

Cinderella...

Sleeping Beauty and...

Rapunzel!

On the Jungle Cruise Tour.  We thought the tour guide was hilarious.  I think we were the only ones that could hear the jokes because no one else ever laughed.  Maybe we are just easily amused.

A lot of the time, we split up because the boys and Ken wanted to go on completely different rides than Beth and I.  This is Beth at the "Indiana Jones" show at Disney Hollywood Studios and then below on "The Great Movie Ride."

One day, we took the day off from the parks and did things around the resort.  We swam, played mini golf,  played pool and ping-pong, and watched movies.  The condo and the resort really were amazing!

On Sunday, we went to Sacrament Meeting at one of the buildings I served in when I was on my mission 18 years ago (where does the time go?)  I also got to visit with a few of the families that I worked with on my mission.  It was such a treat!  This is Claudia and Eric Parrish.  I was able to teach Claudia the discussions and see her baptized.  She is my "cute baby Claudia"and I was thrilled to be able to see her, reminisce and still feel so connected to her after all these years.

This is Judy and Mal Bowden.  I was the first missionary to invite him to take the discussions (and believe me I was scared, but the spirit was too strong for me not to do it) and he accepted.  His wife and daughter had been members already for several years.  I was only able to teach him a few lessons before I was transferred, but he did end up getting baptized and his son (who I remember as a spunky little 4 year old) is on a mission in Brazil.  So rewarding to catch up with them.

Bethany being cute!

We met at the Hudson family house and these are all their kids with ours.  Their 3rd daughter Natalie (the back middle with the dark hair) was born when I was serving in their ward (I remember holding her as a newborn) and now she is 18 and getting ready to serve a mission herself.  They now have 7 children...wow!

Crazy kids!  Wesley is only wearing a different shirt because they let him borrow one :)

This is Donna and Steve Hudson.  Steve was a new member of about a year and a stake missionary when I was serving there.  He introduced us to Claudia Parrish and Rob Kocol (who both got baptized).  Both him and Donna were such a great support to us missionaries!   It was so great to see them and how their family had grown.  Thanks for having us over :)

Carter and Wes were our dare devils.  They went on all the scary roller coaster type rides as many times as they could.  This one was called, "Rock 'n' Roller Coaster."

The Tower of Terror!

Cameron was brave enough to try a few of the "scary" ones, but not Splash Mountain although we got a picture of him in front of it.  He did, however, go on Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain.

Ready to go on Thunder Mountain...yahoo!!

Just chillin' in Adventure Land...

and Frontier Land!

Riding on the train!

At Disney's Main Street right before heading back to the condo.

Some more crazy dare devil rides at Animal Kingdom.

And at Epcot Center.

Bethany and I also got to meet Mickey,Minnie and Pluto.

Bethany told Minnie that she could see her underwear underneath her dress (you know those little bloomers she wears).  It was really funny!  Minnie doesn't talk, but she did look down at her bloomers and cover her mouth with her hands like she was embarrassed.  Bethany got a kick out of it!

Falling asleep on the couch at the condo after a long, fun-filled day at the parks.  What a cutie!

On our way home, we stopped and ate at a restaurant on the beach in Pensacola, Florida.  The kids loved playing in the sand, but the water was too cold.  Our car was a sandy mess, but it was worth it.

Wesley's tooth was hanging down like that for about two hours one Sunday morning.  He was too scared to pull it out although it was literally hanging on by a thread.  I finally got a hold of it and yanked it out. 

Carter also lost a tooth this month and his two big front teeth grew in more.  He's getting so big!

We are not sure what prompted this getup.  We are just glad she didn't suffocate herself.