Disney World

Last week I had the pleasure of going to Disney World with Steph, Mickel, Kaiya and Teague.  This was a Christmas present to the family - although Kris and Sterling decided not to go because Atty is still pretty young for it.  It seemed strange to go on a 10 day vacation while unemployed, but the fact of the matter was that it was pretty much paid for, and non-refundable.  So off we went.  I'll apologize upfront for the number of pictures, but we had so SO much fun, it's pretty difficult to pare it down.  We spent one day at Sea World, three days at Magic Kingdom, two days at Hollywood Studios, and one day each at Animal Kingdom and Epcot. It was a go-go-go schedule, but the kids handled it all very well.  Also, it was much colder in Florida than I hoped it would be, but it was warmer than Utah, so that was a plus!

Here we are at the airport (minus Mickel, who joined us a couple of days later), anxiously awaiting the start of our fun. 

 

The first day was spent at Sea World, thanks to the pass that Steph & Mickel's friend Amanda had (she and Devin live nearby).  She brought along her cute little boy, West.   I'm not sure what Kaiya's pouty face is about.  :-)

This "seaweed" is really a sea horse.  Weird. 

Kids in a bubble, in an aquarium.

Merry-go-rounds are always a hit ...

Here's Amanda and West.  Isn't he darling?

An assortment (but, believe it or not, not all) of the characters the kids met.  We spent a great deal of time doing this.  The kids had their autograph books handy for everyone.  Snow White is Teague's favorite princess.

Special mention needs to be made here.  Peter Pan is Kaiya's ABSOLUTE favorite.  It's her favorite thing to play, and every time (nine, to be exact) we went on the Peter Pan ride she would say "Oh, Peter, it's just like I always dreamed it would be" as we first encountered Neverland.  She readily acknowledges that she has a crush on Peter (actually, she has three boyfriends - two are real boys and one is Peter).  He again blew her kisses in the parade (two times), which she takes as irrefutable proof that he likes her.  Then, when it came time to meet him the first time, she kind of froze.  He was very kind and took her to the wishing well to make a wish.  The second time she met him, she was a little less overwhelmed.  But, as she patiently explained to me, she can't marry Peter - since he will never grow up!

The safari in Animal Kingdom is awesome!  These are just a few of the animals we saw.

They also had a petting zoo, with sheep, goats, donkeys and llamas.  Kaiya and Teague really enjoyed brushing the oh-so-soft sheep.

DinoLand was another favorite, complete with a dig and a Bug's Life playground.

Isn't she just the most adorable little girl ever?

Atticus is Officially Ours!

On December 29th, a judge formally approved Kris and Sterling's adoption of our darling Atticus. 

Yesterday, we had his blessing and a family and friends gathering afterwards at Kris and Sterling's house.  I never would have believed we could fit so many people in that house.  We were very blessed by the outpouring of love and support.