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.  



December Misc.

It's amazing to me how busy I've been while I've been unemployed. Job hunting and interviewing takes time, of course. But it seems like something else is always going on. Did I just miss most of this stuff when I was working? :-)

We went on the annual trek to see the lights at Temple Square, with Kris, Sterling and Atticus, Hannah and Alex, and Kris and Sterling's friend Vicki and her kids. It was a pretty mild night, so lots of fun.

What a darling pair ...

Steph and Mickel went to Tucson for a job interview (haven't heard the results yet), and Kaiya and Teague spent the weekend with Grammie. We went to the library, to Dunford Bakers for a treat, out to breakfast at IHOP (you wouldn't believe how much those kids can eat when they want to!), to Grammie's first visit to Cabellas (and I think that will about do it for me), and to Thanksgiving Point for hot chocolate and to see the holiday lights. The kids said they didn't want to go home, but they were pretty happy after all to see Mom and Dad.

I found a bin of Kris' ballet and other dress up stuff ... which delighted Kaiya of course. She insisted on wearing this sparkly dress to Cabellas and Thanksgiving Point, and was very proud when people commented on it. Our girl LOVES to dress up!

We also took Kris out for a birthday dinner, at California Pizza Kitchen. Here's Atty and his "Popeye" face. Arrrg!!

The kids all came over for Christmas Eve. Here's Sterling playing the guitar for us. He's a very talented player, singer and writer.

And Kaiya and Teague dancing to it ...

... and our three little munchkins in their new Christmas pj's, happily awaiting Santa's visit.

LOVE these kids!!!!!

Oh, and it turns out that Kris misses her ballet and so she took her ballet shoes home with her to practice her "en pointe." Love my ballerina!!

"I Love You with my Whole Heart"

During one of our recent sleepovers, while in the bath, Teague held up a heart-shaped cookie cutter and said, "Grammie, I love you with my whole heart!" Well, of course I made such a fuss over the absolute cuteness factor of that, that Kaiya had to get in on it and insisted on being photographed as well. Please note the lovely pink washcloth inside the heart, which was her contribution. Teague, however, was not as interested in the paparazzi.

Kaiya's School Program

As I mentioned, one of the joys of unemployment is the ability to participate in things that I normally would not have been able to when I had my job - especially considering the fact that the job was in Provo and I live in Salt Lake. And one of those events was Kaiya's preschool Christmas program. What a treat! And Kaiya, as always, handled her parts in a very lovely and mature fashion.

Not a great picture, but here she is for her speaking part.

So fun to watch all the little ones, and their various levels of dealing with it - from polished to "deer in the headlights." I don't think the little girl in purple moved from this pose for the entire number.

After the program, we went to the cafeteria to have cookies and punch. Apparently Kaiya has a bit of a crush on one of her classmates, and she was getting all giggly about him. So I suggested that she take me over to him and introduce me. The next thing you know, she's doing just that ... although she got an attack of the giggles when we got there. Look out, Tate ... I think you have some competition.