Universal Studios

Oh how we love Florida!!  We spent most of our time at Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure.  We were pleasantly surprised at just how much there was for Breanna.  Last time we went we didn't have little ones so we weren't familiar with those sections of the parks.  We were super impressed with Breanna's Bravery on this trip.  She was a huge fan of the fast roller coasters and wanted to go on them over and over again.  She also went down a water raft ride with Mommy, a pool side water slide with Daddy.  She dared to start swimming by herself again.  Something she did when she was two and we haven't been able to get her to do it again until now.

Universal Studios!!!

 Breezie's favorite- Woody Wood Peckers Roller coaster!  She had a Birthday button which got her a fast pass in the lines and Mommy got to ride this with her 6 times in a row.

 Curious George land was all about getting wet.  She had a blast.

Breanna got to be a part of the parade.  She held the rope at the end and waved to all the people and danced.  What a fun surprise!

 Camp Jurrasic

Harry Potter World was one of our favorites. Even though the Harry Potter ride made most of us motion sick we still went on it again and again, because it was that good!  The walk to the ride through the castle is phenomenal. 

Comic Book Land

Grandpa was Ethans favorite whenever he needed a nap, Papapa's shoulder was the comfiest spot to catch some Z's.

 Breezie was beaming when she met some of her favorite characters.

Another brave thing she did was volunteer on stage at Arabian Nights.  It was a dinner and horse show we went to.  During the pre-show there was a belly dancer,  when she asked for a volunteer Breezie was all over it. She was workin the crowd as she got into her groove.  We were proud of her for being so brave.

Kansas &Missouri Trip

We went to check out Dodge City to see where we might live.  Since then we found out Jon did not get the job.  All though we feel like we could have lived there, there is something that feels right about not going.  I just feel bad for Jon after 10 interviews you really begin to expect the job.  We are so glad we were able to have a trip out to see Jeanene and Tim and spend some time with them.

Adam-ondi-Ahman.  What a great opportunity to stand on sacred ground.

Breanna loved to pick up the leaves and make bouquet's. She wanted to bring all the leaves home.

Beautiful!!

 The kids had fun running around and exploring.

We also had a picnic sun or no sun, wind or. . . lots of wind.  We weren't going to let that stop us.

 The William Rockhill Nelson Art Gallery

 They had some incredible peices!  I loved every minute of it.  I even got to see an original Monet-WOW!!

The Breeze & Sugar Shayne!!

We went to a petting zoo and Kaleidoscope which is a play center for kids using recycled paper from Hallmark.  It was so fun for the kids.  They had everything for any craft you would ever want to make. Breanna painted a Dinosaur, made cards and even got to make her very own puzzle. Some of the funnest time was spent just hanging out at the house with Tim and Jeanene. 

Missouri is very beautiful.  One thing that was very different there is everything is very spread out.

We also went to Liberty Jail.  It was touching to see the reconstructed building and hear the recordings they made of the experiences of the prophet.

Breezie's pick for President

This week Jon took Breanna to a Victory Rally for Mitt Romney.  Breanna was very excited to go.  She would be free to clap really loud, yell scream and dance.  On the way there we were training Breez on what to yell.  We would say "who do we want for president?" and she'd yell "Romney"  We did that about three times and were surprised on the last run she put the "Mitt" in front of it; it was so funny.
I dropped off Jon because I had an appointment on the other side of town.  Well, Breanna didn't enjoy the rally as much as she hoped- therefore neither did Jon.  Whenever they were in the area that was blocked off for the meeting, Breezie would cry & complain about the speakers being too loud and wanted to leave.  We thought it would be an indoor event, but it was outside, so they were both hot & thirsty, but had to wait until my return.
Gratefully the grounds were stunning, so they did get to walk around and take in the beautiful scenery.  When I made it back they showed me around.  It ended up being a fun family outing after all.

 Bridges are for kisses!!

Ethan is 6 months!!

Wow, I can't believe it, 6 months already and Oh how much we have been through with this beautiful boy!!
He is such a sweet bubba chino- (we call him that a lot).  He has got to be the mildest baby I have ever seen!  He is so quiet and content.  He has a soft little cry (90% of the time)  He is starting to snuggle now.  He will rest his head on me- Breanna didn't do that, she always insisted on facing out.  Ethan is such a wonderful addition to our family.  It is fun to see how much he loves his sister and vise-versa.  There are times when Breanna is the only one that can cheer him up.  Here are one (or two) pictures for each month of his sweet baby life.

September
"I role on my tummy all the time now!"

August

 My "Manly man teeny-tiny little Baby"

 July

June

 May

April

 March

This video maybe a little long, but you can see why I didn't want to stop recording. . . 

he wouldn't stop laughing.  Cutie Ju-ju's; yet another nick name.

Camping

We camped in our back yard.  It was the perfect night.  Not too hot, not to cold.  When we told Breanna we were sleeping outside she did a huge belly laugh.  (We don't camp that often)  I think the kids slept better out there than they usually do being inside.  Ethan looked like a royal prince surrounded by netting- I was a little paranoid about the bugs.  We camped out under the stars.

 Yes, your majesty?

The kids woke up happy.

Breanna's Surgery

Breanna had to get tubes put in her ears this week.  It was much more of an ordeal than I was anticipating.  She really had to go through a lot!

She couldn't eat or drink before surgery, but she didn't start complaining about it until a half hour before going in.  I had no idea that it took such a toll on kiddos when coming out of anesthesia!  They said she was in recovery and we met the doc on the way back.  He said she did great, but there are two nurses trying to keep her under control right now.  Then we hear this screaming and crying, he said "that's her".  She was wild and not herself.  She was just beside herself kicking, yelling, crying.  She wanted down, but it was too dangerous for her to stand on her own being so dizzy and disoriented. Her throat hurt from the tube they had to put down her throat to make sure her tongue wouldn't fall. I was just holding Ethan, when they said it would take about a half hour to ware off, I said, I'll be in the waiting room.  Otherwise I was just going to sit there crying while watching this.  Poor girl.
Gratefully she slept for a few hours after getting home so she wasn't bothered as much by the pain.  When we went to get her some well deserved ice cream later that day the sun had just gone down, and she said this is a dark morning.  We told her it was night, but she still thought after waking up from her nap was the start of a new day so she said;  " hu, I wonder why this day was so short." I love that moon eyed girl!!
She is doing great now.  No more pain, and she can hear better.  No more excuses for not listening to mommy and daddy  -aha.
BreezieIsm:  After being hungry all day, I made her some toast.  She was all excited until it came out black as black burnt.  She said;  "oh, . . . that one can be yours."
It is so hard to see your child in any pain.  She handled it like a champ.  I am so glad that part is over.  Now we just have to make sure she has swimmer earplugs in when she showers or swims for the next 6 to 12 months- (until the tubes come out.)

A Dream Come True

We went to Utah for Chris & Angela's ceiling.  Congratulations again you cutie's!  While we were in town I had a dream come true.  I was able to record a song I wrote which was a dream in and of itself, on top of that I got to record it with Roger Hoffman!!  IT WAS A BLAST!!!!  Jon, Ethan and my Mom came with.  It was so much fun.  I had no idea how long it would take, so we came equip with bottles in hand.
It took longer than I thought just to get the piano part down.  First I played it for the recording, then we went over it piece by piece, measure by measure perfecting the timing and Roger worked his magic on it,  adding cords and a few little changes.  Three and a half hours later we were ready to record my voice.  The first few recordings we did, everyone thought I might need to come another day because my voice sounded tired.  (I had been singing for 3 hours to get the timing right.)  I really wanted to stay and get it done.  So Jon reminded me to say a prayer and whooalah,  I really felt like I sang my best and was pleased with the outcome.
Then it was time to add the back ground.  Others may have been burned out by now, but I was still just as thrilled as ever.  When I heard the strings with my song for the first time, I couldn't help but swell up with tears!!
Since we've been home I have been hard at work creating my website and getting everything ready to start selling this puppy!!  It has been interesting trying to figure it out- I am not a web designer!  I'm just trying my best to make it look professional and nice.  You gotta "Fake it to make it" right?  Anyway it has been tedious, but also a lot of fun as well.

Oh oh , I forgot. . . two days after I recorded my song, I received a call from Roger.  He asked me to sing a song that him and his wife have written for their upcoming CD!  WHAT? ME??  What was good just got better.  What a dream come true!  I was nervous when we first started recording that, I guess because it was for someone else.  After a while I was able to feel comfortable and they were happy with what we ended up with.  The coolest part of this story is they said they've been looking for the right voice for that song for 10 years!  They even had someone else come in and record it and decided later it just wasn't the right fit.  Roger and Melonie have absolutely beautiful voices too, and had done a recording of their own, but decided they wanted a more "modern" rendition. I felt so privileged, I am excited for you to hear it, it is such a beautiful song. 
Here is a link for a video to watch Roger's Consider the Lilies of the Field sung by the motab.  (the link is invisable, but if you hover below you'll see it, I don't feel like figuring out how to fix this setting right now.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06bXq8zXbNQ&feature=related