A Tale of a Dream Come True Part 2!

I need to keep up with my trip log. I don't want to forget the details of our vacation.
We woke up on the second day of our trip ate a nice breakfast at the hotel and headed for our next destination. Tallahassee,FL.  We went there to visit Art's sister Lori who has been living there for the past 2yrs. We were able to visit with thir family and have a nice Southern Thanksgiving Dinner complete with macaroni and cheese, fried okra, and mince meat pie. It was a nice visit and meal, but we were anxious to get back in the car and make our way to Orlando. We of course ran into rain, which was pretty much the story of our ttrip down there. We drove through some pretty intese rainstorms. We worried a lot about our luggage which was in a canvas cartop carrier. Overall our stuff stayed pretty dry, which was amazing considering the conditions! We arrived at Baymont Inn and Suites, our destination for the night. We went to bed happy to be done with traveling for the rest of the week.
Day two did not have many photos but here are a few of our visit with Lori.

We got to meet Kathryn for the first time.

Here is Robert

Here is everyone Rockin Out to Taylor Swift

Mom behind the Wheel

A Tale of a Dream Come True!

We just got back from an amazing family vacation to Disney World. We decided to take the kids out of school to go and enjoy the parks all decked out for Christmas, without the major crowds that a school holiday brings. We started our journey on Thanksgiving day. It proved to be a really great day to travel. There was really no traffic....there was some torrential rain....but no traffic. We left early 4 am and the kids were in pretty good spirits. They had movies GALORE  and a DS, Leapster, Laptop and I pod. So there was plenty to keep everyone busy and entertained. Also there was plenty to fight over too. Over all we had a really nice first day and we were so excited when we reached Tennesse and we could feel the warmer temperature and we could go without coats.

Our ending destination for the first day was Atlanta, GA. We got there about 5pm. The hotel we stayed at had a nice complimentary dinner and got everyone settled down for a good night sleep. Getting everyone settled down was not the easiest task, the kids were way too excited to be in a hotel, I know we could be heard clear down the hall. But eventually all were asleep and we could get ready for day #2 of driving.
Some photo and videos of Day #1.

So happy to finally be in Tennessee!

Jack and Nora Passed out!

                                                            Jack is gaming.

Nora's turn on the DS

Ahh...the rain!!!

Happy Travelers!!!

Jack loved his suitcase. He insisted he pull it all by himself! Infact everyone pulled their own bag. it was great!!!

Finally settling down for the night!

Scripture Power!

After Listening to General Conference this past Oct., I was convinced that we could do a better job with our family scripture reading. We always tried to read but often times it ended sourly with loud misbehaving kids.
After Listening to this talk  Stay on the Path I decided that considering the ages of our children we needed to focus a little more on quality then quantity. So we started the Book of Mormon again. Maddie is a great reader and loves to read as many verses as we will allow. Ava is coming along great on her reading and usually gets through just one verse with help. And Jack and Nora take a turn also. Sometimes it is short and sweet and only takes a few minutes but the consistency had been wonderful for the kids.

The other night as we were reading about Nephi and his brothers getting the brass plates from Laban, Art spontaneously assigned everyone parts and we acted it out. It was great fun and the kids are learning a lot.

Each night as we gather for scriptures we sing Scripture Power. The kids all love that song and even Jack has learned it and it's not rare to hear him singing it around the house at any time of day.

It's time to update!

I have been thinking about this blog for the last few months. Wanting to update it, but I have just been lacking the energy. Always a lot going on in our world.
I am happy to report that we are all doing well.
I do think an update on the kids is in order....
Youngest to Oldest...
Jack William-

I am loving my little man. He turned 2 and he has really grown up. He is not my baby anymore. It has been fun having boy. He is talking so much now and always let us know what he wants. He is now 32lbs and weighs as much as Nora his older sister by 2 years. I am not used to this size and he is growing my muscles everytime I pick him up. He loves to eat and he can open the fridge all by himself. I really need to get one othose locks. We just moved hom out of his crib when he learned to climb out. He loves his "truck Bed" as he like to call it. He is a happy and busy 2 year old and he keeps me on my toes. We love having him as a part of our family. His sisters adore him. Now that the older two girls are in school Nora and Jack have become great buddies, it is fun to watch them play together. I can hardly believe how fast he is growing up.

Nora Kate:

Our Sweet 4 year old. She is just a bright and happy girl, always. She has always been an easy child and I am thankful for that. She is in preschool this year. We are once again doing a home preschool. This year we have just 3 girls. It has been a lot of fun. Nora really looks forward to it. We have already had a field trip to the zoo. I am really enjoying teaching her. It's neat for me to see her growing up. I want to soak up this last year before she heads off to school. She has also started ballet. Her friend Xandra is in her class, and she really looks forward to it. It's fun to see her interests develop. Nora has always been a big sweetheart, and still is.

Stay Tuned for the Rest of the Update.

Was 60 boxes too many?

I am ADDICTED to couponing!!

What is it about this picture...

...that I Love??? Such innocence, it's precious to me!

Nora Kate

Nora is such a sweet and funny girl! And she is growing up way to fast. Every night she has to collect a few assorted items to take to bed with her. Most of the time it's whatever toys she can gather up quickly before lights out, tonight when I went up to check on her she was tucked in with a baseball. Last week Art found our I-Pod under her blankets. I guess we have to keep a close watch on her! Or if something goes missing...check Nora's bed!

A New Year!

I am always behind...here we are halfway into January and i have yet to catch up with my blog. Even thought one of my New Years Resolutions was to keep up with my blog this year. I am excited for this New Year! A chance to set new goals and start anew!!!
I have started taking piano lessons for about the 5th time in my life and I am looking forward to keeping up with them! We have been doing lots of home improvement projects around the house and that always makes me feel good! Now if only I can get things back in order around here we will be in business. I have lots of posts to catch up on so hopefully the next week will be a busy one here! Happy New Year Everyone!