Disney Part 2

Playing at the "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids!" playground....I love this, because I have a picture of me, my sister & my cousin sitting on this ant when we were younger!

Lightning McQueen! Rylie was sooo sleepy here!

This is a random shot of us in Norway. We took goofy pictures in most of the countries at Epcot. Rylie refused to be a viking!

By the end of the trip, this was her adopted pose when meeting the characters!

Every time she would leave one of them, she would blow them kisses! Too cute! (This pic is for you, BB! We know you love Donald:)

Squeezing the life out of a seahorse at Nemo's Living Seas Adventure!

Posing in front of Cinderella's Castle right before the amazing fireworks show!

Stewart LOVES it when I tell him to pose for pictures...can't you just feel the enthusiasm?

Ariel, the lovely little Mermaid! This is the only "real" person character she would indulge us in having her picture with!

I wish you could have seen how excited this little girl was to see these two! She ran up & she and Minnie held hands looking at each other for a minute before giving each other hugs. Then she hugged Mickey & turned for her pose & then blew kisses! Probably my favorite moment from the trip!

Mickey's garden

Its a small world after all......(I know you are singing this to yourself right about now)

Watching the parade at the Magic Kingdom...can you see the excitement on her face! She loved it!

The lovely Cinderella & Prince Charming...

Sleeping Beauty was her favorite of the princesses we saw....

Belle was less fortunate. This is Rylie telling her she wanted to go!

Rylie & Stewart getting ready to ride the Barnstormer (a kiddie roller coaster that she was just tall enough to ride!) It was pretty fun, but she didn't really want to do it again!

Our Family trip to Walt Disney World...Part 1

We had so much fun on our trip to Disney!! I am breaking this post into sections, because we took about 300 pictures & videos & I am weeding through them a little at a time. I cannot wait to go back again! We arrived in Orlando on Stewart's 31st birthday, so we got to celebrate in style at Disney's Hollywood Studios! He got a special button to wear and everyone wished him a happy birthday! He even got in free on his birthday to the parks, but since we had purchased a package deal, they gave him a $75 gift card instead! Awesome!

The picture above is Rylie cheesing it on the Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride...she loved it! I think this was actually in the Magic Kingdom.
This is our second day, at the Animal Kingdom. This parade was cute....we got great spots for all the parades because there were less people there than during the summer. I highly recommend going in Jan. We got great deals & avoided any waits in line:)

Waiting to see "A Bug's Life" in 3D...she fell asleep literally about 2 minutes after this picture was taken & slept through the whole show! Stewart & I really enjoyed it !

She LOVED the characters...well, at least the ones like Tigger, in full costume. (You will understand later what I mean)

This was the first character she saw & she was so excited....

She ran right up & gave Pooh a big bear hug! Eyeore was next in line & she would have NOTHING to do with him...she went straight to Tigger & Eyeore looked sad.....

This is at the Finding Nemo show at the Animal Kingdom. All the shows were great...she was glued to this the whole time, because Nemo is one of her favorite movies!

Some pics from our Kilamanjaro Safari....we did this twice! The animals were so close...some even came right up to the jeep!

See how excited she got??!! Priceless!

Hippo on the safari...the guide said they are hardly ever out of the water!

Me & Raffiki!

See what I mean? She was not feeling the love for Pocohantas....too much of a real person, as opposed to Pooh, Tigger, etc. I think Stewart liked her, though:)

Rylie's first airplane ride! She & Stewart watched out the window for our plane & the picture above that shows her on board, watching Nemo on my ipod!

This was at the Fantasmic nighttime show at Hollywood Studios....it was awesome! All outside with fireworks, water, boats, fire & cool holograms! She waved her arm off at the big riverboat with all the characters! Pictures didn't do it justice!

This was our first night at the hotel....little bit was exhausted!

This is a shot of me & Rylie aboard the train in the Animal Kingdom...yes, the first 2 days were that cold! Very sunny, but unseasonably cool. We were prepared with our toboggans & jackets. By day 3, it was wonderful warm Florida weather!

More to come......

Struck down, but not destroyed....

Many of you know that a short time ago we announced that we were expecting our 2nd child....we had our first ultrasound on December 22 & saw the baby with its tiny heartbeat at only 6 1/2 weeks! It was amazing. A few days ago I started having some problems & we went in to the Dr. for an ultrasound where our fears were confirmed. Our little baby's heart had stopped. My Dr. was very kind & compassionate with us, as we had been trying for a while to have this baby. I had to have a procedure done & she scheduled it immediately. It is a blessing to have a Dr. that is so empathetic. She hugged me & Stewart and told us she was sorry & was very reassuring. She told us it was probably a chromosomal defect or could have been a heart defect or something else very serious. It is kind of a blur really. It seems like something you always hear about but would never really happen to you. As we Stewart & I waited for my procedure, one of the nurses & the nurse anethesist both told me they had been through miscarriages as well. They were both nice ladies, and I believe God placed them there to comfort me because they have been through it. As I woke up from surgery, the nurse taking care of me talked to me & we talked about how the Lord gets you through these times in your life. God has really spoken to me & Stewart over the past few days. Stewart reminded me of the scripture that says that God gives us the good & the hard times & we have to praise him through them all. That is so true. Rylie has a CD with bible verses that are set to music & one ran through my head yesterday..."Trust in the Lord with all your heart & lean not unto your own understanding;in all your ways acknowledge Him & He shall direct your paths" how appropriate. Our ways are not His ways.....when things don't happen just as we think they should, that is just the problem....that is the way WE think they should be & not the perfect plan that God has for our lives. I would have never wanted this, but there is a reason God is taking us through this pain. In 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 it says"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." I read this verse the night before I had the miscarriage. I prayed so hard for God to save this baby as I began to have complications, but that wasn't his will. He has a bigger plan, but we have yet to see it. I know that he has provided us with the most gracious, caring group of friends & family that we could ask for. They have showered our family with prayers, cards, flowers, great food & more than anything compassion & love. They have cried with us & held us in our tears. I am so thankful to have a husband who is such a godly man & has been so strong through this time. I know he is hurting, too, but he puts me first. I thank God for our beautiful daughter, also. He has already blessed us so richly! So, as for me & my house...we will continue to serve the Lord & wait for whatever blessings that may be in his will for our future! Thank you all for everything you have done for us....we love you!

Merry Christmas!!

These are some pics of Rylie's recent photo shoot. She is 2 years old...I can't believe it! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas! God has blessed our family so richly....I praise God for giving us such wonderful friends & family & most of all for giving us his precious son ....our Saviour! Let us not forget what we are celebrating during this wonderful season:) Have a great Christmas & God Bless!

Rylie's 2nd Birthday!!

It is so hard to believe that our baby girl is 2! Times flies....it is true, they grow up so fast! Here are some pics from her birthday party. We had a "Charlotte's Web" theme, so we staged a county fair. The only hitch was that it was FREEZING that day, so instead of the back yard, we had to use the garage. We had balloon animals, face painting, a popcorn machine, a booth to get your picture with Wilbur & friends, go fishing & the infamous CORN PIT! Yes, you heard right...a pit of dried corn for the kids to play in until their hearts content! This is Rylie in the corn pit, holding a pig (of course). I hid lots of farm animals in the corn for the kids to find. She is into baby dolls right now & holds everything like a baby, as seen here!

It was very hard to find anything resembling Charlotte's Web, so I had to make do & use some ingenuity! I managed to find this little gem at a local shop that sells all things for the would-be baker:) I was so excited! It is the only authentic Charlotte's Web thing I could find......Rylie has played with Wilbur every day since the party (he comes off the base). Today, while carrying her to the car, I heard her begin to wail....she had dropped Wilbur in the grass & leaves! The wailing did not cease until I found Wilbur (not easy)!


Some of the cookies on a stick & pig cupcakes I made for the shin-dig! I made pig & spider cupcakes & the cookies were barns, blue ribbons, and of course...pigs & spider webs!

Kaylen & Jonah were at her side to assist in the gift opening! She got so many cute gifts:)

We wove "Happy Birthday Rylie" into the web, as if Charlotte wrote it for her! Here she is posing with Templeton (the rat) & Wilbur! She loves them both & wants to take them everywhere....we get some odd looks.....

Here aer some of the kids at the fishing booth. They caught live goldfish & got to take them home! Somehow, we still have 5......goldfish anyone?

Wolfing down some pig cupcakes before heading back to the corn pit.....

And here is Rylie with some of her guests, playing in the corn. I must say, it was the hit of the party!

All the kids posed for their picture...here is Rylie:) I painted this with the help of Dawn's projector!! Thanks, Dawn:)

Rylie posing in her "I'm 2" t-shirt"....I made this one like the owl shirt. This is so easy & fun...you should try it!


" Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done."

-Chronicles 16:8

**Thank you God, for our baby girl!!!

Halloween pics....now that it is almost Thanksgiving!!

While surfing eBay, I came across this little cowgirl outfit up for bid & decided to make it myself. It took some coercing, but we got the majority of the costume on our little cowgirl! At first, she wouldn't wear the hat or boots or the bandanna on her neck....2 out of 3 ain't bad! (We ended up putting the bandanna on her horse, who we dubbed "Butterscotch"!

After about an HOUR, our little Annie Oakley decided she would in fact participate in the games at the fall festival. (Finicky, those 2 year olds!) When she got to this booth, we had to make her leave so other kids could have a turn. Then she forgot to get her "prize"...a.k.a. CANDY! She went back in the booth with her loot bag & practically threw it at the man & looked up at him expectantly, without a word! She got her candy:)

Here she is modeling her ensemble....riding off into the sunset!

Giddy up, Butterscotch!

Rylie at the petting zoo...she liked this big fat bunny!