Stinkin' Cute

Let us begin our blog today with a short story: You all recall the quaint childhood story of Peter Pan and his beloved Tinkerbell....Rylie is really in to the Disney classics these days & I love to watch & reminisce with her. I guess that may be the inspiration for her lovely spreading of pixie dust in Daddy's office....only it is not pixie dust. (Imagine a screeching sound as the story comes to an abrupt halt). Instead of pixie dust, there is a substance of green, red & yellow color & smells a bit like shrimp & squid liver meal (whatever that is), because it is not, in fact, pixie dust, but FISH FLAKES!!!! The office has been christened by a fairy who could only be thinking of Nemo's wish come true....yikes! I am still not sure who did this random act of vandalism, because I was babysitting John Gavin also & the two of them cannot be left alone for a second...(case in point!) Now, on to our pictures.....

These are cookies that Rylie & I made for Valentines day....

You make them with heart cookie cutters. Rylie helped with the eyes & noses!

Rylie enjoying a cookie!

Here are Jonah, Kaylen & Rylie playing on the bunks at our Gatlinburg cabin. (Yay, the camera is working again & we salvaged some photos!)

Rylie & Jonah before hitting the tubes!

Rylie, Kaylen & Jonah playing in the snow!

Rylie , Katherine & Jonah

The three musketeers!

The Fox family in Gatlinburg. (Stewart HATES my sunglasses in this pic! HAHAHA!) I do look a bit fly-like:)

A pictureless blog...(sigh)

O.k.....so we just got back from a lovely romantic getaway in the Smoky Mountains for Valentines Day. We went with Keith & Holie Carlisle & their kids & Dawn & Allen Wilson & their little girl. The kids all had a blast playing together. We stayed in a beautiful log cabin overlooking the Smokies, and you could see the slopes from our balconies. The cabin had 3 floors & was equipped with an air hockey table, pool table, hot tub & loads of movies! It had a great fireplace & 2 balconies with rocking chairs. So relaxing! Anyway, we had a great time tubing in the snow & the guys went skiing one day. We all visited the aquarium & went to the Dixie Stampede on Valentines Day. We put all the kiddies in the Jacuzzi tub one afternoon & I got the cutest pics of them dumping water on each other....but this is where our story takes a turn south. Alas, my camera was resting on the vanity & I went to get my brush & the camera fell into the bathtub with the kids! It was like slo-mo....Dawn & I both watched in horror as it bounced twice & landed right in the depths of the tub! So sad! I hope I will be able to salvage the pictures from the card, but I fear that my camera has suffered a worse fate! Oh , well...material things can be replaced. Other than that, we had a wonderful trip (with the exception of Rylie's bout with carsickness upon leaving our cabin the last day...poor child.) So with that being said, I may or may not have pictures to post at a later date! I will have to scrounge some up from Hollie & Dawn!

Last Disney Post....Part 3!

Finding Nemo....we had to fight off the other kids to get inside the shark!

Epcot.....can you guess the country?? We tried to get pictures in every one.....

France....note Stewart's expressions as we move through the countries! Priceless!

Where's Waldo, I mean Emily & Rylie???? This is Morocco, by the way!

When we got to Germany, she spotted Dopey & was so excited! Perfect photo op!

Ahh, Italy!

Any Karate Kid fans out there? Yes, it is Japan. (The real crane is in the background)

Please, I beg of you, double click this one to get the close up!!!!! HAHAHAHAHA!

La Cuccaracha.....

LOVE the expression! This was in Asia, at the animal kingdom after a tasty lunch of Kung Pao beef & Shrimp Lo Mein! Yum!

" I miss the rain down in Africa.....dum, dum, dum, da dum dum dum....."

This was on our safari. I have many, many pictures of animals much more interesting than this, but I didn't want to get all Geographic Explorer on you & bore you any more than I already have. I thought you might especially appreciate this one because this Wildebeest was practically IN the jeep with us! At least it wasn't a rhino this close, and the lions were sleeping.....a-weem-o-way...a-weem-o-way....

This was at our fabulous hotel...the Animal Kingdom Lodge. There were animals all around hotel...so cool! We loved it! It was rich with African culture...from artifacts & tribal music in the lobby, to the food & fire pits inside & out that simulated the Savannahs of Africa & the animals that you would see there. They had parades through the lobby that African women, dressed in their native colorful headdresses & wraps would lead & you could listen to an African native talk about their country & where to go when you visit or go on safari. They also had a very talented African artist doing demos of his artwork & selling his art. Lots of cool things to see & do...we especially liked the night vision glasses you could use to spot the animals at night...really a neat experience!

Our Cinderella playing dress up at home

Princess Rylie

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!