Disney!

I was so excited to go Disney, but I really didn't want to leave the beach. Bittersweet I suppose. It was like a whole city. I guess thats why they call it Disney World. When we went through the gate they told us "Have a Magical Day!" The whole time I kept thinking to myself..."I am not having a magical day." It was way too hot to be there. Winter would probably be the best time to go. Definetly NOT July. But it was a good experience for the kids. They earned it for sure. We got there when the park opened and left right before it ended at midnight.

& more Florida

My first morning and look who was peeking through the curtains. How could I sleep? I jumped up made coffee and sat on the balcony trying to figure out what to do next. I didn't realize it was 7 am! I'm on vacation and not sleeping in was my first thought. I just didn't want to miss anything. So I decided to go grocery shopping before everyone else woke up.

I just love the sun. So when I got back we pretty much spent the day swimming.

Here is a cute picture I took of the girls having their OJ on the balcony.

too many pictures...

Florida~~The Sunshine State~~

We arrived for check in on our anniversary. We were early so I so happy when they said everything was ready and we could check in early. Went up to our rooms and boy were we happy...Ocean View!

Here are a few snaps of our room. It was fantastic! We loved the Tiki Bar and the kids loved the water slide. It was a win win sitution. Our first day we spent playing in the ocean and then we went out for our anniversary dinner at Bubba Gumps. Yea that's right, from the movie Forrest Gump. It was delicious!

What a way to start vacation.

Preparing for AdVeNtUrE!

It's the day before we leave for our first Official family vacation. Everything about this vacation has been a blessing. It first started as a wedding gift from my grandma. She lives in Arizona so growing up we never really got to see her much. So when she told me she wanted to come to Indiana for my wedding I was so touched! I wanted to cry just out of happiness. She told me that she wanted to give Arden & I a week stay somewhere in her timeshare for our wedding gift. The 2nd gift she gave us by the way. So Arden & I talked about it a lot and thought about where we wanted to go & who would take care of our children while we were gone. Then it hit me, maybe this could be a family vacation. So I asked my grandma if she would mind if we all took the week stay somewhere and she happily said that would be fine! We wanted to go somewhere close so we tried Lake Michigan....nothing available. So she tried Virginia Beach....nothing. Then Myrtle Beach...nothing. And finally Hilton Head...nothing. So she asked "Do you have anything on the east coast, on the beach, at all?" And they responded with FLORIDA! We were SO happy! It was going to cost us more than we were thinking to go all that way, but it will be so worth it! And all the time we were planning everything.....I kept saying to myself  "God, It would be so nice to be able to take my children to Disney World." I looked into tickets and it was just too much for us at this time. I was okay with that. A little disappointed but okay. I prayed a prayer that to most would seem ridiculous. But I know my God. And God knows me. Then a friend at work was telling me how Disney is doing this program called "Give a Day, Get a Disney Day."  I checked into and the next thing I knew my whole family was volunteering a day of service and we were getting free tickets to Disney World! Can you believe that? I can...like I said, I know my God. Again everything about this vacation has been a blessing from God. And so as I sit here and think about us leaving tomorrow I want to thank God for everything and ask him to watch over our family. Praying for a safe and happy trip.

~~The Legend Of A Sand Dollar~~

There's a pretty little legend
That I would like to tell

Of the birth and death of Jesus

Found in this lowly shell.

If you examine closely,

You'll see that you find here

Four nail holes and a fifth one

Made by a Roman's spear.

On one side the Easter lily,

Its center is the star

That appeared unto the shepherds

And led them from afar.

The Christmas poinsettia,

Etched on the other side

Reminds us of His birthday,

Our happy Christmastide.

Now break the center open,

And here you will release

The five white doves awaiting

To spread Good will and peace.

This simple little symbol,

Christ left for you and me

To help us spread His Gospel

Through all eternity.

New Swing~~New Swing~~La La La la la laaaa~~~~

LOOK what Arden put up for the kiddos........

He did NOT want to do it! I kept saying okay I'll do it....but NO WAY was I climbing that gigantic ladder! Yikes! Thanks My Dear!

Peyton

Saturday I finally got to see little miss Peyton! We had many many cancellations due to RAIN!  I haven't seen her since she was born. She is 7 months old now! We had a really quick photo shoot because...well...Peyton decided she was done. But she did a great job for it being such a short shoot. I went to school with her parents Ryan and Tara. I love this couple.....they are a lot of fun to be around. I hope Peyton and I have many more photo shoots in the future.

Here are a couple of my favorite ones.

She absolutely loved the pearls...teething.

Dad Fest!

An old pic...but one of my favs!

We started our fathers day celebration at Grace Community Church. Our other home. They went all out for fathers day this year. Music, worship, food, competition and motorcycles...duh of course. Yea they even gave away a brand spanking new motorcycle! We went home and had our own little cook out. It was a great day!

I love my husband and I think he is a really great daddy! Thank you for everything you do for our family Arden! You are the best!

Just A Thought

Some days it feels like there is a battle between Good & Evil in heavens above you. You feel as though your being attacked & you have angels fighting for you and protecting you. But you do feel it. The last couple of weeks have felt that way for Arden and I. My prayer is for Gods Will To Be Done. Not ours or anybody elses. God Alone!

Madi & Sayra

This weekend Madi got to have her friend Sayra overnight. It amazes me how much these two are alike. They like the same things and definetly act alike. We were at Miles' baseball game on sunday and I went to check on the kids see what they were up to. I find them under this really big tree and they had a small audience. I asked this little girl what was going on and she told me that Madi & Sayra were doing a show for her. Go figure....

I had to exchange something at the store and the girls bought matching shirts that they plan to wear on the first day of third grade. I think it's safe to say they had a good time together.

~~THE NAME GAME~~ Ballet Recital

This was Madisons second ballet recital and she did wonderful. The song, unfortunetly, was "Oh Susanna." I say unfortunetly because it was a slow boring kind of song. Every year I hope for a better, more current song. But it seems like the songs keep getting older. Yuck!

Despite the song, their costumes were adorable and she danced perfectly. The girl has moves! 

Great Job Madi!! We love watching you ~dance~

Mason wanted to give her the flowers...of course!

Grandma & Grandpa Mast....making me laugh so hard I could hardly hold the camera!

She hates the make-up, but loves to dance.

She was very excited to see her friend Lani was there. She is also thinking about joining dance!

Then afterwards we HAD to go out for icecream. This little girl loves icecream. More than anyone I've ever known. She always surprises me with just how much she can eat. Let's just say if there was an icecream land....she'd live there.

Miles turns 11

This happens way too fast by the way. One day he's wearing yellow rainboots with his pj's pretending to be some sort of super hero and the next he's turning eleven and all you can think is....."How did we get here?" or "Where did the time go?"

This not so little boy has always had a special place in my heart and he always will. Whether he knows it or not. (my hope is that he does) For his birthday he wanted a basketball hoop. Well let me just start off by saying that I tried to get him to buy one last year with his birthday money...but hey what do I know? So we got him his basketball hoop and I think it's a little gift the whole family will enjoy. Everyone had a good time with it. Even the little guy...(mason) I thought this was funny, Miles said that Mason is the best four year old athlete he's ever seen. How sweet! He's such a good big brother. Being the oldest comes with so many responsibilites and it's not always fun. He does a pretty good job though. And he got to choose his cake...chocolate cake with chocolate icing, it was good!

Not a big celebration, but a good one with just the family. Happy Birthday Miles! We love you and are so proud of you!