Santa baby...

Tonight we visited Santa for family home evening. It was also pet night for visiting Santa, so there were all these cute dogs dressed in their Christmas best waiting to see Santa too.

Clara just stared at Santa--no fussing or squirming, just curiosity. After about 30 seconds she said something (you know how Clara talks) and then reached for me.

William was a little nervous and didn't want to actually sit on his lap. I'm so glad they all still believe. I don't know how I'm going to explain the last 7 years of deception.

While standing in line Hallie asked if that was the real Santa. I said (in a sort of vauge way) "yes." Then she said , "cross your heart?" What could I do? I crossed my heart and promised it was the real Santa.

I couldn't hear what Gracie asked for, but I'm pretty sure it had to do with purple unicorns.

So this weekend turned out to be a lot less relaxing than I thought, but it was great though. Thanksgiving day I ran my first ever 5K. There was about 6000 people there! Luckily, a friend of mine ran with me (thanks Liz!) making it so much easier. Then while Tony played football I took the kids home to make our part of dinner.

We ate dinner at some friends house and had a great time! Then a couple friends and I left at 9:30 to be to Toys R Us by 10pm. There were probably 1500 people there, so needless to say, most everything we wanted was gone. While one friend waited in line, we went to Walmart and got some smoking deals there at midnight. Then we came home for a few hours sleep and headed out again at 8am for more shopping fun! Even though we were tired we all had a great time and I got most of my shopping done!

After shopping on Friday we put up our small Christmas trees (1 for each of the kids rooms and 1 in the living room). We got all our Christmas decorations up before going to another friends house for a Rock Band party.

Saturday we put up our Christmas lights and cleaned out the shed--and now it's Sunday. Whew!!! I really need a day of rest. Hopefully this explains why I didn't make my last Thanksgiving post on Thanksgiving day--I'll do it now (without Tony's help).

I cannot end my days of gratitude posts without expressing my gratitude for my Savior. He has given me everything in my life that matters and everything in my life that I need. He has given me my family--forever. I never have to give them up or worry about never seeing them again. He has given me peace through the atonement. He has given me His teachings and commandments which bring me freedom and joy. Because of His gospel I have met amazing people who inspire, lift, encourage and understand me.

I have everything I could ever need and all of that comes from my Savior, His atonement, and His gospel. My greatest desire is to live my life worthy to return to Him and to have His spirit with me until then. And as the saying goes, it's not always easy, but it is definitely worth it!

One more day...

Tonight I'm grateful for a few small things...like the fact that I got my pies made today (not sure how they turned out--I didn't read the directions as closely as I should have, but I'm sure they'll still taste good!).

Also, tomorrow I get to run my first ever official 5K! I've been training for this since September following the couch to 5K program a friend of mine recommended (for more info click here). I finished the 9 week training a few weeks ago and ran a 5K on the treadmill, but never on the actual ground and never in a race. I'm not worried about finishing it or my time, I'm actually more worried about the crowds. Apparently only the first 5500 people will be timed electronically. So hopefully I don't get trampled!

I'm also grateful that I only have one more post to go. It's not that I'm not grateful for anything else it's just that writing is not my favorite thing (that's why Tony loves writing--so I don't have to!) and I'm getting a little run down. Hopefully tomorrow I can have Tony help me write something really eloquent and meaningful, something I definitely cannot do without him!

For yesterday, I'm grateful for a clean house (even though I know it won't last beyond this morning). I spent all day yesterday cleaning my entire house. It was pretty bad, but now it looks pretty good. So naturally, after mutual last night, I collapsed.

Now after a semi-good night's rest I can enjoy my clean house and dirty it up baking pies! I'm going to try Emeril's chocolate cream pie--wish me luck!

Shopping

Since my recent revelation that Christmas is getting ever closer, I've kicked it into gear and begun my Christmas shopping. I began at my favorite store of all time...Target. Shopping there is always so much better than Walmart. I adore their baby clothes, especially the clearance rack. Today they had a pretty good sale on some things the kids will love. I even had a coupon.

So for today's post I'm grateful for Target and sales--especially when the two are combined!

(It's been a while, but this picture reminds me of the Target near our house in Boise. It was less than 5 minutes away and I practically lived there!)

Breakfast

This morning I decided that I'm extremely grateful for cereal. Without it I would not be able to get my family out the door on time for anything. Sometimes I feel a little guilty about feeding my family cereal for breakfast almost every single morning. When I do start feeling bad I tell my kids "Mom's going to make breakfast this morning, what do you want?" They all reply, "No, cereal!" (in a whiny voice I might add). Usually they just don't want to wait long enough for me to mix pancake batter--it's faster to just pore the cereal and milk.

These are some of our favorites (yum!!):

Christmastime already?!?

Today we went to the Festival of Trees here in town. The kids went nuts looking at all the decorations, trying desperately not to touch them (since they were promised a fast trip to the car if they did), and dragging me from tree to tree to show me their favorite ornaments. I also went to a Relief Society craft day and got a wonderful idea for Christmas tree ornaments using kids alphabet blocks (maybe I'll post a picture when I actually make them). And tonight at our youth Hayride I was reminded that there are only 35 days until Christmas. WHAT?!?!?!

Christmas is my favorite time of year. It's almost here and before I know it, it will be January. I really need to slow things down so I can enjoy this next month (not sure how I'm gonna do it, but I'll work on it). Since this will be our last Christmas in Tallahassee I want to make it memorable. I want lots of family time, friend time, service time, and study/ponder time.

So today I'm grateful for Christmastime. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year. Not only do we get to celebrate the birth and life of our Savior, but we get to create so many memories with our families and friends--so many traditions. I love the extra emphasis on families and traditions that everyone feels this time of year. I love the increased attention to our Savior and His work. And I know that we should always be thinking of Him and His work, but it's especially wonderful at Christmastime.

P.S. It's been a very long day, so if this doesn't make any sense, I'll blame it on that!

Doctor's visit

Today Clara got 3 shots. She took it pretty well at the time (minimal crying) but spent the rest of the day fussy. But even after that, I'm grateful she can get good medical care.

I actually dread going to the doctor. We always have to spend at least and hour waiting for just 10 minutes with the doctor. But really, I'll take that any day to having to watch my child suffer through an ear infection, or worse.

While the health care system in this country is not perfect (and likely to get worse) I am so grateful I don't have to watch my kids suffer. It would literally break my heart to see my child suffering and know there is absolutely nothing I could do to help. Even ibuprofen is a miracle! If some awful disease struck or an accident happened, I know we have access to the best medical care in the world. Compared to the other 6 billion people on the planet, we've got it pretty good.

Pictures

Today I'm grateful for my kids (and camera's that capture them just the way they are now). I love them all the same and different at the same time. I love their personalities. I love being the one they come to when they are happy and sad. I love sharing in their joys as well as their sorrows.

But mostly I love that they are all mine--forever, because this life is just not long enough.

William Antony Ricks--age 7 (almost 8--aaahhh!)

Hallie Mae Ricks--age 6

Gracie Mae Ricks--age 4 (almost 5)

Clara Mae Ricks--age 15 months

Today's gratitude post is for music. I love music. I'm so grateful that my loving Heavenly Father gave me something so beautiful, inspiring, and joyful. Music can always make me feel better, whether it's someone else playing or me.

When I was 8 years old I began to take piano lessons. We didn't have a piano at the time, but my mom did have a key to the church, so she would take my brothers and I down to the church almost every day so I could practice in the Primary room. I'm not sure how long that went on, but eventually we got a piano in our house.

For 5 years I HATED lessons. Because once we had the piano at home I hardly ever practiced. So lessons meant a 1/2 hour lecture on how I needed to practice more. Every week my mom would drive me to piano lessons and I would wish we could get in a car wreck on the way there so I wouldn't have to go (nothing major, just enough for us to have to cancel lessons for the week!) I begged and begged and begged to quit but my mom wouldn't let me. Twenty years later I'm eternally grateful she didn't.

Now I love to play the piano. I've leaned a little violin and organ since then too. I even teach my own kids piano lessons. We had a rocky start, but all of us have gotten the hang of it. Now with a few more students it's a great source of a little extra income. (Thanks, Mom!)

Music inspires me to be better. Music brings joy to my heart and to my home. Good music always makes me happy. And I think that's the point of everything beautiful in the world, to bring us joy and happiness--which is what music does for me.

Last night I planned on posting after the kids went to bed, but then I started reading this book and forgot all about it. So for yesterday I am going to say I'm grateful for good books. I love reading and when I find a good book I just can't stop myself. My house goes to ruin and my kids end up eating spaghetti 3 nights in a row until I've finished.

Last night I was reading Same Kind of Different As Me by Ron Hall. I haven't finished yet, but after crying so much I had put it down and give my eyes a rest. It's a beautifully inspiring book that makes me want to be a better person. It's clean (hard to find these days) and very well written. Thanks, Jennifer, for recommending it!

Today I don't think I'll have any time to read, maybe tonight before I go to bed. But I know if I start I'll end up reading until 1:00 in the morning (which tends to make me cranky the next day). My poor family! The good news is that it should only take me one more night of reading to finish. Then my schedule can go back to normal--until I find another good read!

P.S. I'm always open to recommendations!

William, quit throwing things in the fire!

Today I'm grateful for 2 things...campfires and Family Home Evening. I wanted to have a campfire for Family Home Evening tonight but it threatened to rain outside. So instead I made tin foil dinners and cooked them in the oven. Then we used some flameless candles (you know, the kind you can switch on and it flickers like a real flame) under some orange grocery bags. We threw on some real sticks for good measure and voila--instant indoor campfire. So we all sat on the floor around it and ate our tin foil dinners off styrofoam plates. William would put a bite of his food on his fork and hold it over the "fire" like he was roasting a hot dog. Then, of course, the girls had to join in. When they started roasting their corn I told them they'd end up with popcorn and that really got them going!

After dinner we had a lesson on how and why our bodies are a temple. We sat around the "campfire" talking and while the message was simple, the Spirit was still there. Then we played charades and had hot cocoa (mixed with french vanilla coffee creamer...yummy!)

These kind of Family Home Evenings are rare at our house. Usually its a scripture story and a snack. And while I know it's more about the consistency than the substance, this has reinforced to me how much better it can be if I put just a little more effort into it.


(Here we are around the campfire. We had almost all the lights off, you just can't tell in this picture. As you can see, the kids are each "roasting" something over the "fire". And, sorry it's a little blurry!)

And yes, I did have to tell William to quit throwing things in the fire while Tony was giving the lesson. It makes me glad it wasn't a real fire!

I'm going to bed

Tonight I'm grateful that Young Women in Excellence is over.

P.S. It was wonderful! Thanks for asking!

Football

I've never really been a huge sports fan. I enjoy going to games (any sport) and I enjoy playing too. But today I am grateful for football. Will has been playing flag football for the last 8 weeks. That's 2 practices a week and 1 game each Saturday. He has had a blast, but today he played his last 2 games. So now we're done! Next year he wants to play tackle (we'll see about that!).

At the same time Hallie was playing on a soccer team for the YMCA. That was also 2 practices a week and 1 game each Saturday. So needless to say our weekends have been busy. Her season ended 2 weeks ago, so now we are free! I really have loved going to their games and I've met some great people, but now I get my weekends back.

Tonight, if it works out, Tony and I are going to the FSU v. Clemson game. So even though it's never been my passion, tonight I'm going to do the Tomahawk Chop until my arm falls off!

You da bomb!

They say good friends are hard to come by, but that doesn't seem to be the case for me. Everywhere I've lived I've met wonderful people that have made my life better. There's my good friends from high school, who came with me to college. My good friends in Newdale from when I was newly married and a brand new mother. I have some good friends in Boise, and some right here in Tallahassee. The people here are extraordinary. My friends always make me smile. They are great examples of living the gospel, making me want to be better by just being around them. They are great mothers and wives, and I'm definitely better for having known them.

So, instead of offending someone by leaving them off a list, I'll just tell you that if you are reading this and thinking, "is she talking about me?" then, yes...I am. You are amazing. Thanks for making my days easier and my life better. Thanks for making me laugh and for getting me out of the house when I need some girl time. Thanks for watching my kids and letting them trash your house--you never complain about that.

When I grow up I hope to be just like you.
Thank you!

Happy Veterans Day

Today I'm grateful for all our veterans. I am so grateful there are men (and women) out there willing to risk their lives for me and my family. I honestly can't even imagine having to send my husband or son off to war. It's something I don' think I could ever do, and I hope I never have to. But I will be eternally grateful for those people who are so willing.

We live in the most amazing country on the planet and that is all due to our wonderful veterans who daily sacrifice so that we (and other people) can be free. So, thank you to all of you who have served and are currently serving. I hope you all know that we really do appreciate your sacrifice.

As a little side note, a few years ago I read the book Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell. I've never read any military books, but this book was amazing. You get a glimpse into what you have to do to become a Navy Seal, and what these men go through on the battle field (it's not too graphic, though). It was truly incredible. I highly recommend it!

Fall is finally here! (kind of)

This last week has finally brought Fall to Florida. Well, as much as Fall comes to Florida. It's cold at night and warm during the day. But still, I get to wear a jacket when I take the kids to school in the morning. Which leads me to what I'm grateful for today...change. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father made a beautiful earth for us to enjoy. But I don't only love that it's beautiful, I love that it changes. Every season has something beautiful about it and something different to enjoy. But I love Fall most of all, because that means it's almost Christmas! And you know how the excitement of waiting for something to happen is almost better than it actually happening. That's how I feel about Fall.

But there is other change I'm grateful for, too. While I don't always want it to happen, I do love to see my kids growing and changing. I love that they are getting to the point where I can have a real conversation with them. And we can do different things together now that they are a little older. So while I loved having them as babies, it so wonderful to see them progressing.

I also love changing things up at home. I like having a routine, but it's fun to sometimes change it up a bit. I love rearranging or painting a room, it feels different and like you have a whole new room. I'm grateful we can change the way we look (for the better or worse) and the way we act (hopefully this is always for the better).

Life would be so boring if everything was always the same. And since Heavenly Father wants us to enjoy life and be happy, He gave us change!

Now that's the life

Today I'm grateful for the things that make my life easier. Like my washer and dryer, my dishwasher, even my awesome steam mop. Can you imagine when it used to take days (yes, plural) to do laundry. It already takes me days to do laundry, but at least I'm not hunched over a wash bin with my hands soaking in water all day. And I lived the first 5 years of my marriage without a dishwasher. I lived through it, but now that I have one I don' t think I could ever go back!

We have so much awesome technology that wasn't around even 50 years ago. I know I take for granted all these great things that are supposed to give me more free time. And they do because since I don't have to spend all day washing dishes I can do more of the things that I actually enjoy.

(No, this isn't my actual washer and dryer, but it's pretty close.)

Gratitude

So, I was reading my cousin-in-law's blog the other day and she is doing this really awesome thing. Everyday for the month of November she is writing about something she is grateful for. I love the idea of thinking of one thing everyday and focusing on that. So I thought I'd give it a try. I'm also going to ask my kids everyday. I even made up a little sheet were we can all write down one thing each day. There is even a place for Clara (I thought the kids would have fun thinking of something she could be grateful for!).


So everyday until Thanksgiving I (hopefully) will be sharing with you something I'm grateful for, and maybe even a few of my kids ideas.


Today I'm grateful that I can be a stay-at-home mom. Nothing brings me greater joy than always being here for my kids. I love being here when they get home from school. I love getting things done while they are at school and I love that I have nothing else that is "more important" to do. It wasn't' until I moved to Florida that I realized what a rare thing it is to not send your kids to daycare.

Of course, the reason I can be a stay-at-home mom is my wonderful husband. He works so hard for our family so that I can stay home. I'm grateful that he supports my desire to stay at home. I remember discussing this when we were dating--although it wasn't much of a discussion. I said I wanted to be able to stay home with the kids and he said, "me too." We spent the rest of the conversation talking about what he wanted to do for his career.

So that's it for today. Tonight for FHE we're going to start with the kids. Hopefully I can get more out of them than toys or the trampoline.

BOOOOO!!!

(This was the whole family after a fun night of "trunk or treating," eating too much candy, and staying up past our bed time. It may look like Clara was the only one having a hard time, but Tony and I are pretty good at hiding it!)

Wow! It seems like we just had Halloween and I was dressing Clara up in a cute little ice cream cone. But although I can hardly believe it another year has gone by and all 4 kids are growing so fast I can hardly stand it.

This year with Halloween being on a Sunday, our ward did a Fall Festival Friday night. We had a chili/dessert cook off, games, and truck or treating. The kids all had a blast and even though they only went to a handful of "trunks" they got a ton of candy! The weather even cooperated and it wasn't a gazillion degrees out this year. It almost felt like fall!

The story of our costumes was, as always, an adventure. William wanted to be something spooky and decided on a vampire pretty quickly (no Twilight jokes!). Gracie said she wanted to be a mummy (although I'm still not sure she knows exactly what a mummy is). So I bought a white sheet. Before I ripped it into strips I asked her several times if she really wanted to be a mummy. After several yes replies I tore up the sheet and tried it on. She looked pretty good and was excited about getting her face painted white. Two days later she decided she would be an M&M. Here's a glimpse at my thought process at this point. "Really? An M&M? Fine, I could do that pretty easy. Man, I wish I hadn't already ruined that sheet, I can't even return it now. William, are you sure you don't want to be a mummy instead?" It was at this point that Hallie decided on a ballerina. I told her we'd get the ballerina clothes, I'd do her hair up in a bun, put real makeup on her and even put glitter in her hair. Well, that changed Gracie's mind immediately. I told her over and over that M&M's can have glitter in their hair too, but she wouldn't budge. So now I had to come up with 2 ballerina costumes. Luckily, I have some pretty great friends willing to lend me the leotards and tutu's. Still I lived in fear of Gracie changing her mind again (she'd really hard to reason with!), but fortunately she stuck with ballerina to the very end. And I must say they both turned out adorable!

Hallie the ballerina

Gracie the ballerina

William the vampire

Clara was a spider (although she was also called a cute little penguin and a bee). I bought Clara's costume used when Hallie was 1 year old. Don't you love getting your money's worth!

9 years ago...

I'm not very good at writing (I'll leave that to my better half!) but since today is our 9 year anniversary I just wanted to say Happy Anniversary, honey!

I love the friend you are to me and the father you are to my children. I love that you are worthy to hold the priesthood and you so willingly use it to bless our family. I love that you try your best in everything you do. I love that you've worked so hard for your education and I love that you're almost done! I love knowing that someday it will be just you and me at home and I love looking forward to all the things we can do together.

Thanks for making me smile and laugh and for being willing to do nearly anything to make the kids laugh too.

I can't wait to see what the next 9 years brings us.

I'll love you forever.

Nicole

Vacation anyone?

Last week we returned from a nearly 2 week vacation. Jealous? You should be because we left the sweltering heat of Florida (seriously, when we got back I thought we would literally melt) and spent 12 beautiful days in Salt Lake City. We spent 6 days with my family in Kaysville and 6 days with Tony's family in Newdale. We got to see everyone in our immediate families and then some.

So here's a little recap of our adventures. At Grandma Robinson's house we spent a lot of time outside. They have a beautiful shaded backyard with lots of grass and fruit trees. We had 2 BBQ's outside, one with Tony's aunt Paula and his brother Matt's family, and one with my Grandma and Grandpa Robinson who came all the way from Pima, Arizona a day early so they could see us. Clara had never experienced grass until now (since she's been old enough it's been too hot in Florida for me to go outside!) and it was so cute watching her figure out how to get up without putting her hands in the grass.

We also celebrated Hallie's birthday with my family at Boondocks. We bowled, we mini-golfed, we go-karted, and we laser tagged. Sadly, I thought I had forgotten my camera,only to find it in my purse when we got home. So since I have no pictures to prove it, I'll tell you that I won at all of them!

After 6 quick days with my family we drove up to Newdale, Idaho for a Ricks' family reunion. Tony's brother has a ginormous house out in the boonies of Newdale which he graciously let the whole family use for 3 days. The highlight of the reunion was the trip to Moody Meadows for a little huckleberry picking/picnic. After 3 days out in the boonies some of us left for home while the rest of us returned to Tony's parents house in Newdale (slight less out in the boonies). The next day we drove 2 1/2 hours to Pinedale, WY. They have a giant aquatics center with 2 pools, racquetball courts, and indoor track, basketball courts and a rock climbing wall (which Tony and Hallie both fell in love with). The drive made for a long day, but definitely worth it! We also celebrated Clara's first birthday with a BBQ in Grandma Ricks' backyard. One year! Can you believe it? I can't!

We miss being around our family and truly enjoyed the time we got to spend with everyone. Hopefully next summer we'll be moving a little closer and our visits won't be so far between.

Our family in Grandma Robinson's backyard.

My three brothers are three of the goofies guys you'll ever meet. Obviously, Will fits right in.

One day at Grandma's we visited Temple Square. Yes, there is a tractor right in front of the temple and no, I don't know why.

Picking huckleberries at Moody Meadows. William didn't even bring a can with him to hold his, he put them right into his mouth.

Everyone enjoyed a lovely picnic lunch after a long hour of picking huckleberries.

Then all the kids (Tony included) decided to slide down the side of the mountain. The very first kid to slide down biffed it bad. You can see her parents comforting her at the bottom. Did that stop anyone else? No way (although I wish it had).

Hallie climbed this wall about 4 times and made it to the top each time.

Beach day

Alright, after all the fun we had with the toys (see previous post) we were inspired to take the kids to the beach this Saturday. There was a 50% chance of rain, but we weren't sure when we could do it again so we took our chances and won! It was a little windy and cloudy but the sun did come out and we all had a great time. Even Clara--who doesn't like the big bathtub or the swimming pool--loved the ocean. Just not at first. For the first hour she just wandered around in the sand. But after lunch she slowly ventured down to the water. By the end of the trip she was playing just as hard as the other kids. Here's some pics!

William hard at work building a sand castle.

Hallie and Gracie in the ocean. Hallie LOVES the ocean!

Clara wandering around the beach.

I wish we were awesome enough to have made this "pool", but we aren't. Someone else made it and then left, so we took it over and improved it! As you can see, Clara loves this kind of pool. At one point she was even laying down in it!

Here they are hard at work improving it. They built it up, added decorations, a.k.a. seaweed and sea shells, and Tony even added a mote that allowed more water to flow in when a big wave came up.

You know you have too many toys when...

...you can literally bury your kids in them! Yesterday Gracie was looking for a certain toy and decided to organize her toys so she could find it. So we dumped all the girls toys in a big pile on the floor. I think it's been too long since we've been to the beach because Gracie decided instead of looking for her toy she would bury herself in them. Hallie thought that would be great fun too. I guess we better get to the beach (and get rid of some toys too)!

You may not be able to see her, but Gracie IS under all that junk (uh, I mean toys)!

See?!

Now Gracie is burying Hallie

Can you spot her?

Hallie's arm update

Nearly 7 weeks ago I got the fateful phone call from the school. But today the cast is gone. I think I was more excited about getting it off than she was. Mostly I just wanted to wash her hand. When they put the splint on at urgent care and then the cast, they never washed her hand.

Hallie has been so great through all this. She really has not missed a beat. She never complained about having to eat with her left hand or write with her left hand. She still jumps off the furniture and runs all over the house.

She's such a good girl (except for the jumping off the furniture and running through the house) and I'm so grateful because I know she could have made this whole experience much worse.

So here's a few pictures of the big event today!

This is the guy that put the cast on her. When he did, he had to squeeze her wrist to make it tighter there and that made her cry. But I don't think she even recognized him today. First he used this circular saw type thing to cut through the hard part. Then scissors for the cottony layers.

Hallie holding her cast

William, Gracie (with Hallie's cast on) and Hallie--she still doesn't like to straighten her arm, but we're working on that.

Hooray! It's finally off! (Check out William in the back trying on Hallie's cast too.)

My how time flies

Clara is now 10 1/2 months and believe it or not, she's walking! The kids think she still needs help walking and every time they try to help her they just knock her down. But she just gets right back up again.

Here's a little preview of all her cuteness, but really there is much, much more!

(p.s. I think we could count her first words as "uh-oh". She says it a lot lately, catch it at the end of the video)

Hallie's arm

Well, it's finally happened. I've been waiting for the day the school called me to say one of my kids hurt themselves and I need to come get them right away. It's happened before, but just for a smashed finger or scraped knee. But this time was different.

I had taken cupcakes to Hallie's class for her teacher's birthday. I left about 2:00, came home and put Clara down for a nap when I got the call. So we loaded back up and went back to the school. Hallie was swinging on the monkey bars. She's really good and was even skipping bars when she lost her grip and fell, breaking the fall with her right arm.


So as soon as dad got home we headed to Urgent Care. They did an x-ray and I could see the break right away. The worst part of the whole experience was the shot. I had promised Hallie no shots because she's all up to date on her immunizations and I didn't think they'd give pain medicine in a shot. But they did. She kicked and screamed "you promised!" the whole time. They even had to bring in an extra nurse to hold down her legs while I held her upper body. It completely broke my heart. After all, I had promised her. But the medicine started working quickly and I was soon forgiven. The doctor put a temporary splint on and sent us home.


This morning I took her to an orthopedic doctor and they put on a real cast. She was so brave. They didn't need to set it, but they did make it tight on her wrist which was pretty painful. But now she's home resting. It should only get better from here!

It's so hard to say goodbye...

2 weeks ago we made our last Disney World trip. Last May we went to Disney World with Tony's brother, Matt and his family. We bought seasons passes and only needed to go 1 more time to make it worth the money. But we didn't go just 1 more time. We went 6 more times. It was magical. There is no other word for Disney World. Everything about it is magical.

So the last time we went we made a goal--to come back in 10 years. Then Tony and I talked about how different it will be to be at Disney World with teenagers rather than small children. No strollers, no whining (at least not the crying kind) and no waiting for Tony to go on a ride with William and Hallie while I wait with Gracie and Clara--we can all go together. So even though it's still 9 years, 11 months and 2 weeks away, I can't wait!

So goodbye Disney World, we'll never forget you!

Here's a few highlights.

Something I will soon have a picture of is Will learning how to be a Jedi master. He wanted to fight Darth Vader, but was put in the group to fight Darth Maul. So opted to not fight at all, and after all his training!

Meeting the Princesses. The girls were in heaven.

Eating lunch with our brother-in-law's company at a restaurant in Africa we never would have been to otherwise. We'd never had African food before, but it was great! Thanks, Jeff and Rainbird!

Spending Gracie's 4th birthday at Disney World. She didn't get a party and at the time didn't mind. But ever since February she's been excited about her next birthday (in December) and has been planning her party.

Being at Disney World with our family (Matt and Susie, Becca and Jeff) and even friends (Jared and Angela Durtschi).

Staying up late to watch the light parade and fireworks. The kids barely stayed awake through it and it took us an hour to get from the park exit to our car afterwords. But we were there at Christmas time and the castle was literally dripping with lights. So worth it!

Favorite rides by person:

William

Expedition Everest, Kali River Rapids (Animal Kingdom)

Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain (Magic Kingdom)Lights Motors Action, Toy Story Mania, Rockin' Roller Coaster (Hollywood Studios)

Spaceship Earth aka "The big golf ball" (Epcot)

Hallie

Kali River Rapids (Animal Kingdom)

Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain (Magic Kingdom)

Soarin', Test Track, Spaceship Earth (Epcot)

Toy Story Mania (Hollywood Studios)

Gracie

Boneyard aka "Dinosaur dig" (Animal Kingdom)

Cinderella's Carousel, Big Thunder Mountain, Tea Cups (Magic Kingdom)

Soarin', Spaceship Earth (Epcot)

Tony

Expedition Everest, Kali River Rapids (Animal Kingdom)

Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain (Magic Kingdom)

Test Track, Spaceship Earth, Soarin' (Epcot)

Toy Story Mania, Rockin' Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, Lights Motors Action (Hollywood Studios)

Nicole

Dinosaur, Kali River Rapids, Lion King, Finding Nemo--The Musical (Animal Kingdom)

Mickey's Philharmagic Orchestra, Pirate of the Caribbean, Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor (Magic Kingdom)

Test Track, Mission: Space (Epcot)

Toy Story Mania, Star Tours (Hollywood Studios)

Dad, Hallie, William, Gracie right after seeing Finding Nemo--The Musical.

Mom and kids at Hollywood Studios, not San Fransisco.

Gracie, Snow White, Hallie. She was in character the whole time with the high voice and all.

William, Hallie, Gracie trying to become the next king. You can tell Will is serious about this.

Jackie, Cinderella, Hallie, Gracie. I love the girls hugging in this picture.