Catching Up!

Slowly, but surely I will get caught up with life. Maybe. Anyways, I use this blog as my family's journal so I have been keeping little notes in my head of things I need to hurry and type out before I forget, but since I don't have tons of time on my hands...it will be in segements. I just don't want to forget these things.

Our Family Vacation- We left on September 27th, (Sean's 34th b-day) and headed to Florida. First we hit up Kissimee and then finished out our fun trip in Daytona. We vacationed with our friends, the Faulsticks. We had alot of fun and a few crazy times. It will definitely be a trip that won't be forgotten. Here are a few pictures.

Just wanted to add a couple of memories to our trip before they are lost from my mind.

We were able to visit Universal Studios for one day. The kids had a lot of fun and I had just as much fun watching them enjoy themselves. Well, at Universal there is a Jaws ride. There is a HUGE fake shark hanging up before the ride and I told the kids (yes, I am a cruel mother.) that it was the daddy shark that they caught and the mommy shark is in the water where we will be riding our boat and she is mad and hungry. Well fear hit the kids. Tyler who is Sharkboy! This kids loves sharks! He actually wants to be a professional scuba diver when he grows up, but he was scared. He looks at me and asked if I was kidding. I told him no. We had to wait in line for about 20 minutes (give or take a few), but that was not enough time for Tyler. He was almost in tears. He kept asking if I was kidding. I told him he better say some prayers that the shark won't get us. It was so cute because he really started quietly saying his prayers. It was an intense boat ride, but finally our tour guide was able to kill Jaws. Tyler looked at me and said, "that was fake." I just laughed!

We also went into a little studio type place to kind of experience a tornado. It was from Twister, the movie. It was okay, but to Emily it was way to realastic. Emily is standing right next to me with tears in her eyes. I kneel down to her and explain that this is fake. I then ask her, "Do you really think Mommy and Daddy would take you to a place that you could get hurt?" She just smiled.

While in Daytona we were able to go the Ponce de Leon Lighthouse. It was really neat to see the homes of the lighthouse keepers. We were able to actually walk all the way up to the top of the lighthouse. Sean took Tyler and Isabelle up. I stayed behind with Emily and Ethan. I am afraid of heights and I didn't think I could do it nor did I really want to. But Emily started crying because she so scared to walk up. I told her that I am scared too, but if she would go I would go. Well, she was only able to make it up to the 10th step and then she freaks out. We said a little prayer, but still she couldn't budge anymore. We decided that the next time we come back here she would go up. She was still sad, but there was nothing else for us to try. I did actually go up alone! I said a couple of prayers too that I wouldn't get sick or freak out! The view from the top was so amazing and definitely worth facing one of my fears.

Our last day in Daytona we went on a Manatee Cruise. We weren't able to see any manatees, but were able to see lots of dophins jumping out of the water. It was so beautiful! Early in the trip Emily hadn't seen any. The dolphins were way to fast for her to spot them. She was so sad! I told her that we should say a prayer and she wanted me to say it. It was a miracle for her and I that she was able to see lots! What a testimony builder to me that no matter how small we are or how small or insignifcant we feel our prayers are Heavenly Father does answer them.