Destin, Florida....AGAIN!!

Our first year to Florida in 2011 was so perfectly amazing that we just couldn't NOT go again!  Who can compete with clean, white, sugar sand...

crystal clear, warm water...

bright, blue skies and sunshine in November...

and a resort on the beach that we fell in love with the first time around?   

The kids get a week off for Thanksgiving so we packed up early Monday morning and drove the 12 hours straight to the condo.  The weather was perfect and we were all ready to play... except for Ryan Jane.  She was not feeling well at all.  

She spent the first night throwing up and was just miserable.  Don and I tag-teamed helping her all night.  In the morning we discovered that each time I got up, I just had to rinse out her bowl, but for Don it was cleaning bedding and/or carpet.  I guess I kept forgetting to give her bowl back and Don paid the price!  Oops.  The next day was spent sleeping and recovering.  We all felt so bad for her!  At least she got to rest and nap in pretty amazing surroundings.  

Heading to FL in late November, you really never know what kind of weather you're going to get.  We totally lucked out again and had the most amazing weather!   We spent our days as a family walking, swimming, digging, playing, relaxing, and being together.  It was heaven. 

It's sad to see these pictures with Ryan missing.  She was just out of it for the first 2 days.  

One of our favorite things to do is to take looooong walks on the beach.  It is so relaxing.  So beautiful and peaceful.  We really miss the beach so we spent every waking hour enjoying it.  

Don took the kids out to teach them to body surf.  

The waves were small, but perfect for the kids.  They had a blast!

Ethan stayed close to the shore, but practically lived in the water.  

I love this picture of Don and Ethan out in the water.  

Lunchtime back in the condo.  It was amazing living right on the beach for a week.  

By the end of Day 2, Ryan was feeling so much better and we were all so glad!

Ok, we have found the secret to finding amazing shells at the beach.  We spend hours and hours walking on the beach and hardly find anything to scream about.  But, Don discovered that if you stand in the shallow water, you can see beautiful, big shells just roll around in the waves!  So the kids went to work and found some really cool shells.  It definitely helped that the water was so clear.  During their hunt for shells, Gillian came upon something a bit more exciting and a little scary!  She spotted a huge crab and the kids were determined to catch it.  

Look at that thing!  It's nasty and huge.  

Ginger wanted all the glory.  Ok, not really.  I made her hold it and pose for a picture.  She was a good sport.  

Ethan, too.  :)

Love my little beach kids!!

You can tell Ryan was just getting over being sick, huh?  Poor girlie.  

A sweet lady on the beach snapped a family picture for us.  Maybe this will be our Christmas picture.  NOT!!

Happy Birthday to me.

I am beginning to see the problem with blogging 5 months after things happen.  I can't remember anything!!  All I know is that my birthday was wonderful because my husband and children spoiled me as usual.  And Don kept saying, "You're almost 40"... even though I was just turning 36!  

I love my goofy family.  

Dallas Zoo/Ethan's 1st Grade Field Trip

One of the benefits of having your youngest child in 1st grade is that you actually get to volunteer to go on Field Trips!  I missed that with my older children and I know they do too.  Although getting on the bus with 80+ first graders didn't make me feel so bad about missing the years before! :)  I was assigned to this little group of four and they were darling!   

Ethan loved all the animals!  Can you see the baby gorilla in it's mothers arms?  So sweet!

Ethan even got to ride his very own baby elephant! :)

This cheetah came right up to Ethan, sat down and just stared at him.  Ethan thought it was pretty cool!

One of the highlights for Ethan was getting to touch and hold this huge snake.  No thanks. 

So many amazing, colorful fish to see.

Ethan loved the hands on stuff.  He was in animal heaven. 

Is this not the cutest picture ever?!  I was dying when I saw them.   Lovebird owls!  

It was a really fun, special day for me to spend with Ethan.  It made me sad to think that there aren't going to be many days like this anymore!  

Halloween 2011

Ginger--Princess

Gillian--Barbi Doll

Davis--Hobo

Ethan--Harry Potter

Expelliarmus!!

Ryan Jane-- Punk Girl 

(yes, this costume has been used 3 years in a row)

Gillian in 2010 and Ginger in 2009--It is obvious that the older girls had the "attitude" down.  

                                                               The whole crew

Our church holds a big party every year called a Trunk or Treat where the parking lot fills with cars and the kids go trick or treating to each car.  It is a really fun, safe way to get lots of candy!

I love this picture of the Barbie girls eating their cotton candy.  

Pretty Princess girls, Hannah and Ginger

Don and I didn't dress up for the Trunk or Treat, but we had a party at our friends house that was mandatory dress-up, or I'm sure Don wouldn't have agreed to be in costume.  One night at the dinner table we asked the kids what we should be for Halloween.  The kids threw out many responses, but "Soul Surfer" was the one we got excited about.   It's a movie about a girl who is a great surfer and one day her arm is bitten off by a shark.  Within months of the accident she gets back out in the water and continues to be a great surfer.   She is so inspiring!  It was a fun costume. 

We ended up winning for Best Costume at our party.  And it sure was uncomfortable keeping by arm bent inside my shirt like that!!

Our Traditional Pumpkin Carving Contest

Each year before Halloween, we gather as a family and carve our pumpkins.  For several years now, it has become the 'battle of the sexes'.  Boys vs. Girls.  

The girls LOVE cleaning out the pumpkin guts.  I happily let them take that slimy job. 

The boys were very secretive with their pumpkin, as they are every year, but we were quite curious once they got out the hammer and screwdrivers...

I cheated a little this year.  I went to the internet and used a cheat sheet.  I never do that.  But it sure made it a little easier.  

I think they both turned out really cool!  And we sure had fun in the process.  

The girls GHOST...

The boys PAC-MAN...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Weekend Getaway to Seattle!

When Don heard the news that his buddy from his mission was getting married, we were so excited!  Not just for him (because he was finally getting married), but because that meant we got to take a trip to Seattle!!  Most of Don's family is in Seattle so we booked our flights and made our plans for a nice little weekend getaway...just the two of us!!  

We didn't know anyone at the wedding, except for the groom, but we met so many great people and had a lot of fun visiting at the Rehearsal Dinner and at the wedding.  It made us so happy to see our friend, Joe so happy.  

In between the rehearsal dinner and wedding we packed in the fun with Don's family.  With Don's family it is always a party.  We were sad not to have our kids with us, but it sure made it nice for lots and lots of adult time!  We all hung out each night...well past midnight, of course.   My old basketball group switched their day to play to Friday so that I could play!  It was so great to see everyone and play ball with them.  I have such fond memories of playing basketball in Port Orchard and have made some very dear friends from that little group.  It was a blast.   Don and I were sure to visit our great friends who had just recently moved to Gig Harbor and it was awesome to see them and their new house.  We love the Bills!  Sunday was a wonderful day because we got to attend our old ward where Don had served as the Bishop.  What a treat it was to see everyone and catch up and just  reminisce in the sweetness of our time there.  We lingered loooong after church was over running into everyone from the Manchester Ward where we had so many great friends as well.  It was a wonderful day.  

Four of Don's six siblings live in Port Orchard which made for a great little reunion.  We were sure missing Don's parents who are currently serving a mission in Ohio, but since Chuck and Kelly live in their home we gathered for a family picture with all of Mom's decor to send to them.  :)

A few of my awesome and beautiful sisters-in-law(below).  They are the best!!

Our trip came to an end much too soon.  It was so short but we really had the best time and did so much!  We stayed up way too late on our last night and ended up getting only 4 hours of sleep, then slept through our alarm... so we had to spend the day of traveling with no showers.  Yuck.   It was great to get home to the kids... and warm, sunny Texas, too.  :)

Poor Girlie

Ryan thought it was a great idea to jump on Ethan's old tricycle and go flying down the driveway.  Well, she thought it was a good idea until she crashed and burned!  She came into the house screaming like I had never heard her scream.  I came running to her... only to see the entire top of her foot completely skinned right off.  It was flaming red but not much blood, just no skin!  Yikes!!  So, I did my best to wash it with soap and water in the bath tub and put Neosporin on it and a band-aid.  

Well, days went by and it just wasn't healing, not to mention she was not even walking on it, just hopping around everywhere.  It was still so wet and oozing and when I decided to take a closer look at it I noticed that her foot was very swollen and red and just did not look good.  I knew I had better do something quick as Don and I were leaving for Seattle the next day!   It was evening so we took her to Acute Kids emergency care.  They did x-rays to make sure nothing was broken, and thankfully nothing was.  It was just badly infected.  She had Cellulitis, a skin infection.  Awesome.  So, the doctor prescribed antibiotics and a cream to get things cleared up.  And they put her on crutches, which Ryan was absolutely thrilled about.  They wrapped her all up in a cute pick bandage and we were on our way!

She loved going to school the next day with a foot wrap and crutches.  And thankfully, it began healing and looked so much better by the time we got back from our trip.  I am pretty sure it will be a nasty scar forever though.  Bummer.