Some more cruise photos for you're viewing pleasure

Shark attack in Cozumel!
So Cute!!!

Daddy, Minnie & Kylie

Reagan is ready for the drill but looks a little concerned this may be for real! Those life boats aren't as nice and NO CHARACTERS...OH NO!

Kylie will brave the seas!

More photos

Reagan & Daddy finishing dinner after Mommy had to take sissy who was literally falling asleep at the table back to the room. I'll post those photos of exhausted Kylie later, they're hilarious! Princess Minnie and us.

Kylie in one of her favorite places onboard, the Mickey pool!

Reagan in the Mickey pool. This is actually on of his ears (the pool is actually 3 pools designed as Mickeys face with a slide that Kylie loved!).

Belle & the girls.

Cruise photos

Here are a few random pictures mostly from dinners.

We're Back!

Well after 7 wonderful nights aboard the Disney Magic visiting Castaway Cay (Disney's private Bahemian island) twice, Cozumel and Key West we're back to reality. The trip was sooo nice! Just being together as a family with absolutely no distractions was nice. Since I did no work the whole week I now have alot of catching up to do and also since we took 250 pictures I'll need some time to go through them before posting. Don't worry though as soon as I can get some up I will. I'll probably just post a few each day with a little more info on our trip. I'd again have to say though the best part was just having everything taken care of for us and no phone, work, calling nothing to do but be a family and have fun. The girls of course loved all the characters and Halloween on board the ship was fun. It's amazing when you don't have to prepare a meal or go to any meeting/appointment or even the store or anywhere how much time there really is in the day and how much fun our little family is. The girls behaved very well and everyone got along great! The best port I think we all agree was Cozumel as we rented a Jeep Wrangler for the day and drove around exploring the island. I loved being back in Mexico using my Spanish and just being with the wonderful people there. The girls also really enjoyed the stingray encounter on Disney's island thanks to our great friend John. We got into a lagoon fed the rays as they swam around us then snorkled around the lagoon watching the rays. Well I got a million thins to do but will post pictures asap.

The tradition continues

Another beautiful girl to be expected the middle of March. Maybe on Chris's 30th Birthday! Don't ask about names yet, we'll let you know when we know, way later :0) Thanks for all of your votes, prayers, and comments. We love ya! I didn't get any pics. with Chris in there today at the parade, he was distracting me when he went by super fast. Reagan couldn't keep up and Kylie didn't wear her socks so her shoes were hurting her. Sooo, they rode in the convertible with the HC princesses. I don't blame them, I like convertibles too! Love ya again. Oh, just a pic. from a bday party Kylie went to for the boy who likes her in her class. She likes him too, as friends though!!!! (I hope :)

~A~

The big day

OK so this afternoon we are going in for a sonogram where they hopefully will be able to tell us the sex of the baby. Most of you voted boy so we'll see if you were right. I'll try to post the results tonight but if not definitely by tomorrow. After the sonogram we have the homecoming parade in which Kylie will be walking with me and my Teenage Republican students in her cheer outfit then the Freshman & JV football games so it's a busy afternoon/evening!

New feature

Ok so some of you have had this forever but I just finally added a playlist of some of our favorite songs (including the girls disney ones) and clean comedy routines. The list is huge but I figured I selected the random play so everytime you come back you should hear different songs and I'll occasionally update it as well. I also thought it is something that you can leave our blog minimized while you're working on other stuff and just here some good tunes and funny stuff. Enjoy!!!

More photos

Photos of the girls playing in the rain/mud in between Sundays sessions of conference

Free handbags!

Here's a website Desi had on her blog where you can win free handbags. Check out this link...
http://www.handbagplanet.com/

This crazy world!

On Sunday I got a call from my Mom saying Tims' son Timmy had been killed apparently shot during a robbery attempt. Our condolences go out to our sweet Papa Tim and the rest of his family. It is so sad anytime somebody loses a child and especially to senseless violence. The ironic thing is Tim is probably the most gentle sweet man I know. I honestly don't know if he's ever even smashed a bug and those of you who know him know what I mean. This world is just spinning faster and faster out of control and it seems everytime I watch the news Orlando is just getting more and more violent. Yet another reason I love living out in Harmony! I also recently got my concealed weapons permit and would recommend that anyone living in Orlando do the same. Take the class, buy a gun (if you don't already own one) and familiarize yourself with it. Once you are comfortable with it, carry it for not only your safety, but your loved ones around you. I honestly would not go into Orlando now without it! Well that's my little push for personal protection. Again our thoughts and prayers go out to Tim and his family. We love you Papa Tim and we'll see you tomorrow night.

This past week...

Well over the weekend we went and visited the grandparents, so we could go to the temple and watch conference which was nice. The girls sooo love their Papa and watching them crawl up into the recliner with him it's just precious. Conference was great and it was honestly the first time in quite a while that I stayed awake and actually heard all the talks! If I had to pick just one favorite it would have to be the talk on grattitude that I believe Elder Bednar gave on Saturday. I also of course with my new calling enjoyed the many talks on missionary work but really felt that spirit during the grattitude talk. With times getting so tough I think it's especially important that we count our many blessings. Our family is so richly blessed and one of our greatest blessings is the love in our lives from you guys, are amazing friends and family. I will post a link to this talk once it is available but one of the things he talked about I think all should do is offering up a prayer of grattitude. I have done this several times and it always fills me with grattitude, cheers me up and brings the spirit. You can feel Heavenly Fathers love when you simply ask for nothing and just take time to thank him for all he's done for you. He also mentioned a scripture which Pres. Monson also later quoted about his anger being kindled against those who do not recognize his hand in all things. Well in between sessions we had lunch with Grandma Judy, Papa Tim and Norks which was nice. We also got to see all the work Kyle & Norks have done to their house and even got to see uncle Kyle briefly. The house looks great and the girls just love their uncles! They do such a great job with the girls, especially Jared. We also took the girls to the park and just enjoyed the gorgeous weather on Saturday. It was nice to be back at my Dads house for the first time in a while and all the work looks great. Our Orlando daycare is back in business and nicer than ever!!! Well we went home for the Sunday sessions and just watched them online (nowhere near as nice as Papas' big screen tv!). The girls went out to play in the rain in between sessions and found some mud. I'll have to have Amber post the pictures soon. Finally the elders came over for dinner and then took the girls to see and feed a monkey (orangatan?) on our way to take them home. Aparantly these people own a circus and keep this monkey on their personal property not far from our neighborhood and have given the Elders permission to feed it whenever! The girls were a little timid at first but in the end wanted to go back and see the monkey again. Well other than our date night where Amber took me out for Thai food, which I love and she doesn't care for (so sweet), and we went and saw the movie Eagle Eye that's our week in a nut shell. Eagle eye was good and we would recommend it. Everything else continues on same as usual. Until next time...Remember we love ya!

How did I ever do it???

I don't know how I was able to stay sane and teach middle school for 2 years. I am working in an after school program at my old school once a week and the kids are driving me nuts! I'm so used to my High school students now that the maturity level, lack of listening skill, etc of the middle schoolers is making me pull my hair out. I could never go back now. The high school kids are just much more mature and focused, I love it!

More photos from this weekend

Moments/These are the days/You're gonna miss this

And whatever other song you can think of that talks about the memories we make and special little moments we have being with our children. That is what this weekend was all about as we had alot of fun playing together. This weekend was long but fun (That's what she said [just a little somthing for all you fellow office fans!]). For those of you who don't share the love for our favorite show, just disregard that last comment as you won't get it. We went to the HHS (Harmony High School, where I work) football game Friday night. It was the first home game of the year and unfortunately they just got worked! I didn't get to see much though, as I was manning a table with my Teenage Republicans club seeking donations and helping people get registered to vote or update their registration. For those of you who need to do that, get it done ASAP I know our deadline is 10/6 which is this week!!! Anyways on Saturday we went to the Magic Kingdom in the morning for a special annual pass holders premier of the new Tinkerbell movie. It was really nice as we were given treats, little tinkerbell toys and even got to have a meet and greet after the movie with the director, producer, writer & of course the fairies!!! The girls enjoyed it and Kylie even won a prize during Tinkerbell trivia. She was given a nice tinkerbell card making kit. She was so excited about the prize that she just couldn't wait to use it. We went over to Epcot in the afternoon to walk around the world and meet the princesses. This was really nice as we got to spend time with Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), Belle, Aladin, Jasmine, Genie, Snow White, Dopey and of course Mulan! Mulan was the whole reason for the trip over to Epcot as Reagan is officially obsessed with that movie. Mulan was awesome, as we were the only ones there waiting (we're such geeks!) for her when she arrived, she spent probably 5 minutes with just Kylie and Reagan. The girls just ate it up! She walked with them holding hands, took the usual photos and gave them her autograph but she also sat down on the bench where I was hanging out and just visited with the girls. She also gave Reagan a big kiss which left a mark on Reagans cheek, soooo cute! I had a chance to go to the UF Ole Miss game, but I'm so glad I kept my promise to the girls, as these moments are the ones we'll all cherish. They were just so happy and I would've missed out on all the Smiles, laughter and excitement as well as cheers! Reagan so loves the cheers Kylie does that she is constantly reciting them and all day as we went around the park and even as we ate lunch in the restaurant she was just cheering at the top of her lungs which everyone got a kick out of! Kylie just giggles and giggles when Reagan goes into cheerleading mode (as long as Reagan isn't yelling/cheering in her ear which she does on occasion). It is just so precious! I don't think we'll be able to afford to do the Disney passes again next year but what a great purchase they were for us this year. We have become total Disney geeks, as we constantly are spending our family time in one of the parks, but they are just so fun. Well afterwards we had a surprise 30th bday party to attend for a friend who lives near us. Kylie was so excited to use her new card making kit she won and made our friends bday card! After the party Amber & I went out with our wonderful friends the Hulings, who we hadn't seen in forever. We had a good time down at the comedy warehouse on Pleasure Island. It was the last night as Disney is closing all the clubs on PI and we had never been but heard good things. We were able to see 2 funny shows and had a blast laughing at some of the crazy drunk people wondering from the other clubs. Well this post has gotten very long so I'll wrap up in just a sec. I have figured recently that this would be my journal as we've been counseled to write regularly in a journal and I suck at doing it. So occasionally I may have these long posts but I want to be sure to preserve all these special little moments. Finally today after church and naps Kylie and I painted her new little birdhouse which was alot of fun as well. Reagan is glued to the TV watching Beauty & the Beast and Amber is at her stake youth meetings so this daddy daughter time was nice. I'll try to get as many of this weekends photos posted as possible so you can all enjoy these moments as well. We are so blessed to have such sweet little girls and I know that "These are the days to remember" and intend on making the most of every "moment". I also don't need the song to tell me I'm "gonna miss this" as I can't help but think of how sad it'll be when they get to that age when it's no longer cool to spend the entire weekend just hanging out with Mom & Dad. I hope I haven't put you all to sleep and want you to know we love and miss you all!

PS Amber heard the babies heart beat this week and we'll go together next month right before our cruise to see if they can determine the sex! As soon as we know we'll pass it along

High School is a whole different world!

Don't get me wrong I love it and don't think I could go back now to middle school. The kids are so much more mature, focused & well behaved. It seems to be alot more work though. For example I was there until 7:30 tonight and still am not completely caught up! Oh well, at least I'm truly enjoying it alot more. The teachers are also great and I have a wonderful department as well. They are begging me to coach the JV basketball team but I am sticking to refing. I can set my own schedule, work less hours, have less hastle and actually make more money! Another thing I'm doing this year is I started a TARS (TeenAge Republicans) club on campus which is fun. The principal and the school as a whole seems to be very excited about it. We are actually doing a big push this Friday night at our first home football game as well as next week during lunches to get those eligible voters registered for the November election before next weeks deadline. We're also going to organize a debate and mock election for the entire student body. I'll keep you up to date on how those activities go. Finally as this blog is concerned I know many of you maintain blogs of your own so please send me the addresses so we can follow them and post the links here for everyone. Well I hope you all have a great weekend! We're off to Disney (again, man we love those passes!) to see a special sneek preview of the new tinker bell movie and so Reagan can meet Mulan. She has developed a recent obsession with Mulan so this will be a big day for her! We'll take photos and be sure to post them next week. I'll also try and post some more cheerleading photos tonight.

Our Little Cheerleaders!

Lucky me, I'm team mom. One of the many perks of staying home with the girls this year. Kylie finally was getting into it last night. She's the youngest one on the team and yes, one of most uncoordinated! Still so cute. They both are. Reagan is our unofficial mascot. She gets a kick out of watching any age cheerleaders. Go Longhorns!

Love ya'll!

And the new calling is......

Ward mission leader. Which is actually exciting because I had a feeling since the bishop first told me he would be making changes that 's what it would be. The spirit was whispering to me all week new ideas and things that could be done in the ward with respect to missionary work. It was cool when the bishop told me because this is the first time I've ever really had such a strong feeling that I would be called to a certain position. The bishop is also very excited to be working closely with me and really wants to get the work going. I think we actually have been doing pretty well as we have had lots of baptisms over the past 2 & a half years we've been here but there is always room for improvement. I look forward to serving with the Elders as some of the sweetest spiritual experiences come through misionary work. Well Kylie has a game tonight so I'll try to get some pictures taken to post over the weekend. Finally all of you who are in my address book should have received an email from me last night about Obama. I don't normally get involved in political emails and I know it can be a touchy subject for many so I apalogize if I offended anyone but it was so shocking to me and I truly felt it had to be shared. I have heard of partial birth abortions (which I personally don't agree with) but this was way worse! On a happier note we love you all and hope you have a great weekend!!!

No news is good news...I guess

Well as I was just reading the new posts to Des & Nates blog I decided to check ours out and see what my dear wife had done in the last couple of weeks...nothing! Well I guess no news is good news as everything in our world continues as usual. To Ambers defense she has not been feeling well lately as this pregnancy is giving her a little bit of a run for her money. Nothing serious, just the usual occasional nausea and lack of energy but for her it is strange as the first 2 pregnancies were so easy. It's a little strange for me as well trying to adjust to a tired wife versus the constantly energetic go getter Amber we're all used to. Well anyways the news for us has been callings. Amber was just called into the Stake YW presidency!!! She's finally graduated from primary, yeah! I have been told by our bishop to expect a new calling as I have been "pigeon holed" into YM now for too long. He actually said I hid many skills and attributes that would be very useful in other areas, wow! So we are expecting a call to be the ward mission leader as ours was just called to be the new Elders Quorum president. We'll let you know what happens there. The girls are doing great! Kylie still loves school and Reagan loves getting daily mommy time just for her. They also love cheer leading!!! Kylie has started cheering for our pop warner flag team and Reagan has memorized the cheers and does them now all the time. As a matter of fact I was helping out in nursery yesterday and a relief society sister game in to do a cheer about Enrichment night for the nursery sisters and Reagan all of a sudden stopped playing and sat down real still just devoting all her attention to this "cheer leader". Then once she was done Reagan began doing her cheers!!! It is so cute! Every week at Kylies game Reagan wants so bad to be out there with the team. Well I guess that is it. Sorry no pictures this time but our camera is broken :{ we need to get it fixed or replaced as soon as we have the funds. Hopefully tonight I can download some stuff from the video camera so we'll at least have memory there to take still shots. For those of you who are aware of my parents problems with the house things are looking up and they expect to be back home within a week!!!

Finally!

Thanks to the help of my husband and my blog savvy Sis-in-law, and the fact that I don't have to teach school this year and have a little more time on my hands (YEAH!) I can update our blog a little more frequently! So, You're welcome :0)

This summer was fun. It was nice having Chris home for like 6 weeks, but our pockets are sure feeling it :0) We went to VA to visit my dad and other family members of mine and some friends. The girls sure did like having a pool right in the back yard! Also, Aunt Stacy was a ton of fun. Did I mention I out shot Chris when we went with my dad!

Then we went to Tennessee. Chris has been trying to get me there since I met him 10 years ago. Yep! Ten years. Only married seven though and still happy! We went to Dollywood and rode some pretty cool roller coaster and silly kiddy rides. Then to a water park, which they said Kylie was too short for any rides. Bummer! Also, horseback riding and tubing, which were my favorites. We just had a lot of fun being a family, and I loved not having to clean house.

Kylie started Pre-K this year and is loving it. She says she doesn't want to go to school at night sometimes, but that's just because she doesn't want to go to bed. She's not fooling me :0) Chris started teaching Spanish I & II at the High School across the street. Go Longhorns! He's really happy there. The ninth graders don't get on his nerves Nearly as much as the sixth graders did. Plus, he's a lot closer to home. Reagan has enjoyed being with me one on one for a little bit each day, though she wouldn't mind going to school either with her big sister every once in a while. I love getting to be with Reagan too.

Well, we're all doing well and I'm going to post some Pics. Next I'll put Kylie's cheerleader pics on. She had her first game tonight and what so cute. They all were! Next year we might try swimming. She's so good at it.