A Short Solo and a Small Part

This is Emma's 2nd year in the local Youth Honor's Choir. Their spring concert is coming up and her group had 3 short solo parts available. About 12-15 students auditioned for the 3 parts, and Emma was chosen for one of them. She was chosen for the one she really wanted too, which is the opening lines to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." It's a very short solo, but she was excited and we are excited for her!

She also auditioned for a role in a local production of Jungle Book and she was cast for a small part. She will be a wolf. A rapping wolf to be exact. Perhaps it's because she was able to see Toby Mac at Winter Jam. And she was able to meet Toby Mac. And shake his hand. And get his autograph. Yep, I'm sure that qualifies her to be a rapping wolf. :)

Looks like the next several weeks will be filled with singing, rapping, and even some howling--should be fun!!

15 Years!!

Today is not only pie day, but it's our anniversary--15 years! We had such a great day 15 years ago!

Some of our favorite memories from that day are:

Our 5 year old flower girl that danced the night away until she literally dropped!

She was carried out of the reception sound asleep in her Daddy's arms.

Anbesol on my toasting glass thanks to my prankster cousins.

Family members gathering to pray over us and our marriage.

Our friend that suffered a hamstring injury displaying his moves on the dance floor.

If you were there thank you for making that day so memorable for us!

Last night we sat down and came up with our 15 favorite times since that day......we had a lot to choose from! But here's what we came up with:

1. The days we first held each one of our three children. 
2. Our honeymoon in Hawaii--swollen ankles on the flight over, sunrise over Haleakala, a luau, walks on the beach, and our first argument....didn't take long...:)
3. NYC for our 10th anniversary--a whirlwind trip, I was very pregnant with Aiden, but we saw the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island, Wicked on Broadway and the Tigers win at Old Yankee Stadium!
4. Jars of Clay/Third Day/Michael W. Smith concert--we won tickets and had a great night worshiping at an outdoor concert on a gorgeous Michigan summer night.
5. Bike rides on the rail trail--especially in the fall when the leaves are crunchy and the smell of fall is in the air.
6. Smoky Mtns with my extended family--BEST family vacation ever! 
7. Our first apartment--we were in the same complex as some of our best friends and we had several dinner/game nights together--we were so free back then!
8. Niagara Falls/Toronto--Tigers vs Blue Jays
9. San Francisco--Alcatraz, Picnic in the Redwoods, 1st anniversary dinner on the Pier.
10. Phoenix/Grand Canyon w/ Ryan's family--Started w/ an ear infection for a baby, then allergic reaction to antibiotic, missing a connecting flight resulted in our party of 5 adults/2kids spending a night in 1 room...ugh! Still turned out to be a great family vacation!
11. Tigers vs. Cardinals at Comerica Park with friends--the ones that lived in the same apartment complex w/ us--we had little kids, Tigers won, but still a great weekend!
12. Cincinnati--Reds game, Creation Museum with my sister, her husband and his family. 
13.  Mackinack Island--kids loved biking around the island--very special for us to spend time with our kids at the place where years earlier Ryan and I first talked about marriage :)
14. Disneyworld/Florida vacation
15. Our quiet morning breakfast dates, "Fox News," "24" or "Alias" dates (watching our favorite shows after we tuck the kids in) and other special dates we have had since little ones arrived  in our lives!

Looking back we have been very blessed by the people in our lives. We treasure the time we have spent with each other, our children, and our extended family over the past 15 years. We are looking forward to making many more memories in the years to come! Now, we are off to celebrate with a piece of pie....or maybe cheesecake :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

What a happy day!
We baked pumpkin pies and started our chocolate dessert for tomorrow.

Tonight we watched Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and ate pumpkin pie!

After the movie we went through our thankful box and here's what we found:

food

my darling

for taking my girls hunting

for eyeballs, because then you can see

to have been able to help the girls with 100 shoeboxes

to be born in America

for everything God has given us

soap, because it gets the germs out

my bed

a gun

my hermit crab

the smiles and joy that all 3 children bring into our home

Daddy's job

family

my boopoo

popcorn

kiwi fruit

going hunting with daddy

for a husband that loves me and loves Jesus even more

my beautiful wife that is patient with me and is a blessing to me

for my little partner that takes care of the princess and the darlings while I'm gone

for mom letting us eat pumpkin pie early

Happy Thanksgiving!! Have a wonderful day celebrating with the ones you love!

Vacation Top 10

It's officially Thanksgiving week!

To start it off we made a list of the Top 10 things we are thankful for from our vacation.

1. Being able to spend time together making memories with our family.
Not just us, but our extended family too!! What a treat!

2. For Mike and Ang and their family for generously sharing their timeshare points!
Thanks for providing us with a beautiful place to stay!

3. Mike and Ang...again! They also did a timeshare sales pitch so we could buy Disney tickets at a discounted price AND get a free day at the waterpark!
Thank you!!

4. Breakfast on the balcony in the beautiful Florida sunshine!
The Lord gave us beautiful weather our entire time there!

5. Bonfires on the beach! And Smore's!

6. Storytime with a cousin!

7. Scavenger Hunt--2nd place finishers!

8. Movies on the big screen. Poolside. No jacket needed :)

9. Spending time with these two cuties!

10.  Family meals.
This vacation was our early Thanksgiving and Christmas celebration with my family.
Since we won't be eating with them this Thanksgiving like we usually do, this outside dinner in Florida is what I consider our Thanksgiving dinner!
No turkey, no stuffing or mashed potatoes, but we were all together!
And very, very thankful!!
Although Aiden looks grumpy.

 

Highlights from Magic Kingdom

Main Street, USA

Fun fall decorations!

Fantasy Land

A trip to Disneyworld isn't complete without a ride on It's a Small World!

Aiden really liked this ride, so we did it a few times!

This one makes me laugh!

 

Peter Pan was another one of his favorites....mine too!

As soon as we got off Peter Pan he said, "Let's do that one again!"

Teacups!

Who knew Dumbo could be so scary?

Seriously, she is afraid of Dumbo and this is as close to the ride as she came.

Tom Sawyer's Island

One of Aiden's favorite spots!

He was able to shoot guns in the fort,

and walk over the barrel bridge.

Nanny rocked the barrel bridge too!

So did the girls!

Taking time for a game of checkers!

Taking a break and sharing some love!

Just after Tom Sawyer Island we did Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain.

All 3 kids wanted to ride them!

Aiden rode with me, and he was hilarious!

He knew there was a huge hill coming in Splash Mountain, and he kept asking, "Is this the big hill?"

Once we actually were at the big hill and I told him this was it he said, "HOLD ON TIGHT TO ME MOM!" and he scooted as close to me as he could get!

Once we were done he said, "I think I'll ride that one with Dad. He can hold onto me tighter than you can."

Jungle Cruise!

We also did the show in the Tiki Room.

It was the perfect time for Ryan to catch a cat nap!

An older gentleman smiled at me and chuckled when he saw Ryan "resting his eyes" during the show!

Tomorrow Land

Roz at the Monsters Inc show!

Aiden has been saying his favorite line from the show in his best Roz voice ever since!

"I'm watching, ALWAYS watching, Wazowski!"

We also did Space Mountain because one of our children really wanted to do it.

This would not be the same child that was afraid of Dumbo!

Somehow Uncle Mike and I were elected to be the grown ups to go along.

Well, actually, I offered to go.

I forgot that the last time I rode it I told myself that would be the last time.

I quickly remembered, but it was too late!

We all survived Space Mountain, even the one who is afraid of Dumbo!

One of our children really wanted to do it again.

No one offered to go.

Aiden really liked the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin.
So did Uncle Mike. I think he made Star Cadet!
You can barely see Aiden's hand in the picture!

Disney's Electrical Parade

What a great way to end the day at Magic Kingdom!

Some of us ended our day before the parade even began!

Cinderella's Castle

Everyone wants a picture in front of Cinderella's Castle.

For some reason this was not an easy task for our family.

We made many attempts at great castle shots....here are some of them.

Mom with her grandkids, the 2 youngest aren't looking at the camera.

Sisters!

Emma tried to smile, but you can tell she's thinking about all the people around her.

Tried again, but Aiden was too busy checking out the map.

Not a bad photo, but we're missing some of our group!

Little blurry and dark, but love the view of the castle from here.

Emma took this one for me.

Me and my Prince Charming.

Not bad, but the castle looks crooked.

We did a second take, and it was still crooked.

Emma said, "The castle must be crooked."

Me and my little Prince Charming.

He agreed to take this picture with me if I would do another pose for him.

Wouldn't you know the castle wasn't crooked for his pose?

Princesses and Mickey Mouse at Magic Kingdom

We all love Mickey and as you can see below we did have time for a photo

with Disney's main man (or mouse:)

The girls asked to see the princesses too, but Aiden said he didn't want to see them.

I assured him he only had to come with us, he didn't have to talk to any princesses

or have any photos taken.

While waiting in line he began to change his mind.

Rapunzel was the first princess and he said "I don't want to see her. I want that one," as he pointed to the next princess, Sleeping Beauty.

The girls did take a photo with Rapunzel.

And then Aiden had a chance to visit with Sleeping Beauty.

She asked him if he would save her and help protect her.

He told her no.

She asked why not.

He responded, "Because I'm already busy saving the other princess."

Sleeping Beauty assumed he was talking about Rapunzel and she looked at me and said,

"Well, I guess he doesn't like me as much as the other princess!"

It turns out he does like the other princess more, because that other princess isn't Rapunzel. It's me, his mommy.

Ryan and Aiden play this game, we call it Partners and Princess.

Ryan and Aiden are "partners" and when Ryan leaves for work he tells Aiden to "take care of the princess!"

So Aiden spends his days protecting the princess and defending her castle, and the princess couldn't be more grateful for her little partner.

Sorry Sleeping Beauty, but for now, the little partner has time for saving only one princess, his mommy!

I'm not sure what he's telling Cinderella here, but he may be telling her that he saw the Beast.

The day before we had seen Beauty and Beast on stage.

As we left Cinderella said, "Good-bye Prince Charming!"

He looked at me with a smile and said, "She called me Prince Charming!"

Then he asked, "What is a Prince Charming, anyway?"

Mickey!!