Florida - Part Uno

We went down to Florida at the beginning of January to go to Disney World (more on that later). But we went a couple days early to spend some time with Drew's aunt, Aunt Diana. She has 4 kids there in Florida with her and one on a mission, so Drew got some good cousin time in. And I loved spending time with them too! Her twin girls, Madison and Michelle, are especially fun. 

Gracie dancing with Aunt Diana

Gracie and Madison

Gracie and Michelle (she's going to kill me for posting this one :) )

Rick (Drew's cousin) has a girl the same age as Luke named Hannah. They LOVED playing together!

Michelle is basically queen of posing for the camera, so I tried to learn from her. I don't look nearly as good!

Drew with his cousins Joey and Ricky (I'm not sure what Drew's doing)

From left to right: Madison, Michelle, Grace, Drew, Me Aunt Diana, Luke, Ricky

We also tried to go to the Orlando temple, but it was closed. 

We had to pay SO MANY tolls while we were there! We probably spent around $12 just on tolls. 

We also picked up Grandma Pepper before Disney World! She came the night before we could check into our Disney hotel so we stayed in a regular ol' hotel all together. We stopped at Panda Express first. They had a "pajama party" with Grandma. Luke insisted there should be a cake at a pajama party :)

The next day we went and explored Downtown Disney. It's a big shopping area with TONS of shops...mostly Disney-themed shops. It was awesome! And I wish we were millionaires. I could have spend a small fortune on things for the kids!

And that's part one! More to come...

Christmas Festivities

Christmas! Luke was so so excited this year for Santa to come. He kept singing "Santa Claus is coming to towwwwwn." Or in the store he'd be singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and people would smile at him because he's crazy and adorable. So anyway, in preschool they had a Polar Express day. Here are some pics of that:

They were asked to come in their pajamas :) Here's Luke with his Polar Express ticket.

Merry Christmas!!

And one night we made hot chocolate and a Santa craft:

And then Luke had a party at preschool where they made graham cracker houses:

We went and visited Drew's grandma in South Carolina:

And then it was Christmas Eve! 

Santa and his helper elf

Drew and his Orangina. If you've never had it before, shame on you.

Luke went out and scattered his reindeer food in the grass. It was oats, glitter, and sugar, I think. He made it at preschool.

The loot

Cookies & Milk

And then...Christmas morning!

All the trash!

Their favorite toys (the ones from Santa):

And Luke/Buzz:

After we opened our presents we headed to Charlotte to hang out with Drew's aunt, uncle, cousins, and grandparents. I only got one picture of that day but the kitchen that they're playing with they actually gave to us. It was Drew's cousin's when they were younger. I think the kids like that kitchen more than any Christmas gift they got.

And that's Christmas! Drew's grandparents took us to Disneyworld a couple days after Christmas, but I'll post about that later. 

It's Been a While

My apologies.

It's been forever since I updated the family blog! Boo on me. A Christmas post will be up, uh, soon.

Okay, so let's start with Drew's birthday. He turned 29 this year (old geezer!). Luke helped me with the cake and I'll be darned if he isn't the cutest cake assistant I ever did see.

Look at all those candles! Nearly started a forest fire.

He's such a goober. His little candle-blower-outer helpers:

Gracie has been a doll and helping me with my makeup routine. She also likes to freshen herself up while she's at it.

I love that girl!! Also, Luke loves playing on the windowsills. They're just his height. I love when he does this. I think it's so cute!

Cute, right? Oh, Gracie has been working on being extra adorable:

 Let's see, what else? We took the kids to go see Santa in NOVEMBER. Laugh all you want, we had to a wait a total of 5 minutes. Totally worth it.

Gracie did NOT like Santa. But Luke just had to tell Santa what he wanted, so he told him and hopped off.

(I don't know what's going on with Luke's hair.)

Luke being adorable AND he can spell his own name! (smartypants):

Next up: Christmas!!

Thankful Days (Day 3)

So far there's been a natural progression, have you noticed? Hubby, son, and now...

My baby girl!

Isn't she beautiful?

I love this little girl. Let me tell you a little why I didn't think she would be in the family. So, Drew has 3 brothers. I have 5 brothers. With that ratio (1:7) of girls in the family, I figured my chances of having a girl was slim to none. It wasn't like I was pining for a girl. When I found out Luke was a boy I was relieved. Because I had so many brothers I felt like I could handle boys.

I had a very special (and private) experience in which I found out I was having a girl before I even went in for the ultrasound. I think I may have only told Drew about the experience. I don't remember. But I do remember going in for the ultrasound and being completely calm because I already knew what I was having. 

Then after we found out we were having a little girl, Drew was the one that decided on the name Grace. I hope that Gracie thinks that's special when she gets older. 

Gracie is the sweetest little girl. She's a mommy's girl but she yells "Daddy!" when Drew walks in the door. She asks "Where Daddy?" during the day. She loves loves loves her big brother. She follows him around and plays with the toys he likes (she has her own girly toys). She likes to give hugs and kisses and she folds her arms for prayers. She speaks so well already! After Luke, this is such a shock. 

She's a beautiful girl, inside and out.

22 Thankful Days (Day2)

Okay, Day 2 of the Thankful Days! 

Today I am so so so grateful for my son, Luke Andrew. 

Let me tell you, I was a little nervous about him for a while. When he was first born, I had a heck of a time getting him to breastfeed. The first night home with him he just wouldn't eat and about 20 minutes later, we were both crying. That problem was fixed (hallelujah!) and he kept growing.

But man was he feisty! He would only eat about 5 things, he would yell "NO!" all the time and he was a grump. But slowly he became so kind. It's kind of amazing, actually. He's always been a sweetheart but when he was 1-2 it was only on his terms. Now he's kind all the time. And the person who he's sweetest with? His baby sister, Grace.

He holds her hand when I can't, he kisses her goodnight, he makes sure she doesn't get hurt, and he let's her have a toy if he's playing with it and she wants it. He says "I love you, mommy," and always asks where daddy is. He likes to sing and dance and play with other kids. He has never bitten or hit another kid. 

He is just a wonderful little boy and I am SO grateful for the chance I have to have him in my life.

22 Thankful Days (Day 1)

I'm going to be doing 22 Thankful Days, hosted by See Vanessa Craft

Since today just happens to be my husband's birthday, I'll start with him!

(This is us at the Sacramento LDS temple. Around 4 months after this, we'd be getting married in this very temple.)

I'm grateful for how hard-working he is. When we found out we were pregnant with our first baby, Drew was unemployed. He took the first job he was offered. He hated it. But he knew he had to provide for his family. Then he got promoted and moved us to North Carolina. Still, he wanted to make sure he could always take care of us, so now he's getting his Master's degree.

I'm grateful he's a great dad. He hates coming home so late some days that his kids are in bed by the time he comes home. If Luke is still awake in his bed Drew will get him up so he can talk to him for 10 minutes. 

I'm grateful for his love. He loves me and the kids, and shows it daily. He loves Christ and show that, too, through his actions. 

Oh yeah, and I'm grateful he's so handsome. I like to to look at him every day and I never get tired of it!

29 Things You May Not Know About Drew:

1. He hates cake & frosting

2. He loves NPR

3. He likes college football more than the NFL

4. He doesn't wear the color brown

5. He doesn't like the beach

6. He says licorice like "lickwish"

7. He's Young Men's president but can never be at Mutual

8. He's a cheese and chocolate snob

9. He's also an ice cream snob...Blue Bell or nothing

10. He would go back and change his college major if he could...to Advertising

11. He's an excellent writer (in fact, he ghost writes for the CEO of his company)

12. He hates surprises

13. He doesn't like chocolate chips in his chocolate chip cookies

14. His favorite movie is Remember the Titans

15. He used to want a dog until I convinced him otherwise

16. He's obsessed with budgeting ever since reading Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover

17. One of his favorite stores is Half-Priced Books

18. He doesn't like to camp

19. His favorite TV shows are Seinfeld and The Middle

20. He had to be hospitalized after he was born for respitory issues

21. He will try almost any kind of food at least once

22. He wants to live in Switzerland

23. He thinks his children are angels (they can be)

24. He's a great artist

25. He doesn't get very excited and he doesn't cry

26. He hates the San Antonio Spurs

27. He follows politics like nobody's business

28. He picked out Gracie's name

29. If he could do/be anything, he'd become a teacher