It's up!

Alright, I know I jumped the gun a bit, but when we get home after Thanksgiving it will be nice to have the tree already up...that way we can focus on the lights and other decorations. :)

The girls like to play on the ladder...I stood by as their spotter while they showed us how brave they were.

From start to finish it took 6, maybe 7 hours to complete. It wouldn't have taken so long if I didn't have to shape it all by myself...plus I let the girls hang tons of ornaments wherever they wanted...then I had to rearrange them all. This tree is a lot of work, but I definitely think it is worth it.

A whole lot of nothing

It seems like that is what we have been doing lately...but I have been lovin it.
We usually wait until after Thanksgiving to put up our Christmas tree, but I can wait no longer.
I LOVE our 12 ft tree and all it's glorious lights, but I think the reason I can't wait another day to get it up is because I have a whole new set of ornaments to adorn it with this year. I have been shopping clearance for the past few years in order to get as many ornaments as cheap as possible for this massive tree. We have done red and gold the last couple of years...this year our tree will sport blue and silver. I am excited!!! soooo I better get started...this is a huge project (mostly cause I have to change everything after I let the girls decorate a little.)

Disney Day 4

Day 4...another character breakfast and then off to Epcot.

The kids got to shake some maracas and dance around the restaurant in a little parade.

We have been to Disney World twice before this trip and we never had been to Epcot. Although it still isn't my favorite park, I was a little surprised how much we enjoyed ourselves. There were some new rides there as well. A Finding Nemo one that Justee loved...as soon as we got off she wanted to do it again, and since the line was moving so fast we rode it twice in a row.

We also found Chip and Dale in Epcot....Jake's favorites. :) I think his excitement transferred to the kids cause they really enjoyed their time with these two chipmunks. They all got hugs in...

...then posed for a few pics....

...and then got some more hugs in.

After hitting all the main attractions, we went to a Muppet 3D movie thing...it was a low-point in our day...Justin really disliked it. :) It put both Charlee and Justee to sleep...I think Trey fell asleep too. Justin and I took Chuck and Justee back to the hotel for naps and Syd stayed with Vicki and Jake to tour more of Epcot.

They ran into a lot of characters.

This pic was taken in the Japan area...just for uncle Mark since he is on his mission there. :)

The girls were wiped. Even after Char and Justee took long naps, they didn't have a problem sleeping through the night. They got new princess jammies and "babies" to cuddle.

Day 3

Hollywood Studios... (once known as MGM Studios...:)

I really like Hollywood Studios. It has the Tower of Terror and the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster...BUT... now it has the Toy Story ride! We all LOVED this ride. It was so cool. You get to wear 3D glasses and shoot at fun targets! One time you are shooting darts at balloons, then you are tossing rings, breaking plates and lots of other stuff too. It was so much fun! It was also the longest line we ever came across I do believe, but it was worth it. We were able to ride it twice, but I could have done it over and over.

**I forgot to mention that on Day 1, we came to Hollywood Studios after the Magic Kingdom closed early for a Halloween party. We thought it would be fun to ride the Tower of Terror at night. I told the girls that if they were tall enough to ride something, then they had to try it...but I ended up deciding not to make Charlee ride it even though she was tall enough. Sydnee, Tasha, Tamsyn, Vicki, Jake and I all got in line. Justin stayed with the 3 youngest ones. After the ride was over, Sydnee and Tasha opted out of riding a second time, but surprisingly Tamsyn wanted to go again. So she went with Jake, Justin and me for a 2nd time. **

I think our first ride on day 3 was the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. Sydnee loved it and went on it several times. I opted to not put Char on this one either, because you are so isolated in your seat...she always likes to hang on to you so tight, and in this ride you can't even see who you are sitting next to...I thought it would freak her out too much.

We got in some character pics...

JoJo and Goliath:

...and got to watch a Playhouse Disney show. ...I think Jake is more into it than the kids. ;)

In the afternoon, the little ones needed naps, so Justin and Jake took the 4 and 2 year olds back to the hotel. Vicki and I took Syd and Tasha back to the Magic Kingdom. We were able to fit in 2 rides (Splash Mountain, and Thunder Mountain) before we were supposed to meet up with the guys for dinner.

After dinner we went to the hotel and took the kids swimming.

DW...Day 2

First I want to know...Does anyone really enjoy humidity? I mean, how can you think it feels good to be moist and slimy all day? I am not a fan of humid places...my hair and humidity don't get along...in fact, they hate each other. That's all I have to say about that. (sounds better if you read that last sentence with a Forrest Gump accent.)

~Day 2 was Animal Kingdom~
We started off with the safari ride...we got to watch a giraffe walk right in front of our jeep and stop in the middle of the road to poo...best safari ride ever. I'm pretty sure the kids enjoyed it much more than they seem to be in this picture. Then we got to meet Flik.

...and King Louie Shortly after King Louie, Justee fell asleep and missed out on being in a few character pictures.

...and Pocahontas

...and Miss Bunny. For those of you who don't know who Miss Bunny is, she is Thumper's girlfriend (we had to ask.) Thumper had to leave for a break right before we got to them, but the kids were happy with meeting a cute bunny anyway. I love the way Tamsyn is looking at her.

One of the best memories I will have (and probably the worst for Sydnee) is of the ride Expedition Everest. This roller coaster scared the CRAP out of Sydnee. I have proof too:

Now I may be a mean mom for putting this pic on the blog because Sydnee did NOT want me to show anyone, but how in the world could you resist putting this picture up???

This picture had to be taken late in the ride, after I pried Sydnee off of me and she decided that it was safer to hold onto the side than to hold onto me because I kept trying to get her to look at all the cool effects (again you could say I was being a mean mom, but I only wanted her to get the full enjoyment out of the ride.:) Here is a ride play-by-play: We came to a stop at a cliff early on in the ride and Syd started panicking, "We're gonna go backwards! I know it! I know we are gonna go backwards! I don't want to go backwards!" ...we went backwards... Syd was grabbing me saying, "I can't do this mom, I want to get off! I can't do this anymore!" I kept trying to calm her down by saying it was ok and all that stuff and was finally able to pull myself out of her death grip. I thought she had calmed down a bit; I didn't notice she was sinking her fingernails into the metal on the other side of the seat. It was only when the ride was over and we saw the picture, that I realized she was never able to sit back and really enjoy the ride. :)

She'll appreciate looking back at this story later in life, right?

Sydnee was willing to do every ride more than once except this ride and Tower of Terror. Those were two that she would not be talked into riding again. She rode the Rocknroller coaster several times and I thought that one was a lot scarier.

Vicki and I split up from the guys and older kids for a while and so we passed the time with some fun pics. I think this one is pretty darn cute.

We met back up with the guys just in time for the parade.

For dinner that night we had another character meal. This time is was at Epcot at the Akershus Royal Banquet Hall. We got to meet Belle, Aurora, Cinderella, Snow White, and Ariel.

After dinner we watched the light show at the Epcot lake.

I think being a "Princess" or any character at Disney World would not be a fun job. I am sure so many people out there think that working at DW would be great, but I have to admit, I would not like it. I could not hug strange kids all day for a living....and have you heard the way the princesses talk???? It is a little creepy if you ask me.

A note about pictures....Vicki and I decided that only one of us would bring a camera and we would take turns taking pictures. I like having pictures to capture moments and protect memories, but sometimes you get caught up in taking pictures and not just enjoying the moment when you are experiencing it. That is why so many pictures are of the kids with characters...it is easy to pause for pictures at times like this, but it is way more fun to sit back and just have a good time without always worrying about a camera. Not sure why I added this...maybe for when I look back down the road, and wonder why I didn't take a pic of something; I can remember that it was because I was having too much fun to worry about pictures. :)

Disney World...Day 1

Because so much fun was had in the Happiest Place on Earth, I decided to divide the posts up...much more fun that way, don't ya think?

We spent a lot of time on these buses traveling from our hotel to different parks, but it was such an easy way to get around.

Our first stop was to have breakfast at Chef Mickey's...these character meals were so much fun and the food was surprisingly good too...expensive, but good. (So glad we had that great meal plan huh, Justin?)
I have to admit I was surprised at how much the kids LOVED all the characters. No one was scared or shy. They all loved giving hugs and taking pictures with them...getting everyone to look at the camera at the same time was a different story.
There will be lots of pictures of the kids with different Disney characters throughout these posts. They had autograph books and had to get as many autographs as they could. I never would have guessed that they would have wanted to stand in line to get all those autographs, but they loved it. (All the characters have cool ways of signing their names and it is fun to see how each one does it.)

As you can see Chef Mickey's was a busy place, and they got to meet Mickey, Mini, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto all before entering a park.

Of course we had to start our adventure with the Magic Kingdom...It is my favorite of all the Disney parks. The music alone makes you feel young and happy inside...definitely brings out some great childhood memories.
The first ride you see when you get inside is the carousal, so they immediately wanted to get on it.

Snow White soon followed. Here is Vicki and Tamsyn waiting in our short 5 min line. The lines were great while we were there and the weather was even better with it never getting too hot.

This is one of my favorite pictures. These two girls got along so well...much better than their toddler days when they used to beat each other up. They were glued to each other at the hip and rode all the rides together that they could. They only split up when Trey or Tamsyn insisted on riding with Tasha....or when it was too scary to go without their mom or dad...we'll get to those later. ;)

They aren't riding together here, but I think that is because all the girls couldn't fit together and Tasha was the nice one to give up her spot and sit with her dad. :) One of the best, if not the best ride at DW... SPLASH MOUNTAIN! Syd and Tasha were so brave on this ride. They rode it over and over and even got to the point (with a little bribery) of holding their hands up down the big falls. On their 3rd or 4th trip down the falls, I told them I would give them $5 if their hands were up in their picture.

Charlee buries her self into whoever she is riding with and holds on for dear life. She did end up going on a few scary rides (including Splash Mountain) more than once, but she sure wasn't sad when she wasn't tall enough to ride some of the big rides. She would walk up to the measuring thing and say with a big smile on her face, "Nope, I'm not tall enough."

Syd and Tasha loved the Thunder Mountain Railroad. They were putting their hands up the first time they rode. I think they went on this ride at least 5 times. *notice Charlee buried in my lap.

A cool new ride that was added since we were at Disney World last, is the Buzz Lightyear ride. It was pretty cool because you got to shoot a laser at targets as you moved, and it kept track of your score. The line was so short that you could just walk off and pretty much walk back on...so after two times I knew I couldn't do it again, so I was very happy when I spotted this baby lizard to keep Justee entertained while we waited for everyone else to ride again.

When all the other kids got off the ride, they each had to have a turn with the cute little guy.

I don't think we could have gone on a better vacation to celebrate Justin's return home. We had a fabulous time...even if Justin was having back spasms and I was telling him to suck it up and quit being a baby...in the most loving way possible of course. ;)

Haunted Night

In between eating as many Kit Kats as I could get my hands on, and caramel apples, I was eating spooky h'ordervs. Even with all of that eating, there is still tons of food and candy taking over my house. I guess that is a sign of a great Halloween.

Right before we got the girls dressed and ready so I could take some pictures, Justee fell asleep. I was tempted to wake her, but figured it would be better to have a happy pirate come t-or-t time than a grumpy one.

Sydnee loves to make scary faces...Chuck wanted to make one too...hers aren't quite as believable as Syd's. :)

Justin got this hat at Disney World with the intentions of being Jack for Halloween...that makeup sure didn't want to come off. He still looked like he was wearing eyeliner to church today. I think he can pull off the Adam Lambert look quite well. ;)

We had some friends over for "dinner" before heading out to trick-or-treat. It was soooo much fun to share all this creepy and yummy food. Larry carved a watermelon to look like a brain (very cool,) we had tortilla wraps that looked like ribs, ghost potato skins, bloody toes (mini hot dog wraps,) a gummy foot, witch finger bread sticks, mummy pizzas, scabs with pus dip (chips and cheese dip,) sushi and chicken rolls, and of course swamp juice to drink.

After feasting on some great food we took our pack out trick-0r-treating.

We had a gargoyle, a ninja, Batgirl, a witch, a vampire, Mario, a pirate, and an undisclosed football player (I'm surprised anyone gave that poor boy any candy. ;)

Justee and I bailed on the t-or-t-ing a little early because I wanted to get back to the house and pass out all the candy we bought for our trunk-or-treat that got cancelled. I do not need a huge bowl of mini candy bars in my house...I will eat them...every last one. :)

I finally got the chance to get a few pics of Justee after we were done.

She was saying "Arr matey." all day. Here is her "Arr" face.

spooky fog:

Once everyone finished collecting as much candy as their bags could carry, we enjoyed some traditional hot cider.

The old men each ate a toe off this gross candy foot:

Justee was very impressed with all of her candy. She just kept plowing through it all. At one point I caught her alternating 3 suckers in her mouth....that's when I decided it was time to take the candy bucket away.

Syd and Char had to get multiple hair washes to get all the color out. It didn't take them long to crash.

What a great way to end a wonderful Halloween.

Jacketylanterns

I love carving pumpkins. I love the smell, the goo, the excitement the girls get when they decide what they want theirs to look like (the excitement when I decide what I want mine to look like)...I love everything but the mess. Fortunately for me, I had a husband here this year who was a huge help with everything.

Since it still isn't a good idea for Justee to get her hands on sharp carving utensils...she got to stick these fun faces into her pumpkins. Throughout the evening the faces changed frequently and her pumpkins were covered with holes...she loved every minute of it.

Here are fruits of our labors...Justin's, Chuck's, mine, Syd's.

We got tons of great seeds out of all these pumpkins...too bad I burned them all. :(

Belated

We have been so busy since Justin got home...Dallas then Disney World and now Halloween fun. I have had several senior shoots to get edited and tons of our vacation photos to go through. I am finally getting up the pics from the night that Justin returned home from Afghanistan.

There were lots of smiles, hugs, and kisses...

Waiting...

Their plane landed and then they rode in a bus over to where everyone was anxiously waiting.

Our first views of Justin after he got off the bus and headed our way:

Justee ran through the crowd and made it to Justin first. They were all very happy little girls.

Sydnee was so excited she kept telling Justin how much she missed him and was her usual chatty self. She is such a big Daddy's girl and so happy to have him home again. Char on the other hand barely said a word. She just kept staring at Justin as if she were amazed to see her Daddy in front of her. As soon as Justin put her down she would pull on his shirt and want him to pick her up again. She did not want to ever let him go.

After everyone got in several hugs, we headed inside for the short ceremony. Here is Governor Dave Freudenthal saying a few words of appreciation.

We were all getting ready to head out when Justin was stopped by this journalist and asked to give an interview...I immediately stood up and walked away, remembering that we both had to give one when Justin was leaving...I did not want to do that again. Luckily Sydnee was the one they wanted. :)

Here she is giving her interview. She was so cute because she got really nervous and couldn't get more than a couple words out.

It was a great night and I am so glad that our friends the Reynolds came to support us. It was nice to have someone there to take pics so I didn't have to worry about it, and it was nice for them to just show that they cared. Thanks guys!!!

It has been great having Justin home and even though there are small adjustments to be made, it quickly felt like normal to have him here with us.

Life sure is good these days. :)

In the News...

Here is a link to the newscast about the homecoming: http://www.kcwy13.com/newscast.php?id=2399
It starts a little bit into the program. Sydnee was excited because she was interviewed...she sums up the whole thing right at the end. It was pretty funny because she was asked 4 or 5 questions but never said much. She was acting pretty shy. The "meat" of her answers is what you get to hear. :)

Welcome Home Daddy!

Justin made it home safe and sound on Wed. night. The girls were very excited about going to get their Daddy. I have pics of the event, but I will take the time to post them later. Things have been pretty hectic here and I am looking forward to just relaxing and enjoying the rest of our Sunday together.
Syndee made this sign all by herself. (Broncos' colors of course. :)

For now...the year I dreaded is over and we get to move on with our lives. Thank you to everyone who gave their support through acts of service, kind thoughts and words, prayers and everything else. You really helped us get through this and it meant more than you'll ever know. THANK YOU!

Justin got to put the last star on the flag....woohoo! It's done!

3 days left

There is room for only 3 more stars on our flag. It is hard to believe this whole thing is almost over, but it is such a relief.

Justin is at Ft. Lewis and it is so nice to have him back in the US, but Wednesday can't come fast enough.

My Menace

Just wanted to make a note of this...

I put some bib overalls on Justee this morning...she looked down and said, "I look like Dennis!"

They have been watching a lot of Dennis the Menace lately.

My sister and her fam are here until tomorrow (minus Journee and Kyle) and Renae and Dana are coming today to stay for the weekend. It is so nice to have company to help pass these last 5 days until Justin comes home. :)

A Do-it-Yourself Kinda Girl

Justee really wanted to be the creator of a new hairstyle...the half bang:

She cut it clear to her scalp on one side...and just in time for Daddy to get home...dang her. So where was her mother while she was carelessly creating her fabulous new do?

...Listening to her 2nd grader read for 20 mins. Isn't that torture enough for a mom???

(all joking aside, Sydnee is actually doing a great job...listening to a 2nd grader read is MUCH better than listening to a 1st grader read. ;)

Well, not one of my girls made it through toddlerhood without cutting their own hair. I am 3 for 3 in that category. nice

*note: The scratch on her head is not from the scissors...that has been there for over a week and I am not exactly sure where she got it. Score another one for mom.

Just Passing Time

Justin is out of Afghanistan and beginning he long journey home. I believe he is at Manas Air Base, Kyrgyzstan...by now he might already be gone from there...I haven't talked to him in a while...
There has been more changes made as to when Justin will actually be getting home (big surprise.) He was supposed to be home the 14th and then there were setbacks which would put him home the 15th. Right now I am not sure on the date and time, and I probably won't be until the day he gets home...the sense of irritation is slightly overshadowed by the fact that he will be home sometime next week!
I'm sure all this constant talk about Justin coming home gets a bit redundant, but it is definitely what encompasses my thoughts these days.

We are trying to stay busy while we wait. Sydnee has two friends from school over right now for what they have been calling their "play date." Sydnee was very excited about it. The three of them write letters to each other during there free write time at school. I wanted to share what one said that she got from her friend Hazel...
"Dear Sydnee
You are so funny because of the way you laff and the way you smiyll. I love the way your eyes sparkl."
They are always writing such nice things to each other and I think it is so sweet.
I got all my Halloween decorations up in my house this weekend, so while I waited for Syd and her friends to get off the bus I turned everything on including the fog machine....It was so fun to see their faces when they walked in the door and looked at all the fun stuff. Ahhh....I love Halloween. :)

-Justee has been such a funny girl lately. Last night she put a hair tie around her ankles and hopped around. "Hop...hop...hop...I'm a kangawoo mom...a baby kangawoo."