Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Spring Break

We had such a great time last week! We went to Florida to celebrate my Grandma's 90th birthday. I am so glad that we were able to be there for her. She is an amazing woman and has lived an inspiring life. We loved being in our shorts and flip flops and not having to bundle up everytime we went outside. We went to Disneyworld, both the Magic Kingdom and the Animal Kingdom. we took my grandma along with us and she did great! It was so nice to be together as a family and to have Aaron with us the whole time! It was a much needed and much appreciated break! Here are a few pictures from the trip. With Grandma and Grandpa, GiGi and Minnie Mouse!
One of the 3D shows. Maggie loved it!
Hallie LOVED this kiddie water slide at Typhoon Lagoon.
Maggie loved it, too, but it took a few minutes for her to decide that!
At GiGi's Party!
Cute sisters!
At Chef Mickey's.
We took Hallie and Abby on the River Rapids ride and they loved it! They were so proud of themselves!
I thought this was too cute. Maggie loved to be wherever GiGi was.
Hallie and Abby went on Splash Mountain. I couldn't believe that they did it and liked it! They are big enough for "big kid" rides now. It is so much fun!

Thursday, March 6, 2008

A Moment to Give Thanks . . .

I have to admit that I am terrible about leaving comments on my friends' blogs, and even about adding my friends to my "friends" list. Like most of you, my computer time is very limited, so I buzz around trying to catch up and see what everyone is up to, but I don't always leave comments. I love it when people leave comments on my blog, so I don't know why I do that, but my point is . . . I love reading about your lives and families, even if I don't always say it!

As I was reading blogs last night, I came across a great friend of mine that I used to dance with at BYU. I had been anxiously checking her blog to see if she had had her twins yet and came across something that really made me think. I saw that the twins had were born and were healthy and were actually three weeks old, and then I saw a picture of her husband dressed in his Army Uniform and a blog titled, "Deployment Day". I read about her family and how they had to say goodbye to husband and dad for at least a year, while he went BACK to Iraq to serve our country. I read about how her three year old cried when he had to say goodbye and about how "Daddy's" arms trembled as he passed his three week old twins off to my friend Camille, accepting his duty to serve and miss the first year of their lives. I read about how Camille worried about his safety and how she planned to get by while he was away. And then something that really struck me, she said, "People ask why and how we live this life, and we say, we live this life so that you don't have to." That really struck me and I just had to take a moment to say thank you to everyone who serves our country in that capacity. It is so easy to go on living my life, to not even really think about how the war is impacting so many families' lives. But when I read a personal story about a dear friend of mine, it hit me a little harder and made me very grateful to those who live that life and make those sacrifices. I can't imagine what that would be like and I just wanted to say thank you and hopefully help others take a minute to remember those who put their lives on the line for us, and their families, and to remember to pray for them and their safe return.