Christmas

Andrew and I felt like we needed to stay in Florida for Christmas this year. My parents then decided to join us for a few days. They wanted to get out of the cold winter weather and join us for our record breaking week of 86 degrees every day. Florida seriously has broken records from the 1920s for the past month. We hit up Epcot to watch the Candlelight Processional and then did Animal Kingdom for a few hours on Christmas Eve. Andrew and my dad started a new tradition of golfing on Christmas. It was a relaxing week and so fun to get to start our own traditions. I gained a great appreciation for all that my parents and in-laws do to make Christmas special. To have that responsibility on me this year was a little stressful. But I was grateful to have a reminder of what truly matters and the true meaning of Christmas. (https://www.lds.org/topics/christmas?lang=eng) I think especially since becoming a mother I gained a great appreciation for Mary this Christmas season. What a wonderful woman who had the chance to raise our Savior. "Mary Did You Know" was my favorite song this season and I love this version. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifCWN5pJGIE) We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and wish you all a Happy New Year. We're grateful for 2015 and all that it brought us but can't wait to see how we grow and learn in 2016. 

 Ellie was done for the day!

 My mom always has to burn something during the holidays.

 We started a new tradition of opening a family game on Christmas Eve and then play it that night.

 We had to document that my dad actually played a game!

 Andrew says there are alligators all over the golf courses. If your ball lands near one you just walk away and do a "gator drop."

Recent Happenings

Here is a photo dump of our lives lately! 

It's not every day that you get a whole boat to yourself on Pirates of the Caribbean.

 Eating like Gaston at Gaston's Tavern

 Ellie and I went to a petting zoo with some friends. They had a llama named Caitlyn. Spelled the same and she  was blonde.

 When Daddy get's Ellie dressed!

 Our cute little town that we live in has an Annual Christmas Parade. I was super impressed by it. They had Mickey & Minnie Mouse and Santa Claus.

 Andrew enjoying his Ice Cold Lemonade while watching the parade. Yes it is December!!

 Now I know why I get stopped ALL the time when I go shopping! She is pretty darn CUTE!

 Spending all day with this girl has been one of the hardest and most rewarding things I have ever done. Sometimes we miss daddy and send him lots of pictures while he is at work!

 This girl refuses to clap and blow kisses but when the Cougar Fight song is sung she is all in.

 I got called into the YW presidency so this girl is my sidekick to all activities. Cupcakes are good distractions while hanging out at the church.

Our YW put on a short play of the Grinch. I thought I would try to dress Ellie up like a Who! haha She looks like one every day with her hair!

Ellie has been so good at eating solid food! We skipped baby food all together because she liked the real thing better. 

 One day Ellie discovered how to open every cabinet, the trash can, and turning the TV on and off.

Osborne Lights

We heard about these cool Christmas lights at Hollywood Studios from all our friends here. So we invited our cousins Will & Jessica to come join us. We didn't realize we were going the same night they were releasing a new video for Star Tours so it was PACKED! It took us about 45 minutes to park. But once we were in the park it actually didn't feel very crowded. The lights were super fun and synced to music. They even made it snow! This is the last year they are doing these lights since they are tearing a lot of stuff down to make room for Star Wars Land. We're sad because it was magical and would have been a fun Christmas Tradition. We're glad we got to see it at least once!

We then headed to Animal Kingdom on Saturday! We've become pros at hitting lots of rides in a few hours!

Ellie enjoyed decorating the Christmas tree. We strategically didn't decorate the bottom two feet. We'll see how long that lasts! 

Thanksgiving

Since we did the whole Thanksgiving meal in Kansas City, we had a very chill Thanksgiving. We decided to brave Animal Kingdom and were shocked that it was not super crowded. We hit all our favorite rides and shared the special Thanksgiving meal that they were offering. The rest of the day was spent at home with just the three of us.We just did a small ham and pie for dinner. It was really fun to spend a major holiday with just our small family.


Ellie was a good helper when it came to making chocolate  pie!