A Wilde Visit and Magical Proposal

Our August was packed with Andrew's siblings coming to visit us. It was a blast to first have his sister Lauren and her family come. They were on there way back to Maine after spending a summer in California. We had so much fun at the parks even though it was HOT! They were such good sports and we fit in so many rides. On Saturday morning I think we did about 14 rides which is incredible for a Saturday in August. We also enjoyed our neighborhood swimming pool. Caleb and Ellie are only three days apart so it was fun to watch them interact with each other. Noah even got them laughing at the same time by jumping off the couch. I also have a curse at  Animal Kingdom. Any time we go there with someone there is always a huge rainstorm that we get caught in. With Lauren & Todd it was no different. We all were soaked but it just added to the experience as we rain through the rain to the car. While they were with us we also had the chance to celebrate Andrew's birthday. Andrew's birthday gift this year is a plane ticket/game ticket to the BYU football game at Nebraska! He was shocked when I told him he was going to the game. Lauren was sweet and got him a pie and we sang to him. We also called his parents to join in on the celebration and the missionaries were there. Andrew's parents have taught them the Bangerter birthday song and they sang right along all the way in Brazil. We're so grateful for technology that allows us to stay connected.

 Todd spotted our first alligator while we were leaving the store. 

Just one day later Seth & Hollie came to visit us. Now this was a special visit for them. They were driving back to Utah after summer sales in North Carolina and Seth was planning on proposing to Hollie. We had been planning with Seth for a few months on different ways he could propose in various locations throughout Disney World. It made for some great date nights for us to try and find places to propose. They finally decided on having a caricature drawn of them together and Seth proposing in the picture. Then when the artist turned it around Seth would get down on one knee in real life. Everything was all ready to go until Andrew went after work to make sure they had an appointment. When he went to the place they said they didn't have any reservations for a proposal. Andrew was a champ and showed them all the emails of the reservations and luckily they had one spot open. It could have been bad because we couldn't talk to Seth about any of the plans because he was with Hollie in the car the whole day. When they finally got to our house we had dinner quickly and then told them we had to go to Magic Kingdom that night instead of waiting the next day. We were a little late leaving and we knew we couldn't be more than five minutes late to the appointment time or they would cancel it. So we got in the park and quickly moved them to the caricature artists. Seth was trying to stop and take pictures to make it seem not planned. Luckily, we got there in time and they started doing there picture. Andrew and I then went and hid around the corner. We waited for 45 minutes till they were finished and we could film the proposal. It was so fun to be there and get to see the reaction. Hollie had no idea what was going on. Luckily she said yes! To make the night even more romantic we went and rode Haunted Mansion. haha (It had the shortest line) It was fun to visit with them. They were so smitten with each other and Andrew and I just were in the background making sure they got to the right rides at the right time. We're so excited for their wedding in October. I guess you could call us the proposal planners because this is our third proposal that we have helped with. :)

 Seth was such a champ waiting for 45 minutes to pop the question. 

Four Year Anniversary Weekend

Andrew is incredible about planning really fun things for our anniversary. This year was no different. He surprised me with four different activities on four different nights for us to do. They all involved discovery something new at Disney World.

The first night we explored the different resorts all around the parks. One of them is Port Orleans and it is the only place that sells Mickey Beginets. I fell in love with these when we went to Disneyland for my birthday a few years ago. These weren't quite the same but they were good enough. :) Each resort has so many different things to do and is an experience all on its own separate from the amusement parks. We will for sure be going back to them and maybe even sneaking into to do a little swimming at the fun pools.

 The janitor spent about 10 minutes drawing this Mickey on the table with his Squirt Bottle...Super cool!

The next two nights we actually spent the day at Magic Kingdom and stayed at the Grand Floridian. We enjoyed taking Ellie to the pool for the first time. She loves the bath so we thought she would enjoy the pool. It had a zero entry so it was nice she could just sit in just a little bit of water. She wasn't quite sure the whole time but overall we think she liked it. It was fun to play tourist at the hotel. We even went and had dinner with Cinderella and her crew. Since the Grand Floridian is so close to Magic Kingdom we could just sit outside and watch the fireworks. It is fun to see the fireworks in person that we hear at our house at 10:03 every night. The next morning we went and had the famous Tongan Toast at the Polynesian resort. It is french toast stuffed with bananas, rolled in cinnamon sugar, and topped off with a strawberry syrup. It was pretty delicious but VERY expensive. I think I'll have to try and find a copy cat recipe on Pinterest and try it at home.

Our final night of activities we spent at home watching the movie Tower of Terror. It is a Disney movie that was based off the ride. If you love the ride then you'll enjoy the movie. I think it gives a little bit of a better background story to the ride.

We had such a fun time exploring Disney World. There is still a lot more to learn and we feel very blessed a lucky to be able to do that.