Orlando Temple

Here we are at the Orlando Temple.  Aren't we pretty!!??

We did some of David's (Bonnie's husband) family names today.  Oh my goodness, it was SO awesome!!  We sealed some sisters/daughters to their parents (at the same time, which was a first for us and VERY COOL).  The spirit was so strong...some of these families were there and waiting.  These were families I was able to help research and get temple ready.  Yeah, it was neat.

After the temple we headed over to the Hoop-De-Doo Musical Review (dinner variety show) at the Disney Wilderness Lodge.  We had to take a boat to get there.  Sorry, I don't have a picture.  I'll try and post those pictures later.

By the way...the weather is GORGEOUS here!  I don't miss that Idaho snow at all!!  BUT, the water tastes AWFUL!!  BLAHHH GROSS!  Bottled water is the only way to go here.  Seriously, anytime I try and drink it...instant gag reflex.

Here we are in FLORIDA!!

Here I am in Florida with my sisters!  Our first night on our "Sister's Retreat"!

We found this "Stargate" ring portal thingy!   We got a real kick out of this.  Had to take a picture.

It's my first night away from kids.  Boohoo.  I miss them!  But, it's beautiful here, and I'm so excited to be here with my sisters!

Okay, it was SUCH a long day flying to Orlando.  I had to first fly to Boise, then onto Seattle...then another 5 hours on the plane to go from Seattle to Orlando.  By the time I got to Orlando I had a huge headache.  But, after some advil, dinner, and laughing it up with my sisters...it was gone.

Rob's birthday

Rob turned 37 this month!  What an OLD man!!

We had a small little family party for him.  I made his favorite cake...German Chocolate, with homemade frosting.  He also got some of his absolute favorite ice-cream...Chocolate/Peanut Butter from Baskin-Robins.  We generally keep our birthdays pretty simple for each other.  The kids and I all made him some home-made birthday cards, and we got him his newest favorite movie IronMan.

Sweet and Simple.

Hair in Rags

When I was a little girl my mom would put me and my sister's hair in rags.  While our hair was wet, and right before bedtime, she would take sections and roll it up, and tie the small strips of cloth (rags) in a knot.  The next morning you'd take the rags out, and have nice curly hair.  It's the old-fashioned way, the way they did it before curlers were invented, I guess. 
Every once in awhile I'll do it to Addie's hair.  I haven't done it in a long time, and then the other day we were watching Little Princess and the girls in the movie had their hair in rags and Addie really wanted it done.
Here's the before pictures:

Here's the after pictures:

OMSI

Okay...okay...this is my last Christmas post.  After this I'm all caught up on what we did over the holidays.  I know...I'm slow.  But after this I'll need to catch you up on what we have done this month.  Rob and Addison both had birthdays in February.  So, that'll be my next post.

While we were in Oregon we took the kids to OMSI (Oregon Museum Science Institute). The kids LOVED it. Parker remembered it from the last time we were in Oregon and begged us to go again. Besides, my parents got us a year family membership to OMSI for Christmas...so we had to since it was free.

There is fun for all ages at OMSI.  Garrison's favorite was the toddler section.  They had lots of balls...and he loves balls.

It is so funny to look at these pictures of Garrison because these pictures were taken before he got his very first haircut.  He actually got his haircut shortly after this because all the people around us at OMSI kept calling him a girl.  Hello!  Does he look like a girl??  I didn't think so, but his hair was quite long and curly.  So, now with his new do...he definitely looks like a boy.

Garrison also ventured into the lab for a few minutes with dad.

Addie loves to play in water...she spent a long time here.

Addison also loved the toddler section.  Here she is doing spin art with one of the workers.  We still have her picture on our refrigerator at home.

Parker also enjoyed the toddler section...but that didn't last long.  He was onto bigger and better things pretty quickly.  He loved the science lab where he got to do actual experiments with chemicals.  I think he loved it the most because he got to feel like Harry Potter in Potions class.

If you are ever in the Portland area with your kids...you've got to take them here.  It is fun for all ages.  They did so much more than what I have pictured here...but I can't make this too big of a post.

NOISIEST KIDS!

Sometimes I feel like my kids are the loudest kids in the world.  Seriously, my kids are SOOO loud!  Rob and I have learned we cannot even have a conversation together until the kids have gone to bed.  We just end up, practically, yelling to hear each other over the kids, or we are getting constantly interrupted.  The only problem with that is...because of old age, we generally have forgotten what we needed to talk about by the time the kids go to bed.  So, we end up vegging out in front of the T.V. both too exhausted for conversation.  Well, that might be a little of an exaggeration...but not by much.

Here some pics of our wild and crazy, loud kids! 

This one is almost a little scary of Parker.  He and his cousin were goofing around and pulling their pj's as far up as they could.  What goofballs!

Don't let this boy in a yeti hat deceive you!  He may seem innocent and quiet...but he is a SCREAMER!

His squeal is the loudest of them all...well sometimes Addie can beat him.  The best is when we are in the van and they think it is hilarious to have a screaming/squealing contest.  It's a miracle I haven't been in more car accidents.

Parker's picture was disturbing me because he had such a funny face, so I had to throw in a better picture of him.  Of course, now Addison looks horrible...but she is a girl who likes to cry a lot...so this isn't too unusual to see her like this.