Orlando

Here we are in Orlando. The land of Mickey and Harry Potter, sunshine and hurricanes, and for the last 5 weeks, us! We've taken a short hiatus here to spend time with family and enjoy a vacation of sorts before Ian goes hard core back into school. So, what have we been doing?

One of our first adventures after arriving was to head out to Washington, D.C. Ian's brother Jordan got married and we were so happy to be there with them to celebrate. Our kids stayed in Orlando with their Grandparents and enjoyed all the spoiling that their Grandparents could dish out. We enjoyed our first kid free vacation, but after all we were happy to be back together again.

On our trip we enjoyed a visit to the National Mall including the American History Smithsonian. WE also got to visit Ian's first Civil War battle site at Manassas, VA. You probably know the battle site to be where the Battle of Bull Run took place.

As soon as we got home we started painting the outside of my parents house. I did not expect it to take very long. I thought this will take probably 5 days. Well it took us 2 1/2 weeks! It looks great, but I swear I never want to paint outside again. It was just too hot!'

We also got to visit Disney World with the kids and Sea World. Here's some pictures from the trip.

Here are more pictures from the summer you've probably never seen due to my lame blogging lately.

Well, we're off to England tomorrow! I can't believe it's finally here. We've been prepping ourselves for 9 months, shelled out more money than I care to think about, and I still can't believe it. I can only hope the Lord continues to bless us as much as he already has. We have a place to live and an opportunity that is so far unmatched. I am so grateful for everything that we've been blessed with in coming to this time. We love you all and will miss the good 'ol USA!

Until England,
Cheerio!

A Long Overdue Post

Back in the end of March beginning of April we took a trip that we really really enjoyed. We moved to California right after we got back so the post is, as I mentioned, long overdue.

Before leaving Idaho, we wanted to visit some of our favorite people that we would definitely miss when we moved. So we took a trip over to Jerome to visit with Ian's Grandma Almeda. Technically she's Ian's Ex-step-grandmother, but in our hearts she's just another Grandma. She was there as soon as I came home from the hospital after having Holly to help take care of Atley and me. She is the only person besides Ian and I that was allowed into the NICU to see Holly. She is so special to us in fact, that Holly is named after her.

This picture is of Holly while she was in the NICU with Grandma Almeda and one of her nurses, Penny.

Our visit with her was special. She spoiled us with food and attention and spoiled the children with activities and toys. She even taught Atley the joy of sweeping and cleaning up after himself.

After Grandma Almeda we visited our good friends the Schwartz family over in Fruitland! That's a whole post by itself!

On our way back to Rexburg, we stopped again to visit with Grandma Almeda and watch General Conference. She has notepads ready for Ian and I to make notes to our hearts content and crayons to keep the kids busy.

Holly only sat still for a short while, but this picture makes it look like she was really into it!

Atley was good at making messes at Grandma's house, but we also discovered he was good at cleaning them up! Grandma taught Atley to use her electric sweeper and Grandma guided him to all the crumbs.

This time with Grandma Almeda was very special. She told us more about her history and shared some knowledge and keepsakes about where her name (and Holly's middle name) came from. What we didn't expect about this visit, is that it would be the last time we would see her. About a month ago Grandma Almeda passed away. We are especially glad we spent this extra special time with her and got pictures and videos of her with our children. Now we can share with them these pictures and tell them what a wonderful lady their Grandma really was. She is one of the most selfless people I've ever met. I'm so glad to have been able to get to know her and to be the recipient of her selfless service.

The World Famous San Diego Zoo

Of course we've visited the World Famous San Diego Zoo. As Ian would say, you have to! It's WORLD FAMOUS! We decided the best choice for us was to buy their annual passes. They weren't much more expensive than a one day pass and we could go to both parks in small parts so we didn't wear the kids out. They love looking at all the animals. Atley especially loves the Lions.

Everytime we leave the house Atley thinks we're going to the zoo so he says: Mommy, you wanna see the lions? I must say that I have a slight aversion to the lions since I saw this sign in their cage.

(I took this picture for you Kayleen. I thought you could appreciate it!)

Gross, huh? Yeah well Atley can't read, so he still loves the Lions. I was surprised to see how big they really are. Some other animals that were a big hit were...

the polar bears,

the elephants,

the gorillas,

and the turtles.

I'm not sure the kids know they aren't real. I think it's a lot safer to give a kiss to a statue than a real animal though so I didn't want to ruin the bliss.

One thing that was really cool at the Wild Animal Park was an exhibit called Lorikeet Landing. You can pay $3 to buy some nectar to feed the Lorikeets. We're too stingy to buy the nectar and we thought the kids would freak if the birds landed on them, so we didn't. We were able to get really close to the birds and get some great pictures.

We're still hoping to get to the zoo a couple more times before we move, because well, beacause its WORLD FAMOUS!

Old Poway Park

In the center of Poway, there is a park which strives to protect and display the history of Poway and give visitors a real "old town" feel. On Wednesdays and Saturdays there is also a large farmers market where fresh and organic produce is sold, live music played and a variety of food from around the world is displayed. The kids really enjoy the park because, it houses a locomotive that runs--for Atley this is a dream come true. The railroad tracks run all along the park and give the rider a fun experience as it circles the old buildings and scenic park.



Atley and Holly both love to ride the train. I think that this stems largely from the fact that they both love the T.V. show called Dinosaur Train in which dinosaurs ride a time-traveling train to make discoveries and form hypotheses (which is now in Atley's vocabulary). Atley loves just looking out the window, and playing with his dinosaurs. Holly likes the train but does not like the wind in her face. Each time that the wind blows in her face she, gets frustrated and keeps trying to get it out of her face. Both kids like holding the tickets and handing them over to get stamped.

The whole experience is just a lot of fun for them. At the train station they even sell Dinosaur Train toys, and the kids love to stop in and see them. The train cost .50 cents for Atley, $1 for adults, and Holly rides free.

This is right in front of the building that houses the trains.

Cristina and Atley are having a ball riding the "speed train". This train is a lot smaller and is open on all sides so you can really take in the park. (Notice Atley has a dinosaur in each hand)


Here is the train station, complete with ample seating for awaiting passengers, and gift shop providing all of your Dinosaur Train needs.

Trip to Oceanside Pier

For a fun midday experience, we decided to take the kids to Oceanside which is just up the coast from where we are. We went to spend an afternoon with a friend of the family named Mary. Cristina likes to see her because she is from the south, Georgia, and it reminds her of home a little. There is a really neat beach with a pier in Oceanside, and we were told that we would be eating lunch at a place called Ruby's. When we pulled up to the pier, the first thing we saw was the lone house that was situated on the hill over looking the ocean. Seeing it's run down and decrepit state we did not think much of it, but were informed that it was the house where scenes from the film Top Gun were shot, and the city did not know what to do with it.

As we progressed towards the beach we were struck with the awesome spectacle of man-made engineering over nature (literally), when we saw the pier at Oceanside beach. As we approached the pier, we were informed that at the end of the pier, which is a third of a mile long, we would be eating lunch. All along the way down the pier there were fisherman, seagulls and pelicans coupled with the fresh smell of the ocean directly below our feet. It truly was a fisher mans paradise.

The restaurant at the end of the pier is a third of a mile out to sea, and it is a fifties themed diner. We had a great time sipping down our milk shakes and chowing down on our burgers. It was a great afternoon.