Magical

I know we've already had Holiday World overload but I found a few more pictures. :) I especially wanted to share about our visit to see Santa at this little shop we stopped in.

He called the girls in and showed them his watch which gave them a rating from 1-10 on their behavior. Avery was first........a 5!!!!! haha, so fitting for our ornery girl. Next Allie's read a 7.5.......she was very disappointed (she does deserve at least a 9!). Then they were able to go sign their name on the nice list so Santa would know where to bring their gifts this Christmas......as long as they stay good.

 

Allie is starting to get to the age where she will question if Santa is real or not. After our visit with him she was fairly certain he was the real Santa. He had a real beard, he knew we were moving to England and said he would still come there but over there they call him Father Christmas. He also knew that Daddy was in the Air Force and gone right now (then went on telling them to be sure he said to tell him thank you and thanked them as well for being good for their Mommy, who was also doing a good job taking care of them at home). Then he saw Blake and of course he was afraid, but he was with Papa and Santa remembered Papa from visiting him when he was a little boy. It really was kind of a "magical" moment.

B-day Party

This afternoon we went to cousin Alex's 6th birthday party. The kids had fun!

About a month ago we went to Noah's b-day party......

Holiday World & Splashin' Safari

We made our first trip to Holiday World a few days ago. It was so much fun. I wish we could make an annual trip out of it. We spent the first day basically just riding the rides. It seemed like we had the place to ourselves. We never had to wait in any lines! The weather was perfect too! We went ahead and purchased the discounted tickets for the next day. Unfortunately it rained for the majority of the day but we spent it at the waterpark so we were going to get wet anyway. I would have liked to have seen the sun more though. :) All in all, it was a great trip, good company with my parents, Sandy, Ashley & Conner. Now prepare for picture overload!

Day 1

Hands down, Blake's favorite thing!

Avery would only ride with Sandy......and she was screaming "get me off this thing now" the whole time

they followed Holidog around EVERYWHERE!

Blake was so cute on the rides. He would get off one and crookedly point to the next one he wanted on and say "wide"

Allie & Conner's favorite ride

this one was probably Avery's favorite

this scared me to death!

@ Santa's Lodge

walking to dinner

moments before Blake disappeared under all of those bubbles!

Day 2

exhausted! :)

cold from all of the rain

getting brave

I had no idea they were putting him on by himself! I thought he was coming down with Allie. He tossed and turned, flipped all the way down the side.....banging his head on the way. :(

Allie's favorite waterslide

this got them when we first got there. They kept a close eye on it the rest of the time.

Memorial Day Weekend

I was kind of hoping Derek would surprise us with an early return home. Wishful thinking! How perfect would that have been though. Memorial Day weekends are usually super busy for us, usually spent on the lake......not this year. We roasted some marshmallows over the fire one night. I talked at church on Sunday about military life and how the gospel helps us through these long separations. (which had me super stressed out and highly emotional all week long prior to it). And then on Memorial Day we went to the zoo with Bryan, Kim & Hannah.

Last Day of School

Friday was Allie's last day of school. She was NOT ready for it to be over! It was a very sad day for her and she gave me another scare. Remember how she never got off the bus on the first day of school ......well this time she got off the bus but she was sobbing uncontrollably! Luckily she wasn't hurt she was just sad and said she was going to miss her teacher, Mrs. Matz! What a sweetie, broke my heart!

It was a great year though. She ended out the school year with all A's and she had amazing teachers from both schools that obviously mean a great deal to her.

Hard to believe she'll be in the 2nd grade! Love you Allie Kat!!!

Spring Photos