Disney Part 1 --- Pop Century and Animal Kingdom

And then February 22 finally came...I'm thankful we didn't go in July because the anticipation would have been too much :)  The Hubers let me plan what we did each day since I had worked there and I'm so so thankful for that.  We went from sun-up to sun-down every day to pack it all in and we got 99.9% of it done.  We were tired, but we had a blast!!!  It was such a wonderful week.  A million times thank you to Janet and Kemper and Uncle Ben!!!

Our flight left KS at 7 am and we were in checked in to our hotel and at the park and ready for fun by noon. 

We stayed at the Pop Century resort...in the 70s section.

ANIMAL KINGDOM

We made it and we hit the ground running!  

FYI:  Janet is awesome and paid for us to have something called Memory Maker which allows Disney photographers to take our picture so all of us could be in it.  Also, if you ask, they do "magic shots" where they tell you to pose and later when you upload the picture, something has been added to it.  These were a favorite for the girls and they turned out super cute.  

 This is the new Mt. Everest roller coaster...the mountain behind us is real (I think it looks photoshopped), the snow is not.  

 Here with no snow you can see the tracks for the roller coaster.  It was super fast, super dark, and super fun for everyone except Janet...and maybe Joni too (see below).

 Memory Maker also lets you keep and upload the photos they take of you on the rides.  So amazing, mostly because its so fun to look at everyones scared faces.  Hadley, Ben, and Kemper went on it 3 times!  Things we learned at Disney #1:  Hadley LOVES roller coasters...the faster and darker, the better.  

Poor Jo and Nana.  Obviously, Andy's early morning has caught up with him :)

And the Dinosaur ride...this is the moment when the T-Rex comes out of the black darkness and tries to eat you...if you can't tell it was on my side and I thought it really was going to eat me.  Hadley is trying to find her happy place.

 Our first characters of the trip...one of our favorite movies and Andy's favorite Disney characters....Dug and Russell from Up.

 And my favorite picture of the whole trip.  

 The girls each got a "Wilderness Explorer Handbook" and they did little tasks around Animal Kingdom to get stickers.  

 "It's Tough to be a Bug"--3D show based on A Bug's Life

 "Kilimanjaro Safaris"

What sleep looks like after a long fun day. 

 Love to you all!

Happy Valentines...and 10th Anniversary...its all about love!

If you know us at all, you know we love our holidays and doing them well.  This year, Valentine's Day was on Sunday and even though Sundays are our busiest days, we still had a great one.  Heart toast for breakfast...

 And a special family Valentine's meal with heart ravioli's and chocolate covered strawberries for lunch (and strawberry milk).

And our annual $5 gift swap (we did the following night) turned out well for both of us...a campfire poker for Andy and a new butter dish that matches our kitchen for me :)

This year we celebrated 10 years of marriage.  The best 10 years of my life.  I can't believe how fast it goes when you're having fun.  We were planning on taking a little anniversary trip in March but when we found out we were going to Disney World in February, we decided that would be our trip.  We took a night to celebrate... had a fancy dinner (with a cheese platter as an appetizer), watched fireworks and a water parade on the beach, and had dessert at The Grand Floridian (the fanciest resort at Disney).  

Scallops and brussels sprouts in a squash puree (incredible...my mouth is watering thinking about it) and fillet mignon with new potatoes.

Mango Creme Brûlée with fresh fruit

Tiramisu

It was the perfect night and I love him.  So.  Much.

We weren't the only ones excited about us going to Disney World.  Oma sent the girls a Disney cookbook.  To make the waiting more fun we did a recipe a week until we left....Beauty and the Beast Roses...

Fairy Godmother Wands...

and Cruella DeVille faces.  

Waiting was hard...but worth it!  Our Magic Bands came in the mail 3 weeks before we left and got us into the parks, our hotel rooms, etc.  They were fun to use and we made them pretty so they were fun to wear too.

That awesome Oma also got us manicures and pedicures so we had beautiful nails for Disney World. 

More Disney fun to come.  Love to you all!

School, snow, and Christmas

The girls LOVE science and art.

Walk Through Bethlehem at our church brought the largest crowd yet.  

Nana and Papa were able to come and then we had Christmas craft morning the next day :)

Bowling with friends :)

A new tradition we are going to continue because it was awesome....1937 Night!  Kansas got electricity in 1938....no lights or phones or TV or anything they wouldn't have had back then.  It was so fun!  We played games and enjoyed each other company by candlelight.    

The girls first experience with "the ballet."  Joni said it was boring but she couldn't take her eyes off the stage the whole time so the verdict is still out :)

And our first snow...

Caroling with the Youth Group

And their Christmas choir performance at church...

Decorating cookies with friends...

Christmas Eve service....

Christmas morning in our Christmas sweats.

Jesus' birthday cupcakes.

We have a big New Year's Eve party (Extravaganza) for the Youth Group every year and this year we set up an Escape Room (you get locked in a room and using keys and clues, have to find a way to unlock the door and get out).  Hadley is super into them and so we let them go through the room we set up so they could enjoy too.  It was a hit!

My parents came for a few days after Christmas and we so enjoyed them being here.  My mom snapped this picture...my sweet girls.  

We went shopping...before

...and after :)

Andy and Opa went to see Star Wars with friends and the girls went to the Good Dinosaur.  

One of my most favorite memories growing up is watching America's Funniest Videos with my dad.  His laugh is contagious.  It became even more special when we lived with them and I watched it with Andy and him.  Now the girls are fans...we have a video of them watching AFV.  So great.

Love to you all!