3 Day Family Vacation -

Steve surprised the family with a weekend away at a DISNEY RESORT and 2 days at DISNEY! Hunter was so HAPPY and excited once he found out!!!
This was our awesome Room. I could get use to towels, washed and just hanging, ready to be used. Maid service... oh heck yeah, I could get use to this. :)




Our view was AMAZING!!! We could see the Magic Kingdom lite up at night and we got to watch the fireworks each night. The last night we were there, we SAW THE BEST firework show we have EVER seen. It truly was fantastic and beautiful. (both boys crashed before they showed them, bummer, but Steve and I had fun watching them from our balcony)






Our room was on the 12th floor so we were considered "Club Members", and we sure did have the service of club members. Food in the lobby ANY time we came out of our room or came back from the Disney parks... loved it!! Drinks, fruit, snacks, appetizers, you name it. It was great!




Magic Kingdom.... BUZZ LIGHTYEAR... this by far was Hunter's favorite ride.


BUZZZZZ LIGHT YEAR!!!!!

The Haunted Mansion... was spooky and refreshing from the HOT HEAT.
Hunter was convinced there was a Ghost horse attached to the carriage. :)


Parade time... Henry caught the attention of lots of characters.









Monarail... Hunter loved to ride monarail. It went through our hotel and he just thought that was the neatest thing. Hunter was able to see so much from up high. Oh how magical for a 5 yr old.


Pirates!!!

ANIMAL KINGDOM ~

Ladies!!! I found the fountain of YOUTH!!Nice, what a way to travel....
All in a days work...







HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS...
Hunter was sooooo excited to meet Handy Manny and the Little Einsteins.



Pool Day....

Hunter and a friend got to use the magical mickey hands to start the fountains at the pool. They loved it!!

Captain Hunter.. we rode the boat around to see the other resorts. It was the perfect day!
Our Boat Ride..

Easy daddy, picking on the little guy...
So curious...







We had a great time on our family vacation, thanks Steve for such a wonderful weekend surprise. It truly was a "Magical weekend for Hunter".

GIGGLES

Parable of the Grape Tree

Parable of the Grape Tree
By Catherine Keddington Arveseth
http://www.ldsmag.com/lds-church-updates/article/6403?ac=1

The shock on her face was visible. My oldest daughter (age 5) burst into the kitchen shouting her discovery. “Mom! We have a grape tree in our backyard!” I looked at the delicate bounty dangling from her fingers and sure enough, it was a cluster of perfectly round concord grapes. Her twin sisters, hot on her heels, bounded up the stairs to thrust their own prize under my nose. I stopped swiping food from the boys’ high chairs and followed them outside to our unruly backyard.

Two months ago we moved into a new (old) house. The backyard, along with everything else, spoke neglect. But I loved the ornate brick wall, the long stretch of grass for kids to run on, the winding perimeter of a garden. It was a weedy garden but I hoped to reclaim it – turn it into something colorful, maybe even fruitful.

The girls ran to the wall, jumping, pointing, picking and plopping. One grape after another disappeared into their mouths as they chattered about this splendid surprise growing outside their bedroom windows.
I hadn’t even noticed the vine. But there it was – tall and tangly, bent by the weight of lip-puckering grapes. I let the girls pick their own stash, rinse them in the sink and put them on the table for dinner. In a world where children can grow up believing all food grows in grocery stores, the “grape tree” (inappropriately named for it’s soaring tree-like structure) was a novelty at our house for days.

A week later while washing dishes in the kitchen, I looked out at the grape tree and noticed a fleck of pink. No orange. Wait – maybe it was red. I squinted and leaned forward. Handfuls of sunset orbs hung from the vine. They looked like peaches. But how?

I hurried out to the tree and sure enough – awkwardly perched in the highest branches of the vine were peaches in threes. “Girls! We have a peach tree growing out here!” I lifted them up one at a time to feel the unmistakable fuzz of a peach.

Then I bent down to inspect the root system. A bunch of slender trunks were clumped together. Two appeared to be the vine, one I traced upward to a lonely peach limb, and another, to my surprise, was a gangly old plum tree. Over time, it seemed that the vine had slithered its way up both trees, wrapping and


curling, until both plum and peach were almost completely disguised.

Two weeks after our grand discovery, the grapes sweetened and neighbor children carted them home in pails. Tonight, we cut into our first peach and savored every slice.

How can nature go so boldly against the law of the harvest? No pruning, thinning, training, or attention. Nothing deliberate or sweat-inducing. Yet the tree bore fruit. Delicious, generous, and without price.

One look at my own spiritual vineyard and I see a similar neglect. Birthing our second set of twins this last year has been more than intense. I haven’t made it to the temple, haven’t fasted regularly, and it’s rare when I can stay for an entire block of church. My scripture study has been less than stellar and my sleepy personal prayers seem to fall short.

I am immersed in my children. It is that season. But maybe there is a parable at work here. Maybe I am like the grape tree – still bearing fruit (although disguised to most), still growing, still reaching for light.

I can feel the Lord of the Vineyard nearby, pruning and digging about. So I kneel weary and make my meager but best offering. To my surprise, He presses fruit into my palm – delicious, generous, and more than enough.

“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5).

Family Home Evening...

http://www.ldsfamilyfun.com/

THIS IS THE SHORT VERSION: There is a longer version for older kids.


1. Sing: Children’s Songbook #176 “Tell Me, Dear Lord.”


2. Read: Exodus 3:10-12

“Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.

And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?


And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.”

3. Watch: Watch chapter 11 from the animated Complete Learning System Moses DVD. (Video clip is also
provided for viewing online.)

4. How did Moses find out what the LORD wanted him to do? (Discuss ideas.)

“God called unto him out of the midst of the bush...” (Exodus 3:4)

5. What did the LORD tell Moses He wanted him to do?

(Discuss ideas.)

God told Moses to tell Pharaoh to release the children of Israel. Moses said, “Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh...” (Exodus 3:11)


6.How did Moses react to the LORD’s request? (Discuss ideas.)

Moses complained of being slow of speech and was reluctant to perform the mission God had called him to do. (Exodus 4:10)

President Hinckley taught, “It is not always easy to be obedient to the voice of the Lord. We may feel inadequate, but we can draw comfort from the conversation Moses had with Jehovah, who called him to lead Israel out of Egypt... “Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say” (Ex. 4:12). Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, Jul 1995 © Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.

7. Have you ever had feelings of inadequacy when you’ve been asked to do something? (Discuss ideas.)

8.How can the story of Moses’ conversation with the LORD help us overcome our feelings of inadequacy? (Discuss ideas.)

“God gives us messages of instruction or encouragement to enable us to do His will. Often this is to prepare us for a specific task. This was the case with Moses in the message of the burning bush. We should keep our lives in order so that when we receive a burning bush type of message telling us what the Lord wants us to do we will be able to respond.” James E. Faust, Liahona, May 2004 © Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.

9. Why is it important to do what the Lord asks us to even if we are afraid? (Discuss ideas)

“If we will try with faith and prayer and resolution, we can accomplish great good, especially for our own souls. May we be willing and obedient, that we may eat the good of the land. (Isa. 1:19) May we place our trust in our Father in Heaven, to go forth with


What you need:

A copy of the of the “Burning Bush” activity (art work included with this lesson) scriptures, tape and scissors.



Preparation:

1. Print out the “Burning Bush” activity.

2.Cut out.

3. Tape the four sections of the bush together by overlapping edges to match.




Prep Time: 3 minutes

Cook Time: 2 minutes
Directions:

1.Combine milk, sugar, butter and cocoa in medium sauce pan.
2.Cook on medium until mixture boils; stirring continually.
3.Continue stirring while mixture boils for two minutes.
4.Remove from heat. Add vanilla.
5.Stir in chow mein noodles until completely covered with chocolate mixture.
6.Drop tablespoonsful of the mixture onto large sheet of wax paper to form chocolate bushes.

Ingredients:

•1/2 cup milk
•2 cups sugar
•1 cube butter or margarine
•1/4 cup baking cocoa
•1 t. vanilla
•3 cups chow mein noodles
•1 cup candy corn

Treat Time:

Give each family member a chocolate bush. Press leaf flames (candy corn) onto your bushes to create your Burning Bush cookie.

Spray Paint

I just love spray paint.

It amazes me that I can get a project done with just ONE can of spray paint.

My new project is Henry's room. We are changing it to be more a "kids room" rather than a guest room.

We first did it as a "big boy room more geared for a guest, no real cute fun stuff. Then I decided, hello it is Henry's room more than when we have guest.

So you know me.... I'm changing his room. I'm pretty excited!!!

The completed project pics will come sooooon, here is a sneak peak of the new bedding colors, (green, cream and brown)!

Ruffles and Roses

Cute shirts from "Downeast Basics"... I'm slowly getting into all the fluff on the shirts. They always look so cute on everyone else. :)

Our little monkey Henry

Henry is our little monkey! He climbs on everything and the other day I found him on top of one of the tables in the living room. He sure does use his resources and used the couch to climb right up. He had that look like "i'm king of the room". It was cute but scary, this baby has no fear... just so curious.

Today after nap time I went to get him and I was greeted with a wet diaper in his hand and smile on his face. That little stinker got his diaper off and was so proud of himself. SO GLAD IT WAS ONLY PEE!! :)

Oh we just adore our little man!!!!