This blog gives off vibes that tells that it has been neglected. Of course, it wasn't purposeful and I wish that I didn't feel the overwhelming urge to go back to document it. But, I do, because maybe it's important. This is a bit of a recap of some of the bigger things that have been happening in our lives.

-    Our final Disney trip as Annual Passholders. Sigh. As soon we finish up I always immediately want to renew, but this was our second full year with them and I think we need a change. Not to mention we barely have any free time as it is! So another year bites the dust and I already miss the snacks at Epcot. We will absolutely be back, c'mon yall know we are WDW lovers, but who knows when.

-     I was blessed to be able to experience General Conference in Salt Lake City for the April 2016 session! As a little girl I dreamed of my time in SLC, the only real destination I had to see, joyous with the though of hearing the organ and MoTab accompaniment. My Mama, sister Listi, Aunt Tracey and I spent one week out and about the area, too. We had such an amazing time in this marvelous place! We were able to ride snowmobiles on top of a mountain, which caused us to laugh until we cried & could barely walk for all of the layers of clothes we had on. We made the briefest of pit stops in Wyoming, check out the overalls. And lastly, we saw, hallelujah, the Prophet who was physically in much better condition than before, as well as other General Authorities. It was our last huzzah to commemorate Listi as a Sister Missionary.

-    We celebrated 3 years of marriage! Wait, for real? I scratched my head all day on April 13th trying to figure out how it has happened. Sometimes it seems like we just got married and walked into our apartment for the first time, but nope, 3 years happened somewhere in between. The weekend after the actual date Graham planned a fun little scavenger hunt to some of our favorite places! It was really Sweet (Pete's was one of our stops ;). We rounded out the night with a swanky dinner at Matthew's in San Marco- you'll spy ahi tuna with caviar in the last photo. Thanks Graham, 3 years wed and I still love you to pieces!

-    I was in a wedding! Miranda, one of my longest and most beloved friends, tied the knot last month and invited me to be her Matron of Honor. I happily accepted :) There was a gorgeous ceremony and reception on the beach in St. Augustine. It was truly a joy to be apart of it. There were also some very sentimental pieces in honor of our 3rd best friend Nicole, who passed in 2014. This one day was jam packed with so much nerves, love and celebrating, it was wonderful- congrats again Jeremy and Miranda! (Also, these pictures were all taken with my phone, one day I hope to add a professional picture or two,)

 -    If you've kept up with us on social media, you'll know that we recently got back from a big vacation in England and France. We love Europe, even with stress up to our eyeballs we enjoy it so much that we already are trying to figure out if we can go again next year to a new place to invite more stress! But it really is fun to just get away with just the 2 of us working hard to have a great time on the other side of the world. There is many photos and memories I hope to share in the next post, be on the look out! In the meantime you'll see a picture of us waiting to board a train into France from England where we very nearly missed our train by not understanding that we should have arrived 1 hour prior to go through security and 2 sets of Customs. Instead we showed up 30 minutes early, squandered 15 of that to find the right departure places only to find out about the necessary hou. The sheer grace of God was shown on us and allowed our train to be late enough to ensure that  we didn't have to go through the drama and anxiety of buying new tickets, re-evaluating plans and wasting time. These are faces of relief and happiness.

Birthday Weekend 2015

    For my birthday, I had decided to do something low-key but still fun. As many times as we have been to Walt Disney World, we have never stayed at one of the themed resorts on property. There was a special Fall discount that we took advantage of and we booked 2 nights at the Coronado Springs!

    Then we made reservations for a birthday lunch at Le Cellier. This restaurant is a steakhouse in the World Showcase in the Canada area. We both had a wonderful Canadian meal- complete with poutine! After that we spilled around the park for a minute before checking into our room. We took a quick nap then came back to enjoy the Food and Wine festival. Graham and I tried things from New Zealand, South Korea, Italy, Japan and Germany. It was really so much fun! We kicked off 24 with a great start. 

    The remainder of the weekend we rotated between visiting each of the other parks. The heat wasn't too overwhelming, luckily. Instead it was fairly overcast and windy. Besides the Brown Derby that we ate for lunch on Saturday, we nibbled here and there, but G+I really kept our amount of sweets down! We shared everything besides 1 square of caramel that I kept for myself :)

    I know we do visit WDW very often but I still enjoy it every time. 

Epcot:

Hollywood Studios:

 Magic Kingdom:

Animal Kingdom:

Girls Trip to Disney

  

    Two weeks ago 3 ladies, 2 babies, 1 double stroller. 3 suitcases, a breast pump and pumpkin shaped cookies were thrown into one car for a girls trip down in Orlando, Florida, home of the Mouse. The three of us took turns driving the car, wedged in the back seat between the car seats and pushing the stroller all over Magic Kingdom. We ate as much as we wanted. We rode roller coaster and kiddie rides alike. Our time at the MK was short; we finished up fast passes,enjoyed a Dole Whip, watched the parade and took pictures of Echo and Sophie in front of Cinderella's castle. Both of those smiley girls were fantastic all day! Afterwards, we hit up our hotel, huge shoutout to Molly for arranging it! I picked up an order from Olive Garden and we stayed up past our normal bedtimes to talk late into the evening. It was here when I found about Acey's ordeal at the MTC, I was pretty emotional about it all, so I really appreciated Kipin+Molly's words and our joint prayer more than they know.

    On the second day we knew that our main objective was to rush Epcot's Food and Wine Festival. Before the World Showcase opened we jumped on Mission to Mars and Test Track while the babies listened to the street performers. Afterwards blinders were on and to the countries we went! Basically, with the 20 or so little booths with their own appetizers our objective was to eat through as many euphonious ones as possible. Obviously we care nothing for the spirits, but were extremely interested in buying trying other country's food! We ate from the Dominican Republic, Hawaii, Canada, France, Belgium, Germany, New Zealand. They were all so delish! By the time we made our way back around, we did a half circle again for the French ice cream. By this point my feet were about to fall off and I was sick with worry about my brother. We collectively decided to come back home. 

    It's so nice to have friends, you know?. Having people who really care about you is always a peaceful feeling- especially when they're also really witty and outgoing! I loooved our girls' trip and can't wait for the next one :)

New Zealand's Venison Marsala w/a sweet potato. 

Acey's Disney Send Off

    It's the final countdown, dun-dun-dun-dun-DUN-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun wooooah! Acey leaves two weeks from Tuesday for New Zealand. It's been hectic with everyone trying to jam in as much time with him as possible. Even being his sister, I've had to pencil myself into his schedule. 

     Disney World is a place that we all enjoy. Acey specifically requested one last trip with us all. We had the tickets purchased, Fast Passes arranged and everything was lined up. Until the biggest wrench was thrown into our plan. (This story is too good not to tell.)

    This past Thursday, Acey and a friend climbed 16 feet up into a tree stand to go deer hunting with his bow and arrow. Right before he stepped into the stand, a wasp buzzed around his head (apparently he is allergic, so que panic) and he frantically swatted it away. Well, with that motion he accidentally used the bow and arrow to poke the wasp nest. Naturally this caused an outcry and they began to attack him! He released his hold on the tree stand and fell to his doom in the underbrush beneath. He came out of it with a broken elbow on one arm and a broken wrist on the other arm. 

   But Disney could not wait, broken arms be danged! The 4 of us, decked out exclusively in BLUE, left for the happiest place on Earth. Acey was able to enjoy all of the roller coasters, shows, everything. We ate our packed snacks, tried 2 new restaurants and had 2 delicious Dole Whips. It's always a day filled with fun. 

    And here is our last sibling trip for a while. As I've said before, we are about to lose 50% of the original gang. It's a little sad and also very exciting. Life is always changing, never ever predictable. I really can't wait to see what's next.

Astro Orbiter:

Space Mountain:

Cinderella's Castle + Festival of Fantasy Parade:

Fantasyland:

Gaston's Tavern:

Dole Whip Magic:

Splash Mountain (Yes, we have ponchos):

Thunder Mountain:

Liberty Square (LOL at the one arm):

Disney After Dark:

Headshots w/ the Cinderella's Castle: