Florida

Last week, well I guess last last week, we were able to spend the week in Florida with my parents. We left Utah in a 30 degree snow storm and arrived in Florida to a humid 85 degrees. Livvy was a little tired after a day of flying.
On Sunday we went to my old ward, which doesn't really exist anymore. It had been split into three wards, so we attended one of them. We ran into some old friends while there and were able to catch up for a bit. Afterwards we drove out to our old house. We gave Marcus a tour of Windermere since he had never been there, and when we got to the old neighborhood someone was pulling in the gate so we were able to follow them in! My Mom didn't recognize our house and was only convinced after we pointed out the address on front. After that we drove past my high school, which had been rebuilt and now had a freeway going through some of the practice fields. It looked a little different. We had several cameras in the car, but of course none of us thought to take a picture of what used to be "way out there" and was now quite built up. Opps! After that we visited with a few more friends and then headed back to the condo.

On Monday we went to Magic Kingdom. Marcus had never been there, he had been to Disney Land in California once when he was about 5, and so we were excited for a day of fun. We had the usual 4pm - 6pm Florida rain storm and got a little wet, but other than that is was a great day.

Here is Marcus, Livvy and I in the stocks.

Livvy with Grandma and Grandpa on Aladdin.

Livvy and I in the Dumbo statue.

Livvy on Dumbo with Daddy.

Livvy LOVED the Tea Cups.

Such a strong baby and Daddy.

Livvy loved pointing out all the "Babies" and animals on Small World. Marcus was also pretty excited that it had "Goodbye" in Swahili.














Here we are as we are leaving in front of Cinderella's Castle. (Or for some, Sleeping Beauty's Castle.)


We took Livvy on just about every ride except, Space and Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain Railroad, and the kiddy roller coaster in Toon Town that she was 1 inch too short for. She wasn't quite sure what was going on at first, but quickly found her two favorite rides, the Tea Cups and Aladdin's Magic Carpet.


On Tuesday we decided to have an R&R day. The boys hung out and worked on their computers, and my mom and I went to the outlet mall just down the street and did some shopping. I got some clothes for Livvy, a great sweater for me, some Christmas stuff for Livvy, and new boots. It was a nice relaxing day with my mom.


On Wednesday after MUCH deliberation, we decided to go back to Magic Kingdom again.

Livvy all ready to go on the Tea Cups.

Yahoo! Wee!

Marcus and I on Thunder Mountain. The ride stopped as we were going up one of the hills and we sat there for like 5 minutes. Thought it would be a good time to take a picture.

Livvy was so excited about the "Duck-Duck" that she couldn't quite pull herself away to take a picture.

One of Marcus' few memories of Disney Land as a child is taking a picture with Donald Duck. Livvy doesn't know of care much about the Disney characters yet, so we decided to bypass all the character lines, with the exception on Donald.



Here we are in front of the fall inspired Mickey Mouse ears.



This is a little video of Livvy on the Tea Cups.




Thursday we decided to drive out the New Smyrna beach and play in the water. We built a sea turtle, the water was a little too wet for a sand castle. Livvy's favorite thing though was when we went into the water with Grandma Laurie and we "jumped" her over the waves as they would crash in. She laughed and laughed. After her little lips turned purple, we went up the sand to the park and warmed up. I was so busy having fun that I forgot to take pictures of this too. This is one Marcus got of Livvy chasing the birds.




Friday we again decided to have a down day as we had to leave early the next morning for the airport. That evening I was able to have dinner with one of my best friends from high school, her husband and two kids. Marcus and I hadn't rented a car since there was enough room in my parents car and so that night my parents got to drop us off for dinner. I felt a little like I was in high school again. I again didn't think to take any pictures. Livvy was having so much fun playing with a friend that I forgot to preserve the moment.


We also went by Downtown Disney and took pictures of the Lego creations. Here are a few sample for our two lego loving nephews. -We will show you the rest when you get here.-

We Moved In!

We moved into our new house last weekend. Marcus' parents and his sister and brother-in-law came up to help us this past week.

Here is the outside of the house.

Here is the kitchen.
Before
After


Here is Livvy's bathroom.
Before
After













This is the half bath after we painted it, but before anything was put in,
and then finished.













Here is Livvy's room.
Before
After

And finally the awesome shelves they built in the garage.

This picture of Livvy is just too funny. This is what she wanted to wear one day...

House

Just more pictures. Again, when we stopped by the house this past weekend workers were there. While I am very happy that they are working hard, even on a weekend, I was again a little disapointed not to be able to go inside. I really enjoy watching the process of building and watching the house evolve from a hole in the ground with cement and wood into a home. Oh well. They had all the siding done with the exception of just a bit in front and the trim work. It looked like the walls had been taped and mudded and I think they hung the doors inside as well. I'm sure more was done inside, but it is hard to know since we couldn't see it. Here is a picture of one of the side, as well as the front.




Also this weekend we, Jessi and AJ, Monica and Jon, and Marucs, Livvy and I, were able to go to the wedding reception of one of the girls Jessi and I went to High School with in Florida. We were able to catch up with lots of old friends there, it was like a giant reunion. Here is a picture of the three of us with the bride, Whitney. I didn't get any other pictures, opps!


Also earlier this week we took a couple pictures of Livvy being silly. Here she is with some toilet paper around her head.

House Update

We stopped by the house last night on our way to Orem and it looked like it had been a busy week. We got our windows installed, the insulation finished and drywall installed, and they were putting on the siding. Workers were still there, so we weren't allowed to go inside, so we only have outside pictures.

Ducky and Wheeler Farm

I think I mentioned that when we went to Lagoon Marcus won a giant duck for Livvy. Yes, I know it doesn't make such sense to "throw away" your money on those amusement park games, but if you have kids you might be familiar with doing things that don't make logical sense because it makes them happy. Anyway, here is a picture of Livvy with her duck-duck. She actually snuggles with him (or her, I'm not really sure) while she sleeps, and she enjoys body slamming it while she's not asleep.



This past week we went to Wheeler Farm with our play group. It is, I believe, a working farm, but you can go and pet the animals and feed some and there is lots of room to run around and be silly.




A bunch of the kids before we went in.




Livvy with the ducks.




Trying to hug a goose.




Trying to pet the sheep, who says "hahaha!" (As opposed to baaa.)




Looking at the chickens.




Carynn, Mckenna, Avery and Livvy sitting in a "tractor."




Livvy and Mckenna doing twirlies on the grass after lunch.




Ahh! I'm so dizzy, I can't stand up.






Here is the house update. They have the plumbing, venting, and electrical done. The roof is also done. They have framed where the bar will be in the kitchen as well as put in the ac and heater. They have also framed in the garage door and hung the exterior doors. They had just started insulating and had installed the hall bath tub/shower and the master bath soaker tub. (I only have pictures of some of it, because I didn't have my camera with me when I went out this past weekend.)




The venting in the ceiling upstairs.




The plumbing in the laundry room.




Aunt Jessi and Livvy in the master bath with the tub.




Looking at the house from outside. Check out that roof!