Florida Part 3

On Sunday morning, Kim and family headed for home. Later that morning, we headed to church. Since everyone looked so nice, I decided to try a little photo shoot with the kids.

I love all the pretty flowers in my parents' yard. I also like how sweet Morgan looks giving me a little hug.

No swimming on Sundays but a little dipping of toes won't hurt.

I bought this West Point ARMY outifit when Cody and I visited West Point while I was pregnant with Morgan. I found it when I was going through clothes and thought I should put Hazel in it for when I was at my parents'. All day I kept feeling like she was a baby boy. I think I'll stick to girl clothes:)

A little photo shoot with the two babies who were playing on the floor.

All of Jill's girls were sick while we were in Florida. I don't think we caught Kate on a very good day.

I love Hazel's expression. Kate can get a little over zealous with her loving.

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This squishy face went a little too far but Jane has a cute look.
Here's a video of a little dance party Jane and Pepper had. Always a fun tradition for Jill and me.

Pepper doing a little sunbathing in the shade. My kind of sunbathing!

Morgan's turning into quite the merman.

On Monday afternoon, I took Pepper and Ali to get pedicures. Pepper is such a girly girl. She wanted the full treatment and got the lady to wash her feet before painting them. By the end she had used her cuteness to get a juice box and a pillow for her back.

She also insisted on getting her fingernails done as well. I love it!

This was Ali's first real pedicure and eyebrow wax. I'm glad I was there to share it with her. She looks like she settled in to pampering with no problems.

Our pretty pink toes. Ali even went for the flower detail.

Auntie Jill is always a trooper about getting into the pool with everyone.

Pepper got a new Tinkerbell phone and light up flip flops. This girl thinks she should be a teenager already.

For Christmas I got Jill a game called Enchanted Forest that we loved playing when we were little. We never owned it but our best friends, two sisters, had it at their house. I've always wanted it. It was fun to play it again. I also love how Hazel looks like she is a big girl and took a break from the game to give me a big smile.

Monday night, Jill and the girls came over for a sleepover. It turned out to be a rough night because of sickness. But overall I think everyone had fun going to bed together and having breakfast together.

Tuesday afternoon, we headed over to the Orlando Temple to do some sealings for my dad's family. Earlier, Nathan was baptized for my grandather who passed away last Memorial Day. Then my dad did the rest of the work. So, on this afternoon Jill, my dad and I were able to seal my dad's parents, grand-parents and his brother, Lee to his parents. As always, it was a bit stressful coordinating all the little ones but in the end so worth it. I really felt the spirit strongly when my Uncle Lee was sealed to his parents. I am so grateful for the fullness of the gospel in our lives and for eternal families!

Ali, as always, was a trooper and so helpful. She, my mom and another beehive from my mom's ward, Shari, took care of the kids while we were in the temple. Not an easy thing to do with no visitor center and a hot Florida summer afternoon.

On the way home, after dinner at CityWalk. Pepper has finally given up naps  but is still adjusting. We get a bit grumpyand emotional by the end of the day.

Nothing a peace sign and kissy face can't solve.

My mom rode with Jill and her girls but for the last little big had to sqeeze in with us. I sat backwards on the floor. Not a good idea. It took all of five minutes before I wanted to hurl. Hazel liked having company though.

Wednesday the 14th was our last day. That morning I took Pepper and Hazel and headed over to Lisa's home to spend some time with her and the girls. Little Sophia has a very, very serious allergy to milk and it has become to dangerous and stressful to come over to my parents' home and spend time with everyone. The girls had a blast playing together. 

Leilani was still napping when we got there but Hazel enjoyed time with Auntie Lisa.

This is kind of a flashback of sorts, except that Jill and Lisa were babies together. Besides that if you were ever wondering what it would look like if Lisa and I were babies together...this is pretty much it. These two are our clones.

Hazel is very excited about spending time with a cousin her size.

After the temple, we headed over to Universal CityWalk for dinner and a little shopping. All the kids loved the moving sidewalks. Alice decided to take it a bit slower with the help of Papa. Alice was the sickest for the last few days we were there. Poor girl.

It was hard to keep Morgan and Jane from just taking off on us.

We were all starving so we headed straight over to Margaritaville for dinner. It looked like a storm was coming but since the outdoor eating area was covered we thought we'd be okay.

The kids and me with Shari.
I've known her since she was born. I cannot believe how big she is now. Jill and I also figured out that Shari and Ali were born while we were at Ricks College. When did we get so old?!

The storm was starting to get a bit out of hand.

Not looking good.
It finally got so crazy bad, it was like a small tropical storm, that we were forced to run inside. They didn't have space for us so we just stood in the walkway and watched everyone else sit and eat. Our food was ready so they brought out the kids food in togo boxes. Luckily, it didn't take too long for the storm to pass, thank you Florida weather, and we headed back outside for a very nice meal.
Here's a little video of the storm:

My mom and dad enjoying their meal.

The storm had passed, we were all full and ready to shop. There were also some sprinklers Morgan and Pepper were anxious to try out. So they ended up getting soaked anyway:)

Pepper, always on the look out for princess attire.

Sweet little Alice. Her high fevers had made her eye bloodshot if you are wondering why she looks a bit weird. Her eye even starting bleeding the night they slept over. Crazy!

Jane and Kate catching a wave on the way out.

Well, that is pretty much most of our trip in picture form. There were lots of other moments not captured on film. Lots of fun cousin/family time and good food. I try to make sure I capture everything on film but with so much going on it is not always easy. This trip was even extra special because Ali joined us. We had so much fun swimming and playing with her, I even got Ali to appreciate Poirot mysteries. On Thursday morning, we got up super early again and headed to the airport. Both flights went well and Robin, Cris and Andie met us at the Dayton airport. They took us out to lunch and then back to their house. The kids burned off some energy while I repacked, nursed Hazel and got us ready for the 3 hr trip home. Cody was out of town so it was kind of a bummer to head home to an empty house but it was good to get home to our own beds.

These are some pics I just got from Ali's ipod.
Ali had never been to swimming in the ocean before so she took some pics from her first trip.
Here's Benny and Morgan doing a body/boogie board surfing.

Pepper playing in the waves.

All the kids thought Ali was super cool and loved anything that was hers. Here's Pepper trying on her glasses.

Super fly Morgan.

Most days we took after dinner walks, either around the neighborhood or the beach. I usually make Pepper walk at home but Ali was nice enough to push Pepper.

Entering CityWalk

This is Pepper and Morgan at the splash pad after dinner and the mini storm.

Posing on the surfboard.
Killer moves.

Peace ya'll!

Thanks to all our family for making this such a special and fun trip. We love you all!