We LOVE vacations...the beach!

The second week of our vacation we spent at the beach. Eliza enjoyed the pool more than the beach but she still had fun. She wasn't a big fan of the sand or the very loud waves!

This was an afternoon thunderstorm making it's way over us. Each day they cleared out the pool and we watched the storm come in. Pretty awesome storms over the ocean!

I'm pretty sure that I'd be fine with doing this every day!

Too cute! How in the world do they grow soooo fast!?

Daddy/daughter afternoon naps by the pool.
This is the way to start each day...go down to the beach, find a nice spot, read, sun bathe, and soak up the sun!

Eliza being a happy girl at the beach!

Eliza and daddy enjoying the waves. People kept asking us how we got her to keep her glasses AND hat on all the time. Answer: I have NO idea. She would just do it!

We LOVE vacations...Orlando!

We spent the weekend in Orlando. Mom's three brothers that live in Florida, and some of their families, came and spent Saturday with us. It was great to see them!

We spent the day visiting, playing games...

catching up on sleep...

and just relaxing by the pool!

Eliza has always LOVED her baths so we were curious how she would react to her first time in a swimming pool. She's like a fish! She couldn't get enough of it!

The house we stayed at had a private pool/hot tub. We hurried to use it in between rain showers!

Eliza even enjoyed the hot tub! But don't worry...it was the temperature of a bath tub. It took an hour to get really hot so we took her in before it was too warm.

We LOVE vacations...Disney World!

Our first week in Florida was spent at Disney World. But even torrential downpours don't keep us away! We had a blast visiting the parks and and enjoying the happiest place on earth!

No Disney trip would be complete without a giant turkey leg! Yummy!

This is in front of Eliza's very first ride...Finding Nemo. Yeah for rides that she could go on!

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at Epcot.

Mom and Dad thought it would be fun to stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge...and it was! It was amazing to look outside our room at this! The Savannah was our "backyard!" Eliza absolutely loved watching the animals. She would "talk" to them and point at them. We saw a lot of animals but especially liked the giraffes and zebras.

Eliza loves her grandparents! Thanks mom and dad for a wonderful vacation and for helping me with Eliza so much! We always make great memories on our family vacations!

This is actually a view from the opposite side of where our room was. We'd go back in a heart beat!

Aunt Elayna and Eliza posing for a picture while looking for animals.

Hansel and Gretel

While we were eating dinner the other night we turned to look at Eliza and saw the creation she had made. We're not sure if she was wanting to save her bread for later or not, but she made a mohawk type trail of bread crumbs on the top of her head. I'm trying to think if we read Hansel and Gretel recently...

Garden...check!

On our list of many things to do has been finish our garden. Well, we finally did. Our makeshift path is done and plants are planted. We planted tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, onions, and a watermelon. The watermelon is our experiment so hopefully it grows!

This is our iris plant that some how seems to be flourishing in our Seattle like weather. With the amount of rain, clouds, and wind we've received lately it's a wonder any of our plants are growing!

Happy Mother's Day!

I had a very nice Mother's Day...and the best part was that Darran didn't have his early morning meetings so I had him home with me on a Sunday morning! (He made really yummy crepes for us too!) We went to my parents ward to hear Dallin speak and enjoyed the rest of the day visiting with family. Darran and Eliza gave me beautiful flowers and some exercising equipment. But the most wonderful thing about Mother's Day was that I'm a bonafied mother...finally!

Welcome Home Dallin!

Dallin returned from his mission in Brazil yesterday! We were so excited to see him and are so proud of his hard work!

Eliza got to meet her Uncle Dallin for the first time!

How Dallin stayed awake after traveling so long we don't know! When he got home he had been traveling almost 24 hours! He arrived at 1:30, was released as a full time missionary at 3:00, and then reported to the High Council at 8:20 that night! A long day...but aren't missionaries used to that?!

Eliza took a liking to him right away! Of course, when you have shiny things on your jacket you are an instant shoo in! Welcome home Dallin! We love you!

Softball season has begun!

Darran had his first softball game of the season yesterday. Eliza seemed pretty excited to watch him and didn't even mind the ever present blustery wind of the Tri-Cities.

Go Daddy!

Groundbreaking...

IWI broke ground on the lot next door to the office. So Daddy helped Eliza shovel up some dirt to help with the process. Looks like she's going to enjoy getting down and dirty!

Bad hair day!

Eliza had some crazy hair on Sunday after waking up from a nap. I had to post the picture above because she's making the cheesiest face. But the picture below shows a little better how wild and crazy the hairdo was!

Desperate times call for...Spongebob?

Way to early on Sunday morning we were rudely awaken by the fire alarm battery in our room dying. So of course, every couple of minutes it beeps a noise that just makes your skin crawl. After searching for the spare battery we thought we had Darran decided to be clever. He switched the battery with another fire alarm downstairs so that at least it wouldn't be so loud. By this time he had to get ready and out to his early Sunday morning meetings. When I went downstairs later this was what I found: a miniature version of Spongebob Squarepants taped to the fire alarm. Since the battery was of course still dying, even though it was in another alarm, he thought maybe he could muffle this consistent, annoying beep. It worked! Lesson learned: Desperate times call for desperate measures...which sometimes means Spongebob to the rescue!

Soaking up the sun!

Could this chubby, toothy grin be any cuter!? Eliza and I enjoyed the warm weather yesterday and spent some time outside. She wore her hat and sunglasses the whole time! I was impressed. She sure does love being outside...and since the weather is supposed to take a turn for the worst we had to take advantage. Yea for the sun!