M-I-C-K-E-Y---M-O-U-S-E!!!! (THE SEQUEL)

Here are the rest of the pictures from our trip. We sure had a good time and already miss the ocean.

Notice how many people are in front of the castle? That's what it was like throughout that area of the park, nice and close...

Here she is with Sleeping Beauty
and Cinderella

Our first beach day at Fort DeSoto. The photo just doesn't do it justice. It was the least crowded place we went the entire time. There were only around 6 other people on the entire beach, none of them close to us.

MMF just before her first step into the ocean.

There go her monkey toes.

She had no fear.

And then when she needed to go potty, without warning the suit came off so she could pee in the ocean. Good thing we were almost alone.

Instead of a sand castle we made a sand elephant. You have to use your imagination and look closely. The seaweed is his hair.

The Shamu rocks show from Seaworld

Shamu

Here is how tired she was after Seaworld. See her holding her cup of water? She took a drink, mumbled something to me while I turned around to get a story to read and this is what I saw when I turned back.

Our last beach day, spent at Clearwater.

This big carousel was in a mall where we went shopping the day before we left. Of course she just had to ride it!

Saying goodbye to Brownie and Nala the day we left.

MMF giving Brownie a little extra love.

M-I-C-K-E-Y---M-O-U-S-E!!!!!!

So Missy Monkey Feet and I recently made the trip out to Florida to visit some family and of course, take Disney World by storm. We started out with a great sense of the unknown and adventure. We worried about MMF's first airplane trip though. Here's what she thought of it..

This was our view from MMF's seat. All she could say was "Wow!"
Here is where her mouth started and running, and sadly never stopped.

The castle on our way out. You guessed it. She was still talking.

This is a dumbo ride she had to get on. Notice we're never far from the castle.

MMF on the dumbo ride. Notice the princess dress. She wore it for 3 days.

Here she is exploring Minnie Mouse's house.

And after only 1.5 short hour(s) in line, the 2minute pentacle of MMF's life... getting to meet the princesses. This is her with Sleeping Beauty.

The Cinderella twins!

MMF and Belle

This is from Sea World. It's a walrus from one of the shows.

MMF at Clearwater Beach.

Our trip home.

Hello Mom.

So notice that I didn't post anything about Mother's Day? There are a couple of reasons why. It's still a really hard day for me. This last one made the 7th one without my Mother. It still seems unnatural. It has not gotten better over the years, just different. I am happier to celebrate it since I became a mother myself, but it still stings a little. I mentioned a couple of reasons for not posting. The other is that I was waiting on something to happen. Some of you already know about this but for the benefit of those who don't, (and for my own entertainment) there is a story. Yes, it's a true story.

My Mother had a gorgeous peony "bush". Honestly, the thing was so old it was huge. The blooms were humongous and were a beautiful pink color. I always loved when it bloomed in the spring. Mom hated it. Absolutely hated it. Every year before it could finish blooming, usually, she cut them down, mowed over them, weed-whacked them, whatever it took to get rid of them. I caught her executing the thing on more than one occasion over the years. Anyway I always grumbled about it with her because I hated seeing her do that. I loved that plant/bush! When she passed away I decided that I wanted to take that plant home with me. I dug out as much of its roots as I could and packed it the best I could to make the trip home. We had just built a new house and I had no landscape so I thought it would be a great addition and give me something beautiful every spring to remind me of Mom. It made it home okay and I planted it. The following spring it sprouted but didn't get very big. The next year, same thing, and so it went. I had convinced myself over the years that it would never bloom because Mom didn't like the thing. You had to know her to know that at times she could seem to be pretty stubborn. My sisters both told me to forget it. They said that since Mom couldn't stand the thing it had finally given up the ghost. Two years ago in the fall, I decided to take the chance to move it. I moved it to the front of my house. I talked to it. I asked Mom, as I had every year, to give up her hatred of that beautiful plant and just watch it bloom, for pete's sake! Last spring it shot up out of the ground. It got bigger than it ever has, but still no blooms. I decided instead of trimming it in the fall, to leave it intact throughout the winter, hoping that it would somehow help it along. I really felt despair that it would probably never bloom. Honestly, it was like admitting that every little part of Mom was really, truly gone. This spring however, the thing shot up out of the ground and got even bigger than last year. And the most amazing thing happened. It had two blooms! I was ecstatic! I waited until they were at their peak and took several pictures. Honestly, the day I checked it and found those little blooms all I could think to say was, hello Mom. Thanks so much for helping this bloom.

What made the difference this year? Why did it finally bloom? Why did I get the idea to move it after so many years? Why did I even keep trying to keep it alive in the first place? Why when it finally did bloom, did it have only 2? I don't know. I just don't. But this is what I do know. We are all getting older. Sadness, sickness and loss has and continues to touch our lives- all of us. Last year cancer touched our lives through an aunt. Everyone felt so helpless. All any of us could do was pray and support her the best we could. Heavenly Father heard us, because she survived her bout and is fine now. This year the unwelcome disease came knocking at her sister's door, which happens to be my mother-in-law. I have to say that when we got the news it seemed surreal to me. I have always equated losing a Mother with losing my mother. My husband's mother is too healthy to have anything serious wrong with her. She's also pretty young, so shouldn't have anything to worry about affecting her health for a long time to come. The truth of it is that none of us should take our lives for granted. I certainly took hers for granted. I had never even given much thought to my relationship with her, I am sorry to say. We've always gotten along well and I love her, but I had no idea what she meant to me until recently. As soon as there was a plan of action for her to have surgery and we were given a date there was never a question in my mind whether or not I should be there. Everyone's schedules and distances from home being what they are, I never even bothered to call any of the family to ask what they thought. I gave orders that I would be with her throughout the procedure and stay with her until I was satisfied that it was okay to leave her. It wasn't until I had decided this that I realized for the first time really that his (my husband's) family is my family too, and that she (his Mother) is my Mother too. We were so blessed that the ordeal went very well overall, and that she felt pretty good in a couple of days, so I was able then to return home to my daughter and husband. I can't help feeling a little different about my other "Mom" now. I know that even though she and her family don't really talk about their feelings or openly express them to one another very often, while my family is made up of a bunch of blubbering, call-you-out-to-talk-or-hug-it-out weirdos (self included), we are on this path together for a reason. Sometimes I still have a hard time feeling like I fit in but I just love them. The more thought I gave those 2 blooms I came to theorize that there were 2 to remind me that I am blessed with 2 Mothers. One is no longer with me here, but thankfully Heavenly Father gave me a spare. Love you Mom.

mmf and go-go 2006

mmf and go-go 2008..aren't they beautiful?

Open up and say AHHHH!

Sorry folks that it has been so long since the last entry. I got a new phone for mother's day and I still don't know about half of its capabilities. I have been getting better at taking pictures with it and I have earned the name "text queen". Anyway, I just figured out how to upload the photos to the computer (with some help from my personal computer guru hubby) so I will be blogging a lot over the next few days to catch everyone up on Missy Monkey Feet's goings on.

This is her second trip to the dentist. She sat in the big chair by herself this time and even though she was very scared she didn't cry or ask me to hold her. I was sooo proud of her for being such a big girl. See for yourself.

mmf relaxing in a massage chair just before her dental appointment

getting ready for the exam in the big chair
getting her teeth counted and inspected

getting her teeth brushed with raspberry toothpaste (that she picked out) then rinsed & suctioned

Bittersweet Symphony

Lots of things have been kind of bittersweet for us lately. Others have been, well, the same old song and dance. It's June again and more of our church family is moving on to start post-school lives throughout the country. While being very excited for them, it's still hard to see them go. Good luck to all our friends who moved on this year.

Another bittersweet ending was Missy Monkey Feet's first year of preschool. Here are some pictures of the end-of-year picnic.

Missy Monkey Feet with the greatest teacher in the world, Miss Michele.

Here he is folks- one of MMF's biggest crushes this year, Canyon and one of her friends, Erin.

MMF with Miss Lois, another teacher from school who didn't retire this year but decided not to show up next year, according to her.
MMF and Abigail. These are a couple of turkeys if ever I saw any.

Here she is with Veronica, and below with another Abagail from her class.

Now this is an interesting picture that comes with a story. She was playing with her Daddy. This is a new dress-up outfit, Barbie Veterinarian. She decided here to just be a "reglar" doctor. I was fixing dinner and listening to her conversation with Daddy. It went like this:

"Sir how are you feeling today? I know you're busy so I left my office and rode the school bus over here to see you." She started her exam by taking his temperature in his ear. "Hmmm, your temperature is 25lbs." Daddy started asking questions at this point about her cedentials. He asked her if she'd attended medical school. "Yes. I go to doctor school every day on the school bus." Daddy-"But you have dog bones on your coat and it says pet doctor."

MMF-"Well, do you have a sick dog I can see?" She didn't even miss a beat.

Here right in the middle of things, a pleasant visit from cousin Em. Here they are playing together. Em decided to stay "nudie" all morning here. They had fun together and we enjoyed spending time with family. Just for you Em, APPLESAUCE!!!!!!!!!!!

Another bittersweet moment. One of our sister missionaries was transferred. This was the night before she left. She came over to visit with us one last time. We'll miss her lots.

This picture is stuck in here because I've always heard that filthy kids reflect a day of pure fun. Let me tell you, this picture does no justice to the layer of dirt on this child's feet and legs. It was the dirtiest I've ever seen her. She had a full day of playing that day and definitely left a ring around the tub that night. She has named her swings, by the way. They are Denture and Blackie. Don't ask. I don't know.

Just how into the princess thing is she? WAY!! Here she is dressed up like Cinderella watching a video that teaches you to dance on this princess mat. I don't know whether to thank Michelle or be mad at her for giving it to her. I had to endure this video 7 times the first day she had it. Right in the middle of working on her dance steps around the 5th. time we'd seen this the dog barked and startled her making her exclaim, "great Caesar's ghost!" I truly don't know where she comes up with this stuff.