Day 2 ~ Atlanta, Georgia

Ahh, what a good night sleep. We were soo tired, but more importantly, we slept all night. We were relieved that my mom had slept all night. She wasn't any better, but wasn't any worse either. And that was a good thing. My dad, Josh and I all felt like we had had a really good work out. We were just a little sore and stiff, but not hurting. I had some broken blood vessels in my neck where the seat belt was, but it didn't hurt at all.

Since we lost out on the day yesterday of seeing things, we decided we wanted to drive by the Olympic Venue. Luckily, it was very close to our hotel. So we checked out in the morning after breakfast, and drove by. There was some market going on, so we decided not to get out. We also wanted to go by the Atlanta Temple. It was about a 1/2 hour drive, but we had some time before our 1:00 Braves Game. Yes, it was Sunday, but we were on vacation.

As we came around the corner to the temple we were VERY surprised that there were A LOT of people on the temple grounds, and a long line of people waiting to enter the temple.

Our first thought was that they must hold church meetings at this temple. As we entered the parking lot, there were ushers there and we asked them what was going on. He proceeded to tell us that the temple had been closed for the past 2 years and that it was getting rededicated today and that President Monson was inside. WHAT!!!! President Monson was inside. Amazing, we were slightly under dressed, ok a lot under dressed, but we parked the car anyway, and go out and walked around. It was such an amazing feeling to be on the grounds knowing that Pres. Monson was just right inside.

We once again felt blessed to be there, since it was supposed to be on yesterdays agenda.

We then felt a little guilty and left the temple for the Braves Game. My mom and dad want to visit all the Major League Baseball Stadiums and Turner Field is one that they hadn't been to yet.

That was the main reason for making this drive. We were so excited to be there. It was a beautiful day,

and we had great seats down the 3rd base line, but we decided to sit a little bit higher where there was some shade. I think it was about the 3rd inning that someone on the St. Louis team hit a foul ball that basically fell right into my dads lap. Hmm, so many crazy things this trip. He gave the ball to me, and then we decided to give it to the little boy a few rows up.

We stayed long enough for mom to do the Tomahawk Chop...and then we left.

We ate lunch and drove partway back to SC and stayed the night in Macon, Georgia. We weren't as tired tonight, ok maybe a little, but we were watching tv when they announced that President Obama had an announcement to make. Ok...what Bin Laden has been captured/killed. Crazy...this trip has been so eventful in the 48 hours that we have been here. Unbelievable.

Charleston, SC ~ Day 1

We were the lucky winners of a vacation with my parents this year. I picked the lucky box off the window seal on Christmas Day. Josh and I needed to "clear" our schedule, and then we were told where we were going. Charleston, SC, Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia, and Hilton Head, SC.

It took a lot of planning, and a lot of sacrifice from a lot of people that were watching our kids for 8 days to make this work. We are so grateful for them.

We took a Red Eye on Friday night April 29. We landed in Charleston, SC on Saturday morning at about 9:30. We rented a car, and started on our way to Atlanta for the Laser Light Show at Stone Ridge Mountain that evening. We had a few things we wanted to do around Atlanta that day, so we were anxious to get there. We were hungry of course and stopped to eat before too long. We got back on the highway but we were going a longer route because we wanted to drive my Augusta ~ where the Masters Golf Tournament is held.

My dad was driving about 45-50 on the 2-lane highway in a more rural area where the cross traffic to each little town has a stop sign. We were all awake and talking and my mom sitting in the front seat says "Paul, he's not stopping" and we all looked to our left and a man in a red truck ~ on his cel phone ~ has passed through the stop sign, passing the other lane of traffic (where there were luckily no cars) and is headed into our lane. For us to avoid T-Bone~ing him at 50 mph, my dad slams on his brakes and swerves to the right. I see the man barely miss the back of our car ~ where I am sitting ~ and we are headed off the road straight for the metal highway signs, and stop sign. The signs were straight in line with my dad and I, and I really just thought "This is it!!! We will hit these signs straight on." No one was screaming, my dad was talking, but calm, but my mom, Josh and I didn't say a word.

Some how....we missed those signs!! Our front left bumper hit them, and we just side swiped them, knocking off the side mirror. What a blessing. However, we are still traveling probably 40 mph off the side of the road. We immediately went into and out of a ditch ~airborne ~ for about 15 feet and landed about 30 feet from the entrance to the grove of trees. Can you picture the tree lined highways of South Carolina? They are HUGE trees, and since we didn't crash before, we thought we would for sure now. I had my hands over my face...I remember thinking so calmly in my head "please just make this car stop!!!" I knew my dad was driving, but I was also completely aware that we were not in control of this. I just wanted the car to stop. So I didn't actually see the trees I just knew they were there, but I do remember feeling the car make a hard right hand turn. And then I remember going back into the ditch and out again. Finally the car stopped. I was alive, so was everyone else. We paused for a brief second and the man that caused all of this was at the side of the road next to us. (but in his car)

At the time he was asking us if we were all ok, Josh jumps out of the car to go look at his license plate. My dad told him we were all alive at least and the man DID pull over to the side of the road behind us. We took a quick survey of us before we got out of the car, and only my mom was hurt. It was her back. She didn't want an ambulance, but was pretty sore trying to get out of the car. Josh called 911 and I called the car rental place. We were 2 hours from Charleston, and about 1 hour from Columbia. The rental place of course had never had this happen before, so it took some negotiating, and finally the Columbia agency was sending 2 people, and 2 cars to our location to bring us a new rental car. O ~ya did I mention that the car was pretty totaled? Front and back bumbers, cracked radiator and engine, just lots of damage. The tow truck place was also called.

If took nearly an hour for the Highway Patrol to get there. Apparently there was only 2 officers on duty covering 2 counties, and they were on the way opposite side....and there had already been 4 accidents that morning. However, when he did finally arrive, my dad and the other gentleman got out of their cars and came to him. The officer asked what happened and the other man said, "It was all me, I was on my phone and didn't see them." I will never forget those words, and I pray that I or anyone I know will never have to say those words to an officer. It took nearly 3 hours from start to finish to get things taken care of. My dad and Josh hitched a ride in the tow-truck and my mom and I hitched a ride in the police car to the tow truck shop to finish waiting for the rental car to come. (also the only time I plan on riding in a police car) and after we transferred all of our luggage and things into the new car, we were on our way again.

It would be an understatement to say we were all a little "jumpy" in the car. It was really quite crazy. It puts a lot of things in perspective, and we really just talked about the accident for quite a long time. Each of our "takes" on what we remember, and what was going through our heads. We know that there was more than just my dad driving the car, there was too many things that went "our way" in this situation. We were blessed, really blessed, we know that, and are forever grateful.

We made it into Atlanta, we arrived at the Laser Light Show about 45 minutes before it began, and it was nice to sit on the grass and relax for awhile. We were tired, exhausted, and made it to our hotel that night. We all fell asleep pretty quick. We were hoping mom would sleep good. That was going to be the BIG factor in the rest of our vacation.

You can see the path we took!!

Cracked engine and radiator.

Just how lucky we were to only side swipe these signs.

My Own Record

This post is only for me....well and for my family. This past Christmas Bishop Golightly challenged us as a Ward to read the Book of Mormon in 100 days. The youth in the Stake were doing it for the upcoming Trek and so he challenged us to do it as well. The Youth started it on December 10 and the challenge to us didn't come until right before Christmas.

I had already purchased the Family Book of Mormon that I was going to give the kids at Christmas, so we waited a few more days, and on Monday, after Christmas, for FHE, we talked to the kids about the challenge and if they wanted to try and do it. We told them it would take a lot of sacrifice to keep up with it EVERYDAY, and to not get behind, but not only that, we would have to make up extra days, for starting later than everyone else. They were up for it, they were excited, and they most of the time, kept us on track. So starting December 27, 2010, we were up at 6:30 every morning and reading by 6:45 and most days not finishing until 7:20. We often read in the evenings, and around the dinner table to try and make up the 17 days that we started behind. I couldn't believe we were really doing it. It wasn't even a fight with them. Kruz had his moments, but for the most part, he was right there with us. We read A LOT over the past 15-20 days, making up those lost days, but we were doing it. I can honestly say that we only forgot ONE day. It was a SUPER BUSY SATURDAY, and the day just got away from us. It was a little bit sad actually to get in bed that night knowing we had missed.

Well yesterday March 18, 2011 was the the final day. Josh had to read a little bit at work, and the kids and I had to read Moroni 7, 8, and 9 at home in the morning, but at 3:30 we picked up Josh from work and we drove to the Mesa Temple.

We took a blanket and the Book of Mormon and found a quiet place on our own to read the final chapter of the book together. Without going into the details, but doing exactly what the Book of Mormon has asked us each to do, I know for a surety that not only do Josh and I know that the Book of Mormon is true, but that my two girls are also sure that the Book of Mormon is true. I have no doubt in that and neither do they. I know Kruz was happy to be done, and that he was happy being there, and for as much as he can understand, he was reading with us every step of the way. I can only imagine how many more times that little guy will read this sacred book before he leaves on his mission in 14 years.

We had a great evening, celebrated with dinner, lots of arcade and fun games, ice cream, and a really late bedtime.

We did it...83 days...we read the Book of Mormon, unbelievable. We are so proud of our little family.

Pinnacle Award ~ San Antonio

Soo, many months ago Josh won a trip through work. It was really a miracle that he won, but it was the "Pinnacle Award" and the Grand Prize. We received an all expense trip to one of three locations. Our choices were San Antonio, San Diego, or Moab, Utah. We were given the "included" items for each trip and we we had about 2 weeks to make our decision. We needed to pick the dates we wanted to go, and Josh was given 2 paid days off to go. It really was a no brainer for us. We could go to Moab anytime, we have been to San Diego many times, and we had never been to San Antonio. My mom was over and said that the first part of December in San Antonio was beautiful and so our decision was made. It was a long wait to get to December, but our trip DID NOT disappoint and we had the most WONDERFUL vacation, just the 2 of us.

Everything was arranged for us. And I mean everything. We left early on Friday morning and flew to San Antonio. We picked up our rental car and got directions to our hotel. Our HOTEL!!! Omni La Mansion del Rio.

My goodness it took us a couple hours of being there to FULLY understand how amazing our hotel really was. We knew we were staying on the RiverWalk...but really we had no idea what to expect. And we would come to find out that our hotel was the ONLY hotel on the RiverWalk.

It was a 7 story high hotel and we were on the top floor with a balcony overlooking the river. ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!!!

Without this post being a novel, and because I know that we will NEVER forget all the things that were included, I will condense the things that we did. We ate Friday night at The Tower of the Americas.

It is 750 ft in the air and we rotate in 1 complete circle as we eat our dinner. The food was AMAZING and expensive, and completely paid for with our $200 Gift Card. It was by far probably the best dinner we have had. We started dinner at 5:30 when it was light out, and watched the sun set and the city lights come on as we finished dinner at 7:00.

We went back to the River Walk to walk and explore and see the luminaries all along the water.

It was busy, but not too crowded and we had fun at the Craft Fair they were having at one end of the walk. Super fun vendors and things to see and look at.

We of course had turn down service that night when we returned to our room,

and slept oh so good. I woke up early the next morning and walked over the bridge to the sister hotel to get my manicure and pedicure. It was nice, and it was relaxing, and it was expensive, and I didn't pay for it.....good thing because including the 19% automatic gratuity, it was $156.00. Yes, I wrote that right, $156.00. But not to worry, our hotel "Rejuvenation Package" included $150 spa package per night.

Josh met me for breakfast in our hotel restaurant, another included item with our hotel package and we had a very yummy breakfast. We wondered around again along the river until we left for Sea World.

Yes, we had pre-paid vouchers in hand. Ohhh man was it fun. We enjoyed it much more than San Diego. It was decorated so fun for Christmas, and all their shows were "renamed" for the season, and there were a couple of shows that were just unbelievable.

We of course had beautiful weather, not a cloud in the sky, and just perfect jeans and long sleeve shirt weather. We had a great time, and even got to visit with some good friends that just moved there in August.

We left Sea World and went back to the hotel because we were so hungry. Holy Cow Saturday Night. The place was PACKED. I seriously thought I was going to fall in the river at times there were so many people. There was no chance to eat on the river, so we got back in the car and went to a yummy Mexican restaurant that someone had recommended. It did not disappoint. We were certainly tired that night and fell fast asleep.

We woke up Sunday with not a lot to do. It was our relaxing day. We ate breakfast across the bridge and had a yummy buffet before we went up stairs for our 50 min. massages. We had enough time to relax in the hot tub before hand. It was the perfect way to start the day. Oh, I should point out that the total including gratuity was $306. We only had a $296.00 credit so I paid for the rest on our $200.00 visa debit card we were issued for "incidentals." We showered and left for the day. We walked to the end of the RiverWalk and then continued to a shopping area called Market Square. We went to another yummy Mexican Restaurant and then walked to the other end of the river to La Villita. This shopping area had lots of small shops. We then walked over to The Alamo.

Amazing place! It had started getting really cold out at this point so we were glad to be inside for awhile listening to the history of the Alamo. When we walked outside it was just starting to get dark. We went around the corner and we decided to take our carriage ride. We had a gift certificate for a 40 minute ride. We grabbed some hot chocolate, covered ourselves up with blankets, and sat and enjoyed a long ride around San Antonio as the sun went down.

It was just so wonderful. We were extremely cold when we were done and practically ran back to the hotel. We grabbed our jackets and headed to Landry's for dinner. We ate outside on the river with the heat lamps all around us. Our dinner was super yummy, and there was a TON of it. Seriously, how do people eat meals on their ow? Both of our meals would have been more than enough to share with 2 more people. None-the-less, it was paid for, and we enjoyed it.

We were exhausted after dinner and just went back to the hotel room. We watched some tv before we just fell asleep. We didn't wake up to an alarm on Monday, and took our time getting ready. Ate our last tasty breakfast, and checked out of the amazing hotel. We had some extra time so we drove to see the San Antonio Temple.

It was beautiful, as it should be, and we walked the grounds and took some pictures. We returned our car, made it to the airport and flew back home. When we got into Josh's car and had to pay to leave, the bill was $36. I gave the man our "incidentals" card and it was denied. What???? We actually had to pay for our parking. No worries. We did, and I decided to call the # on the back of the card to see what the balance was...guess??? $35. So we spent a total of $1.00 on this trip. Completely planned and paid for. We were truly blessed. It was a vacation we will never forget.

Recent Pics

Here are a few recent pictures that were taken of my kiddos.....and I am just doing this so that the Easter skirts are no longer the first thing you see on my blog. =) Not that my blog is EVER checked anymore.

Easter Skirts

So I wanted to do a quick post about these skirts. A great friend found this very cute skirt pattern, and taught a few of us how to make them. I was determined to make Easter Skirts for my girls for the very first time ever. I found the material I wanted and just made them the same, yet a little different. I love this pattern and am so glad that I have been able to make a few since then. Another friend took some of my leftover material and made Kruz a matching tie. I thought they all looked so cute on the week before Easter Sunday when they wore them to church.

Here are a few more skirts that I made.

1st Piano Recital

Today was Kylee's first piano recital. She began taking lessons about 2 years ago but they only lasted for about 5 months. She had done really well, but her teacher got pregnant and needed to take it easy. So she had to quit teaching. I was really sad. I felt like Kylee was just starting to get the hang of it. We didn't have any other teachers to switch to, so we took a break. Almost a full year later there was an opening with a teacher we had heard good things about. He was a bit more expensive, but he also came to our house for lessons. We started Kylee up again at the beginning of the summer exactly one year ago. She is amazing, Jeff has taught her so much, and I just can't believe how far she has come in one year.

Jeff does a BIG recital once a year with a fun theme. This years theme was "A Night at the Movies." Each child had to pick a song from a movie to play. Kylee chose "You Can't Stop the Beat" from "Hairspray" It was a little bit tougher song because it was fast, and upbeat, but she practiced a lot and learned it fast.

She got a Glamor Shot taken and then they were supposed to try and dress the part of her song. She was pretty much against dressing the part, and it was a knock down drag out to get her to wear lipstick and a boa for her picture. But the day of the recital, she was in the mood to cooperate. She looked awesome. We were able to do her hair, and somewhat dress the part, and we were off.

This was our crazy day with her Championship Game also, but luckily Jeff placed her first on the list for the recital. She was a bit nervous to play in front of everyone, and up on stage, and on a $60,00 Grand Piano. I was nervous for her, but she did GREAT. I was so proud of her. I can't wait for her to just keep getting better and see just how talented this little girl really is.

We are so proud of you Kylee, Way to Go!!!!

So since this day we have had another piano lesson and Jeff said that he was so proud of Kylee and the boy that was after her. Those two had to play with very pour lighting conditions that made a shadow on the keys making it difficult to see them. (The 14 year old boy after her pointed it out to Jeff when his piece was finished). Jeff then made the correction and added more lighting for the rest of the recital.