Parents become your best friends

What a magical week we had with my mom here for 4 days and my dad for 1 1/2! Though I do wish my dad could have been here sooner and could have gone to Disney with us (I love my dad coming to Disney with me, he's my ride buddy) it was still super fun! Mom flew in EARLY Monday Morning, and hung around our house while we went to work, then treated us to dinner at Golden Coral. Tuesday mom and me went shopping around after taking Kevin to work, went to Disney Springs and saw Zootopia, and window shopped there before going home to make dinner and have our favorite Elders (Ballard and Vastbinder) over for dinner! (they are so much fun! It'll be sad when they leave). Wednesday was the big day and we went to Magic Kingdom ALL DAY LONG which was fun because I finally got to show mom my store, have her meet some of my friends/cast family. We ate lunch at the new Skipper Canteena which is based off the Jungle Cruise ride (dad was so jealous and he would have LOVED it! they still tell Corny jokes). After work was over for him, my friend Frank met up with us and he got us on SEVERAL rides without waiting in the super long lines, which we were very grateful for! He's such a sweetheart!

Thursday dad got in and we all went to steak 'n shake for dinner and then we cleaned out "little red" for him and mom to take back. He's been a good little car, but we did a grown up thing and bought ourselves a bigger, brand new car. It's a dodge cavilier. Super nice. His name is "Big Red" and we love him to death already! He's already decked out with stickers and whatnot. So that was our week! How was yours? Love you all!

SO MAGICAL!!!

Today was so magical!!! It is nice to be reminded just how much and why you love doing what you do. I met so many amazing kids and families and had many wonderful experiences! My first was I came out and there were 2 little girls (ages about 5 and 3) dressed as princesses in the plush section (which was my zone for the day to fix and make look pretty for my 8 1/2 hour shift) so I naturally went up and started making polite conversation with them. The 3 year old immediately wanted to play with me so I got down on the ground and we started playing with a 22" goofy doll. Mom was taking pictures the whole time, my manager was watching, she was laughing and I was smiling uncontrollably. After they left a few minutes later there was this little 8 month old baby girl, so smiley and cute dressed as Tinkerbell... I naturally wanted to steal her and take her home because she was just SO ADORABLE!!! I was sitting there making faces at her when a little girl named Miranda (about 5) came around the corner dressed as Wendy, so I asked if they were together which they actually were not, so I started talking to Miranda because Tinkerbell had to go and we decided that she needed a mallow. So we went over to my friends in the kitchen who thought she was super cute and we told them what all we wanted on her mallow and they even made one for her sister who was also 8 months old. I got to talking with them for about 20 minutes. I know how busy you are when you are in the parks. Trust me I get it. You want to be in and out of stores as fast as you can so you can move onto the next line you have to wait in, especially during spring break, but I love it when I get to know a family and make magic. Which brings me to my favorite story of the day. There was a boy named Joel. Joel (who is about 10 and mentally disabled) and his dad came over and asked me if we sell any Goofy shirts; Joel's dad explained that Joel is Goofy's biggest fan. I brought them to the shirt section and found him one that is only sold at our circus. They thanked me and said that they were going to go find his mom to pay for it. I quickly ran next door to entertainment and asked them if they would be willing to let Joel and his family skip the line (it being 50 minutes and all) and they said why not. So this great character attendant Jennifer (we would later be known as Team Jen) and I went back into my circus and found the family. I explained that they were going to go meet Goofy right now and Joel lit up. His sister and mom thanked me and hugged me and I said that I would watch their shirt for them while they went in. As soon as they left I found my manager and asked her if I could pretty please no-strings them the shirt and she actually said yes! So I quickly packaged it up and went to the exit and watched them meet Goofy and Donald. They came up and thanked me sincerely and his mom told me that I'll never know how grateful they were for that experience. I then handed Joel the shirt and told them that it was on me, and everyone immediately started to cry and thank me and Jennifer for all the amazing magic that we made for them and all I could say was "that's our job, to make this the most memorable trip you could ever have." Lots of hugs were shared, and I know that they may not remember me specifically, but I will remember them and the feelings that were shared. I had a HUGE smile on my face for the rest of my shift, and I refound out why I love doing what I do so much. It's for moments like this one that reaffirm my faith and love of making magic! May your day be just as magical! Love you all!

Time Flies!

Can you believe that it is already the end of March!? That seems a little crazy! Slow down time! We're so excited for conference though! For Easter we of course went to church, then went to our friend's the Bryants and the Holladay's for dinner where we played this game called Nertz (if you've never played or heard of it, its so much fun-- look it up!) And then when we came home we were surprised for a 4 hour visit with our friends the Francis- Millers! We love our friends and ward family down here! Everyone is so awesome! Update on how we're doing: We live everyday to the fullest! We live and love each other more and more every day, it feels like a fairy tale and just as new and as exciting as it was when we got married almost 11 months ago! (I know! Already almost a year!) We're both working really hard and we're applying to schools down here so that I can get my EMT degree and licence and that Kevin can finish his school. We have made these plans together after careful thought, prayer, and temple time and know that right now, Florida is the place we need to be, and we both love it down here! So many smiles and fun times. My parents are coming down next Monday and I can't be more thrilled to see them! We (Me, Kevin, my mom and dad) are going to Magic Kingdom next Wednesday and we're so looking forward to a fun adventure with them! We really do miss the Northwest but on days like today when it's overcast, cool and sunny I think it's the Lord telling us that he knows we're eventually going to be moving back there... probably within the next 5 years. But then again, Kevin did promise that we could move to Ireland, so who knows! (lol- that'll probably happen sometime near like 2030). Until next time! Hugs kisses and love to all! PS: DID I MENTION WE FINALLY GOT A BIG KID BED!!!! No more air mattress on the floor!!! WAHOO!!!!

So much Exciting News!!!

Callings, callings and MORE callings!!!! So exciting!!!! 2 weeks ago I was called to be the Mia Maid adviser for our ward, then 2 weeks ago Kevin was called to be the counselor for the Elder's Quorum, and then last week I was called to also be the ward Girls Camp director, which I am so excited for because anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE GIRLS CAMP!!!! (thank you Peggy Glem and Susan Plessinger!) So as you can imagine I am SO EXCITED to be able to go back! And I'm now a "Stake-y!!!!" I guess I need to go buy a camp chair... ALSO! I'm so Excited because my mom is coming down for a week in April and my dad will be coming down to join her for a few days!!! I can't wait to have a vacation with them! We know we're going to DisneyWorld's Magic Kingdom for one day, and then maybe the beach or something but WHO CARES!!! My folks are going to be here and that's enough for me! This Monday Kevin and I went to Spring Training for the Red Sox as a birthday gift from my dad, and it was so much fun! We had seats on the green monster and we got extra innings which equal free baseball. Sure the Soxs lost by 1, but it was still a great day with beautiful weather and we got to go on a mini road trip together and that's all that matters!

Yay Kev!!!!

I am so proud of my husband! After working at Panda Express for 7 months he got a raise today! I am so grateful that he works so hard! He's doing so well and his manager says that he is always so helpful and works hard and all the guests love him! They write him reviews and compliment him to his manager! Side note- TAXES ARE DONE!!! Wahoo!!!! Done for this year and don't have to freak out come April 15!!! :)

Intro to the past year.