Happy Birthday Natalie, Reagran, and Kathy!

To celebrate these amazing women's birthday- we put on a tropical themed party- in my empty apartment! We went all out on the decorations- including our very own indoor beach with real sand. Can you see the fake fire-pit Jon helped me to make? We sat on beach towels around the "fire pit" to eat- and later play games.

We had some tropical drinks (non acholic, of course!!!) fruit and meat cabobs (the fruit made to look like a flower arrangement! Tiffanie- you're amazing!), Hawiian Haystacks, rolls and an Tropical Cake. MMMMM.

Danae did some hula for us- and taught us a few moves! I am going to try to post a video of it as soon as I can figure out how to do it . . .


I have such amazing friends! We had so much fun.

The birthday girls -Kathy, Natalie, and Reagran. . . . (I gave them the fruit baskets for their birthdays- they had fun wearing them like hats . . . )

Autism Diagnostic Clinic

Oh- I almost forgot to post about this. The Friday before we moved (the day after we closed in the house), Marcus went through an Autism Diagnostic Clinic at a place called Children's Village, to test what is going on with him. We found out that he does place on the Autism Spectrum- officially called Pervasive Developmental Disorder NOS. He basically has many of the characteristics a child with Autism has, but not enough to be considered fully Autistic. This is really good because he has the potential and ability to learn and grow and figure out how to deal with his difficult personality, and still be a fully functioning and successful person in life. It is just a little harder for him than other children- and will take A LOT more work and patience on our part. We at least have some direction now. Children's Village also has a lot of resources now available to us to help him. I am so grateful we are able to move forward with him! I love him so much, and my heart aches for him when he has a rough time. I just want the best for my beloved little boy.

Phew- moving- I never want to do it again!

Who doesn't hate moving! We are now on our 10th place in 10 years of marriage . . . the longest we have ever lived in one place is 2 1/2 years (when we managed Westwood Apartments in Utah from 1999-2002). I plan to stay in our new house as long as possible (for sure 3 years- hopefully more). Anyway, what a week it has been! Move day was June 18th- we packed up our house into a huge u-haul, and an extra moving truck owned by a member of our ward (how did we ever fit so much stuff in our storage unit and in our TINY apartment??? Funny thing- when I went to clean the walls of our apartment- they were clean because every wall had something in front of it and were all covered up!) We then drove to Yakima and unloaded it in the same day. This is the first move where it was done in one trip (except odds and ends)- all in the same day. In town, we would do several trips over several days, and cross- state- we packed up one day, drove for days, then unloaded later. Well, we survived (because we had help! Thanks for those who helped!). I do love our new house- but will love it even more when we are better settled in and our old apartment is clean and the last bits of odds and ends our out.

Saturday we came back to Sunnyside (I am sure we will be visiting a lot!) to take care of some business, clean our apartment, and other stuff. We went to the pee-wee track meet and watched our kids run like the wind!

Cynthia especially smoked the competion- she is a really fast 4 year old girl! As you can see, she won blue ribbons in the 50 and 100 meter dash races. She was way out ahead of the other girls, even though she kept looking back to make sure she was ahead of everyone else, and her form was not the best!

Marcus got 2nd place (only 2 boys in his age group ran- Marcus wasn't too far behind the other boy). He was pretty upset that he didn't "win" like Cynthia- so I tried to teach him about good sportsmanship and that it is just important to try your best. It didn't help very much- he has such a hard time with things like this. Hopefully he will learn over time???

The best was Saturday night- when we went over the Copeland's for a BBQ put on for us and the Whittles who are also moving (sniff sniff!). It was a great evening. I have had such a wonderful year with my friends in Sunnyside- even though I am only moving 40 minutes away, I already miss living close to my friends. When I went to church in my new ward on Sunday- I felt so lonely! Don't get me wrong- they were nice and I met some friendly people- so I am sure it will be a great ward, but I ache for those I grew to love in Sunnyside!

I will never forget our friendship.

Prayers for those in the midwest

I just wanted to solicit everyone's prayers on behalf of those suffering from flooding, tornados, thunderstorms and other crazy weather. Several families we know from our ward in Des Moines have had flooded basements because of the huge amount of rain they have gotten recently. One family we knew rescued an elderly couple last Sunday from a creek that flooded a dip in the road- the tiny creek had swelled so high that it was pushing their car off the road. Other parts of the midwest are really suffering too- even worse than Des Moines- many people are without homes, water or power.

Having lived in Des Moines, we saw some AMAZING storms- and we didn't even see the bad ones. I have never seen rain like in Iowa- it is literally worse than stepping into a shower. In fact, the last day we were in Iowa on our recent trip (Sunday May 25th), we experienced the first of the series of storms they have suffered from this month. The power went out around 9pm- and was off until about 3am- so we were packing by candlelight!

You can't really tell how wet I am in the picture below- I was SOAKED just from running from the garage to the back portch of Olga's house! The only dry spot is around my waist (the lighter pink). We found out later that there was a tornado somewhere between Omaha and Des Moines. I am glad the storms weren't bad in the area on the 26th- they day we flew out of Omaha- but it was bad in Memphis, TN, our connecting city!

So- please keep those that are suffering with physical danger or damaged homes in your prayers!

Disney Customer Service

I just had to put a small post about the AMAZING Disney customer service. Besides being super friendly, helpful and fun - we had several experiences where they helped us out- so our vacation was one of the most amazing ever! First- we lost our park tickets -AAAAAh! After searching everything- we went to the ticket counter- and they completely replaced them because they keep a record of all tickets sold, each ticket is electronic, and the computer keeps track of what was used on the ticket. All we needed was our receipt from the purchase, or the credit card we used to buy them. Phew. This is why you never buy park tickets from anyone but Disney! when I worked at the ticket turnstyles at Disneyworld, I felt bad when someone came with a ticket they got from someone who scammed them. Don't believe the signs that say "Disney Tickets for $5!" We could do nothing to help them.

The next experience was we bought a water sprayer/fan to keep our kids happy in the blistering heat ($17 was worth it for happier kids). After several days of constant use, the same day the batteries ran out, it got crunched in the backpack and part of it broke. We showed it to the nearest vendor who was selling them- and they just handed us a brand new one! Not only that- but they made sure the batteries were working and the water inside was cold. I am so glad we bought the cool one from the park instead of the cheapy wal mart one, even though it cost less (I saw several people fiddling with the wal mart ones- they didn't work well).

Now to our most recent experience- we got home and realized Cynthia had lost the Minnie Mouse hat that we bought her- on our last day at EPCOT. So we called their lost and found- and they are mailing us the hat at no cost to us! I thought it was a long shot since I saw tons of kids wearing the same hat- how would they be able to tell it was ours. At the very least I thought we would have to pay to have it mailed to us. Well- that's Disney Service for you!

New babies

Welcome Rachel Leonna Coons!

My sister Laura just had her baby today at 6:41 am- congratulations to Laura and Chris! They live in Phoenix, Arizona while Chris is in medical school. She was 7 pounds 15 ounces and 19 1/2 inches- perfect! I think she looks a lot like her brother, Ben- and like both Chris and Laura. I can't wait to see her at my brother Steve's wedding!

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Also- welcome Carter Roy Sullivan!

I don't have any pictures yet - - he was born to Katie and Chris Sullivan (my sister and brother in-law) on June 4th.

We are home!

Phew- we made it home. It was another crazy day of flying- the flight we were on canceled and they put us on the next flight- which was the NEXT DAY! Priceline didn't notify us of the change in time- but I put up a stink and the airline (Frontier) put us on a flight with another airline. We had to do another extra stop and switch airlines- but we at least made it home- just several hours later than originally planned! One thing is for sure- I am NOT impressed with Priceline!! They really were the ones at fault by not telling us of the schedule change until it was too late. Anyway- we traveled all day Wednesday, stayed the night in Spokane, and drove back to Sunnyside Thursday.

Besides our crazy travel days to and from Florida, our trip was AMAZING!!! I can't even begin to describe how much fun we had. It is nice to be home now- and especially to be back with Lillian. We really missed her- though it WOULD have been very difficult to have her with us in Florida, and she did great with my parents. Thanks Mom and Dad for everything! We can't thank you enough for taking such good care of our little Lillian!

Our last day

Tuesday June 3rd, 2008

A very full day at EPCOT- and we didn't even see everything!

It was another REALLY hot day- luckily a lot of things are indoors at EPCOT. We loved seeing many of the attractions again- and I even braved Mission Space (the ride simulates taking off in a rocket and flying to Mars- - it is intense!). My favorite (and Shauna's) is Soarin'- it really feels like you are flying.
We splurged and ate lunch out at the Garden Grill Restaurant at the Land Pavilion, where Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale all visit you right at your table! It was amazingly good food (though pretty expensive!). Totally worth it.

We spent the evening seeing the world showcase- it was a bit cooler because a rain storm came in . . . (we are in front of the viking ship in Norway in the above picture, Germany is below).

I LOVE seeing the countries- even the people working there are from those countries.

Marcus and Cynthia LOVED the rain- they got soaked!

This is Shauna in the France Pavilion - - she worked as a Nanny in Paris for a year during college, majored in French at BYU, and served her mission in Belgium- French speaking. It was really fun to listen to her have a conversation with one of the workers in French!

We finished the night off by Illuminations- the fireworks and lights show over the lagoon at the World Showcase - - amazing as usual. It was a great end to a wonderful vacation!

Disney's Hollywood Studios

Monday June 2, 2008

Disney's Hollywood Studios- formerly Disney's MGM Studios

Another really fun theme park- this on is all about movies, how they are made and things like that. Some of our absolute favorite attractions were the Rock n Roller Coaster, Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (Cynthia keeps saying this was her favorite- though at the time she was scared!), all of the shows- especially Fantasmic which is an amazing water, lights and fireworks show where Mickey fights a dragon (and more), Mupped Vision 3-D . . . and more. For much of the day we tried to do what we could in-doors, because it was blistering hot again! Later in the day it rained and cooled everything off . . . but Fantasmic was delayed until the storm passed. I am just glad they didn't cancel it!

There is a new Toy Story Ride that Opened June 1st. It is called Toy Story Mania and it is a "4-D" midway gamestyle ride. You ride a little car through several games, wearing 3-D glasses and play games such as darts, rings, or shoot the target - - it was really cool with the 3 -D effects and was completely interactive. We even enjoyed waiting in line- the room was decorated with large games and toys - - even the path you followed looked like the candy land path. My favorite was the interactive Mr. Potato Head who talked to guests as we were waiting in line.

Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground- - really fun for the kids!

A new cool show is Lights Motors Action- where they show how they do motor stunts in movies- such as chase scenes, reverse driving, and jumps.

By the new Toy Story Ride is a whole Pixar themed part of the park - - we even got to see Mike and Sully!

A Sabbath of memories

Sunday June 1st, 2008

Sunday we decided to take a day off from the theme parks and enjoy a relaxing Sabbath Day. It was a wonderful day! We visited the ward I attended while I did my internship in Florida, and what an incredible experience that was. The memories of that time in my life came flooding back as I walked into the chapel- it was a time of excitement, lonliness (my fiance, family, and friends were thousands of miles away), tribulation and spiritual growth for me. The gospel and many members of that ward were what got me through that time of my life. During my internship, sometimes I felt so surrounded by the "world"- I found out what most college age kids do compared to what I was used to at BYU. The drinking, swearing, negativism, and sex was hard to be around sometimes- but I truly feel that I was able to separate myself from it and it is the kind of thing that it either will strengthen or weaken a person. I feel like I was strengthened, but I also missed the feeling of safety and general spirit of service being at BYU or at home gave me. I clung to Sundays and those who had high morals. Luckily my roommates were all pretty good, but we still didn't have the closeness and spirit of service the Gospel brings, and what I had experienced at BYU. Because of my experience in my ward in Florida, I have such a testimony of service, and the impact someone can have on another. The love and service that was given over a dacade ago to me- a lonely 20 year old single girl who was only in that ward for 4 months- was so profound and has strengthened my testimony of the Gospel for the rest of my life. For this visit, I only saw a few faces that I had known, but the feeling in that church building was so incredible. I was able to see again the wonderful Sister- Sarah Smith- who gave me a ride from my apartment to church every Sunday. I know it was a sacrifice for her and I will always be grateful for her example- so it was incredible to see her again! I will forever be grateful to the Hunters Creek Ward in Orlando, Florida for the strength I received from them and the Gospel during that semester away.

On Sunday we also visited the Orlando Temple- beautiful, as always!

A very hot day with the animals

May 31, 2008- Another very fun day

From Dinosaurs to river rapids (which were the best- because of the HOT weather- getting wet was essential!) there are great rides at Animal Kingdom!

The newest and biggest ride is Expedition Everest- probably on of the biggest roller coasters I have ever been on- watch out for the Yeti! Oops- I accidentally erased the picture I had of Expedition Everest- sorry! I don't have time now to add it again . . .

The greatest thing about the Animal Kingdom are the animals! Where else can you walk through an Indian Temple ruin and see Bengal Tigers!

Happy Anniversary!

May 30, 2008

Jon and Becky- 10 Happy years of marriage!

It was another wonderful day in the Magic Kingdom- what a way to celebrate our anniversary!
My sister Shauna joined us (and will be with us the rest of our trip)- and we have had a blast together! I am so glad she came, not only for the help with the kids (they love their aunt Shauna!), but because we love her company. I am so glad the comp tickets we got from my cousin Kyle, who used to work for Disney, are being put to good use. One of the first things we did was go to Splash Mountain- her favorite ride, and ours too. We found the best spot to eat the lunch we packed! Like the romantic prince charming he is, Jon planned something amazing for our anniversary. He sent me on another scavenger hunt (like he did when he proposed), with a little trinket at each spot to show how much he loves me. The trinkets weren't expensive things- but were extremely clever with a little poem, and many of them were hand made by Jon. It was amazing! I will try to post more about that later when I have a chance to catalog it all . . .

Later Shauna took the kids on some rides while Jon and I had our "night out". We did some shopping on main street (there is soooo much cool Disney stuff to look at!!), and had our romantic dinner in the castle. The food and atmosphere was perfect for our Fairy Tale anniversary.

We ended the night by watching the spectromagic parade and the fireworks! Our dreams really are coming true- and it feels even more incredible celebrating them at Disney World!