Brace yourself

so I still need to catch up, but didn't want to forget the details on this one. Cole has extra teeth. He has two permanent teeth in and has not lost one tooth yet. So for whatever reason his dentist referred him to an orthodontist. I guess to see how necessary removal of the teeth would be. Anyways, we go there and I'm taking Hannah with our Sunday bag for entertainment and I wondered if they would have something for little kids to play with, cause really 8 year olds should not be visiting the orthodontists. We get there and the place is beautiful, very eclectic. They have a computer screen with kid's names and photos for them to touch and check themselves in. They have small chairs with disney playing at their eye level, little adirondack chairs and a sitting area with a full length beach mural on the wall. They have complimentary juices, hot choc/coffee, cookies and of course the good ole fish aquarium. That was just the beginning. The gave us color print outs of Cole's mouth and his xrays (very alienesque). After Cole got his xrays done he was hanging out in the game room (pinball machine, couple of gaming stations. She said he could have a gameboy while he waited as well. Then we saw an even bigger aquarium and then we saw they have aviaries on either side of the big room where the kids can watch the birds while they're getting the teeth done. They gave him a tshirt that advertises their office and if he wears it to his appointments he gets a token and gets more tokens for being on time, clean teeth, etc and the kids get to spend it at the ortho store. All this and no charge...until he gets braces which I'm sure will require it's on mortgage. I was very impressed. Although I kept waiting for someone to come take me away for a massage during the appointment and it didn't happen, all of my kids would have braces at the age of 8 and keep them through high school if that were added in. Of course the dr. just said yes we need to take the teeth out, huge surprise which our dentist will do and then we got back to see the ortho in eight months. I mentioned I took Hannah with me and the dr. said come back anytime and then actually looked at me and said it's okay if they come it gets them used to coming! Starting to early is not a problem I suppose. So i don't like that I'm now going to have to fight that battle or cancel all appointments but it was so nice I can't wait to get back there. Smart business I say :)!

The Reason for the Visit

Cole's Baptism!!!
Cole's bday was 12/26 but we waited for Grandma and Grandpa to come and this was the week it was the cheapest. Cole was seriously nervous, but played it cool. The only time I really could tell was when the curtains were opened and he was in the water. Afterwards he said it wasn't so bad. The baptismal service was great. See program below. I know it was my son so I would be more emotional but I felt the spirit very strongly and know Cole has great things to do in this life and I believe his confirmation/blessing furthered that notion. I love hime so much, he is an example to me and I love how his heroes are those from the scriptures and his dad. He is amazing. Hopefully we can keep that in tact for a while :).

A Visit

from Grandma and Grandpa Porter...so much fun. I love the way they play with the kids. We went down to Orlando and picked them up. The day before they arrived Brandon and I went to the temple, we went as a family to Downtown Disney and ate at the Rainforest Cafe which was fun. I had the best salad with some awesome pecans. It may not sound like much but I saw someone else eating and stopped to ask them what they were eating (no manners, but it looked that good) and they said they were loving....I did too!



Jungle Chop Salad - Romaine and Iceberg lettuce, black olives, cucumbers, carrots, red cabbage, candied pecans, blue cheese crumbles, dried cranberries and grilled chicken tossed in a raspberry vinaigrette dressing.



Hannah didn't like it when it "rained" in there. She was afraid the elephants were going to come after her.



We stayed in a hotel for two night, the first night was not fun at all cause we were in a room with two small double beds. Hannah and I did not sleep so I knew they had a semi family suite so I said Brandon we gotta upgrade and they upgraded us for free. The suite had a full/queen bed and the a closed off room for the kids with bunk beds and a twin with their own tv. They loved it!



Anyways we took a tourist packed trip home in which we visited the Desere Ranch, an orange grove cause Rhoud wanted to pick an orange from a tree and let me tell you it was an excellent orange. Oh my! Then St. Augustine cause Susan's wanted to go there for some time, we just stopped for a bit but it was nice, the sun was setting, we'll visit there again. And then we stopped by my dad' where Linda had a scrumptious dinner made. So we made a three and half our trip home into a twelve hour trip. Not like us at all, very adventerous. The kids did well thanks to our rigged dvd player and Grandma and Grandpa playing games with them.

slowly but surely... Soccer

catching up on the blog...I'm at the beginning of January and it's only the beginning of February. I am going to try to condense though.
The kids are both signed up for soccer. The season started 1/2 way through December and they're doing pretty good. It seems this may not be their calling in life, but it's fun to watch and it wears them out :)



waiting during Cole's game, soccer is not Hannah's favorite thing right now

catching up on the blog...I'm at the beginning of January and it's only the beginning of February. I am going to try to condense though.

The kids are both signed up for soccer. The season started 1/2 way through December and they're doing pretty good. It seems this may not be their calling in life, but it's fun to watch and it wears them out :)

bdays and sleepovers fun fun fun

Melissa decided to come down from the great state of NC for Anya to have her bday party with her cousins. They all had a great time. The best part was that all the kids slept over at Grandma's the night before and all the mom's and dad's went bowling to dinner and played Rock Band...soo much fun. I"m hooked on the drums. The girls were all rocking to ummm what's that band with Gwen Stefani....No Doubt. We ended up having a sleep over at Carmen's. Probably will be the last time that ever happens. It was a great time. Thanks Lissa for coming to share Anya's bday!
Jackson fishing


Jacob helping Anya go fish



It's Momo's and it's as good as it is big




all dolled up

Laura was a little confused about who's bday it was, but I don't think she actually blew out any of the candles

Wild Thangs

So we're not big amusement park people, we've only ever taken the kids to Disney and that was on a dime. I've wanted to take them to Wild Adventures which is nearby but it's just a lot of money. I happened to find a good special they were having and so on Dec. 30th we took off. The kids were just like whatever let's go to Wild Advenures...because they didn't know what awaited them. Cole and Laura are a lot like Michael and I, including enjoying rides. Michael hated them and I loved them. Well, Laura loved the rollercoasters, couldn't get enough and Cole wouldn't step near them, wise man I tell ya. Anyway, we had a great time and will proably go again in the future. They had a great live nativity, that was worth going for. Laura was amazed that hey had a "real"angel and was concerned about her falling.

More Christmas and fun

Cole, Zachary, Jackson, Jacob, Laura at Carm's

Laura and Emily at Mary's with puzzles from Miss Sonya

On the 29th we gathered with my dad and Carmen's family to celebrate Christmas. It's always good stuff it Carmen's cooking and I can't remember what she cooked right now, but you can bet it was good.

That night we celebrated Christmas with Mary, Brooke, Emily, Karis and Sonya! We ate such good food all day I thought I was going to pop. The older girls stayed after dinner to watch Mama Mia, love that music..the movie was just okay; while dad's put kids to bed.

This concluded our Christmas festivities finally. It was a good year, surrounded by family and friends, hope yours was the same.