The best Anniversary Gift

This year for our 5 year anniversary we took an amazing trip to Florida.  For the fun Disney Part, see the next post, for the amazing gift part....keep reading!  :)  One of the main reasons we chose Florida was because there are some very special people we have been wanting to meet in person who happen to reside in Florida.  For our anniversary, we got the chance to meet the amazing individuals who are making our dream of parenthood finally come true!  Over the past couple of months, we have grown to love and admire Carolyn and Chris and it was a wonderful experience to meet them, Carolyn's two youngest kiddos and one of her best friends Kasey.  We had a wonderful day talking, seeing the "Worlds most famous beach". sharing stories and giggling with her cute kiddos.  It was a wonderful gift to meet them and I am so grateful we were able to take this trip.  I think it helped us all to bond and feel more comfortable with each other which I think is so important in an open adoption. It was a great day in Daytona Beach!!

Natalie wanted a pic and Austin just had to get in on the action.

Carolyn and her cute kiddos

Look theres a baby in there!!!

One big happy adoption family!

The best 5 years of my life

We have been married for 5 amazing years!  It is crazy to me how quickly time goes by!!  Not everything that has happened during the past 5 years has been happy and wonderful (although most truly was) but I cannot imagine going through both the most joyous and the most painful experiences in my life without the most amazing man by my side.  Being lucky enough to have Eldon as my Eternal Companion is truly the greatest blessing and treasure.  We have been through quite a bit over the past few years, and I am ever so grateful for him as an amazing husband, a caring man, and as my best friend.  

To celebrate our union, we decided to take a fun little trip to FLORIDA!!!!

Our First day in Florida started out at Disney's Magic Kingdom.  It was similar to Disneyland in California, but still quite different.  It was interesting to think you know where things are and to head in that direction and then find that it doesnt look the same at all.  For those of you who know me well, you know that I love Pirates.  The Pirates ride here was definitely different.  The entrance is totally different and the ride is similar but shorter.  The best part that was different, was they had a Captain Jack Sparrow show and he let me up on stage to become part of his pirate crew.  It was AWESOME!!!!!  he he. 

Day 2 was the Epcot Adventure.  We went on a ride that took us on banked curves at 65 mph, soared over California, talked with a turtle and toured the world all in one day.  You cant beat that!  One of the funnest parts was in Japan where I got to pick an Oyster and found a pearl!  Oh and in France we had yummy treats including something similar to what Eldon had on his mission called Napolitanas.  He put it on facebook to tease his mission buddies and ended up finding out that one of his mission buddies lived in Florida, and the best part, he buddy and his family was able to join us for Day 4 of our adventure.

Day 3 was a break from Disney for the best Anniversary gift ever. (see post above)

Day 4 was Hollywood Studios.  This park was crazy busy!!! But had a lot of things we had never done before.  The Rockin Roller Coaster was pretty dang fun.  We also went on a backstage tour, saw a car stunt show, and Indiana Jones Stunt show, watched Beauty and the Beast as well as saw a Jedi Training sessions.  It was quite a day full of fun!

Day 5 was Animal Kingdom.  This was our final day, so it was only a half day because we were flying home.  We started out the day on an African Safari.  It was pretty entertaining.  Our guide was hilarious.  We saw some cool animals.  Next we ventured over to Asia and took a trip to Mount Everest to see the Yeti.  The ride was pretty good, but it was pretty funky to go backwards and loop in the dark when you cant tell which direction you are headed.  We saw a few more animals, including a bugs life show before the heavens opened up and it poured on us.  We were absolutely soaked by the time we got to our car to head to the airport.  I didnt get a pic cuz Eldon wasnt too thrilled at this point.  I thought it was pretty funny though.

All in all, we had a wonderful trip to Florida.  It was pretty hot, definitely humid, full of great memories to cherish and a wonderful way to celebrate the best decision we made... our marriage.

Camping Trip

My family decided it was time to go camping before the woods got too crowded for the summer.  So my Dad, my big bro and his wife and their pup along with Eldon and I and Zeus, headed up to a favorite camping spot that has this beautiful river, clean toilets (an absolute must), tables and camp fire rings so you can actually still have a campfire despite all the fire warnings.  The only problem was, the weather in Arizona right now has not been the usual Arizona weather, so it was actually really chilly!!!!  During the day it did warm up and was quite nice, so we took a little hike.  It was a lot of family fun.  The pups both did an amazing job and didnt even need to be on a leash, which was wonderful!!!  Definitely something we will have to do again soon....as long as it warms up a bit ;)

My brother trying to be Dopey with his hat.

Our Disneyland Anniversary Adventure

For our 4th anniversary, we decided to celebrate by going to the happiest place on earth.... Disneyland!!!  We had alot of fun for 2 days at Disneyland and California Adventure.  So much fun, that i really didnt take out the camera much :(  Oh well, i got a few great shots to share.  Since we had both been to Disneyland several times before, we decided to do some of the things that we had never done before.  We started out at California Adventure.  We did the normal fun rides like the Tower of Terror, and talking to Crush the turtle.  We had never done the Animation Academy, so that was a new treat.  We learned how to draw "Dopey" from Snow White.  We found on the back lot a Monster's Inc ride.  It was cute.  Eldon had never been to Muppets 3D, I think he had fun at that.  We rode on the Farris Wheel, that was fun to see the view of the park.  For a special treat, we had a fancy dinner at Wine Country Trattoria to get amazing tickets for the new World of Color.  The dinner was alright, definitely not worth the money, but the seats were!  Check out some video...of course I love Pirates of the Caribbean, so I was ecstatic when this came on....

Also, this one gives a better view of the show.... Amazing!!!  Sorry about my camera's focus, but still amazing!

 The next day we spent playing at Disneyland.  We went on the pirate boat, went to the pirate island, went and saw Michael Jackson's Captain EO...much better as child (definitely lame now).  For our anniversary lunch, we went and ate at the Blue Bayou, which is the restaurant inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.  Again, big fan of pirates, unfortunately, the lunch was much better in my dreams, but still something that i had always wanted to do.  We of course rode some of the awesome rides like space mountain, the jungle cruise, pirates, and Finding Nemo Submarine rides.  For Eldon's sake, we rode on the Chevron Race way, and because i am a nice wife.... i let him drive :) We had a really good time, and a very happy anniversary.  I think the best part was the buttons that Disneyland gave us.  Everyone in the entire park, including other guests were wishing us Happy Anniversary.  It was alot of fun!  It also got us a few perks, like cuts in a few lines.  Cant beat that.  Although we had a blast, I will say that by far, Disneyland is not the happiest place on earth, the happiest place on earth is at home in the arms of my loving husband.  I am so grateful for four amazing years of bliss.  They have been the happiest years of my life, even with the heartache we have experienced. I am so in love with you and so excited for a future full of love and happiness with you.  Happy Anniversary my Love!!! Thanks for a wonderful time at the second happiest place on earth.