Happy Holidays

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Jaden turns 1

It's hard to believe it's been a year since our little guy was born. We had a wonderful celebration for Josh and Jaden (since their Birthdays are so close together). We also had Jaden's 1st official pictures taken and wanted to share with family and friends. Enjoy!

Fun times with Jaden

Tonight after Lexie had gone to bed Jaden was playing around with various toys when the pretend kitchenware caught his eye. I began laughing when he found a unique way to carry the pan, he thought it was so great that he decided to put on a show and show me what he was truly capable of . . .



I'm still laughing!!!

Halloween!

Well, All Hallow's Eve has come and gone. We had a busy couple of days...Lexie had a school pajama party, we had a ward Halloween party, and then Halloween itself. We have all been sick this week, so it's been a pretty interesting week.

But we had a lot of fun, and took a lot of pictures. Here are some highlights:

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

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Jaden's Big Adventure

Please click the play button below in honor of Jaden today:

He's cut, he's cut, the Russian's cut sound bite  Announcer sound bites

Jaden went to an ENT doctor today and with a brief flash of scissors, got his frenulum (that piece of skin underneath your tongue)snipped. He was diagnosed with ankyloglossia (tongue-tied) when he was born, and we had been weighing whether or not to get it clipped. We were worried that he would have to be sedated and worked on in an operating room, but he was a brave little guy and sat on his Daddy's lap while the doctor did the deed. He cried for about 10 seconds, and then stopped when his Mommy picked him up. The doctor gave him a sticker, which he promptly tried to eat, so his mouth must have felt alright. A little drool tinged in red, and he was good to go!

In case you want to know more about ankyloglossia, here is an expert presentation:

Breakfast with Aunt Cindee

Well, we had a great adventure over the weekend...we got to fly to Disneyland with Grandma and Grandpa Nelson and see everything. On Saturday morning we had breakfast at the Storyteller's Cafe and Cindee came up to eat with us! It was about an hour each way of driving, but we were sure excited to see her. The last time she held Jaden was when he was one week old, so they had some catching up to do. I wanted to post a few pictures of our breakfast with some woodland visitors today...a more comprehensive record of our trip will follow soon!

Bear World Video

Stacie already posted a slideshow of our fun trip to Idaho Falls, and this is a video of our ride through Bear World. It was a slow ride, so Lexie got to sit on my lap while we drove through. I apologize for the jostling of the camera; between riding in a moving vehicle, trying to film wild animals, and holding a semi-wild Lexie on my lap, it got a little bit bumpy.

The video is pretty funny...especially the repartee between Lexie and her Grandpa. Hope you like it!

Bear World Drive Through from Josh on Vimeo.

Lexie Turns 4

We can hardly believe it, our baby girl is 4. Happy Birthday Lexie!!

Trip to Idaho Falls

For the 24th of July weekend we headed to Idaho Falls with Josh's parents. We were able to go to Bear World, West Yellowstone, and Old Faithful. The days were great, the nights not so much fun. Our kids are pretty good about sleeping anywhere but for some reason they didn't do much sleeping in the hotel throughout the weekend. Probably too much sleeping in the car while we drove. We got to eat dinner at Flags west (a favorite truck stop with the best scones around), had a great view of the Idaho Falls Temple from our hotel room, and I got a new blue Cowgirl hat for only $5. We had a great trip! Thanks for the fun weekend Mom & Dad!!

Rodeo Fun

I've always been a fan of Rodeo's and this year we were able to make it to the best rodeo in the state of Utah, the Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeo. The arena is beautiful, surrounded by mountains majesty. We had dinner at the Burger Bar (my favorite place to eat in Roy) and headed to Ogden for the Pre-Rodeo show. Sky-divers start the night off right then world class competitors/cowboys provided a great show with the assistance of the best clowns in town. I wasn't disappointed, the rodeo was AWESOME. Lexie is going to take after me, she really enjoyed the rodeo and even go to meet the Rodeo queens, complete with autographs and pictures. Thanks to my Mom for watching Jaden for us, it would have been a long night for him. I highly recommend a visit to the Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeo!

Payne Family Reunion

Every year I look forward to the Payne Family Reunion and this year was no different. It was held at the Huntsville Park and our family was in charge of the games this year. Everyone really seemed to enjoy themselves. My favorite was the human fuseball tournament, what a great idea. Lexie had a bit of a meltdown at the luncheon and I didn't handle the situation very well, my only complaint. The kids both enjoyed the ride home with a nice nap, luck Mom and Dad.

'09 4th of July Pictures

Better late than never, I think. We had an enjoyable day beginning bright and early with Breakfast in the park prior to the Murray Parade. We had a great time with family!

Disney's Christmas Carol Train Tour

On June 16th, Jaden turned six months old, and we had made plans to go to Ogden. Disney was promoting their movie "A Christmas Carol" with a nationwide train tour that contained props from the movie and showed how they used motion-capture technology and turned it into an animated movie.

We were excited to go, but I had been really sick all weekend and both of the kids had a little bit of it as well. We decided to brave it and traveled up to Ogden; we got there twenty minutes after it opened and there was already a two hour wait, so we apparently weren't the only ones with that bright idea! We toughed it out and ended up having a fun time.



Here's a video of Lexie playing with the touch screen trivia game. She loved being able to touch everything!

Untitled from Josh on Vimeo.

Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House

I can't believe how long it's been since we updated the blog! We've actually gone and done a lot of things. There are several sets of pictures that we haven't posted yet, so I better start with one and go from there.

Stacie got us tickets to go through the Oquirrh Mountain Temple; it was a lot of fun to see such a beautiful building. Lexie was on very good behavior and told us that "the pool" was her favorite part. We're working on her calling it a font, but for now it will suffice! The colors inside were beautiful and fit in with the location being near the foothills of the Oquirrh mountain range. We carried Jaden, and the part where they had you walk from the basement floor up to the fourth floor was long, but we got our cardio workout in for that day. It was worth the trek; the celestial room was incredible, and Lexie enjoyed sitting in a sealing room where she could look in the mirrors and see forever.

We had a great time!

Dentist Excitment

Today Lexie visited the dentist for the first time. She has been so excited for her dentist appointment and from what I can tell she wasn't disappointed in the least. Josh sent me a few pics of her in the dental chair enjoying WALL-E as they cleaned her teeth.




When her appointment was over she was so excited and couldn't wait to tell me about her "fun" experience at the dentist. She called me up at work and told me she got a fun new butterfly toothbrush and she even got to watch a movie on the TV in the ceiling while she was upside down. I'm so glad that she had a good experience, maybe this will be the start of good positive experiences at the dentist. I wish all of us got that excited to visit the dentist. I went for my checkup last week and when I told her they took pictures of my teeth she's been so excited hoping that they'd take pictures of her teeth as well. Ah to be a kid again!

Wahoo!!

I'm so excited and proud of Josh and wanted to give him a public pat on the back. He enrolled in Western Governors University and began his studies on May 1st, 2009. Just one short month after his enrollment he has completed two of his courses and passed both tests with flying colors. Wahoo!!



Keep up the good work Josh!!

Help is on the way

With evil lurking around every corner, we are all looking for someone to stand up and fight for us. Take heart, America. Help is on the way!

Grumble, grumble from Josh on Vimeo.

The Final Chapter

And so we come to the final chapter in the trilogy of Lexie and her clogging crew. They took Lagoon by storm last Saturday and came away with another first place ribbon. It was a great way for them to finish out their performances and we had fun watching her.

Lexie At Lagoon from Josh on Vimeo.

Fun in the sun

We were outside cleaning up a few things in our backyard, and of course Jaden wanted to be part of the fun. Stacie stood him up on the grass, and he was fascinated by it. Lexie wanted nothing to do with the grass the first time that she sat on it, but Jaden loved it. We sat him down and he grabbed handfuls of grass to steady himself, proud as can be. He's almost five months old now...hard for us to believe!


.

BYU Boy

This picture was taken Saturday morning for Daddy. Jaden is getting to be such a big boy, he's 4 1/2 months old now!

KFC Adventure

Last week KFC offered a free piece of their new "Grilled chicken" so we decided to take a trip with the family to try the new chicken (since we are huge fans of the KFC original recipe). While we were waiting for our chicken their was a man in the corner, Pirate Bob, that was making balloon characters for kids. Fortunately for Lexie she was the only kid (besides Jaden) in the restaurant. She quickly made friends with Pirate Bob and scored herself 2 flower balloons with monkeys hangin on and a parrot on her shoulder to match Pirate Bob's. It was so cute I couldn't resist taking pictures.

Easter Sunday

So I finally got our video finished for Easter Sunday. Lexie had a great time finding the eggs that the Easter Bunny hid, and after church we went to Grandma and Grandpa Nelson's house for brunch. Hope everyone had a good Easter too!


Easter Sunday from Josh on Vimeo.

Easter Weekend

We were able to spend last weekend with family...we spent the day with Stacie's family on Saturday, and then the Nelson side after church on Sunday. It's so fun to have family close and we really enjoy seeing everyone. I put together a video of our adventure with the Hadleys on Saturday, and I will post another one of Sunday's escapades soon.


Easter Saturday from Josh on Vimeo.

Disney On Ice

We were able to get tickets to Disney On Ice last month, and I finally got around to putting it together in a video. Jaden got to spend the evening with Grammy, so we had a fun time with just Lexie. Grandma and Grandpa came along, and Lexie had a great time.

Putting this video together reminded me that we were watching the first part, when Mickey and the gang came out and everyone was cheering, and I literally had to stop recording it because there were so many people trying to find their seats and standing up right in front of us. I've never won an award for punctuality, but I try to be considerate of others if I arrive late. Sadly, this same group of people are the ones who are baffled by the complex and highly confusing "Section #, Row #, Seat #" on their tickets. Many of them had to stand back up and change seats because they were in the wrong place. I have no idea how they managed to arrive at the arena.

If six minutes of Disney On Ice isn't your cup of tea, at least watch the final minute. The finale of Peter Pan and Tinkerbell flying off amidst fireworks brought Lexie to her feet for a standing ovation, and when it was over, she threw in a little dance for no additional charge!


Disney On Ice from Josh on Vimeo.

Lexie's first school picture

Lexie's preschool had class pictures the other day, and I wanted to post the picture. She was so excited about it that she wouldn't let me have it; I had to make a copy of it and give her "a special one just for her" that she keeps in her kitchen and shows off.

He speaks!

When Stacie got home from work yesterday, she was holding Jaden, and he was having a great time talking to his Mommy, smiling and gurgling like he does. I happened to record it, so I decided to post it here. Be warned! This is nearly four minutes of cute baby talk. If you have had your sweetness quotient met for today, this might put you over the top.

You have been warned.


He speaks! from Josh on Vimeo.

Return of Lexie Nelson: Feet of fire

Lexie had another clogging competition a couple of weeks back, and I finally got a chance to put together a video. She really loves clogging, but she loves being in front of a crowd just as much. During their performance, she was so enthralled with everyone watching her that she forgot parts of her routine! But we had a fun time and Lexie did really well.



If you click the "HQ" button on the YouTube player it will play in a higher quality, which is kind of nice. If you have a slow internet connection, it might bog things down a little bit. Turn up your speakers and rock out with Lexie!

Top o' the mornin' to you!

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

Day 11 - Final Remarks on our WDW Vacation

The alarm was set for 6am, thinking that would be plenty of time to get ready and be all packed by 9am. It was a crazy morning and time flew by way to fast, before we knew it it was 9am and I wasn't quite ready to leave. Daddy took Lexie over to Grandma and Grandpa's room where the family was going to meet at 9am. I did everything I could to finish packing, fortunately Jaden had gone back to sleep so I could focus on packing. We finished up and Daddy carried the bags to the front of the resort to check us in for our flight. Jaden and I watched the bags and Daddy went back to the room for the remainder of the bags. The rest of the group joined us shortly and we all got checked in for our flight that afternoon. (One of my favorite features of the disney resorts, you can check your bags and check in for your flights at the resort and your ready to head to the airport. What a great idea!)

We all headed for the Magic Kingdom around 11am for our final fling in the park. We wanted to get a group picture in front of the castle so everyone stuck together for a short time. Thinking back it wasn't very nice of us, everyone was waiting to take the picture at our request and Daddy and Lexie took off for the bathroom and ended up watching the Celebration Parade that began as they exited the restroom. I had walked over and was waiting in line for Lexie so she could meet Pinocchio and get him to sign her book. So, while the family waiting on us we were accomplishing some of our desires. Sorry about that family, thanks for your patience. After the family picture everyone went their seperate ways for a few hours. We were to meet back at the resort at 1:45pm for the Magical Express Bus to the airport.

We made our way to Mickey's Philharmagic with Grandma, Grandpa, and Great Grandma. Lexie loves the part when Donald is shot out of tuba and crashes through the wall, she still talks about it. Grandma and Grandpa offered to take Jaden with them back to the hotel so we could get a few things done quickly. We headed towards the character greeting for Tigger and Pooh, we'd been putting off waiting in line for their autographs but Lexie really wanted to meet them. After a long wait we got our meeting and then headed for the location of Cinderlla's family; (Lady Tremaine, Anastasia and Driscella). They were such a kick to watch, just as you'd expect from the story. Lexie enjoyed meeting them and got their autographs. The one thing I wanted to do was experience the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor. We lucked out and got right in, it was Hilarious. We really enjoyed the show and thought it was well worth the effort to see it. We then made our way out of the park stopping to get a few things including my most favorite of all treats . . . a HUGE Mickey Mouse Rice Krispie Treat. I love taking it home and having a fun treat to eat after our vacation. If Dad would have let me I would have gotten one at the beginning of the trip to munch on during the trip then take one home as well. I love them that much. Unfortunately for us, we missed the Monorail by a few minutes and the next Monorail was delayed. It took forever to get back to the resort and as a result we were late. It was a mad dash to get on the bus. Jaden was crying, Grandma and Grandpa were trying to get things organized and didn't need to deal with Jaden at that moment. Dad had run into the resort to look for a last minute purchase that ended up not being available anymore. In the end, Lexie and I made it on the Bus and Dad and Jaden rode in the van with his parents. Not the ideal situation but in the end we all made it to the airport, through security (which with two kids is a huge task in and of itself) and to the gate in time to board.



The flight home was long. We were all tired and ready to be home. Lexie fell asleep the last 20 minutes of the flight so Grandma tried to keep her awake. Jaden did really well and slept most of the flight home. All of our bags made it home, we collected the bags from the carousel and the guys headed out to get the vehicles. Uncle Nate had a surprise when he got to their SUV, it had a flat tire. Not really what you want to deal with when you get back from an 11 day vacation. We headed home, got the kids to bed and the bags inside the house. It was hard to believe it had only been one day, we'd done so much. Without unpacking we headed to bed. It had been a great trip and we'd deal with the aftermath tomorrow. The best part about coming home, we'd worked hard to get the house clean before we left and it was so nice to come home to things clean and organized. I don't think its been that organized since.

Well, we made it home safe and sound. Thanks for taking this journey with us and enduring our pauses and gaps in the story along the way. This vacation has been a most memorable trip we won't soon forget. Thanks to the Nelson family for a fun trip and all the fun times we shared together as a family. An extra special thanks to Mom and Dad Nelson (Grandma and Grandpa) for taking us along on this great adventure, we had a fantastic time. We love you so much and hope you know how grateful we are for all your love and support. Now its time to say goodbye to all our company . . . remember, M I C K E Y M O U S E Rules!!

Day 10 - WDW Vacation

The end of the trip is near, this was our final full day in the fabulous land known as Disney World. We took it easy in the morning then made our way to the Volcano Pool at the Polynesian Resort. Lexie is a fish, she LOVES to swim. Grandma had bought her a new Tinker Bell swimsuit and she was so excited to wear it. Dad and Lexie both braved the Volcano slide while I waited below. Grandpa helped us out by watching Jaden so we could all swim. Lexie even got to wear a life vest so we didn't have to worry about her drowning herself.

After swimming we headed to Downtown Disney for lunch at the ne TREX Restaurant. The folks who built Rainforest Cafe venture this new endeavor with Dinosaurs intstead of Rainforest animals. It was such a cool restaurant with many different "theme" rooms. We were seated in the Ice Age Room which rotated between Blue, and Pink Ice. Lexie loved the Dinosaur effects as we got to sit through many Meteor Showers. The food was very yummy, I had fried shrimp and a chocolate shake. The main reason for heading toward TREX was the one and only Build-a-Dino inside the restaurant. Lexie wanted to build her a dinosaur, since she loves Bear World (that's what she calls Build-a-Bear) and this was very similar. Out of all the cute and cuddly dinosaurs she picked the Dilophosaurus (sp?) with sharp pointy teeth and scally skin. The salesman was really cute with her and helped her put PINK to sleep for the surgery to close her up (PINK needed special attention). It took a while to pick out an outfit, Lexie wanted her to wear certain things but Mom wants her outfits to match. Silly Mom! Grandma was so kind to treat Lexie and Jaden to a new Dino friend. Jaden got a Triceratops, Dad's personal favorite.



We headed straight for Epcot from Downtown Disney. We rode Spaceship Earth then headed to get character autographs while Grandma, Grandpa, and Great Grandma took Jaden and slowly made their way to the Mexico pavilion. The Epcot character greeting for the Fab 5 is so fun, we loved the cute backdrops for pictures. Goofy was the funnest, he wouldn't stop playing with our hair and ears for the pictures. Afterwords we dropped off Lexie with Grandma and Grandpa then did some shopping for souvenirs in Mouse Gear store. I found the jacket I'd been looking at in the correct size . . . I love it!

At the Mexico pavilion we met up with Uncle Nate and Aunt Amy. We found tables (waited for tables) while Nate and Dad waiting in line to order food. When we were done with our meal we headed inside to ride the Three Cabellero's Ride. Lexie had been on this ride several times and was most excited to show the others the Donald Duck ride. When we were nearing the end of the ride the funniest thing happened. The passengers in the boat in front of us decided they didn't want to wait to get off so the stood up and tried to exit on the walkway on the side. Hello, you need to wait for the signal to exit. I found it funny since Disney has castmembers at ALL the rides telling you when to enter and exit the ride. Guess they missed that detail.

The kids went back to the hotel with Grandma and Granpa while Josh and I got to walk our way around the World Showcase. It was a nice end to our day, even though my feet were killing me and all I really wanted to do was sit down. We met up with Nate and Amy and headed back to the Monorail to the Ticket and Transportation Center. From the TTC we got on the Monorail to the Polynesian. We had finally made it back to the resort, got the kids and went to bed. We should have stayed up and packed for the trip home but instead we went to bed with the intention of waking up early to pack.

Day 9 - WDW Vacation

Today was Early Magic Hours in the Magic Kingdom. We had a good nights rest and started off our morning with a short Monorail ride to the Magic Kingdom and arrived just in time to see Mickey, Pluto, Snow White, and Dopey welcome everyone to the park as it opened at 8am. We headed down mainstreet and straight for Fantasyland so we could get in a few rides for Lexie. We rode Peter Pan, Dumbo, and Winnie the Pooh before heading to Toontown. Dad had been waiting, with the crowds, for toontown to open. When the rope dropped he ran for the tent to wait in line to see the Disney Fairies. Even being among the first we had a 30-40 minute wait ahead of us but it was well worth the wait. We magically shrunk as we walked through the door so we were small enough to talk to Tinker Bell and her friends. Disney was even kind enough to shrink a Photopass for us to have for pictures with the fairies (so cute). Lexie even asked the Cast Member if she was big again as we were leaving, they told her she had to walk out the door and "Poof" she would be normal size again. It was really cute. Lexie even told Tinker Bell that Grandma and Granpa were coming back from the Big Boat today and gave her a Mickey Confetti that she had found outside on the ground. Tink told her she'd treasure it always. The characters were really fun and worth the wait.

We met up with Grandma and Grandpa, Great Grandma, and Uncle Nate and Aunt Amy at the Starlight Cafe for lunch. They had a great cruise and we were excited to have them back with us. Lexie was especially excited to see Grandma again and couldn't wait to tell her of all her many adventures. We all headed towards the Tomorrowland Transit or People Mover for a fun ride. Lexie wanted to sit with Grandma and Grandpa but as we took off in the cart ahead she started to cry "I want my Mommy and Daddy". Surprising to all of us because she never really has cared whether we are around or not when Grandma is present. She calmed back down but was overjoyed to see us as we came into view at the end of the ride. As we came down the ramp Lexie spotted Stitch so we ran over to get his autograph, a valued addition to her collection.

The plan was to head back to the room but I pressed our luck and we got in line to ride Buzz Lightyear. Lexie was so excited to ride with Grandma. Lexie was dancing like she had to go to the bathroom so Grandma asked her if she needed to go (since we'd already had such a great track record of accidents). She said she didn't but I forced the issue and we left the line. Grandma told her they'd save her spot but Lexie was so mad she began to throw a fit. She cried all the way to the bathroom and then threw a major tantrum while waiting in line screaming "I don't have to go". To add to the fun there were three spanish girls in line behind us laughing and making fun of the situation I was having with Lexie and it was just making me more upset. We finally left the line and walked back to Buzz. I made her sit until she could calm herself down. She wanted to ride Buzz but I told her we couldn't until she went potty. She finally agreed to go potty so we headed to a different bathroom (I didn't want to wait in the long lines again) and she finally did use the potty. By the time we got back to the ride Grandma, Great Grandma, Nate and Amy had all gotten off the ride and were looking for us. I had told Lexie she could ride Buzz if she went potty so we got back in line with Grandma and Great Grandma for Round 2. In the end Lexie enjoyed her ride on Buzz with Grandma. Grandma's prize for waiting in line a second time was getting her highest score on Buzz, thanks to Lexie's fine driving!

We made it back to the room for naps and then headed back to Magic Kingdom for a few hours of evening fun. Dad and Lexie headed towards the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse while Jaden, Mom, Grandma, Great Grandma, and Grandpa moved slowly towards the treehouse. We met up with Lexie and Dad at Aladdin's Magic Carpet, she had talked him into another ride after the treehouse. We headed towards the Haunted Mansion and stopped to watch the Spectromagic Parade. Lexie loved the lights, especially on the characters outfits. I was nervous for Lexie to ride in the Haunted Mansion but it ended up that she loved the ride. Grandma kept her safe and she enjoyed being Haunted.

We made our way out of the park stopping to watch the fireworks from behind the castle. They were extremely loud as we were closer to where they were being shot off. An interesting fact, Jaden slept through the entire show. It was so loud I wanted to cover my ears at some points so I'm amazed he remained asleep. We must have worn him out.

We got dinner for Lexie at Capt. Cook's and then took the kids back to the room for baths and jammies. The plan was to head over to Grandma and Grandpa's room after baths while Grandpa, Dad, Nate, and Jake were going to get dinner at Downtown Disney (the Earl of Sandwich). The girls met up in Grandma's room and watched Lexie watch cartoons and waited for the guys to return. It took a little longer than expected but the sandwich was yummy, we were all hungry.

Day 8 - WDW Vacation

Today we headed back to Hollywood Studios for the morning. I know what your thinking, why were we heading back for Round 3 of Hollywood Studios?? In our many trips we had yet to ride on the newest ride, Toy Story Mania. We wanted to make sure we had the opportunity to ride this ride since we'd heard such amazing things. Obviously it's fantastic as the stand by line was always 60+ minutes. We got to Hollywood Studios just as they were about to drop the rope opening the park. We joined the crowds as we headed for the most popular ride in the park. Josh got there just in time to wait in one of three long lines to get a fast pass. I headed with the kids to the end of the stand by line at Josh's request. It was quite the sight, me making a bottle for Jaden while he's screaming, holding Lexie's hand, and managing to walk forward as the line advanced. I was never so glad to have Josh join us again. He had gotten fast passes for 10:15am which we figured would be just perfect for us to ride once and then jump back on for a second ride before heading back to the room. Unfortunately, Lexie notified us once inside that she had to go to the bathroom. I grabbed her hand and headed out to the bathroom. We made it! Finally, success. We ran back to the ride and made our way through the crowds meeting up with Josh and Jaden. We were fine for about 5 minutes then Lexie said again, "I have to go poop". You think we'd have learned our lesson by now but we hadn't. Instead Josh and I argued about whether or not to leave the line and head for the bathroom. I finally grabbed Lexie by the hand and headed for the bathroom. This time she had a major blowout and we didn't make it in time. I ended up throwing her panties in the garbage because I didn't want to clean up the mess. It wasn't her fault, but I still spent the next 10 minutes yelling at Lexie for not being able to hold it. If I had just listened. We didn't make it back in time but Josh and Jaden enjoyed the ride. Josh knew Lexie would enjoy it so he put us back in line. We waited about 40 minutes and finally had our turn on Toy Story Mania. As we exited the ride it was time for our fast passes and we walked back in line for a second ride. Fortunately, we didn't have any problems this time around. It really was a cute ride but I don't know if it was worth 2 1/2 hours of our time. Hollywood Studios was by far the park where we had the most problems on our trip. We bade the park farewell and headed back for the room.



In the afternoon we headed for Animal Kingdom and Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade. The parade is right in the middle of our normal nap time but its a favorite of ours and wanted to make sure and see it on our trip. We arrived just in time to find a spot for the parade. It was well worth the wait, and Lexie enjoyed watching the flamingos before the parade began.

It was extra magic hours that evening at the Animal Kingdom so as the crowds exited the park we headed for the Finding Nemo Musical Show and made it just in time to enter as the were shutting the doors. Lexie and I enjoyed the show, Jaden wanted to stand so Josh stood at the top with him during most of the show. We headed to Expedition Everest so Josh could take one last ride but while we were waiting Jaden decided he was ready to eat. Lexie, Jaden, and I raced across the park heading for the Baby Center while Josh was in the single rider line. Jaden was not feeling patient and screamed the entire way to the baby center. It's so funny to watch people as you run by pushing a screaming baby, I'm sure thinking how they are so glad its not them. I got Jaden changed and fed while Lexie watched Wall E in the playroom. Did I mention the Animal Kingdom Baby Center was my favorite? So nice and big, I loved it! Josh joined us and we made our way out of the park and back to the resort.

Day 7 -WDW Vacation

Our next day saw us reach the one week mark of our trip. It is so amazing to see how fast time goes when you're in the midst of a wonderful vacation; things happen so fast that it generally takes some time after the fact to take inventory of the amazing things that we did. This little recap has been great for me to do just this. Going through the photos and relating what happened makes me realize how much we got to do!

If you will recall, our last day was quite trying, and we were pretty much worn out, but we were looking forward to our first fun day in EPCOT, starting with a breakfast with the princesses in the Norway pavilion restaurant Akershus. We set the alarm to give us enough time to make our 9:00 a.m. reservation, but in the midst of a late night of laundry, a VERY early morning feeding for Jaden, and hitting the snooze once, we woke up just after 8:00 a.m. OH, CRAP! We started throwing clothes on, waking up Lexie and dressing her, everything that we had planned to do (with the exception of a shower) in ten minutes instead of ninety, and hoped that we could make it in time. Just as we were about to leave, I couldn't find the camera anywhere. I had it in my hand that morning, but now it was MIA. Our video camera was toast (see Day 6), and we were going to a special breakfast with a gaggle of princesses, so we really had to find the camera. We looked for 20 solid minutes...under the beds, in the closets, over and over. As stressed as we were, I couldn't believe that the camera had disappeared in the twenty feet of hotel room that I traveled while I got ready to go. Finally, I found it at the bottom of our computer bag (that Stacie had checked twice before). We were off!

We raced to the monorail station, which was not close, got to EPCOT, and I ran with Jaden to the Norway pavilion, which was conveniently located at the opposite side of the park. Stacie and Lexie made good time as well, and once they got to the restaurant we were being seated. Sure, we were 45 minutes late, but they were nice enough to honor our reservation. Upon entering the restaurant, Lexie had her picture taken with Belle, and then we were seated. We helped ourselves to a great fruit and pastry bar, and they brought us eggs, potatoes, bacon and sausage on a family style platter. Then, in succession, Aurora, Snow White, Jasmine, and Mulan visited us. Lexie was completely awestruck. She looked into their eyes, and wouldn't look away, regardless of what was said. She was pretty cute to watch, and made sure that they all signed her autograph book as well as posing for a picture.

After breakfast, we jumped into line for the Maelstrom ride in Norway, which was just about to open for the day. We then went next door to Mexico, and got to ride the Gran Fiesta tour with the new Three Caballeros overlay. It was so nice to not have a long wait, so we went several times. After, we walked over to Future World to see Figment (Lexie loved the part where he was taking a bath on the ceiling), and we also found Nemo several times. Our last order of business that morning was going on Spaceship Earth (the big golf ball). Lexie and I took one seat, while Stacie and Jaden rode behind us. It is a very interactive ride with a touch screen right in front of you. Lexie started pushing buttons while I sat down, and we came within a couple of seconds of listening to the entire ride narration in German. I'm sure that my two years of junior high school German classes would have come in handy, but we enjoyed it in our native tongue just fine.

We went back to the room for a nap (learning from the day before's mistakes), and went back to EPCOT for the afternoon and evening. We had a sit-down chat with Crush the turtle, found Nemo a couple more times, and finally cashed in our FastPass for Soarin'. Lexie was a little apprehensive about it, and I managed to film her with our still camera during the ride. At first, she is nervous as the room goes dark and we go up in the air, then her eyes get really big, and then she starts going "YAYYYYY!!". I've watched it over and over because it really captures her and her fearless attitude. Those times certainly trump the more difficult times. Lexie took her mom on the ride next, and Jaden and I waited in the foyer.

Once again, we closed the park, leaving with the last of the crowd. Jaden decided that it was time to eat RIGHT THEN, so I knocked on the door of an ice cream shop that was closed and begged for some hot water. We mixed the hot with some water from a drinking fountain so that it was the right temperature, and we were in business (it was kind of amazing to see how quickly and efficiently we were able to perform this task after a week in WDW). Our trip back to the resort was very nice, and we geared up for another fun day.

Another brief interlude

One more break from the WDW photo tour...

My cute cousin Missy came out to see us last night, and she took us to the Chinese Gourmet for dinner. It was great! When we got home, we all opened our fortune cookies, and this was Stacie's:







Best. Fortune. Ever.

Day 6 - WDW Vacation

As any moviegoer knows, the middle act of a movie is generally where the protagonist faces his or her biggest challenge. The first act is a happy introduction, the final act is when things are resolved into a (typically) happy ending. But the middle part is often full of conflict, problems, and sadness. Day 6 of an 11 day trip fell right in the middle (cue ominous music). I posed a hypothetical situation to my family via email several weeks before the trip, postulating that I would rather receive a firm kick to the genitalia while standing on Main Street over sitting in my home. The idea being that even in extreme discomfort, my love for all things Disney would supersede the pain. This theory was put directly to the test on Day 6:




Looks pretty innocent, huh? We started the day lazily, sleeping in a little bit and having a late breakfast. Our idea was to get to Disney's Hollywood Studios (DHS from here on out) before lunch, and spend the entire day there until closing, eschewing the midday break and staying until it closed in the early evening. As we packed up for the day, we found our video camera dead as the proverbial doornail; we had used it the night before, and plugged it in to charge for the next day. We hope that it is just a dead battery, but we still haven't fixed this, and this was a definite loss for our attempts to document our trip. Maybe if the camera was resting under a ladder with a black cat on top of it, we could have recognized it for the harbinger of things to come (cue more ominous music).

As we walked to the bus stop, we saw one bound for our destination leaving, but didn't feel like sprinting for it, so we strolled to the bus stop to wait for the next one. 15 long minutes later we were off; this would be the only time during our entire trip that the bus looped to the Grand Floridian Hotel to get even more people, and with the car seat, stroller, and all of us, a full bus was not optimal. In fact, as more people were shoehorned onto the bus, Lexie ended up climbing into the back row, planting herself next to an older couple and proceeded to talk their ears off during the trip. She is such an amazing little girl, and has such an ease talking to anyone and everyone. Our challenge with her will certainly be to implant some form of "Stranger Danger" because she is so comfortable with anyone. We filed off the bus, and the couple came over to thank us for an entertaining trip, offering to take her off our hands. Several hours later, I might have taken her up :)

DHS was extremely busy; there are truly only a handful of rides in the park, and it doesn't take much to produce very long lines. Toy Story Mania, the newest ride and one of our must-sees, was a 90 minute wait, and the FastPass line was no longer open. We hoped to catch it later; and focused on seeing some of the shows that were offered. Because Lexie was fighting a cold, we were giving her liquid Tylenol, which seemed to upset her stomach and left us scrambling for bathrooms several times. We watched the High School Musical street show and then stood in line for the Little Mermaid show. Just as we sat down and the show started, Lexie mentioned the need for some bathroom time. Reading the urgency of these requests became a bit of an art form (one that I sadly failed a couple of times), and I knew that this wouldn't wait. Lexie and I sprinted out, and made it to the bathroom in time, but we weren't allowed back into the theater, so Stacie and Jaden enjoyed the show without us.

After the show, we did a little shopping; Lexie got to buy the Tinkerbell doll that she wanted to buy several days ago. Grandpa had saved his change for her to buy something on the trip, and she pulled the trigger on this. Sweet...more tiny dolls with minuscule parts that I would have to dress for her! It became obvious that the rides were only getting busier, so Stacie and Lexie went to the Beauty And The Beast stage show, while the fellas took a trip to the Baby Care Center so that Jaden could unwind and have some food. After that, we decided to camp out a spot to watch the Block Party Bash, a parade/street party/performance. Stacie took the kids and sat down on the sidewalk while I went looking for some lunch. The crowds made food-getting a waiting game as well, although the monster turkey leg was worth it. I made it back just in time for the show, and we enjoyed primo seats.

After the show, the crowd dispersed and we finished our lunch, sitting on the ground. Lexie was already finished, and her naughty streak, which was slowly escalating all day, suddenly peaked. She stood up, looked over her shoulder at us, and took off running. I scrambled to my feet (sadly, not NEARLY as fast as Lexie had) and took off after her. She had ducked between a series of an ice cream stand, the wait time board, and some shrubbery. As busy as it was, her head start made it impossible to see which path she took. I ran forward, pushing my way through the crowded walkway, and for about 10 terrible seconds I had no idea where she was. It seemed like ten years, but she had doubled back, hoping that I was chasing her, and I spied her. As relieved as I was to get her, it took everything that I had to not beat her little backside right there. We had a long talk about staying with us, and after several earnest promises from Lexie, we decided to give it another shot.

Playhouse Disney was our next stop; we wanted to see the show again, and it was a fun show. As you can see in the slide show, Lexie was practicing her mad face and her happy face while we waited for the show to start. Unfortunately, the mad face won out, and once the show was over, she took off in another dead sprint. I was a little bit more prepared this time, and chased her down before she got out of sight. I was really frustrated, and tried to walk her over out of the way in order to talk to her. Lexie went to her classic "go limp as a rag doll" defense, which is effective considering her stature. I can physically pull her when she does this, but I don't really want to dislocate her shoulder, so I try to reason with her. In retrospect, I should have taken a picture of her in the middle of the animation courtyard, laying face down, in full tantrum. But I just wasn't thinking clearly enough. It's funny, all of the emotions that go through you at that point. Everyone walking past looks at you, and the looks on their faces range from "Can't you control your child?" to "I'm sure sorry...I've been there too". I pulled her over to a park bench and put her on my lap in a bear hug, hoping to calm her down, but it was like trying to hold on to a 60 pound salmon. She went postal on me, writhing around, screaming as loud as possible and hitting me in the face several times. It took about 20 minutes and every ounce of my patience to get her to calm down, and after she did, she promised to behave herself.

Something that may have crossed your mind (it crossed me many times, believe me) is why we didn't just go back to the hotel when we hit critical mass. There really wasn't much to do back at the hotel besides sit in the room, and the way that she was acting, that didn't sound too pleasing. Plus, it took long enough to get to the bus stop, get back to the room, etc. that we knew if we left we wouldn't be back that day. I got to the verge of going a couple of times, and then things would calm down, so we gutted it out.

We planned to see Fantasmic! that evening, which is a live show with songs, characters, and fireworks. It's one of my very favorite things, and in Orlando they have a giant amphitheater to see it in. It became apparent that we weren't going to get to ride anything without a killer wait, plus there were tons of people streaming towards Fantasmic!, so we headed that way. It was a good thing; even though we were an hour early, we were lucky to get a seat. By show time, it was standing room only. Of course, right before the show started Lexie needed to use the restroom again, so she and I fought through the masses to get to the potty. We went in the "Family" restroom, and there was one more horrible surprise in store. I am not really squeamish, nor do I have a delicate stomach per se. I have been in many bathrooms that were not that pleasant, and I have contributed to this on occasion. But the wall of stench that we were confronted with was reprehensible. I have NEVER experienced anything like that, and it was all that I could do to not forfeit my stomach contents. Morbid curiosity made me wonder for a split second about the origin of the funkiness, but we left as quickly as possible. I cautioned the next dad waiting outside the door about the situation (I was also trying to make him understand that we were not responsible for whatever happened), but he braved the bathroom anyway, letting out an audible gasp as the door shut. I think of him often, and hope that they were able to find their way to safety.

The show was great and we had excellent seats, so it was worth the wait. As we pushed through the crowds to where we had to park the stroller, and make our way back to the park, Lexie began listening to the little devil on her shoulder again. We made an ill-advised attempt to stay in the park, but we only got as far as the giant hat (in the slide show) before we bailed. The ride back to the hotel was a real treat...Lexie screamed most of the way home, and Jaden, sensing our frustration, became very fussy and hollered most of the trip as well. Ah, the lucky fellow passengers on that bus!

We got back to the room without causing permanent harm to anyone and the kids zonked out. The coda to the evening involved a comedy of errors (which were self-inflicted) that turned my trip to wash some clothes into a two-hour ordeal and didn't get me to bed until nearly 2:00 a.m. It was very fitting, to say the least. I would expound, but this is long enough, and Stacie is hounding me to get this posted. Another time, perhaps.

The middle act of conflict was over...we survived. Barely. As far as my hypothetical question, I would probably still take the discomfort, especially now that I can look back on the day and laugh about it. It certainly helped that we still had several days to enjoy ourselves, which we will document in the coming days.

Day 5 - WDW Vacation

Day 5 began with a 'Bon Voyage' to the Nelson Clan as they set sail on the Disney Wonder for a 4 night bahama cruise. We gave our farewell wishes on our way to the Magic Kingdom. We had slept in that morning as it was late extra magic hours and wanted to try and get caught up on our sleep so we could stay a little later in the park that evening.

Our day at the Magic Kingdom started off with Lexie and Dad meeting Mary Poppins while Mom and Jaden made a mad dash for the Baby Care Center, someone was hungry. We spent most of our morning in Tomorrowland enjoying Autopia and Buzz Lightyear. Lexie even got to meet him in person, he was waiting for us as we walked off the ride. We wanted to catch the new parade so we camped out a spot while Dad went to get us dinner. We ate hot dogs, laughed, and got increasingly excited as the parade began its journey down main street. The parade was spectacular, as all Disney parades are . . . a must see. I'm a fan of parades already but no one does a parade like the folks at Disney. We saw Mickey, Minne, Donald, Goofy, Chip 'n Dale, Ariel, Cinderella, and so much more. One float carried Alice, from Alice in Wonderland, and Lexie was so excited because she hadn't seen her before. Lexie waved and waved then Alice looked directly at Lexie and blew her a kiss. Lexie was so excited she blew her one right back. It was such a special moment for me I started crying . . . I know, I'm silly. All the special feelings rose to the surface at that moment. I love seeing her so happy and excited.

We returned to the room for a late nap then back to the park for an evening of fun. Let me take this opportunity to share how much I loved being able to take the Monorail to the Magic Kingdom. The transportation system is amazing in Disney World but the Monorail is by far and away my favorite way to travel. For those of us that have strollers the Monorail is a HUGE blessing because you don't have to remove kids, collapse the stroller and hold all the "stuff" that we usually carry in and under the stroller. I was so excited anytime we were able to use the Monorail to travel to and from the parks. Definately one of my favorite things about staying at the Polynesian.



The night time at the Magic Kingdom is a family favorite. We are able to do and see so much with the extra magic hours. Our first stop was Splash Mountain. Lexie had been watching the ride video with her Dad prior to the trip and was determined to ride. As she put it, she wanted to go "up up up and then down down down . . . Sploosh". She had a great ride but got drench (not to my liking since it was dark, cool, and no way for her to get dry). We did a few Fantasyland rides before we had another unfortunate bathroom accident. Lexie had to go to the bathroom but waited too long to tell us and then it was too late, we were yelling in the bathroom as we tried to wash out her panties. She ended up with some pants on that Dad had forgotten he brought and no panties for the evening. We didn't let it ruin our fun, we continued our adventures and finally ended up in Cosmic Ray's for some dinner shortly before the park closed.

When we walked into Cosmic Ray's we were greeted by a man named John and he asked us if we were ordering dinner. He had 5 meals left on his meal plan and they expired at Midnight (it was 11:45pm). He offered to buy us dinner so the money didn't go to waist. We were both hesitant about his offer but it turned out to be genuine kindness. He ordered us dinner and used his meal plan credit to pay. He really was just a nice man from Chicago, Illinois. He and Josh had a nice conversation while waiting for the meal then he wished us a fond farewell as he was heading home in the morning. It's so nice to see that good people are out there willing to help others. Thanks John, we really appreciated your kindness. We enjoyed eating our meal with a private showing by Sonny Eclipse. Lexie wasn't too hip on Sonny, it was late, dark, and he was singing songs she'd never heard. She was most concerned about his performance but in the end really liked him once she got to know him.

We made it back to our room for a few hours sleep to prepare us for our next adventure in Hollywood Studios.

Day 4 - WDW Vacation

Day 4 brought lots of different adventures. We had planned to start the day off by meeting Nate and Amy at 7:30am for Early Magic Hours in Hollywood Studios. I got up when the alarm went off at 6:30am and then woke Josh up to get in the shower. While he was in the shower I decided it would be best to let the kids sleep in, they were so peaceful and I couldn't bring myself to wake them. Josh agreed to go ahead with Nate and Amy and I'd come over later in the morning when Grandma and Grandpa were heading over. Josh headed on his way and I layed back down to catch some sleep. Unfortunately just about 20 minutes later the hotel phone rang and both the kids woke up. It was Uncle Jake, his intentions were good as he offered to help me get things ready since Josh was gone. Since the kids were up now we relaxed a little, watched disney playhouse and slowly got ready for the day. Jake and Valerie ordered breakfast for us at Capt. Cook's and we met them there to start our day.

The entire family finally met up in Hollywood Studios and we headed for the Tower of Terror. Lexie had been talking with her Dad about the ride and decided that she wanted to go with the group. She made it through the ride and when it was all over said that she wanted to go again (but she never did ride on the tower of terror again). She's a pretty brave girl to ride that ride at such a young age, I hope it didn't terrorize her for life.

We had lunch reservations at the SciFi Diner, a neat restaurant where you sit in cars and order from the car hops while watching old movies at the drive in. It's such an amazing place with yummy shakes, fries, and burgers. After lunch we headed over to catch the Playhouse Disney show and fortunately for Lexie she was able to see Handy Manny and all the Little Einsteins in addition to the show (the show was a favortie of Lexie's since she watches Playhouse Disney every day). We then headed back to the hotel for a nap.

We had a last minute change in plans and we were able to go see La Nouba with the family while Grandma and Grandpa watched the kids. We'd seen La Nouba many years ago and enjoyed the show equally as much this time around. We had driven the van to Downtown Disney for the show so the rest of the clan stayed looking for dinner and shopping while we drove Great Grandma back to the hotel then returned to join the group. It was a Saturday night and we couldn't find a place to eat that didn't have a major wait so we ended up going separate ways. Josh had told us about a place called Krystal Burgers that he really wanted to find so Nate did some investigative work, got the number to Krystal's and called them for directions. The rest is history, we headed on our way and fortunately for us we found the location and had a grand Krystal dinner.

Day 3 - WDW Vacation

The second full day of our vacation found all of us meeting in the morning to go to Animal Kingdom for a character breakfast at the Tusker House restaurant. It was still unseasonably cold, and the morning air was quite chilly. The Disney bus system is quite amazing, but we were left waiting for nearly 30 minutes before our bus came by.

We enjoyed the breakfast buffet, and after a short while Daisy, Goofy, Mickey and Minnie all took turns stopping by to take a picture with us. Lexie put her autograph book to good use, and she even got to dance with Daisy in a conga line.

After breakfast we set out to explore Animal Kingdom. We all boarded the Kilimanjaro Safari and saw as much wildlife as I can recall seeing; the highlight being a rhino that was literally running from field to field as we drove by. We spent the morning in the park, finding Baloo and King Louie taking pictures in one area, and Pocahontas signing autographs in Camp Mickey-Minnie. Luckily for Grandma they found Pocahontas, she had told Lexie she would most likely see her but didn't know if or where to locate her. Good job Grandma! Lexie had a great time with Grandpa and Grandma, they spoiled her with some Mickey ears and got a fun princess tatoo on her hand that she made sure to show all the characters throughout the day. She even remembered that it would last "4 days".



Later, we took one of our many trips to the Baby Care Center. These facilities were located in every park (although the Animal Kingdom version was Stacie's favorite), and are a wonderful place to change diapers, make bottles, or just catch your breath in a quiet place. Jaden particularly enjoyed the reprieve from his car seat and would stretch out on the padded changing tables. After lunch at the Pizzafari, we left the park only to find Pluto, Meeko from Pocahontas, and Br'er Bear nearly begging for someone to take pictures with, and Lexie was only too happy to oblige.

After some down time in the hotel, we hopped on the Monorail for a short trip to the Grand Floridian for the opening event of the NECA Convention. Dad has been president of the local NECA chapter for four years now, and this was when the torch began to be passed to the next president. Dad was recognized and thanked for all of his leadership and service, and we were excited that we could be there with him. As a surprise, Donald Duck made an appearance, and then later Mickey and Minnie did as well. Everyone had a great time meeting them, and this was the first time that we were able to take pictures with Jaden and the characters. It was a great night of food, friends, and family! Lexie particularly enjoyed the chocolate cake, cookies, and ice cream for dinner, but so did her Mom.

We closed the night with a quick trip to Downtown Disney to window shop. Grandma and Grandpa helped the kids get to sleep and we wandered around the massive World Of Disney store. We took pictures in front of Daisy and Donald, and Stacie managed to find a mad face to match Donald's. Sandwiches from the Earl Of Sandwich finished off our night, and we headed home to get some sleep!

A brief interlude

A slight intermission in our Disney World recap; I just wanted to post proof of the resemblance that I've seen since Jaden was born:
















That's Jaden on the right, by the way. Day 3 will be coming later today!

Day 2 - WDW Vacation

Day 2 began as we headed for the Magic Kingdom. It was a very cold day, in fact the headline news story was the record breaking cold weather and the frost being experienced in and around Orlando. It was a high of 58 and the wind was blowing giving a bitter chill. I had packed for cold weather but not THIS cold weather. Lexie had her jacket and we bundled Jaden up under the three blankets I had packed. I think he was the warmest individual in our group. The entire Nelson Clan went to the Magic Kingdom except for Jake and Valerie, as they had some plans with family in Epcot that day. When we entered the park Lexie saw Daisy and had to run right over and have her picture taken; she was really going to love the character greetings. After meeting Daisy I was so afraid of Lexie and Jaden getting cold that we went into the Emporium to purchase some gloves for Lexie and found a Lightning McQueen Blanket for Jaden. It was on sale for $7.99 . . . you don't find much in Disney World for under $10 let alone a cute blanket. We covered the car seat to keep out the chilly wind.



We headed straight for Fantasyland so Lexie could ride Snow White's Scary Adventure, the Carousel, Winnie the Pooh, and more. Grandpa and Grandma offered to watch Jaden so that we could run and get a few things done with Lexie and move a little faster. Lexie visited Ariel in her grotto first before the lines became unbearable and then we found ourselves in Toon Town waiting in line to see the Princesses. It was quite a wait but Lexie was very excited. First she met Aurora, then Cinderella, and finally Belle. She wasn't afraid of meeting the princesses, she was quite the little story teller in her conversations with them. Disney is famous for ending your many adventures into a glorious shopping experience. Lexie walked out right into a large display of Fairies merchandise, while Grandpa purchased Jaden his first authentic Disney World sweatshirt. In her 3 year old nature Lexie wanted one of everything. She couldn't show Grandma fast enough all the little Tinker Bells and then moved on to the small princess dolls (even though she had them at home). The situation escalated and ended in me dragging her out of the store to calm down on the sidewalk outside. Needless to say, we limited our store visits when possible from that moment on.

With all the walking and excitement we knew we'd need a trip back to the hotel for a break/nap. It was a chore to get the kids to take a nap but when they finally did their mom and dad were able to take a nap as well. We headed back into the park just in time for a few hours before it closed. I am famous for my love of parades and shows but this night we skipped the Spectomagic parade in order to get in a few rides while the crowds were entertained by the parade. I think its the only time I've ever purposely missed a parade for rides! Lexie enjoyed the Magic Carpet, Jungle Cruise, and the whole gang survived Pirates of the Caribbean (including Jaden). As we made our way out of the park we were able to catch the Wishes fireworks spectacular. Lexie loves the fireworks and Jaden continued his nap. Towards the end of the fireworks Lexie took off her coat and said she didn't want to wear it anymore. I proceeded to put it back on her and realized that she was soaking wet from the waist down. She had waited too long and had an accident (of the #1 variety) in her pants. We had to rush back to the room and give both her and Jaden a bath to clean them up and get them warm. The family had been waiting for our reservation at the Kona Cafe in the hotel and we joined them just as they had been seated. Lexie enjoyed Macaroni and Cheese, Josh had Prime Rib and my New York Strip was delicious. We didn't stay long, Jaden started to fuss and you could tell Lexie was also ready for bed so we went to the room and called it a night. Jaden did so good sleeping through the night only getting up once to eat around 4am each night. Lexie was a great sleeper, once she finally fell asleep and didn't ever wake until the morning. Many mornings we had to wake her to begin our day. As we did for our next day of adventures...

Walt Disney World Vacation - Day 1

We made it! We were able to go on a fun filled vacation this month with the Nelson Family to Walt Disney World. We weren't able to post all of our fun adventures during the vacation so we thought it would be fun to post a day by day travel log. So, here goes . . . . let's start with Day 1.



Day 1 was our travel day. It started out at 7:30am as we loaded up the Tahoe and headed for the airport. We had to stop off at Fedex Kinko's to get a print job to finish off a fun WDW Questionairre that Josh had been sharing with the family. We were able to get our bags checked with Sky Cap and walked down to go through Security at the International Gate. It was so nice to be able to take our time going through security and have all the help we needed since we had a stroller, car seat, carry on's and two kids. Lexie was entertained by Grandma most of the flight and Jaden was such a good boy sleeping and playing. He never even cryed during the flight. Whew! We arrived in Orlando, Florida, at 4:30pm and made our way to the Magical Express Bus. Lexie loved the fun video with Mickey as we traveled to our hotel. We stayed at the Polynesian Hotel which was right across the lake from Magic Kingdom. Our room was located in the Aeotoroa longhouse, Room #1205.

Nate and Amy had a room just down the hall from ours and their patio overlooked the lake with a view of Cinderella's Castle. We gathered at 8pm in their room to watch the "Wishes" firework display. It was so cool to be able to watch the fireworks from inside their room and still be able to hear the big boom. It made us that much more excited to watch them from the castle the next night.

We had dinner reservations at Ohana's for 8:20pm but they were behing and the wait was long and the kids were tired so we grabbed a sandwich at Capt. Cook's (the hotel's 24 hr Cafe) and went back to the room and put the kids to bed to prepare for another big day. Our luggage had finally arrived when we got back to our room so I started to unpack for our 10 day disney adventure.

One postscript here from Josh...

Once Stacie and the kids were tucked safely into the room, Nate and I went out in the rental van in search of that great and spacious building, Wal-Mart. After a little meandering, and with the assist of Nate's cool Google phone, we found our destination and stocked up with bottled water, formula for JJ, and diapers/sleep pants for the kids, along with some assorted treats for the room. Needless to say, this trip proved valuable in plotting a course for future evenings (foreshadowing alert!).

Jaden is 2 Months Old

Yesterday our little boy was 2 months old. We can hardly believe that it has been 2 months already. At his 2 month check up today he weighed in at 12 lbs. 8 oz. and is 23 1/2 inches long. He's grown so much in just a few months and is ranked in the 76th percentile for boys. Jaden has been such a blessing and fun addition to our family. We just love him!!

Draper Temple Open House

Friday, January 30th, we were able to take Lexie to the Draper Temple Open House. Lexie was most excited to go to the temple and was overly excited to ride the bus to the temple. We started out at a a chapel where we were able to watch a short video on temples. Lexie couldn't sit still and we were most worried that if she couldn't sit for 12 minutes how would she do during the tour. Fortunately for us, she does much better when she can move and walk. She really liked the baptismal font and the pretty lights. It was so neat to be able to walk through the house of the Lord as a family, even though sometimes I felt bad for wrestling Lexie when she tried to take off and go where we weren't allowed. The lighting and chandeleirs were amazingly beautiful. The bride room was a personal favorite for me as was all the beautiful wood throughout the temple. It's truly a beautiful temple and makes me excited to return and perform temple work once it has been dedicated. The spirit was present and made me feel at home as I did the first time I attended the temple many years ago.

As we sat in a sealing room it was so amazing to be able to tell Lexie of our marriage and sealing and how it made it possible for us to be a family for all eternity. As we saw many parts of the temple Lexie kept saying I can't wait to tell Grammie, she'd love this (Grammie was home with Jaden . . . thanks Grammie). After all was said and done Lexie's favorite part was the Cookie at the end of the tour and the baptism pool (as she called it). What a special experience to teach Lexie about the temple. I feel so blessed to be in a land of plenty and opportunitites to teach our family of my love for the Lord and his special house here on earth. I have a strong testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and am so grateful to have been sealed in the Bountiful Temple for time and all eternity. I hope that everyone will take advantage of the opportunity to walk through a house of the Lord, it was an amazing experience.



Tickets are free and open to everyone at www.lds.org.

Photo Tag

Ok, here it goes . . . I was challenged by a good friend of mine to post the fourth photo in our fourth picture folder. We have so many folders (I'm an organization freak) so this is actually the fourth folder, another fourth folder, and then the fourth photo file. Enjoy!



This photo was taken at my Grandpa Hadley's 80th Birthday party in Roy, Utah. Taken on July 5, 2005. Fun memories (sorry its not the greatest picture of people but it does get me thinking back to the big event). Thanks for the challenge Catherine!

Jaden's Baby Blessing

We were able to bless our new addition yesterday at church. It was a great experience and we are so grateful for all of our family and friends that supported us on Jaden's special day.



Jaden had great-grandparents, grandparents, aunts and uncles in attendance with us, and many of them participated in the blessing. We are so blessed to have family close by and still in our lives. We missed those that have passed and know they were with us in spirit. Jaden was blessed by his father and was given the name Jaden Joshua Nelson. He was blessed with health, strength, happiness, and spiritual strength. He was blessed to one day serve a mission and the Lord. We feel so blessed to have this spirit in our family and look forward to a full life with Jaden as part of our family.