Disney World

Our way to Miami, we stopped in Orlando and spent a day at Disney World. My parents helped us out with the tickets to the park and with the hotels on the way down which made it possible to take the kids and spend the day! We can't thank you enough Mom and Dad, we had so much fun and really enjoyed the break from driving!
The kids talked the whole trip about how they needed to get a picture with Mickey and Minnie to show Grandma and Grandpa- so here it is.....
This is the kids in Pixie Hollow waiting to see the fairies. It was so cute, they had everything painted huge to make you feel really small.



Rosetta gave Kyler a kiss as we were leaving, so I had to get a picture before he "rubbed it in"It was so fun to get pictures with so many characters, and the autographs are also VERY important!















This is when we were waiting for the parade to start. We had a seat looking right into the sun, but it was perfect seats once the parade started. Both Bryn and Kyler waved at everyone as they passed by.




Aladdin's magic carpet ride was one of their favorites. It held 4 people per carpet, but only the front seat could control if the carpet went up or down. So we rode it a few times to make sure everyone got a chance to control.

This is Bryn "sewing" in Minnie's house.
After Pirates of the Caribbean, Kyler picked a Jack Sparrow sword for his souvenir. He was entertained the rest of the day. While we were waiting to see some more characters he found this wall to jump off and "fight the bad guys". I managed to get one picture that wasn't too blurry.
This was another fun roller coaster that they really liked riding. It was a little more calm that The Big Thunder Mountain Railroad that we took them on earlier.

Driving on these cars was the last ride we made it on before the fire works started. They LOVED this ride. Erick rode with Bryn and I was with Kyler. They both laughed the whole time and was so busy looking at each other, it was a really good thing it was on a track!!

My pics of the fireworks didn't turn out, but they were amazing.
We had a wonderful day! Both kids were asleep before we got all the way out of the park. They keep asking if we can go back some time. I think I am looking forward to going again as much as they are!

My-ami

When we found out we were going to be moving, we told the kids we were moving to Miami. That night when we were getting ready for bed, Bryn asked us, "When we move to Miami will it be warm?" Kyler then asked,"Why are we moving to Bryn's-ami?" Erick and I looked at each other for a second and then realized what he had heard Bryn say was "my-ami instead of Miami" so we started laughing and asked if he would rather go to Kyler's-ami. Of course he said yes. So over the next few days before we left, if anyone said Miami, he would say, "no, we are going to Kyler's-ami" so we played along with it. Then one day we were going to pick up Bryn from school and Kyler said, "Mom, do you know where my-ami is?" I of course said no. He said, "It's grandma's house!" It was so funny, but at that point I figured we needed to clarify where we were moving and where it was so there was no confusion when we got to Florida instead of Utah!

Another move....

So this, like the last few, is a little late getting posted, but I thought better late than never:)

We are now living in Miami, Florida!! We have been here about a month. Erick had an opportunity to come to Miami for a "special" rotation (they call it special because they let you start it as long as you have taken the USMLE Step 1, even if you don't have your scores back. All the others require you to have your score back before starting) We knew it was a good opportunity for Erick, so we talked to our landlord and told him what was going on. We asked him to list the house for rent and if it rented the kids and I would go with Erick to Miami, if it didn't rent, we would stay in Saginaw. Our landlord didn't think there was any way he would be able to rent it. Most people apparently don't move to Michigan in January (I can understand why!) The next day our landlord called and said someone wanted to come see it and if they wanted it they needed to move in within 10 days. As you can imagine, I went into panic mode. We didn't have a place to live, we didn't have plans for a truck, I didn't have time to "plan" anything. The couple came and looked at it, and of course they loved it. We were waiting for their credit check to go through while we tried to find a place to live, which we found out we had one the day the truck left with all our things and we had planned to go as far as Toledo.
It was a whirlwind and very crazy. I was so grateful for all the wonderful friends we had made in Michigan. We had lots of help getting packed up and cleaned out of the place. We were REALLY sad to leave Michigan, but it felt like the right thing to do.
We are enjoying Miami. The weather is wonderful, we are paying a lot more in rent for a lot less of an apartment, and moving Bryn in the middle of the school year was not fun. However, we have all adjusted and are doing well.
Bryn really likes her school, the uniforms took some adjusting to, but that is going well now. We had to buy the Navy blue and red polos in the boys section and she saw where they had come from so all she could say was, "I don't want to wear boy's clothes, I won't look pretty." So we got her a khaki and navy blue skirt to go with them and that seemed to help a little. Then once she got to school and saw everyone else in the same thing, she was okay with it! She is taking a Spanish class and every Friday they have an exam. So far she has done really well every week. We are so proud of her and how hard she works in school. She loves to go swimming after school or go to the park and ride her bike.
Erick has started his rotation. It is OB/GYN and he is enjoying it so far. He has gotten to seen multiple c-sections and a few other surgeries as well as lots of patients. It is only Erick and one other girl working with the Doctor he has been assigned to which it nice to have such a small group. There are two hospitals and one surgical center where he goes as well as the clinic, all of which are a few blocks from our house. Erick took the Step 1 about a week after we arrived in Miami and he just got his scores back. He was happy with the results and we are all happy to have it behind us. Now with his scores back, we can hopefully get the rest of his third year scheduled which I will post as soon as we know!
Kyler is also adjusting well. Him and I play tennis about everyday (he prefers Saturdays when his dad can play with him, but he tolerates me during the week!) The park we play at is about a 5 minute bike ride, and has a tennis court, soccer field, side walks to ride bikes on, swings and toys, and a basketball court. He also loves to go swimming. He is swimming really well and loves to dive for things off the bottom of the pool.
We are grateful for all the help we have received from our families. We couldn't do what we are doing without all of you. We are so grateful your support and help. We miss and love all of you!

Our BIG 4 year old

Kyler turned 4 years old on December 27th 2009! He is getting to be such a big boy. He is all into Super Hero's these days, so he picked a batman cake and wore his wolverine costume (from Santa) all day. His birthday was on a Sunday, so we went to church and when we got home we opened presents and had cake and ice cream. He got a new piece to his Geo Trax from Grandma and Grandpa Stowell, a superman cape and super heros from Grandma and Grandpa Anderson, money from Grandma and Grandpa Wankier, which he spent on wolverine claws, and a leapster from Bryn, mom and dad! Thanks everyone for helping to make it a wonderful day for him. We wish we could have had all our family with us to help celebrate, but the phone calls and gifts were wonderful.


Kyler,
We want you to know how important you are to our family. We love you so much and appreciate all your energy and love for life. Right now you LOVE all the super heros. Especially Wolverine, Spiderman, Batman, and Superman. You love to watch the TV shows and movies and the super hero squad toys are your favorite. You LOVE to dress up and fight the "bad guys". You love to wrestle with your dad, especially in the morning, and every time I walk in the room or pass you, you say, "Mom, I love you so much." You always rub my kisses in, and love to give BIG hugs. You miss Bryn so much while she is at school, and love when she gets home and you get to play with her. You love sports, especially basketball, soccer and tennis. You have learned lots of new words (mostly from your dad), and we love to hear you say them: Frustrated, "This is so frustrating", Good Grief, "Oh my grief"(you forgets the word "good"), Give me a chance, "come on, give me a chance"(You say this anytime you want something), ridiculous, "Don't be ridiculous" GPS, "GPRS" And anytime you are telling a story you start out with , "Just so you know," You still have your friend Joseph Smith, however a couple days ago you told me that he was no longer a super hero. Apparently someone stole his cape! Joseph Smith goes everywhere with us, and now when you talk to him, you use another voice to answer for Joseph Smith. This has made it easier for me to know what he is saying! You love the color blue and red, mostly because you call them the spiderman colors, so any color you see or have you associate with a super hero. Green is the Hulk, yellow is Wolverine, and Red is Iron Man.
Kyler, you are such a good boy and help remind me to laugh everyday. You talk about non-stop all day, and I LOVE to hear all your stories! We love you so much!
Love,
Mom

Thanksgiving/Niagara Falls

I know I already posted about Thanksgiving, but I just found these pictures and wanted to post them along with the untold story of my previous post about Thanksgiving!!
Like I said before we had an AWESOME time. The kids had so much fun playing together and being able to see each other again as well as being able to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa. Thanks Lee and Jandi for letting us come and spend the weekend!
We did some sightseeing while we were there. One trip as I mentioned was to Niagara Falls. We took two cars so we could all fit. In one car was Grandma and Grandpa and Bryn and Mason. In Lee and Jandi's van was starting in the third row: Jandi, Ethan and Kyler, middle row: Erick and Lincoln, and I was shotgun with Lee driving. We were following the GPS and it actually took us to the Canada side of Niagara Falls. This wouldn't have been a problem if we had a passport for everyone, or better yet if Lee would have had his Drivers License!
So we were following the GPS and by the time we figured out we were headed into Canada we couldn't turn around. So we waited in the line to get to the booth where you show your passport. We tried to explain we didn't want to go to Canada and we just needed to turn around. However, they wouldn't let us just turn around. After lecturing Lee for about 5 minutes about not having his drivers license, he sent us through and into the immigration office. There we explained again what had happened and they wanted to see everyone's ID. They were very quick and filled out a paper listing all the riders in each vehicle. They told us to give the paper to the US officer as we exited. So we get in the lane to leave Canada and hand in our paper. Then the lecture comes again about why Lee doesn't have his license. However, this time I am driving, so we aren't getting the lecture about driving without an ID, just not having it with us. In the car next to us, the officer was very confused as to why my mom and dad had Bryn and Mason, and where their parents were. It was a little stressful for a few minutes, but makes for a great story :) And we can all feel safe in knowing that they don't just let anyone through!



It was a little chilly as you can tell! There were actually a few snow flakes falling right when we got out of the car.

Gingerbread Train

This year for Christmas we decided to start a tradition of making a ginger bread "something"! We found this idea for a train and thought it was perfect since it had 4 cars. We each picked a car and assembled and decorated it. It was a lot of fun. Kyler wanted to use ALL the M&M's and Bryn loved the starlight mints. It took about two days since the ginger bread needed to be refrigerated overnight and then we cut out all the pieces and baked them the next day and then still had to let them cool. It was a challenge of our patience, but worth the time!

Christmas

WE had a wonderful Christmas this year. Kyler asked for a ladder and a Wolverine Costume and Bryn asked for jewelry and a radio. We were able to go sit on Santa's lap at a store in Frankenmuth. It is about 20 minutes from Saginaw and they have the World's Largest Christmas store that is open almost everyday of the year except Christmas day. We went down with Craig and Ralna and their family. It was a really fun night. Santa was a little on the skinny side, so on the way home Kyler wanted to know why he wasn't a "fat Santa" we decided we should have plenty of cookies and milk for santa because he needed to plump up a little bit.
The kids were so excited on Christmas Eve, we went over to the Wade's house and had a great time. we spent most of the evening with them and then headed home to our traditional movie on Christmas Eve. Kyler got his ladder and Wolverine Costume, and Bryn got an idog to go with her ipod which was the perfect radio for her. She also got some Jewelry and a desk with scrapbook supplies. They were both so excited and had such a great day.