I'm so in LOVE

I love our new baby girl. She is great. I am blessed to have been able to be with her during her stay at All Children's Hospital. Thanks to Craig and many others taking care of business at home.

I was so excited to get this swaddle blanket in the mail from my sister, Vannah. It is perfect. The nurses made so many nice comments about how perfect the blanket was. The bear's shirt says "Need a Cuddle?" I fell in love with it when I saw the bear. So I bought the bear for Addison and it staye in her crib the rest of her hospital stay.

Notice there is no umbilical cord it the picture above. Her cord was hanging by a small piece for several days. So nurse Lisa decided to just cut it off. What a suprize, Lisa discovered that it wasn't the umbilical cord hanging on - it was a thread from the IV being sewen in. Apparently when the IV was sewen into the cord, Addison's umbilical cord was also sewen to her belly! Funny but true story.

I love this picture. I show Addison trying to smile! The nurses would love to make her smile while doing her assessment.

5 Year Hurricane Charley Anniversary

Sometimes it seems like hurricane Charley hit our community not long ago. But, it has been 5 years. Last Saturday, the city of Punta Gorda had and Xtreme Makeover celebration. Several speakers came and opened the days festivities. Jeb Bush, our former Governor (during the hurricane & pictured below) was the concluding speaker. It was a nice ceremony. However I was so worn out and the heat made me sick, so Craig and I left shortly after the speakers.

I am glad that our community has come so far from the devestation we sustained and a matter of a few hours. I am grateful that Heavenly Father watched over my family and all was well with us. Hopefully this will be a mild hurricane season.

Craig & Christina Vacation, Part 1

Craig and I went to Orlando for a couple of days. Thanks to friends and relatives that helped with the kids. On my birthday we went to disney's animal kingdom. It was a lot of fun. The day was hot and being six months pregnant I waddled very slowly through the park. So glad we went.









This giant ant eater was one of the first things we saw. He is big (he is in the middle of the picture right in front of the palms). I didn't know that they slept for 15 hrs a day.










We took a ride on the safari, one of two rides I could do being pregnant! Of course we saw many more animals then we could get pictures of, but here are some of the animals we got to see.

Black Rino










Lots of Hippos.













American Aligators










































There were several giraffes.

























African Elephant, Craig likes elephants. The baby elephants were cute following the mamas.















This tree looks like it its upside-down!



















Whit rhinos.













Male lion, he is right at the crest of the hill under the tree.














Ostrich, my inlaws used to raise them. They had laid their eggs all over the savannah, but I didn't get a picture of them:(

I loved this mural, it was inside one of the buildings.

This is the skull of a female African Elephant. It is huge. At the nutrition center they have skulls all over, but this one amazed me!

Craig in front of Rafaki. I love the Rafaki character from the Lion King movie. I like that Rafaki can see the right even when no one else does.

The next three pictures are of the carvings around the "tree of life". This is a huge man made tree (with a theatre inside) that has carvings all over it of different animals. I took a few pictures as we waited in line to see the bug movie that was inside of the tree.

The title of the 3D movie we saw in the tree "It's tough to be a Bug"

Craig and I look great in our "honorary bug glasses"!

Another shot of the tree of life. Which animals can you pick out?

Craig & Christina Vacation, Part 2

More of our vacation. We went to Rainforest Cafe for lunch, it was in the park. I have wanted to go for a long time, but the prices drove me away. But this time we decided to just to it. I am glad we did.











This elephant outside the resturant had such a cut expression on his face. Craig was so thrilled to pose for a picture!!












Aquariums amaze me. The entrance to this cafe was two aquariums on the side with one over the top. To cool.




















There are so many animated animals all over the resturant. They come alive every time the "thunderstorm hits". Very cool to watch, although I did jump everytime the storm started!


















We both had sandwiches. The portions were huge. I could not finish all my food. It was the best burger I have ever had. Yum!!












After being stuffed with the hamburger, they brought out a birthday sunday for me. It was fun to be sung happy birthday to. I only ate a couple of bites then gave Craig the rest.


















Just a couple of pictures of the animated animals around the resturant.





































Okay, I am not really a frog person, but I think this frog is so fun looking!!

















Craig enjoys squishing pennies as souveniers. He did 11 this day.

Of course we watched the parade, you can't go to disney without watching a parade!

I loved these huge puppets in the parade, this is the elephant.

Mickey Mouse!!

This monkey puppet was awesome. He even looked right at us, perfect for the picture.

In the evening, when I really couldn't walk (waddle) anymore, we went to Cirque De Souil. It was captivating. Acrobats have so many skills that I did not think were humanly possible.

Our brief time away was wonderful and much needed. I love you Craig and am glad we had a few days for us!

Seven books

It usually takes me three or four weeks to read a book. However I have been feeling so miserable with all day (morning) sickness that I have finished 7 books in the last five weeks. Let's just say that I am tired of laying bed and look forward to being able to do more. Stuart keeps reminding me that it takes a lot of energy to grow a baby. I need to listen to him more!!

Visiting Teaching

A few weeks ago, I learned about a different side of visiting teaching. I got a new list in January. I was excited to find out that my 80 year old friend Betty was on my VT list. I knew Betty had cancer.

A couple of years ago when I was the ward choir director, I met Betty. She would come and sing with us. I was of course frazzled because Craig was in meetings and our kids were running around the church. I felt very pulled as to where my attentions need to be, with the choir or my children. I think Betty knew that. After each practice, Betty told me how well I was doing. She made positive remarks about my children and would tell me she loved me.

Our ward boundaries were changed and my family was now in a different ward than Betty. Then last July the boundaries were changed again. So I was back in Betty's ward. Betty was a bright face and friend in my transition to being in different ward. Every week she came up to me, hugged me and told me she loved me. By the end of the year we weren't seeing her at church so much. I missed her hugs.

When I went to visit her in January, my heartached. She was lying in bed, in pain with no hair and not responding to anything. I sat and talked to her. Told her about all my kids and what was happening in my life. I also met Betty's daughters that had come to care for her. I went over often for the next, little over a week. One time I sat on the bed next to Betty, she had her eyes opened. I told her that I loved her. She also told me that she loved me. That was the last time she spoke to me. Another time there I went over and shared with her my memories of her friendship.

Betty has now passed on. I was grateful to lead the congreational hymns at her funeral, a good way to serve her. I helped Betty's daughters clean her house after she passed.

I always knew that visiting teaching was more than just seeing a sister once a month. However this is the first time that visiting teaching has meant helping a family with a loved one that is passing on. This was definetly and challenge, but the Lord helped me. I am grateful to have been Betty's friend and her visiting teacher. Betty brought much sunshine into my life. I look forward to seeing Betty again.

Craig's 48th Birthday

Disney is now running a promotion that you get in free to one of their parks on your birthday. So Craig signed up. It was perfect because he also had the day off work. Craig and I went to Disney's Hollywood Studios. Craig had worked at this park 20 years ago. So he was very interested in what was the same and what was different.



This Dinosaur snack bar, was there when Craig worked there. He only worked in the dinosar when he was giving someone a break. It is a very small working space.

Or course, we had to see the exhibt about Walt Disney and how his dream became reality. Go see this when you come to Orlando. It is amazing the drive that this man had to make his dream a reality.

This is a backdrop used in a movie. I had to take Craig's picture by it. The backdrop is San Fransico. It brought back memories of my grandparents taking me and my sister to San Fransico. Good memories of great times.

We watched the parade. It was great. However we were glad we were watching and not performing!

Lights, Motors, Action - was an amazing show. Our boys would have loved to see this. It is all about how the movies film high speed chases. You learn how they drive cars backwards, split cars in two and many other aspects of the chase. Craig and I both enjoyed the show.

There is also what I would call a Props Graveyard. It was mostly closed the day we went. However I did get to see this "Herbie Car". I grew up watching the herbie movies and of course have bought them for my kids and I. So it was cool to see one of the cars that was used in the movies.

By the end of the day, Craig was relaxed and exhausted. As you can see, Craig took a little nap on my shoulder. This was while we waited to see the Beauty and the Beast.

We had a great day.