New Computer

I have several cute pictures to add to my blog from the last few days, but we got a new computer, and Will is still getting things put together -- including moving my photo card reader to the new computer. Hopefully we'll get everything done this weekend, and we'll be up and running again by Monday.

Family Home Evening

Jessica talked about families at church on Sunday in her Primary class, and her teachers must have talked to her about having family home evening. She told me yesterday that she was supposed to remind us. : ) So we decided to do it last night.
We talked about homes and families and Will and I told stories to Jessica and Willbon about when we were little. We shared stories about things we liked to do and memories of places we went and traditions we had. Jessica loved it! She kept saying, "I like that too! Just like you!" I told her about being a secret leprechaun and this morning she remembered all the details and asked when we could do it again. Will talked about having the beach in his back yard. Jessica thought that would be so fun, and it made Willbon want to go to the beach! A few things the children shared were: Jessica's favorite primary song is "Popcorn Popping", and Will's favorite food is tomatoes and smarties.

For our treat/activity we made houses out of graham crackers and frosting and candy. We had a lot of fun. Thanks to Jessica's primary teachers!

Volleyball Camp

We started volleyball camp yesterday. For anyone that doesn't know I coach a Middle School volleyball team. We had fun, but I'm pretty worried because I found out that 3 of my starters are going to different schools this year!! Yikes! Hopefully we'll get some new girls to take their places. (Keeping my fingers crossed!)

Blessing day

Our sweet little Jonathan was blessed today. It was a very nice blessing and even though we weren't with our family, I felt grateful for our wonderful friends that made the moment special. I wasn't able to duplicate Mom's shorthand, but I did take notes so that Jonathan can look at them someday. He started crying when all the men were trying to get situated in the circle, but once Will started the blessing he quieted right down. : ) That's my boy! I barely got his little outfit over his chubby little tummy, and once I did I couldn't believe how handsome he looked!

This morning I was talking to Jessica about what a blessing is, and she was very interested. She started coming up with a list of things that she wanted her Daddy to say. At the top of the list was a blessing that he could grow up fast so that he could play with her. Next was that he would be obedient and be a good example. : )

We missed all of you today! We feel very blessed to have such great families. We love you!

Pioneer Day

Yesterday was our Stake Pioneer Day Celebration. It was very hot and humid, but we decided to brave it anyway. There were lots of pioneer games and cute covered wagons that different people made out of little red wagons. Jessica and Will both tried their hand at the stick pull.

Ready . . . . set . . . go!

Jessica didn't quite pull hard enough, but she had fun anyway!

Will was eager to try, but when it came down to it neither he or the girl he was with wanted to pull very hard. They both just let go when they could feel the other one pulling. It was pretty cute. We called it a tie, and Jessica was thrilled that he got a tie!

Aspens birthday

This morning we went to help clean up the church. Jessica and Will helped me clean all the windows and glass. Jessica dusted all the wood in the chapel and all the pianos, Willbon erased all the chalk boards and arranged the hymn books on the chairs. I'm not sure how much we really got done, but I thought it was important to go and show Jessica and Will that we need to help take care of the church and keep it clean.

After that we went straight to Aspens birthday party. She was having a Princess party at a place called "Parties to Remember". They do everything for you, you just show up. The decorations were pretty cool. The whole room looked like a castle. Wills favorite part was the punch fountain.

Jessica got to sing karaoke. She sang her favorite -- "Part of your world" from the Little Mermaid. Notice she's wearing her Piniata skirt. She told me this morning that this is the perfect party outfit! I had to agree. : )

The Blue Angels

Today we went to see the Blue Angels in Pensacola. As I finished packing the car I started thinking that I was probably CRAZY to go with three children by myself, but Will has taken so much time off work that he couldn't come with us. : / I decided to go for it. WE ended up having a really good time. Of course, it's not much of a surprise when you think about how much Will loves airplanes, and the beach! Jessica had a good time too, and Jonathan . . . well . . . he was either sleeping or eating, so I think he had a good time too.
I had a really hard time trying ot hold Jonathan and get Will to stand somewhere I could get a picture of him and the planes in the background, so this was as good as I could do. (Look really hard at the far left of the picture! There are 4 angels flying in formation back there!)

This was the Blue Angels first performance since that crash a few months ago where one of the pilots died. They started off the show with this one airplane flying seperate from the rest. (Maybe to honor him?)

Before the Angels started flying there were lots of other planes and helicopters doing stunts. Jessica said her favorite part was when the coast guard helicopter dropped someone into the water and then picked them back up again. It was pretty cool. The water was flying everywhere when the helicopter was hovering above the water!

There is just something about the Blue Angels that makes me feel so patriotic. As I saw the planes come in for the first time, I had this overwhelming gratitude come over me. I was grateful to be living in a free country. I was grateful to the men and women serving in the military. I felt so blessed to be there at that moment with my beautiful children. It was awesome!

As you can see it was pretty sunny, but that didn't stop us! Will was pointing out the planes as they were about to make another pass. We were there for 2 hours and he never got tired of yelling, "Airplane!" everytime he spotted one.

So all in all the day went really well . . . until I tried to back my car out of the spot I was in. I parked at the edge of the white sandy beach, and I quickly learned that it's not only beautiful sand, but it's soft. I was totally stuck!! Luckily there were many people willing to help out (especially when they saw I was alone with three little ones!) After 4 men couldn't even make the car budge by pushing it, we stopped a truck passing by that had a wench on the front of his truck. In less than a minute he had pulled us free and we were on our way! There were so many people around watching they applauded when we finally got out. : ) Jessica got a kick out of the whole thing, and I was surprisingly calm. It helped that I had some angels of my own to help out. So anyway, NOTE TO SELF: Don't park on the sand!!

Just for Laughs

Will and I saw the funniest show last night on ABC called Just for Laughs. It's a hidden camera show that started in Canada. Check out the clips on ABC.com here, and make sure you check it out next Tuesday. I don't think I've laughed that hard at something on TV for a long time . . . if ever!

Pics from Fort Worth

Will was a happy boy when he saw all the balls and cars at the DiGi's house.

Jessica loves this cute dress Grandma Curtis bought for her. She calls it her flower dress.

We took a tour of the Rangers stadium. They took us all over the stadium. Jessica asked me later if I remembered going to all the secret places. : ) The coolest part was going down into the dugout. Will loved it!

I think the highlight for me (other than seeing Elder Neeley) was going to the rodeo!

Look at all these good looking boys! Jeff bought a car in Houston and drove up to surprise us. It was fun to see him, and I'm glad that he got to meet Jonathan.

Jessica had a great time at the rodeo. She really liked the bull riding.

Here is Jessica trying to stay on this bull! She was trying out the moves she saw at the rodeo the night before!

We had so much fun. It ended too soon, but we can't wait to see y'all again.

Picking up Elder Neeley

I'm glad that we were able to be with Elder Neeley for his last few days in Texas. It was soooo great to see him and spend time with him. We had lots of fun! I hope that we didn't cramp your style too much Elder Neeley. I know that you were limited in what you could do since you had three little ones tagging along. Thanks for inviting us to be with anyway. It was a treasured experience.

Gramma Lynnie's b-day

We were sad to leave Houston, but excited to go to Fort Worth to see the Neeley Family. We arrived in time to celebrate Gramma Lynnie's birthday.

Jonathan didn't waste anytime passing out those smiles again!

Pics from Texas

Here are some pictures we took while we were visiting. There were lots of fun times and plenty of smiles to capture!

We had a birthday celebration for Will, and as you can see, he really liked his present from Grandma and Grandpa!

Swimming and puppies! Two of Wills favorite things!

Jessica loved all the attention from her Aunts!

Jonathan really enjoyed all the attention from Grandma. He loves to be held, and Grandma has the perfect touch.

Visiting the Curtis'

We had a lot of fun visiting the Curtis'. We can't wait to come back. Thanks for everything!

Baby Jonathan

Little Jonathan is changing and growing so fast. He is a very good baby, and he loves to smile! He doesn't laugh much, but his big smiles are very contagious! I'm glad that our family got to watch him as he figured out what smiling was all about.

I took Jonathan to the doctor today for his 2 month check-up. He weighed 15 lbs 6 oz. He is officially off the charts! Our first baby to be off the charts! He was 25.5 inches long which put him in the 95 % for height. He has to get 4 shots and an oral vaccine. He was NOT very happy after all that, but he recovered quickly. We love him to pieces!

Summer Vacation

Well, we are finally home again after a fun trip to Texas to visit family. The trip was fun, but the 15 hours in the car left a lot to be desired. Anyway, as I was looking through our pictures last night and thinking about our trip, I decided to start this new blog. We heard over and over again how our families wished that they could see us more often and spend more time with us. Since I don't have the power to move Will's military job a little further west, I realized that I could be better at keeping in touch and posting pictures and stories of our lives here in Florida. That way even though we don't live close, hopefully you all can feel more a part of our everyday lives.