Birthdays & Disney Magic

I always knew that I have the best husband in the world - but gee whiz - he still catches me off guard.  January and into February was one of our worst on record.  I was sick for a whole month.  I had bronchitis and a sinus infection and then Ryan got sick.  He had a high fever and got sicker and sicker.  Four days in, I finally took him to the doctor and he said he had a really bad flu and that we would probably all get it.  This is where I proclaim what a bad mom I am, because I know I am supposed to get flu shots for myself and my children because we have lung issues in our family.  What can I say?  I just never found the time?  I don't know what the reason is, but I didn't do it . . . and can I just say that I will NEVER make that mistake again.  

That very night, Danny and I came down with the flu - on top of my bronchitis I already had.  I was the sickest I can remember being for a long time.  I literally did not move from my bed except to use the bathroom for 4 days.  It was horrible.  Then, poor Brad got sick on Friday night.  So, we all managed to get the flu except for Alex . . . go figure because he always gets sick.

The problem was, I just couldn't seem to kick everything even with antibiotics.  My birthday was coming up on February 5th and Brad started acting weirder and weirder.  Since he is notorious for fabulous birthday surprises, I asked him if he had plans.  He finally broke down and told me that he had been planning a surprise Disney trip since Thanksgiving.  Emily was even gonna fly down and drive over with us and then fly back to SLC from California.  Brad was struggling wondering if he should cancel everything.  With more confidence than I actually felt, I told him that things would be fine and we should just go.  I was surprised and excited, but boy was I worried.

Things turned out a lot better than I had hoped.  I stocked up on my cough meds and my breathing machine and off we went.  I'm embarrassed to admit it, but Brad rented a wheelchair to push me around the park.  I was just too weak and sick to do all the walking that Disneyland required.  Anyway, it was a WONDERFUL surprise and a much needed break in the sunshine for me and my family.  I love my awesome husband more than anything.  He is the best!!!!

 Waiting in line for the Matterhorn

 The longest line the whole time was for Toy Story Arcade.  Ryan got tired of standing :)

 Space Mountain

I LOVE the miniature villages in Storybook land!!

Alex and Danny look thrilled don't they?!

Ryan was so excited to be able to ride everything and to "drive" the Indiana Jones car

I love these kiddos and it sure makes me miss Elder McBride :)

Yay for Disney!

Well, I am trying to be adventuresome and start a family blog! I have no idea what I am doing, but hopefully with some work this will be a neat thing for our family. I have to have some way to keep a history of our family and I love reading Emily's and Brandi's blogs. So, I guess I will start with one of the latest pictures of our family. We were so spoiled and went on a Disney Cruise for Thanksgiving this last November, 2007.  Andy and Suzette's family joined us and we had such a great time!

 We went to all of the parks first while we were in Florida.  I can't remember the order or even all the names, but I remember that this is the first thing Ryan wanted to do when we got there :)

 We were missing Danny the first little while because he was hanging with his McBride cousins, Max and Sam.  Taylor broke his wrist a few weeks earlier while riding his longboard.  We were really worried because we knew that we had this trip coming up.  But they told us not to worry and put a water-proof cast on.  Isn't that awesome?!

 Epcot Center.  I wish we would have had more time to spend here.

 Dad and Ryan in the shark from Nemo

 Emily and Danny.  Uh oh - I don't know if Danny's ok!

Jessie from Toy Story signed Taylor's cast!

 After we spent time at the parks for a couple of days, we drove to the ship.  After we got on, Brad realized that he had left his credit card at Walgreens.  So, the first thing he had to do was do some dancin' trying to figure all that out.  We were supposed to go get food and hang out on the deck while they got all our luggage in our rooms and stuff.

 We sailed off and this was the beautiful sunset from our balcony.

 We had to get two room because there were so many of us.  Emily, Taylor, Alex and Danny shared a room right across the hall from me, Brand and Ryan.  We were all pretty impressed with the cool animals they made out of the towels every night.

 The next day we landed at Nassau, Bahamas and we took a little cruise over to an island to hang out for the day.

 All the cousins on the boat ride back

 

 This is a cute street in Nassau

 

 One thing really neat about the ship is that Ryan got to see Disney characters to his heart's content!  Every night we went with the group we were assigned with, to a different restaurant.  We had the same waiters all through the trip and they were great!

 Emily, Mickey and Ryan

 Belle and Ryan

 Belle and Emily :)

 It's a little dark, but this is our whole family table the first night

 Danny & Max

 Danny and Sam

 Cole and Ryan

 Wendy, Ryan and Peter Pan

 Ryan getting his book signed by Alice

 Pirate Night

 Andy makes a good pirate face :)

 Donald Duck & Danny

 We landed at Castaway Cay - Disney's own private island.  It was sooooo fun!  Look how HUGE the ship is!

  I finally remembered to take pics of our cabin

 And this picture about sums it all up!  It was a wonderful time that we will remember forever.  We made so many wonderful memories.  Thank you so much Dad!