Happy Birthday Tom!

Tom and Lillie (five months old) - notice Tom's sweatshirt. :)

Tom with the purse - "That's how I roll."

Cassie and Lillie (I just had to include this picture because it is so sweet)

OK - I love blogging and I know Tom looks at my blog so I thought I would wish him a Happy Birthday! Hope today is a great day for you and that you are all healed and no longer stuffy. In honor of your birthday I went through my pictures and pulled some that I liked. I know I mentioned it while we were in Arizona but the progression of Tom and Lillie has been amazing and can be seen through the pictures we have taken throughout the years. I wanted to post some of those. Tom was very apprehensive at first of children and Lillie and they seem to have grown fond of one another. Well Lillie loves Tom! :)

When I first met Cassie, she and Tom were dating but he was living in Phoenix while we were in Flagstaff. Throughout the years I have grown very fond of Tom. Tom and Cassie are perfect for one another and he treats her with such kindness and love. I appreciate how Tom has always accepted me being around (or pretended to :) ) and I enjoy the friendship that we now have as couples. I also really appreciate the love that both Tom and Cassie show to Lillie and the patience they have with her and us. It means a lot to know that they both care about her. Here's to you TOM! Have a Happy Birthday!

Love,
The Ford Team!

Lillie took off her white shirt to eat lunch and didn't want to put it back on so yes, she is shirtless - sorry. :)

Arizona and Disneyland 2008 - Slideshow

The Happiest Place on Earth...

On our family vacation this year we wanted to get to spend some time in Arizona but we also wanted to take Lillie to Disneyland. My best friend and her husband are Disney enthusiast so we asked them if they would like to join us - they of course accepted! We left Arizona in our rental minivan on Tuesday morning and arrived in California that evening. We stayed at a quaint little place called the Candy Cane that is within walking distance from the parks. We have stayed there before and really enjoyed that hotel. Our first day we headed for Disneyland and went straight to the new Nemo ride on recommendation of Cassie and Tom. There are no fast passes for this ride so you have to wait in the long line. Getting there at 8:30 we still had to wait a little over an hour. They have taken the old submarine ride and updated it to a very cute Nemo ride. Lillie thoroughly enjoyed this ride and was more willing to wait in lines after realizing the fun that was at the end of the line. We tried to fit in as much as we could the first day. We rode the Matter Horn, Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Toy Story and so much more! We also reserved a table for the Princess lunch knowing that Lillie would love to get their autographs and pictures. The first princess waiting at the bottom of the steps was Ariel who is Lillie's favorite! She went up and started talking to her like she knew her. It was cute to see her reaction. Lillie was wearing a shirt with flamingos all over it (her favorite animal) and Ariel said that she had talked to flamingos and they were silly birds. It was very cute and the ladies are very good at staying in character. As the lunch progressed the princesses were announced and then would come around to talk to each table. We were greeted by Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Belle. Lillie barely ate she was so excited about those princesses!

The second day we went to a character breakfast to meet more of the characters up close. If you haven't done the character breakfast it is well worth it. It is very difficult to get the characters to take pictures and sign autographs throughout the park because the lines are so long. The meals are expensive but Lillie has always enjoyed it and it has been worth the money spent. We tried to fit in as many rides in the second day as possible. We were able to get a great seat for dinner where we were able to watch the light parade as we ate. We ended up staying until closing at both parks. California adventure closed at 10:00 then we headed to Disneyland until it closed at midnight. We had so much fun.

The only bad thing was that Tom caught a virus and was sick the whole time. He made it out the first day and then had to head back to the hotel right after lunch. Cassie felt bad so she spent a good portion of her time in the hotel taking care of Tom. She came to meet us throughout the day and rode several rides. Unfortunately, Cassie ended up getting sick on the way home so it was an interesting trip for them. I am sure nothing like they have experienced before and hopefully don't experience again while at the Happiest Place on Earth.

Some highlights - My two favorite things were the new Toy Story ride and the Pixar Parade. The Toy Story ride is an interactive 3-D ride. You have these pop guns that you shoot at different objects on the screen. You end up playing as a team of four trying to beat one another. Some of the objects when shot send off bursts of air or water which is a lot of fun. I just want to make it known that I beat Tom AND Cassie in this game! :) My other favorite was the Pixar parade. It is also at California Adventure. It is an interactive parade where the characters shoot water and interact with the crowd. You see the cars characters, Bug's Life, Monsters Inc., The Incredibles, Ratatouille, and Finding Nemo. It was a lot of fun and one that I highly recommend. My least favorite was the giant Ferris wheel at California Adventure - it was huge! I am not normally afraid of rides however this one was scary! Some of the cages were on tracks which you swing around on as the Ferris wheel is turning. The problem was that there was this tiny lady and a little boy on the bench across from us so we were heavy on our side which made us swing back and forth for a long time. If you are afraid of heights this would not be a good ride for you. It was too much for me but Lillie liked it!

Eric's favorite - Eric liked the Indiana Jones ride the best. This was the only ride Lillie was not able to go on. You have to be 50 inches and she was a few inches short. It was upsetting to her because she had been able to go on every other ride in the park. The trick to Indiana Jones is to get a fast pass or else you will be waiting in line for over an hour.

Lillie's favorite - Big Thunder Mountain as she would say. I think we went on this ride about 6 times. She LOVED it. One thing about Lillie is she has no fear. She went on everything with us and really enjoyed it all. She liked the goat and the glowing eyes in the cave. When we went on our first big ride I thought to myself, " Am I crazy putting my four year old on these rides?" but in the end I am glad we did, because she enjoyed herself so much!

I have posted an album of some of our pictures. These were just the ones that I thought were the best.

Rock Band!

Staring Cassie on the guitar,

Thomas on the drums,

And Eric on the guitar!

One evening we stayed up really late playing Rock Band on XBOX 360. Cassie and Tom apparently play this game often! Tom pulled out the drums, two guitars, and a microphone and we got started. We had a lot of fun. Cassie and Eric played the guitars, Tom played the drums, and I had the microphone. We all attempted the drums but they were really hard, I think you need practice for those and Tom apparently has practices a LOT! If you haven't played it is a lot of fun and time gets away from you. There were hardly any songs I knew but we did them anyway. None of us look like the rock band type but we were rocking it out that evening!

Time spent with friends...

Trinity and Lillie at lunch

Janelle and Trinity playing a game on her kids menu.

Trinity and Lillie with their Fancy Nancy glasses on! They also both had feather purses!

Lillie, Cassie, and Trinity striking a pose walking to the stores. Notice Lillie's Elvis lip! :)

We arrived in Arizona on Friday evening and didn't stop until we got home today. On Monday Cassie, Tom, Eric, Lillie and I drove to Casa Grande (half way between Queen Creek and Tucson) to meet with my friend Janelle and her daughter Trinity. Cassie and I were roommates in college and our second year there we moved into an apartment with Janelle and Melissa. My other dear friend Carrie lived across the street from us. The four of us Cassie, Janelle, Carrie and I have only grown in our friendship since college. We always have mini reunions when I am able to go to Arizona. They are the reasons I go to Arizona! Janelle now has a five year old daughter named Trinity who is a doll! We met for lunch and then went shopping for a little bit before everyone had to head home. Like always we had a fun time even though it was short. I know I don't say it enough but my friends mean the world to me and I am very blessed that God placed them in my life. I don't take that for granted - love you girls!



On a side note - Janelle is currently in Central Asia doing mission work. We are praying for you Janelle and know that God will use you in a mighty way!

Memories.....

The five of us at New Port Beach on our first day in California. The sunset was beautiful! I wouldn't normally post me in my bathing suit (Yikes) but I do like this picture.

We just got back from our vacation and I am finally able to sit down and blog. Oh, how I have missed it. :) My intentions were to blog every day as we were on vacation but the time just was packed with things to do and there were times when we were not able to get on the Internet. We left on the 11th and just got back home today (20th). We flew to Arizona to stay with my best friend and her husband, Cassie and Tom, and then the five of us headed to California to go to Disneyland. I am going to break up events in our trip because there were too many to do in one post. We had the best time this year and thank our dear friends for letting us invade their lives for a week!

Yummy!

I gave Lillie her lunch yesterday before heading to the pool and told her to save her pudding for last. I think she scarfed her lunch to get to the pudding. Looks like she enjoyed it!

Getting Tagged?

Tagged!
My first tag OK Serena tagged me even though I don't really know what that means so I am just going to fill this out :)

Things On My To Do List:
1. Get laundry done for our trip
2. Mail Serena's girls package.
3. Clean the guinea pig cage - So much fun!
4. Work on moving my classroom
5. Go up to school and get my Bible curriculum

Jobs I've Had:
1. Hostess at the Cotton Patch Cafe
2. Waitress at the Olive Garden (for 2 1/2 years)
3. Crossing Guard (while student teaching)
4. Trainer for the Texas Legislature
5. Elementary Teacher (Upper grades 4-6)

5 Places I've Lived:
1. Houston, Texas
2. Richmond, Virginia
3. Rio de Janerio and Sao Paulo, Brazil
4. Flagstaff, Arizona
5. Austin, Texas

5 Favorite Snacks:
1. Pickles
2. Popcorn
3. M&M's
4. Almonds
5. Bread

5 Things You May Not Know About Me:
1. I am going with Serena's eye brow theme - I LOVE to get my eyebrows waxed. I think it feel really good.
2. I loved college and miss it sometimes!
3. Eric and I met on a blind date. My cousin set us up.
4. I like Karaoke
5. I want three children

5 Things I Would Do If I Were a Billionaire:
1. Share with my parents and brother
2. Give to something that would make a difference in others lives (not sure what)
3. Set up my children's college fund
4. Pay off all of my bills
5. Travel

5 Things I Love:
1. going out on dates with Eric
2. Spending time with Cassie scrapbooking
3. Laughing with Bryce
4. Hearing Lillie laugh
5. Taking Lillie fun places

5 People I Tag:
1. Suzanne
2. Jenifer
3. Cassie (through Tom)

I don't know anyone else who has a blog. :)

I am going to be a little sappy....

Eric and I two days before we got married. Bryce had us all wear hats while playing cards.

July 6, 2002

My bridesmaids - Wendy, Vicky, Janelle, Carrie, Cassie, Allison, and Suzanne.

Our honeymoon in Hawaii!

Eric and Lillie on July 4, this year.

Yesterday Eric and I celebrated our six year anniversary and I wanted to post some things about my husband that some of you know and some of you don't. Our wedding day was the happiest day of my life. I loved everything about it. I loved the people we were surrounded by, I loved that my Dad and a close missionary friend of ours did the ceremony, I loved that I had seven bridesmaids that were all people I loved and cared about, I loved my dress, I loved the church we got married in, I loved the reception that my mom and aunts decorated for, and I loved my bouquet. But most of all I loved the person I was about to spend the rest of my life with, Eric, more then I thought I could love a person. In the six short years we have been able to travel to many fun places. We have experienced having a baby and what it means to be parents, and we also experienced the loss of a baby. We have experienced living on two incomes and then trying to live on one income. We have also experienced trials within our families, and learning how to get through it. Through all of the easy and the hard times we have been able to be a strong team and work through it all which has only allowed us to grow closer in our relationship. Eric is one of the most caring, loving, kind, intelligent, thoughtful, and selfless people I know. He is a fantastic Dad and a wonderful husband. I look forward to many many more years to come and consider myself very blessed that I am able to be a part of his life. I love you Eric!

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

1 Corinthians 13:4-7, 13

Libby Lu

Lillie observing her glitter stickers and make up

Lillie first wanted the microphone but then chose the head set. Here is her sash after getting all dolled up.

OK - the other night Eric and I took Lillie to the mall, a place she thoroughly enjoys, and she and I went into Libby Lu. If you don't know what Libby Lu is it is a girly store where you can get all kinds of trendy things - right now it is anything Hannah Montana, Jonas Brothers, or High School Musical. This store was right up Lillie's ally! While in the store you can also have your hair, make-up, and nails done. We decided to let Lillie do this so she chose the hairstyle (trendy), got her nails painted purple, then was allowed to pick out one accessory that came with the package we purchased. She chose the headset with microphone! (No surprise if you know Lillie!) Afterwards the girls that worked there wanted to know if Lillie would want to dance. Lillie dance? - that would be a YES. The girls there have choreographed songs but Lillie didn't know this so she just started to dance on her own. When the song came on she realized she was supposed to follow the two girls leading. Needless to say this whole experience was not only fun for Lillie but I was thoroughly enjoying it. I laughed so hard when she was dancing with her new little fancy hair do and glittered hearts on her face. I noticed that there were several observers in the mall that had stopped to watch as well. I saw one lady walk by, then back up and call her friend over to watch Lillie dance. Lillie has already asked if we could go back there to get her hair done again. It really was a fun experience and one that I am sure we will have many more of in our future.

One of the qualities that we love about Lillie is that she has no inhibitions - she will do pretty much anything, a quality I hope she has for a long time. She loves to get dressed up and be the center of attention. She has such a sweet and fun personality and Eric and I are very blessed! It's amazing how much our children can bring joy into our lives. This evening at Libby Lu will be a memory I cherish for years to come! I have posted some of the pictures and two of the videos. Enjoy!

The first video is Lillie's dance pre-Hannah Montana and the second video is her shimming with the girls who worked there.