S D C

We recently returned from a three day trip and finished our first season as pass holders at S*lver Dollar C*ty. What a blast we've had at Branson this year!

Too cold for camping, so a hotel with pool and hot tub this time around. Every morning, after a big breakfast, Elle splashed in the cool waters with Dada while Zane and I soaked in the bubbles. Zane knows exactly what he likes. Ten seconds in the pool and he was signing 'all done' and pointing to the hot tub. The next day I asked him if he wanted to go in the big pool and he said, 'Nooooooooo', and signed 'hot'. Works out great for me -- my preference as well! He is a boy after my own heart! Elle on the other hand had to be dragged from the fun pool to the boring tub. :) She loves having fun with Dada - very sweet.

The City was so beautiful! Lights covering every square inch - awing! The Christmas tree was magnificent.

Nativities throughout. CHRISTmas music heard everywhere. The story of Jesus' birth proclaimed.


Parades, light shows and all the regular fun too.

Elle, with her hands up in the air, in the very last car with Dada.

When we first saw the middle square, with the impressive Christmas tree that was light-timed to music each evening, I got choked up. When I turned to see Elle's face, her eyes were full of water. That was a great moment. Later, I was moved by the telling of the Christmas story by the old man on the train ride - he was so sincere and there was a sense that he was honored to share God's Truth. And again, while the Christmas tree lights danced to music, I was overwhelmed by The One we celebrate this season.


Every day since Elle rode SDC's F*re *n The Hole in September, she has asked about riding it again. Not a day has passed in three months that she hasn't mentioned it being her favorite ride. As expected, this was definitely the highlight once again for her.


Zane really enjoyed The City's ambiance and didn't cry on the Frogger this time. But his favorite moment was while we sat in front row seats at the 20 minute Living Nativity performance. We were just feet away from the side stage where Mary, Joseph and a POOPING donkey appeared. Zane thought the pooping was AWESOME!! He kept signing 'potty' and laughed out loud.


Actually, we all laughed because we were so close to the actors we could see them stifling laughs and gagging for air while they knelt down in poop to worship baby Jesus. We have an Advent book that we read every night. Since our return from The City, we can't get past the page with the donkey without Zane mentioning donkey poop.

We also worshiped on Sunday morning at The City. Elle even went up front and sang in the choir. She was a pro, as the night before she went up on stage during the "Frosty" play. Here she is, in the middle wearing the purple hat...


Speaking of frosty, it was cold, but we planned our wear well and stayed plenty warm. The fresh, hot cinnamon bread also helped and became a daily must-have -- I feel a tradition coming on!

We had a lot of fun being together and taking in the celebration of Jesus, our Lord and Savior!

Summer Vacation

This week we recupperated from last week's vacation --- runny noses, coughs, laundry, unpacking, laundry, cleaning, laundry and more laundry. Unlike the mundane of this week, vacation was a blast!

We spent five days camping in Branson, playing at The City (as in S*lver Dollar C*ty) and visiting other hot spots around town. The weather was interesting...a few hot afternoons with scattered thunder storms that cooled the evenings and mornings. We faired well in our tent and declare the camping a great success, even though Eric stood outside during one t-storm to brace our tent while a tree fell down nearby. The mobile home campers were so sweet to come by and make sure the crazy family with two little ones was still alive. :)

The City was awesome! We bought season passes early on in the year for just a little more than a regular one day pass and hope to visit again this Summer and maybe again in the Fall and Winter. The last time I was in The City was 15 years ago, but as Elle and Zane experienced it for the time, I had flashbacks of being there with my parents when I was a little girl -- it was very surreal and a joy to see the pleasure the kiddos had from it all.

Elle was tall enough to ride all the kiddie rides with one of us and there were several rides that our entire family got to do together, like the train ride. There was also water toys, a swinging bridge, a funny house, animals, music and fun foods to try. Elle also rode her first roller coaster (It was fast, for me!) and loved it! She was also just tall enough to ride the Ladybug without an adult -- oh boy, was she excited about that and she did a super job! Of course, we were just 10 feet away, taking pictures and talking to her the entire time. We actually could have reached out and touched her, but she felt like the 'biggest' girl ever! So much fun! Her favorite ride was the swings -- huge swinging contraption that takes you way up in the air and makes you feel like you're flying. We rode it over and over and over again. I think it was my favorite too. Zane spent a lot of time in our new Sit & Stand stroller (LOVE IT!!!!) and would probably say that was his favorite ride of the week...oh wait, no...his favorite ride was the shuttle bus that took us from the exit to our car parking lot! He insisted on sitting on the seat, not my lap, and had a silly grin on his face as he held is head up to feel the wind slap his face. :)

We also enjoyed a ride and tour on a Duck, based on the classic 1942 WWII DUKW. DUKW is a military acronym. The letters are codes indicating that it was designed in 1942 (D), for utility/amphibious purposes (U), with front wheel drive (K), and two rear driving axles (W). It's a very odd looking water/land vehicle, with a duck-like shape. Our guide told stories of past and present, we learned about Ozark Mountain and Branson's history, the lakes, about famous personalities and the area’s impact on the state and our nation. Of course, the highlight was going from land to sea as we splashed down into Table Rock Lake! Our guide even let the kids drive the boat and Eric got a little wet. Zane slept through the entire tour...it was a cool morning in an open air vehicle, no car seat, laying in Mama's arms while the truck/boat bounced us up and down in rythmn, he was out in five!

Another surprise was how much we enjoyed the D*xie Stampede! It's a Civil War, horse entertainment show in a gigantic arena with a massive meal eaten with one's fingers. The show was stellar, patriotic and so entertaining! We all enjoyed it - Zane stood up, clapped, danced, pointed, screamed and was thoroughly riveted for 2 1/2 hours. Elle sat in stunned silence...not sure if it was the horses, pigs, lights, music, dancing or the large cornish hen on her plate that awed her the most, but it was really a great show and we're glad we did it.

We were very pleased with the sense of family, patriotism and faith in all the activities we enjoyed. We are definitely looking forward to our next trip back to the Ozarks!

I've posted some pics and slide show below.

15 Years

Eric and I celebrated 15 years of marriage today - I just can't believe it! Time flies when you're having fun...trying to make babies! ;)

We put Zane to bed, left Elle to play with her Uncle and Aunt and headed out to gorge ourselves on wood fired pizza and cheesecake. Eric made and shared a list of things he has 'learned' from me in 15 years of marriage...it made me laugh, really hard! :)

Mostly we talked about how differently life had unfolded from what we had imagined when we first started dating at 19 years old. And, how grateful we are for how God has carried us through. I watched our wedding video with Elle earlier today. It was a wonderful ceremony officiated by our fathers...so very precious. There was such spiritual depth, such rich focus on God's intention for marriage and our family's prayers and hopes for us to follow this plan for the best of His blessing. What a great start we had and through the highs and lows, it has only gotten better. Eric is more than I had hoped for - he is my perfect match in every way and as Elle would say, 'I tell you what, you are the best for me ever!'

Big Stuff

Some time back Eric taught Elle how to close doors by grabbing and pulling the bottom of the door. So periodically she'll go down the hallway, fall prostrate and tuck her fingers under the doors pulling them closed one by one. Today she realized she was just tall enough to grab the doorknob and close it like Dada and Mama. She believes she has arrived!

Elle also enjoys typing on my laptop. I'll open a Word doc, super-size the font, turn it purple and then she'll hunt for the letter I ask for. Once she's found it, she'll hold it down till the page fills up with 'A's,'W's or whatever. This too gives her a great sense of accomplishment.

Feeling like 'big stuff' seems to be very important right now. From doors, laptop, panties, stairs, drinking from the cereal bowl (guess who taught her that?!), to cooking with Mama - forget about the toys, it's all about doing what Dada and Mama do.

She's jabbering, squealing and still doing a lot of signing, but she's pretty careful about what words she says out loud. I think she's going to do words like she did her walking - not until she was sure she wouldn't fail. While swinging the other day, she couldn't put her hands together to sign 'more' because she was holding on to the swing. I told her to say it with her mouth, but she shook her head 'no' while grunting to be pushed more. I told her I would push more when she said it with her mouth. This went on, back and forth, until she finally sighed and said, clear as day, 'MORE'! She's so stubborn! I wonder who she gets that from?!