Memory Overload

Okay, so you could say that I have slacked pretty hard on this whole blog thing. I guess I am not the best at keeping any kind of journal. So it looks like I will be doing A LOT of catching up. So here we go... We moved into Caribbean Isle Apartments on Oct. 31st 2013, me and the doggies. Jenn, Lily, and Jenn's parents came down that weekend with all of our stuff, and with help from a couple of members from our new ward we were able to get everything moved in pretty quickly. We signed a nine month lease, and eventually we ended up not renewing that lease, but hopefully I will get to that! :)

On December 18th, 2013 I was hired by Spears Manufacturing, they make their own parts for Plumbing, Construction, Fire Sprinklers, that kind of stuff that would require PVC fittings. So you can see to my left that this is what I did all day...I pushed a semi heavy cart around, pulling orders with my RF scanner, and building my pallet in a manner to where I could double stack another order on top. This was the main thing I did here, but I also was trained on more of the clerical work, and after my 6th month review I was told I could run this place with the knowledge I had already gained. Unfortunately, unless one of the hire ups, passed away or something tragic, there won't be any advancements for me.

This was on Christmas Day 2013, we had our first Christmas alone, but we were able to Skype with both sides of our family.
Lily got a playhouse, some new clothes, and a bunch of toys. Jenn got makeup, nail polish, knife set (for cooking purposes), and some clothes. Me, well I started getting into Lego and I was a little spoiled with them, *crosses fingers that next Christmas will be similar* and some clothes. In this picture we are all wearing our new clothes.









This was Valentines Day 2014, and this picture was taken in Germany at Epcot. We made reservations for this different style buffet restaurant called Biergarten. They had some good choices, but for the price, I probably would have gone to Texas Roadhouse or something similar. It was fun to experience something new.

Spring time and Lily is ready for church in her new Spring dress! Mommy put her hair in pig-tails and she was ready for Nursery. My little girl is getting not so little anymore!

This picture and the one above are times Lily and I are on our "Date Night". Growing up my dad would take me on a "date" for my birthday, and it was something I look forward to every year. I think we I was younger I was glad to go for the reason being a new toy he'd let me buy, but growing older, I enjoyed the time being with him. So in that I wanted to do something special for Lily and for my other children when they come. I decided that once a month I would take her out for something fun and have a little daddy-daughter time.

Lily turned 2!!! On March 11th, 2014, we had our own little party where she got to open presents and she even had her own cupcake. This particular present was from her Aunt Nicole and family, it is from a PBS show called Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, she just loves that show!

Lily went to her first friend's birthday party! They played games, and ate some treats. She took home some sweet Minnie mouse ears!

Jenn made reservations for Be Our Guest restaurant inside the Magic Kingdom, she actually made those reservations back in October, and this was around our Birthdays (Me and Jenn's are exactly a week apart). Even now when we walk past, they tell people that reservations are booked six months out. It was a great experience and we had some good food.

This was our first trip to the Disney Water Parks, they have two, Typhoon Lagoon, and Blizzard Beach. This particular time we went to Blizzard Beach, and they had a kiddie area that Lily could play in and get wet. They also had a wave pool, but Lily wasn't too interested in it.

We often struggle with the question "What's for lunch/dinner" when it comes to going out to eat. So one day I told Jenn I knew, but it was a "surprise", we took a half hour drive and ended up at Chuck E. Cheese! Lily loved that place soooo much! This picture she was strapped in a simulated roller coaster, her face and her lack of body moment made this ride a fun one, not just for her but us to watch. Til this day she still has a fond memory of "Cheese"

We went to Atlanta, one of my dreams since a little boy growing up watching Braves baseball games. It was truly a bucket list moment, and I am so glad I was able to share it with my family! Jenn is not too fond of baseball, but she said she had a good time. This was on the 4th of July, and they had one of the coolest firework show. Atlanta was packed that weekend and we had a hard time doing stuff that we wanted to.

For Labor Day we met up with Jenn's parents, and two of her sisters, Emilee and Jessica in Hilton Head, SC. It was a meet in the middle type deal, but we had a blast! We did some swimming, we hung out and even though it was a short weekend, it was well worth the trip.

 We have slowly started to introduce Lily to some characters at Disney. We like to go on rides, and don't want to wait in some ridiculous line to see a character, but now that Lily is starting to have some interest in certain characters we have started to get in those lines. Luckily in these two pictures there wasn't much of a line to worry about. Now if we went to see a Disney Princess, that might be a whole different story.

September 13th, 2014 I ran my very first 5k! I saw a special online about a race and it was only $20 to sign up, so I figured what the hay, and signed up. It reminded me a lot like the TV show Wipeout. They had certain stations where you had obstacles to avoid and not get "knocked off". Before I knew what I was getting into, I thought that there would just be a bunch of these obstacles, but I was wrong...There was actually running involved as well! Hahaha, now I'm just kidding I knew there would be, but I was actually proud of myself because I ran the majority of it, passing a ton of people. I know after that race, that I was and still not in shape to run another 5k or more. Although I might want to run a Disney marathon, because you get cool medals for running them. A BIG SHINY METAL! Just like in Wreck It Ralph! ;)

And to cap off my post for today, this little gem that Jenn and I captured today. Lily is very very very much intent on having every single stuffed animal she has in bed with her. How she is comfortable in there is a great question? I love her to death, and I am glad that she is mine!

I lied, this will actually be my last photo! I love my family so much, they make me so happy! We don't have all the fancy things, a big house, not even two vehicles to maintain a crazy lifestyle, but what I love is we make it work! Yes, there are lots of hard days, but it truly brings us closer. I love living in the moment, but I am so excited to see what is to come!