Florida Trip

Finally!  It's finished!  A glimpse into our amazing family vacation in Florida...

Josiah's first airplane ride...  (We used frequent flier miles and had to get creative in arranging our flights.  Ashish and Priya flew together out of Sacramento and Josiah and I flew together out of Redding.  We left Monday night and arrived in Orlando within an hour of each other the next morning.  Definitely not the way I'd prefer to travel, but it made our trip possible so I wouldn't have traded it for anything.)

We stayed at the Calypso Cay Vacation Villas Resort for the first 4 days of our trip.  We attended a timeshare tour/sales pitch and were able to get a significant discount on our stay there and got half price Disney World tickets too!  :)

Off to enjoy one of the many pools at the resort.

We had a fun family dinner at Chevy's (Priya's doll came along for the fun as well).

 

And then we decided to check out Downtown Disney.  It was awesome (and also totally free)!

We stopped in a the TREX Cafe and let Priya "dig for dinosaur bones" at the Paleo Zone.

 

And we visited the world's largest Disney Store.  Priya was thrilled by the princess section and had a blast trying on several of the dresses. 

 Ariel...

 Sleeping Beauty...

 And of course Jasmine...

The next day we got up early and got a shuttle to Disney World from our hotel...

They dropped us off at Epcot Center and then we took the Monorail and then a ferry to the Magic Kingdom.  The entire trip took almost 2 hours!  I would probably just pay for parking if we did it again to have a bit more time at the park. 

Priya was thrilled to catch her first glimpse of Cinderella's caste from the ferry.

Josiah fell asleep just as we walked through the gates into the park.  He had no idea what he was missing!

 

 

Our first ride was the Snow White ride.  This was Priya's favorite.  We all had fun telling the wicked queen that she needed to be good.  Priya was extremely eager to see all the "bad people" at Disney World and wanted to tell them that they needed to change their behavior and be good and that they needed Jesus.  Unfortunately for her she never got to meet any of the villains.  So talking to the wicked queen on the ride was the closest she came to her evangelistic goals.

Both kids did quite well that day - and on the trip as a whole.  We were pleasantly surprised.  :)

Our first meet and greet was Peter Pan.

And then we went over to Agrabah and went on the Magic Carpet Ride.

Then the highlight of our entire trip for Priya occurred - she got to meet Jasmine and Aladdin!  She was beyond thrilled!

Priya was intrigued by the Swiss Family Robinson tree house and Josiah enjoyed it too.

Then we were off to meet some of the fairies.  We knew we'd meet Tinker Bell but Rosetta was a surprise treat for Priya.

Then it was time to meet Tinker Bell.

We took the kids to see the Bear Country Jamboree (in honor of my dad who always loved it).  It ended up being one of my absolute favorite parts of our entire trip.  Josiah's reaction to the bears was hilarious!  I tried to capture some of it on video but it doesn't even come close to doing justice to how thrilled he was by the performance.  He laughed and clapped enthusiastically throughout the entire thing and entertained everyone around us.  I was laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes by the end.  You can hear a little bit of his laughter here but again, it really doesn't do it justice.  Dad, this video is for you... :)

While we waited for our Fast Pass to get on the Jungle Safari Cruise (Ashish's favorite ride), Priya enjoyed cooling off and geting a bit wet.  Notice her contagious laughter towards the end of the video.  She had so much fun!

Priya loved that the castle turned purple later in the evening.

Josiah experienced his first merry-go-round experience.  He was on the verge of falling asleep but managed to enjoy himself.

The last event of the night was a really awesome 3-D movie that incorporated a number of Disney characters.  It was by far the coolest 3-D experience I've had to date complete with water being splashed on us, wind blown in our faces and different scents being sprayed into the theater.  We loved it but Josiah was pretty scared by the experience.

The next day we went to the Green Meadows Petting Farm.  It was such a different pace from our day at Disney World but we had a truly fantastic time and soaked up all of the quality family time together.

I loved Josiah's reaction to the goats.  :)

Priya and Ashish got to feed the goats.

I loved seeing the bond between Ashish and Josiah intensifying on our trip.  The video below captured a sweet moment between them on a hayride.

Priya has decided within the past few months that horses are her favorite animal.  So she was thrilled to be able to ride a pony.

 

Josiah got to ride one for the 1st time too.

The last animal visit of the day was the baby chicks and baby ducks.  No baby chicks were harmed in the making of this video...

Our last day involved an airboat ride and gator sightings out on the swamp.

Ashish and I enjoyed the experience but Priya HATED it!  And Josiah ended up falling asleep!

One of 3 gators that we spotted

Then we were off to DeLand to visit Grandma Hazel and Uncle Gordon and Aunt Marion.  It was so special to have my kids there and to meet these important people.

Priya asked for a tour of Grandma Hazel's home.  It brought back a lot of memories walking through the house with them.  I hadn't been there for about 12 years when my grandpa passed away.

We had picked up my cousin Holli earlier that day in Kissimmee at her college and enjoyed having her with us for the day.

After leaving DeLand we quickly headed over to Daytona Beach to walk on the sand and help Priya collect some seashells before turning around and heading back to Orlando. We got to Daytona Beach just as the sun was setting so our time was short but well worth it.

We enjoyed Chipotle for dinner with Holli.

And then dropped Holli off at her college.  It was great to see where she's been living and studying this year.  I just wish it had worked out for us to see Ted and Janis too.  If you are reading this Janis, we love you and miss you both very much!

Ashish and I got about 2 hours of sleep before heading to the airport the next morning.  Again, not the way I would prefer to travel but it was still worth it.

We were blessed with free passes to the Delta Sky Club and got to experience posh accomodations and some free food both in the Orlando and Los Angeles airports.  This defintitely helped to make our travels a bit more managable and fun.

It was an absolutely fantastic trip and one that I'm sure we'll never forget (well, Josiah won't remember it but the rest of us will have this special time emblazened on our hearts for a very long time to come).

Josiah Cuteness

Josiah was into trying new things this morning.  He finally figured out how to drink his bottle by himself...

 

He has also developed quite an interest in shoes lately.  Yesterday I caught him trying to put on Daddy's shoes.  Today he decided to take a stab at a pair of Priya's princess shoes.

A Little Family Reunion

Tonight was awesome!  We had the pleasure of spending the evening with the Brown family - Uncle Rich and Aunt Kathy, Joni, Rob, Ethan, Justus, Zach, Esther, Juli, Noah, Tate, Carter, Jeff, Kara, Caleb, Samaria, Joey and Krista.  My cousin Candace, my parents and Ashish's parents were there to join in the fun as well.  It was so much fun catching up with my cousins, their spouses and watching all of our kids playing together.

Mom made her special peanut butter popcorn (it brought back so many childhood memories) and it was a big hit!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas 2011!  It's been an fun, family-fiilled Christmas this year!  We began our celebrations by attending the Christmas Eve-Eve service with my parents and Ashish's parents on December 23 (unfortunately the photo with Ashish's parents didn't turn out).

 

After church we went to see Christmas lights (sorry, no pics of this adventure).  Our first stop was probably the best light display in Redding.  It was set to music and was fantastic again this year.  As we drove by Priya asked me the cutest question...  "Mommy, is this heaven?"  She was obviously quite impressed.

On December 24 we celebrated Christmas "Indian style" with Ashish's side of the family.  He cooked a fantastic chicken biriyani meal for us.

And we shared our gifts with each other that night.  Both kids were thrilled.  It is such a different experience enjoying Christmas when you have kids.  Seeing it through their eyes - and seeing Priya understand more deeply the true meaning of Christmas - was an absolutely priceless experience.

On Christmas morning we ventured over to my parents' home for gifts and brunch in the morning.  Jon, Jenetta, Ohana and Lynn Ann drove up last night so we were blessed to be able to spend this special time with them.

Josiah was thrilled with his gift from Grammy and Papa Penner!

And Priya of course got in on the fun as well.  Oh how I love watching the two of them play together and to see their growing friendship.

Ohana got a special personalized book that Grandpa read to her...

And Lynn got a special personalized book too that Grammy read.

 

Josiah got a special personalized book too!  Thanks Uncle Jon and Aunt Jenetta!

All the gift giving and unwrapping had Priya tuckered out so she made a bed for herself on the kitchen floor (she was actually not feeling very well today and was pretty quiet and reserved).

Grandpa enjoyed playing with one of Priya's gifts - Lace and Trace Cards.

Lynn Ann made some fantastic tea for me.

Jon was quite sick but was a trooper and did his best to be with the family as much as he was physically able.

We visited the home of Ashish's parents and Ami and Phil in the afternoon (didn't have my camera) and then came back to my parents' home again for dinner.  The Christians and McCutcheons joined us and we all had a great time together.

The next two videos are for Oma and the Manitoba family.  Grandpa is quite thrilled to have the next generation of halvah lovers in the family.  The kids went NUTS when he pulled the box out after dinner!

A kiss from Josiah...  I was also trying to get him say his newest cute saying - apple juice.  Unfortunately I haven't captured it yet but it's pure adorableness!  He is trying so hard to communicate with us right now - and gets so frustrated when he can't get it out or we don't understand him.

Ohana and Lynn Ann got dolls for Christmas and named them both Ella (Emily and Joel, aren't you proud?).  After hearing the name many times Josiah finally said "Ella" quite perfectly today.  Sadly I didn't capture it on video.  But he's still cute so here's one last video...

I'm a Christian again!

It's a miracle!!  Josiah is nearly 13 months and today marked the first time that I've been able to sit through an entire church service since he was born!!!  Seriously!  It has been a huge battle leaving him in the nursery each week.  He screams bloody murder every.single.time and I am always eventually called out of the service.  The longest he's made it has been about 25 minutes (10 of which was screaming) so today was a very big deal!  And the shocker is that he didn't even cry - at all!  I kept waiting and expecting someone to walk around the corner to tap me on the shoulder or to see his # pop up on the overhead screen.  I felt like Pavlov's dog - waiting for a bell to ring.  I have been so conditioned to this routine.  But it never happened!  And before I knew it the service was over!  And the message was just what I needed to hear too so thank you God for allowing me to hear it in its entirety!

Ok, so obviously sitting through a church service doesn't make me a Christian but it sure felt good to be there and it ministered to my spirit in a way that I totally needed!  This was definitely a milestone that I was ready for!

Priya's First Christmas Pageant

One of my favorite parts of the Christmas season is childrens' performances.  They are always so sweet and quite entertaining.  So the idea of having my own child finally participate in this special tradition was absolutely thrilling to me.  Priya has been practicing for months with her preschool class to share pieces of the Christmas story and to sing Christmas carols at the school's annual Christmas Pageant.  She's been eager for an outlet for all that she has been learning so she's been serenading shoppers in stores and passersby on walks with her lines and songs for weeks.  Tonight was finally the night when we were able to proudly watch and cheer her on as she took the stage with her friends and classmates to share with us the true reason for the season. 

 Ashish's parents, Ami, Phil, Ashish, Josiah and I waited eagerly for the program to begin.  (On a side note...here's a feeble attempt at capturing Josiah's handsome new look.  It's so cute how he poses for photos now too - he squints his eyes and grins away.  Ahhh he melts my heart.)

**Disclaimer:  I know that there are a lot of videos here.  I certainly don't expect readers to watch all of them.  But I had to preserve the memory of this momentous occasion.

Her halo didn't last very long...

Silent Night

The angel Gabriel appears to Mary (at about 30 seconds in are some of the lines that Priya has been quoting to anyone who would listen over the past few weeks)

Mary and Joseph (or "Jofus" as Priya calls him) were so tired... (she's been quoting this part a ton too)

Twinkle, Twinkle Christmas Star

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

There was a reception that followed the pageant.  Priya had a blast playing with some of her buddies and I had to try to capture the cuteness. 

Bye-bye baby curls

Josiah got his first haircut today! It took over a year for me to get up the nerve to do it and at least 2 inches came off. He absolutely hated the experience and screamed through much of it. But it all turned out just fine in the end and he emerged a handsome little man with short hair and no more curls. I am sad to see them go but I did save some of them for his baby book. Now I just need to get some good pictures to show the final product. It was a last minute decision to finally take the plunge so I didn't have my camera with me and the pics I tried to take with my phone didn't turn out.