Celebration of Life

A service to celebrate Brie's life and service to her Lord will be held Wednesday, December 29, 2:00 p.m.  It will be held at Hillside Church, 6100 Soncy Rd, Amarillo, TX.  Please dress casually and come to worship and celebrate the Life and Love of Brie's life.

Forever Reign

Forever Reign lyrics

You are good, you are good
When there's nothing good in me
You are love, you are love
On display for all to see
You are light, you are light
When the darkness closes in
You are hope, you are hope
You have covered all my sin

You are peace, you are peace
When my fear is crippling
You are true, you are true
Even in my wondering
You are joy, you are joy
You're the reason that I sing
You are life, you are life
In you death has lost its sting

Chorus:
Oh, I'm running to your arms
I'm running to your arms
The riches of your love
Will always be enough
Nothing compares to your embrace
Light of the world forever reign

You are more, you are more
Than my words will ever say
You are Lord, you are Lord
All creation will proclaim
You are here, you are here
In your prescence I'm made whole
You are God, you are God
Of all else I'm letting go

Chorus:
Oh, I'm running to your arms
I'm running to your arms
The riches of your love
Will always be enough
Nothing comares to your embrace
Light of the world forever reign

Chorus:
I'm running to your arms
I'm running to your arms
The riches of your love
Will always be enough
Nothing compares to your embrace
Light of the world forever reign

My heart will sing no other name
Jesus, Jesus
My heart will sing no other name
Jesus, Jesus
My heart will sing no other name
Jesus, Jesus
My heart will sing no other name
Jesus, Jesus

Chorus:
Oh, I'm running to your arms
I'm running to your arms
The riches of your love
Will always be enough
Nothing compares to your embrace
Light of the world forever reign

Chorus:
I'm running to your arms
I'm running to your arms
The riches of your love
Will always be enough
Nothing compares to your embrace
Light of the world forever reign

Meeting the characters

Pixie Hollow

More to be in awe of

Not quite warm or awake enough

Stretching those legs

Pixie Hollow and sleepy Eleri

Iridesca

Tinkerbell and Iridesca

Tinkerbell and the girls

The girls and Vidia

A BIG hug for Vidia

Princess Aurora

Cinderella

Belle

Minnie and Mickey

Ariel

Our second full day was spent at Magic Kingdom and a good portion of that was spent meeting the Disney Characters. The girls enjoyed it but I could tell they preferred the real experiences with the animals over the fake characters. Eleri was so excited about all the characters and Mali was a little nervous. The characters all hugged and kissed on the girls and did a really great job playing their parts. Tinkerbell was definitely a favorite and so was Ariel, although they were all really fun to meet. We first met the Pixie Hollow Fairies. I wasn't sure Eleri wasn't injured with her night time fall because she was having a hard time walking. We finally figured out her poor legs were just so cold. We got to meet Iridesca first, then Tinkerbell and then Vidia. Mali even gave Vidia a hug which really surprised me because Vidia is sort of the troublemaker/mean fairy of all the fairies. I'm thinking maybe they are kindrid spirits. After meeting the fairies, we got right back in line on the opposite side to meet the Princeses. We were able to meet Aurora, Cinderella and Belle. Eric had the great idea to have everyone autograph Mali's sash. Our pen we bought upon entering the park didn't work on the sash but each Disney photographer seemed to be armed with a sharpie that they gladly let the characters borrow. After the princesses, we toured Minnie and Mickey's homes and then got in line to meet Mickey and Minnie. Eleri gave Minnie a big hug and got bopped right in the face by Minnie's nose. She didn't seem to mind though. Eleri even got to dance with Minnie as her legs had woken up by then. Mali asked Minnie for an autograph and Mickey was a little offended so she got his autograph too. After a few rides and exploring the park, we ran into Ariel. Eleri had fallen asleep in her stroller at that point so Mali had some alone time with Ariel. She said Ariel was her favorite. We also saw Jasmine but Mali didn't want to stand in line to meet her. We looked for Princess Tiana and didn't find her and then saw Rapunzel from a distance since the line to meet her was a two hour wait! We also saw the Fairy Godmother.

Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique

Hair and makeup

The Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique in Downtown Disney

Cinderella

Patiently waiting

Ready for her next experience

Approving of her extensions!:)

Lots of glitter

A sash

All ready to go

Dinner at the T Rex Cafe

A special birthday sundae

After Discovery Cove, we headed back to Downtown Disney. Thankfully the traffic and parking were not even close to as bad as the previous night. Eric and a sleeping Eleri went and made dinner reservations for us at the T-Rex cafe and I took Mali to her appointment to become a princess. Mali chose the Disney Diva style. She really loved this experience. This was also well worth the cost of the experience. I had wanted her to have this done at Cinderella's castle at Magic Kingdom but those appointments were booked about 120 days before. I ended up being really thankful we did it at Downtown Disney though because it didn't take away from our limited time/day at the park. Mali had her hair put up and some extra hair added. She had glittery, pink Minnie Mouse bobby pins and pink Minnie Mouse adornments all put in her hair. While her hair was being worked on, she also had her nails painted a pretty pink and had her makeup done. The finishing touch was lots and lots of glitter that came from her Fairy Godmother's wand. The experience was topped off with a Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique sash. Mali also got a comb, makeup and fingernail polish to take home with her. She really loved it and was very much in her element. The balance off our very princessy experience, we dined at the T-Rex cafe. This meal was free because of our gift card that we had received at our time share presentation. And, the food was actually really really good. We watched dinosaurs, wooly mammoths, octopus and other prehistoric creatures as we ate. Daddy also ordered the girls special drinks in crazy T-Rex red flashing cups that they go to take home. We also ordered Mali a birthday dessert since we were celebrating her birthday with our trip. We were, again, pretty tired. We had planned on spending the rest of the evening walking around Downtown Disney (which is lots of dining and Disney shopping) but it was really cold. So instead, we headed home after a quick stop at Wal-Mart to buy a stroller (we had accidentally left our stroller in the car at the airport and didn't have time to get back through security because all of Amarillo was flying out that morning), some bubble bath for the jacuzzi bath and some CHILDREN'S Tylenol so that Mali didn't wake up screaming and crying again. Eleri fell asleep again and we couldn't get the poor girl to wake up but knew she had to have a bath after our day at Discovery Cove. Mali got to skip bath because of her fancy hair and makeup that we wanted to last for her day at Magic Kingdom. We were thankful Mali didn't have another night of crying and screaming, however, Eleri did end up falling of the bed and crying! I felt so bad for her but she went back to sleep and I took the couch cushions off and made sure to make a landing pad for her if she did fall again.

Florida Trip-Day 2 Discovery Cove

Mali and the sloth

Ready for our day

Breakfast

Excited about the dolphins

Add caption

Eleri hanging out in her cool jogging stroller

picture with the dolphin

The warm pool

Swimming with the stingrays

A big stingray

Our lunch entertainment

Mali and her new dolphin

Our second day began nice and early. We were headed to Discovery Cove for the whole purpose of our trip. It was a cold, cold morning. We arrived at Discovery Cove which was also super close to our hotel. The service was great and we were greeted well. They signed us in and gave us our name badges for the day. While we signed in, the girls got to pet and see a sloth. We headed down a pretty, rainforest path to our all inclusive breakfast. We were still really really cold but tried warming up next to the outdoor heater and with hot chocolate. It didn't really work. But then we were on try on our wetsuits. The girls looked so cute in their wetsuits. It really reminded me of Wall-E. I ended up with a men's wetsuit to fit my pregnant belly. We were really hoping they would warm us up, but we were still a little chilly. I think it was about 50 degrees outside. We went down to the beach area and the girls got to dig their toes into the smooth sand. We also watched the dolphins in the dolphin pool. One of them kept swimming almost right up to the girls. It didn't take long for the girls to get wet or to throw wet sand in each other's hair. About that time, it was time for us to head to the Sea Horse cabana to prepare for Mali and Eric's dolphin swim. Thankfully there were more little heaters in there. Eleri got bundled up in about five towels and I put her right under the heater in her beach jogging stroller. Everyone was briefed on proper dolphin ettiquette and then it was time for the experience to begin. Mali and Eric got to pet the dolphin, kiss the dolphin and watch the dolphins do different tricks. Eleri was a little fussy so I soothed her with hot chocolate and warm, soft pretzels while we watched the rest of our family. Mali seemed to be enjoying herself. The first dolphin they interacted with was a small, younger female. When it came time fro the rides, they brought in the big guy. He was really and his name is Capricorn. He was even a movie star in the movie Jaws. Well, Mali was afraid of the bigger dolphin and wouldn't take her ride holding on to his dorsal fin. I ended up coming into the water to stand with Mali so that Eric could take his ride. Then we got to take a family picture with him. They even let Eleri and I come in the water and pet him. Eleri was so excited and will still tell you all about it and how she "swam" with the dolphin and touched him with his feet...which she did. When the dolphin interaction was over, we were all pretty cold. We decided it was time to hit the other "pools" that were 85 degrees. The girls LOVED splashing and swimming around in the much warmer water. After some playing around we went on the lazy river..which wasn't so lazy. We actually had to swim a good part of it and Eric started cramping up. Each of us took a girl and two noodles to float on. Mali and I and then Eric and Eleri. Along the lazy river, we crossed under waterfalls and through a bird aviary. It was really neat. The girls got to see a peacock and loved that. We were pretty tired after that so we let the girls swim a little more on their own. We knew we had to get out but did not want to. Finally we motivated ourselves to get out when Mali announced she had to use the bathroom. That was an experience in itself with all the wet suit and wet bathing suit gear to strip down first. Eric took Eleri and wrapped her in about 8 towels. Once Mali was re-dressed, we went to swim with the stingrays. It was really neat to feel them and interact with them too. After our little swim, it was time to get dressed eat our lunch. I think we shivered throughout our lunch. Mali was able to get a stuffed dolphin to commemorate her dolphin experience. We packed up into the car to take a break/nap/Time Share presentation. Eleri fell asleep on que almost immediately. Mali needed a nap but instead cried and whined for the next hour. The time share presentation was A LOT harder to say no to then we originally thought it would be. But we did say no and got back in the car to head to Discovery Cove to get our pictures and DVD of the experience. Then it was back in the car to head back down to Downtown Disney for Mali's appointment at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. We loved our day at Discovery Cove. We would have really liked it to be about 10 degrees warmer, but think it was well worth the money and the time. It was very relaxing and exciting. The girls LOVED interacting with the real animals and all the things to see and experience. I think they both preferred this over our day at Magic Kindgom.

Florida Trip-Day 1

Rainforest Cafe-Night 1

Mali loved her experience

Eleri was in awe of the thunderstorm

Girls and a giraffe

Jacuzzi bubble bath

Bedtime in a big girl bed

I had so many different pictures that I decided to break my posts up into different days and experiences. December 18th we took a family trip/Mali's birthday trip to Orlando, FL. After a late night of the girls being with a babysitter while Eric and I went to my work Christmas partym we woke up at 5:30am to head to the airport. Eleri actually woke up crying about then and Mali awoke in excitement ready for her trip. The flights went well and the girls did pretty good on the way down there. Eleri slept for two of the flights on her daddy. Besides Mali crying when we landed because her ears hurt, they really did good. The girls also got to take a picture with Santa Claus during our layover at Love Field in Dallas. When we arrived in Orlando, it was a little crazy getting to our rental car with all of our stuff. I had booked the cheapest rental car possible and of course they added on tons of fees. I was a little unhappy, a little stressed, Mali had to go potty and it started raining. We finally got out of there in our very roomy Nissan Maxima. Our first stop was the Wyndham Welcome Center. Our trip was mostly paid for because we had been invited to a Wyndham Time share presentation which included three free nights of lodging and a $75 American Express gift card (read: meals). I checked us in and got a less than favorable time slot for our "presentation" the next day. While I was doing that, Eric made dinner reservations for us in Downtown Disney at the Rainforest Cafe at 7:45pm. We checked in at our hotel, which was really nice and about 2 miles from the Disney World area and then left about an hour before our reservations. The drive was tense and crazy. Traffic was bumper to bumper pretty much all to enter the Downtown Disney Area. Once we finally got there, parking was another experience and it was packed and we were tired. We finally made it to the Rainforest Cafe with about 5 minutes to spare until our reservation. However, while we were waiting a family of 9 came up and asked if they could still get in even though they had missed there 6 o'clock reservation. We quickly learned that missing your reservation time wasn't horrible. This was Eric and the girls' first experience with the Rainforest Cafe. As we got seated, the hostess put us in a corner table far away from all the animals. Eric asked for us to be moved and we ended up with prime seating right next to gorillas, a rainbow and an aquarium. The girls were in awe and loved it. The food was pretty good too. After our dinner, we went next door to either Goofy or Donald's candy shop and the girls chose a Cinderella purse full of candy as their dessert. Eric also got some candy. Then it was time to head back to the hotel. Once we got back, the girls enjoyed a jacuzzi bath with lots of bubbles. We were tired and ready for another early/big morning. Eleri and Mali each had their own bed in a shared room. Eleri did great sleeping in her big girl bed. About midnight, Mali woke up screaming and crying and wouldn't settle down. She said her ear was hurting her. All I had was infants Tylenol so I gave her some of that hoping it would help. She ended up in our bed and Eric moved to her bed in the room with Eleri.

The Nutcracker 2010

Headed to The Nutcracker

The Sugar Plum Fairy

Emma as the Columbine Doll

Sunday was the day of our annual girls' tradition of attending The Nutcracker.  This year, it was just Mali and I again.  It was so very nice to go with just her and get in some Mommy/Mali time.  I can't count how long it has been since we've really done some special just the two of us.  Mali was very sad that Eleri wasn't going but since Eleri had been up ALL night she needed her nap.  And I very much enjoyed not having to keep a toddler happy during the performance.  Mali and I got snacks and she got a special Nutcracker snowglobe.  Mali really enjoyed it and was excited about meeting the cast again.  Although it didn't seem like much of the cast came out for the meet and greet.  We did get to meet the Sugar Plum Fairy and a few of the dancers from the Waltz of the Flowers.  Mali also got to see Emma who danced as a Merliton and The Columbine Doll this year.  Mali was excited to see her.  Mali also informed me that she wasn't going to be afraid of the Mouse King this year and was going to take her picture with him.  Of course she wouldn't and was clinging to me.  Even after the Mouse King's real mother assured us that he was just a teenage boy and he was very nice.  Mali was most excited about her free ballet poster that she got when I signed up to be on the Lonestar Ballet mailing list.

Add caption