Make a Wish Surprise Party

 

The surprise party was crazy. We had friends come over to help decorate and get everything together since we only had 45 minutes to get everything set up, including the food. We really had no idea how many people would come. We handed out 80 invites, and low and behold over 75 people came! It was amazing. The kids knew we were going, but not when, and we totally got them. They were so surprised. Austin and Emma's faces were classic, and the look of terror/surprise was then a huge smile on Austin's face and a shy grin on Emma's. When they cam in we had the cake lit and sang the following to the tune "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow":

For they are going to Florida!

For they are going to Universal!

For they are going to Disney World!

To have a very good time!

I made everyone practice a few times. Our party guests were all good sports and participated. We then had some snacks, cake, and homemade lemonade made with lemons from our tree. Ben and I made a slurry on the stove so we didn't have to mix the sugar and let it dissolve. It is the picture that looks like bile. Kind of gross, but it really did taste good. We showed a video of all the things that Austin has experienced leading up to the Wish Trip.It was an awesome party and we were overwhelmed by the love and support we felt. It was the perfect way to start our trip.

Austin's Birthday & Wish Trip Prep

It has been crazy busy at our house. CRAZY! Of course I put some of the craziness on myself. I won't deny it. We went to a Christmas party down at ABC studios through the Starlight foundation. We won tickets to Donnie and Marie there. Well actually I really wanted to see them and no one else there either wanted to see them or could go since it was that same exact afternoon and there were only 2 tickets. I called all of my friends trying to find someone to go with since Emma didn't really want to go with me. My friend Karen came with me and we had a really good time. Some of the ladies in there acted like Donnie was Elvis and were screaming and swooning over him. It was rather funny. Then Marie went around with lipstick and kept kissing bald guys on the head. Now that was a little creepy. Despite all the other shenanigans the music was pretty awesome, and so was Donnie's dancing. I never thought that I could be so entertained by them. Marie can out and performed some amazing Broadway routines. Her register is higher so she can sound kind of nasally when singing in her lower range and especially in her break, but when she belts the high notes it gives you goose bumps. Donnie though was just all around awesome. He has a great voice.  

It was Austin's fifth birthday. I cried. Why is this going so fast??? I want him to stay little! He loves balloons and requested a hundred of them. We blew them up and tied them until our fingers were sore. Then taped cellophane over them so the balloons would rain down on him when he got up. He thought it was pretty cool. He could pick one friend to come over to have dinner with and open presents. The Carrs came and we had homemade syrup, pancakes, and cake. YUM...super nutritious.

As you can see I have a budding fashionista on my hands. Emma will ask me to take pictures and she will pose this way and that. I find the poses pretty hilarious and have no idea where she gets it from.

I also spent a lot of time in December/January getting ready for our trip. I finalized our itinerary, made shirts, skirts, luggage tags, and other little things to make the trip extra special. I also started planning the surprise party to announce when we were leaving.

I went into Toys R Us to find a light saber for Austin. The one thing he asked for was a blue light saber (Luke Skywalker) to fight Darth Vader when we went to Disney World. As the associate and I were looking I explained why finding this was so important. She responded "Well we have to find that light saber!". She proceeded to call around to other stores and found one about an hour away. There was another associate driving through there so they had them pick it up for us. I was excited since our trip was a week away. I cam back the following Monday to find a beautifully wrapped package waiting for us. At no charge. I burst into tears and told them they were going to make his day and his trip. The were crying too. It was a great way to start our Make A Wish trip.  

Christmas

Christmas time was super busy this year. It was strange not to see any family, but since we were going to Florida for Austin's Make A Wish trip  and to Washington later in the summer to help run
the fireworks stand we really couldn't take more of Ben's vacation time to go up.
While I was getting ready for a RS activity Austin was playing the nursery with some YW as supervisors. The next thing I know the girls come in and tell me something is wrong with Austin with eyes as big as dinner plates. I rush up, knocking over my food, and jet on down. I find Austin crying in the arms of one of the YW, with blood dripping down his face. I was relieved! I was thinking that maybe he was throwing up blood, or something had happened to his kidney, face stuff we can handle, the other stuff? Not so much. They were playing duck, duck, goose with the carpet squares when he tripped and hit the AV cart. I ran down the hallway shouting for Patty Egetoe, who is a nurse and friend. She came into the kitchen and BAM! All with in 10 minutes, I had a babysitter for Emma and they went to get her car seat, wrapped up Austin's head, the ER was called and a Dr was waiting for us as well as someone to drive us to the hospital (Thanks again Patty!). I have said this before, and I will say it again. When you become Mormon there is something that happens to your DNA when you come out of the waters of Baptism. You are rewired. When there is something to be done, especially in an emergency, we do it. And we work well together in groups. We are unstoppable. I was very impressed, and very grateful. 
I love to take pictures of the kids faces on Christmas Eve right before they go to bed. There is something magical in their eye. Hope? Faith? The Christmas Spirit? I don't know. What I do know is that it is exciting. The kids had reindeer food (oats and sparkles) we put out on the lawn. We put out milk and cookies.  Then we read the nativity and looked at the pictures in our Christ book.
In the morning we had some streamers across the door. You can see Austin bursting through them. The funny thing is that Austin thought that the streamers meant that he should stay in bed. I thought it was weird that they were staying in bed for so long. So finally I had to give him permission to burst through them. Boy did he think that was fun! But then he asked in a confused way why I put stuff in front of his door to keep him in. I had to explain that it was just a fun thing to celebrate Christmas. I thought it was hilarious that he seemed a little offended that I would do such a thing.
Christmas morning was awesome. The kids had a great time with their gifts and had a lot of fun giving them as well. We skyped with different family members. I was surprised with all my kitchen stuff I received, especially this really cool ceramic knife set. I was telling Ben that I will have to be careful and that I would probably cut myself on them at some point. He assured me that I wouldn't, and while getting them unwrapped he sliced the end of his right index finger! Uggh. It was a gusher. I really thought at one point we might need to take him in to get stitches. But we did what any resourceful, bright, and intelligent person would do...we super glued it! It took a couple of tries but held it together in the end.
We went to go see Santa Claus a few times. First at the ward Christmas party and then at the Starlight Foundation Christmas party. Emma really did not dig Santa by himself, but throw a Mrs. Claus in there? She had a great time!!! She wanted nothing to do with Santa, only Mrs. Claus.
We had the opportunity to see the Nutcracker and that was way fun. We took the whole family, and didn't stay for the whole thing, but it was a fun outing none the less. Emma was very prim and proper watching the dancers. I watched her, curious how she would react. Did move for the first ten minutes. She was totally mesmerized. Austin hated it fro the start, he only liked the part that the Mouse king was dancing and fighting.
We were invited to have Christmas dinner with Brian and Tammy Murphy at Tammy's Mom's house (who happens to be married to the mayor). We had prime rib and everything was soooo yummy. We felt very blessed to be invited.
There is a picture of Emma with her map and back pack. Ever since we went to Yellowstone she likes to pretend she is packing up and going to the "cabin". She packs food, clothes, and other assorted gear. It is so heavy she needs help putting it on. She then carries around her map and consults it often on her way to the cabin. So cute.