Family pictures

Grandparents, my parents, aunts and uncles

Valls Family Guys (4 generations) Cousin Todd is missing because he was cooking the turkey dinner and Uncle Shannon is in the back on the board because he is serving in the Iraq War

Valls Family Girls (4 Generations) My sister-in-law Jennifer is missing because she had to go home early and work

The only girl cousins

Daytona Beach

Friday was the last day before we go back home. My mom was wanting to take the kids to the beach. Just our little family went. My dad and cousin Todd rode up on their Harley’s. We ate on the pier where it overlooked the entire ocean and beach area and it seemed like we were constantly being attacked by birds wanting our food. I believe that was one of the highlights for the children
On our way down to the beach we put the kids swimsuits on. Of course they couldn’t wait to get into the water. Never mind the fact that it was a pretty chilly temperature.
The sun was shinning and it was warm enough for them. They played in the waves for quite a while. Rylan isn’t a dummy, he took one step close to the water and felt how cold it was, wanted nothing to do with the ocean so he made friends with the sand instead. He had no problems playing by himself while the rest of the kids were having a blast in the water.
My mom, sister, Chad and I watched and took pictures.

Chad and I drew our names in the sand with a heart around our initials…come on, you have to do that! Then my (single) sister saw our masterpiece and stomped all over it. Guess she thought she was being funny or something??

After playing on the beach we headed back up to the fountain area to wash off, get some ice cream and go shopping. We were trying to get back home in time to watch the Nebraska vs. Colorado game.

The guys watched the game at my cousins house. I took the boys back to the hotel, bathed them, packed up, Tanner did his homework, Rylan streaked in the halls, finished the laundry, watched the Nebraska game and got ready for our 7am flight out.. I can only imagine what was going through the guys mind as Nebraska was throwing interceptions, fumbling, kicking looonnng field goals, and finally squeaking out a win. It was pretty exciting just watching it by myself.

I got together with my cousins in the hotel lobby so we could chat some more before we all left. Before we knew it, it was 12:30am and I needed to be up by 4:30am to leave at 5am. Get back to my room, settle into bed and Rylan is coughing up a storm. And wouldn’t ya know it, we have nothing for him to calm his cough…go figure. I try to prop him up, I try to hold him up in my arms. Nothing worked. This went on for hours. I kept telling myself, the next time he coughs, I will get up, get ready and go to the store and get him medicine. Around 3am I was still rubbing his back and he finally calmed down and slept. Before I knew it, it was 4:15am and Chad was up and getting ready to leave. UGH!

Thanksgiving Day/60th Wedding anniversary Party

On Thanksgiving day the entire family was at my cousins house for the 60th Wedding Anniversary celebration. The gals went over early to set up and start cooking while the guys stayed back at the hotel and watched all the kids and played cards. My cousins husband was a great and cooked for the whole family all week long including turkey day. My mother gave the toast, my cousin Tanisha read a poem, and I said grace.
After a very filling dinner we started the festivities. First came the great-grand kids and younger grand kids, they were part of our mariachi band.The boys played instruments while the girls danced around in their cute Mexican dresses. My sister and I played the part of Regis and Kelly hosts and my other cousins played the part of my grandparents. “Grandpa” had in a fake belly with a white tank top and white button down shirt on and “Grandma” was wearing her favorite Michigan sweat shirt. My Aunt Tammy had asked my grandparents a series of questions a few months back and jotted down their answers. We interviewed them as a couple and asked questions about how and where they met, having children, life as a married couple, how they lived and so on. We played some of their favorite songs from back in their day throughout the interview in the background. They really got a kick out of the whole thing.
Aunt Yvette continued to introduce the following acts. “the rest of our Mariachi band has shown up and they have come all the way from Phoenix and Omaha….here are Juan and Paco!!!
Of course that was Chad and my brother Marc dressed up as men with their fat bellies hanging out and doing a dance to Mariachi Loco. It was so funny, people were falling out of their chairs laughing so hard, my grandfather had tears in his eyes. My grandmother used to clean the house to her man ELVIS! What would a party be without not one, not 2, but 3 different generations of Elvis’s. Two of my cousins and my dad played the part. This time Grandma was falling out of her chair trying to reach out to the younger Elvis just like she would try to at his concerts. Another favorite of hers was Michael Jackson. She had also gone to his concerts. Well guess what? “Michelle” Jackson was played by my cousin Nicole.
After all the belly laughs and tears of joy we had to get all sappy on everyone. Uncle Art read the words he wrote to his parents and then we played the Family Tree song. One by one all of us got up, went to the front “stage” area and sang out loud to my grandparents. The song has deep meaning and it was a perfect fit for our family. It was very emotional for all of us. My grandparents were so happy, excited, thankful and overjoyed that we put all this together for them. They have very special children (my parents & aunts and uncles) who spent months putting this all together. It was the perfect anniversary gift for them just to have the entire family in one place from all over the country.

Of course you can’t end the party without playing more poker. They had some pretty large pots going. Up to couple hundred dollars I think. Even the younger kids had their own table going. Except they played with fake money! Hey that’s how we roll!

Family Gathering, Day 3 & 4

Chad, I, and the boys spent the first part of the day going back and doing the rides we missed at Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. We went to Islands first and immediately ran back to the Pteranodon Flyers where we soar through the air and get a view of Camp Jurassic. Its always a 60min wait and it was only 30 when we got there. Was it worth the wait for a 60 sec fly by...the boys would say it was cool! Tanner just couldn't contain himself any longer and just had to go back on the duelling dragons. Over and over and over! Tanner and I went while Chad took Rylan back on the Jurassic River adventure. Here is a little snip it of Tanner on the Duelling Dragons ride.


Then it was back to Suess landing to the Cat in the Hat ride.
There were only a few things we had to hit at Universal and that was Woody Woodpecker's Nut Coaster, Men in Black where we were able to test our alien-zapping skills, and Disaster which took us into the world of filming disaster movies
and then on a major motion picture ride...starring everyone!

In the afternoon and the next day we went back over to my cousins house to have dinner and hang out with the entire Valls family. Poker and Sing Star on the PS3 were the main attractions of the evening.



We were practicing our skits that the family had put together for my Grandparents 60th wedding anniversary. It was going to be quite the production!

Family Gathering in Florida, Day 2

8:00am Family gathers in the hotels breakfast area where we meet up before going to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure

9:30am Arrive at Universal/Islands of Adventure
Our first ride we experienced the rage of the Incredible Hulk as Dr Bruce Banner's gamma-ray accelerator launches us on a high speed roller coaster rampage. Next we head over to the Amazing Adventures of Spider Man. With our 3-D glasses we careen through the streets for an eye popping, pulse-pounding, high tech 3-D thrill. Chad and Marc took a couple of the boys on Doctor Doom's Fearfall where they were shot up 150 feet in the air and then dropped faster than gravity itself!
11:30am Its starting to get warm enough out for us to try out a couple of water rides. Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges is where the gang was brave enough (in their ponchos) to hit the white water rapids splashing raft ride.
To keep with the water theme Dudley Do-Rights Ripsaw falls took them on a wild and wet
flume ride with one of the steepest water drops ever created.


1pm We discover dinosaur skeletons and footprints...AHHHH I think a hungry T-Rex might be on the loose!! You didn't happen to see any did you??? Great, I think we need to go on a thrilling river raft ride through primeval dinosaur habitats just to make sure they didn't get out. Vamanos!!







2:30pm Our parents took the little,little kids over to Suess Landing while the big kids soared on the fire side of The Dueling Dragons through hair raising loops and twists across the sky.

4:30pm Its time to cross over the bridge and head to Universal Studios. We stepped into one of the most action packed movie of all time as the swirling vortex of tornado blew my poor little nieces right out of their skin. Yes, they were scared...poop-less! All I heard from little Julia was.."i want out, lets go, I want out, lets go" I believe if my sister and I weren't holding her down, she would have crawled over and through many many people to get away from this tornado. We had to take turns going on the Mummy ride where we plunged into darkness on this indoor roller coaster facing fireballs, scarab beetles, and an army of warrior mummies. Jaws is always a classic favorite...you never know where he might POP out of the water and scare the begeebers out you...or the children! Now the Woody Woodpeckers kidzone was a hit with all little kids who were not tall enough to get on big rides. Also we got to help E.T. save his dying planet as we got on his starbound bike. Last but not least, the new Simpsons Ride was quite entertaining as we swoop, soar and smash our way through Krustyland.

7:30pm Leave parks, hit major traffic on the way back home. Oh wait and accident pulled off to the side of the road, but EVERYone has to stop and look..rubberneckers! GEESH! Luckily my mom called and warned us, so we took the scenic route on the back roads while stopping at Chick-fil-a for some food and cookie shakes...yummmm! Did I say I was still on vacation???

Real quick, we had 30 family members that joined us today at the park. My grandparents and a couple more cousins were still at home. The big Jurassic photo above was just all of us first cousins only. AMAZING I tell ya!!

Family Gathering in Florida,Day 1

5:30am Wake up, get the whole family ready to leave for the airport

6:15am After Chad has yelled at me several times to get out of the house cause we are going to miss our 8am flight, we run out the door...all 50 bags packed and loaded in the car for a 7 day trip.

6:50am Arrive at Sky Harbor, check in and proceed to gate

8:05am Everyone is safely on the plane boarded for Orlando

1:45pm Arrive in Orlando, get bags, rent vehicle

2:30pm Still waiting in line to rent our car

2:50pm Call my friend who is coming down to meet us in Downtown Disney for the day, make plans to hook up...still waiting in line.

3:00pm We see my parents, sister and nieces get off the elevator on their way to rent their vehicle...Tanner runs over and tackles them with excitement.

3:30pm Head to downtown Disney to meet Jacksonville friends

4pm Dinner at T-REX cafe...very cool place. Very much like Rainforest Cafe, but all dinosaurs!!

6pm Finish dinner and walk around shops in Downtown Disney. Hit the Lego store where we met up with a Lego Santa

6:45pm Pass the Ghirardelli ice cream shop...cant help myself and neither can Judy...we're on vacation, I we say to ourselves. We hang out, discuss religion and politics for a while.



7:00pm Walking around some more..then we discover Rylan is nowhere to be found.
We aren't panic'd yet thinking he is right near by. We all split up and look for him.

7:10pm Still cannot find Rylan and it seems there are thousands of people around and a ton of 4yr olds with short blonde hair and red hooded jackets everywhere I look and no child of min.

7:20pm We all four meet up again, talk to guest realations and security. We split again and run into all the kids enticing stores franticly looking for a little lost boy

7:30pm After many tears and horrifying thoughts, the security guard and a Disney employee brought Rylan to me. They found him sitting right where he could no longer find us, on a bench in a well light area with a lost look on his face. After running all over the area thinking to myself, I am going to kill this kid when I get ahold of him, I could do nothing but give him big hugs and kisses. I asked him if he was afraid or scared and he said..."No mommy, I wasn't afraid or scared, I am a big boy now."

7:40pm Now we can't find Chad. Of course only Jason and Chad had their cell phones, Judy and I had forgotten ours in the car. So whenever we split, not only were we looking for Rylan, but also for each other. Chad still has no idea we have found Rylan and he is running all over.

7:45pm Chad runs back to our "meeting spot" shaking his head and trying to hold back the tears of joys, anger, and frustration when he sees his "little dude"

7:50 Leaving the Downtown Disney area all together, holding hands very tightly.
Heading to Sanford, where we are meeting the Valls family at my cousins house

9pm Arrive at Nicole and Todd's house where we meet 30 other Mexicans for a fiesta... lol!!

10:30pm Arrive at hotel where we will get some rest for Universal Studios on Monday. Don't worry Rylan will probably be wearing a leash or have a GPS tracking device installed in his body!

Thanksgiving Dinner

Chad's brother and wife came over to our house for an early Thanksgiving dinner. Yes, I can bake a turkey! Its called oven turkey bags. I made an xtra big turkey so that we could enjoy leftovers for the week. Then I found out that he was going to be out of town for the next 3 days. He's hoping there will be some left for him. Tanner eats like a horse, so we'll see.

My little nephew Ethan is 6 months old. He was a big hit with his cousins. Tanner at one time told me to leave the little area they were playing in cause he was "babysitting". It was sooo cute!

Its times like this when I see little babies that make me want to have another. Then I remember ...the late nights, bottle feeding...ah heck I breast fed for a year, dirty diapers...major diaper rashes, getting new teeth, & oh, oh my favorite...potty training. I'm done! I like to squeeze, kiss, and spoil...then send them on their way :-) Don't get me wrong I wouldn't change having these little guys for anything. I love babies and every little step along the way. I truly miss having an infant in the house. Thank goodness alot of my friends are all having babies, now I can get my fix!

Rylan playing soccer

Rylan is now in his 5th week of soccer. He has come a long way since the first day of practice. We put him on a little bit older team so that he could be with his friends. Rylan is the youngest and smallest kid on the team. The first day he was extremely shy and had no idea how to kick a ball properly. The first game was really rough. Not only was it hot at 9:30am, but the older kids were running all over him. He came home hating soccer and not wanting to play anymore. After a couple more practices and the next game played with his buddies, he soon felt very comfortable chasing after the ball. Now he is running with the big kids and a gigantic smile lights up across his face. Even though they have not won a single game this year, its all about having fun...right?? We can score...but only on ourselves! Only a couple more games left in the season. He is getting closer and closer to being able to score. Go Rattlesnakes!!

Hollywood Party Smilebox slideshow

Finally after 2 weeks I am finished with the slide show...here is my montage Click on the play button on the video above.

Dinner Talk

Tanya: "Chad, be careful when you pull the shrimp out of the toaster oven so the butter and all that CRAP doesn't spill all over."
Tanner: "OHHH Mom, are not allowed to say CRAP in this house!"
Rylan: "Yea Mom, you need to say CRAP outside!"

President

Chad, Rylan, and I were sitting down eating dinner tonight.
Tanner came into the room after taking a shower and blurted out "Who is our President?" (Meaning our NEW President)
Rylan, in a matter of fact way said with his arms out, "it's George!"
Chad and I looked at eachother with shock and said "your right... buddy, it is George"
Tanner: "its George Bush, duh!"
Rylan: "Yea, George Bush, I knew that"
Tanner: "No, Obama is our new President, right?"
Chad: "Yes, you are correct, its Obama"
Rylan: "Obama? Yeah, Obama, its Obama!"

We all laughed out loud cause we were still in shock that he knew George was our President.