Disney World, Here We Come!!

We can't believe it's already here!! Tomorrow our little family will board a plane to DISNEY WORLD! We've been counting down for 3 or so months and time has really flown by.

However, there were some hurdles I had to get through before our trip--Fall/Winter checkouts at Liberty Square Apartments. And it is definitely NO picnic. Checking out 800+ residents is definitely hard to keep organized but we did the best we could--and spent 15+ hours a day putting in cleaning/maintenance charges, refunding and then getting ready to send out the refunds. It's been a crazy (and tiring) week, but being at Disney World is definitely a great reward to the hard work i've put in.

The only thing I'm worried about now is Maddie on a plane. She is a VERY good-natured baby, but she DOES like to be able to crawl around and explore her surroundings. Obviously Maddie won't be allowed to crawl around the airplane, so we're hoping that sitting in our laps will be okay. We're definitely praying for a good four hour experience! aaaahh! Our flight is at about 9:30a.m. which means we'll have to leave early to get there with enough time. Translation? Either Maddie will be super tired and sleep most of the way OR she'll be overtired and crying the whole way--we're hoping for the first. :) Either way, wish us luck! We'll be sure to take lots of pictures to post on our blog.

ZIPPIDEE DOO DAH!!

Happy Easter!

Let me just preface this blog post by saying that holidays are much more fun when you're a parent! And what a fun Easter weekend it's been! On Saturday, we went to an Easter Egg Hunt in the morning with some friends. Unfortunately there are no pictures of that since Spencer and I spent the time helping Maddie hunt things down since she's only a crawler and all the other kids were RUNNING to find prizes. However, Maddie seemed to have fun!

This morning we had a Easter basket ready and waiting on the floor so that when Maddie came down she'd find it right away. And she did!! Here's her approach--

Before the Easter basket was attacked....

She spotted it...

...And LOVED it!!

YAY!!

She's so precious and fun! It was fun to see her enjoy her Easter so much (even if she doesn't quite understand it yet! We finished off the night by spending Easter dinner with friends and family! We had a fun time catching up and chatting. It's sad that the weekend had to go so fast, but it was super fun nonetheless. Thanks to all who made this such a special weekend!

Priesthood Blessings

Two weeks a go, Maddie caught the "stomach bug" that I had previously. She was sick for 3-4 days and then she seemed to get better. However, after conference weekend, her symptoms started up again but seemed even worse than before. She was vomiting at least once a day and started having nasty soiled diapers (Sorry to those who aren't parents yet...once you're a parent, you seem to become desensitized to such topics). At first, Spencer and I thought that it might be some type of food allergies, so we took her into the pediatrician who told us that nothing seemed out of sort and that she probably just had a little virus. Thus, we were sent home and told to come back in a week if she wasn't feeling better.

That was Monday--almost every night we are awoken by Maddie who has thrown up all over in her crib, poor baby. And she is more clingy than ever before--she ALWAYS wants to be held by "nana" or Mama--(she hasn't quite mastered the "M" yet). One night especially, Maddie was so distraught and sick feeling that Spencer gave her a priesthood blessing. In the blessing he asked the Lord to calm her little tummy so that she would sleep through the night and also for her body to quickly dismiss the virus. And since then, we've seen remarkable improvements. She's sleeping better through the night and seems to be acting like our little quirky Maddie again. This experience really touched me, and it taught me that even when man may not have the answers and/or cure to common worldly things (like the "stomach flu"), the Lord is all knowing and can help in ANY circumstance if we but allow Him to intervene. I'm grateful for Spencer's willingness AND worthiness to perform such blessings in our families' behalf. Having the Spirit of the Lord in our home makes all the difference in the world to the happiness we feel each day.

Maddie has her normal routine check-up tomorrow with our normal pediatrician, so i'm sure i'll be back on to report her progress in weight, height, etc. etc. And in brighter news, only 19 more days until we go to Disney World!! I've been planning our itinerary for the 5 days we'll be in the parks by deciding what restaurants we'll be going to, what rides to go on first, and so on. Half of the fun is in the planning!!! Its getting me really pumped up for our trip! And although some may think this is a little excessive, I absolutely love planning and organizing. I'll be posting our itinerary once it's finished!

Ciao for now!

A Fish Called Maddie

This weekend Spencer's family came up to visit the Empey's in Utah. So far we've had a blast! This night was especially exciting for little Maddie--for the first time in her life, she went swimming!!!! Our family is staying at the downtown Marriott, so they invited us to go swimming with them in the hotel's pool. Coincidentally, we bought Maddie a swimsuit a few days ago, so we picked up some "Little Swimmer" diapers and headed for the pool. I was a little nervous about how she would react, but she LOVED it. She kicked and kicked her little legs and she had an absoulte blast splashing around, swimming with her aunts, and being thrown up in the air by mommy and daddy! :) Here's some pictures of the first-time event:

(You'll notice the pictures look kinda hazy--that's because the pool room was very foggy, so our little camera did its best!)

Swimming from Mommy to Aunt Andi and Kelli


Mommy and Maddie


Mommy dancing with Madisen


Aunt Kelli and Maddie


Aunt Andi and Aunt Kelli with Madisen

Thanks you guys for coming down and visiting with us! :) I know Maddie has sure developed a love for her grandparents, aunts, and uncles on the Empey side--that's for sure! :)

Since it's Conference tomorrow, Spencer will be making our traditional Conference breakfast "Moco Loco" for the entire family. Moco Loco was a dish that Spencer enjoyed while on his mission in Hawaii, and it's become a tradition in our household on birthdays and Conference mornings! :) Can't wait! It's also a tradition to have a family sleepover on Saturday night so that we don't need to go far to watch the sessions on t.v. Since Maddie's too little still, it'll be Spencer and I tonight sleeping in the living room, but once she's older we'll allow her to participate. And off to bed with us now so that we can get a good nights rest for tomorrow!

General Conference

The weekend is getting closer, and I am so excited for General Conference. For those of you who are not members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS), General Conference is a time when world-wide members (around 13 million) all tune in to listen to the Prophet of God and the Lord's apostles.

(For more information about our beliefs, I welcome you to visit our website to learn more at www.mormon.org)

I remember how excited my parents would get about conference when I was little but I didn't quite understand its significance and might have been too young to understand their messages. Now I understand why my parents were so excited. I can't wait to be spiritually enlightened by their messages of Jesus Christ and His gospel. This week, we have been preparing for conference by reading conference talks from October 2008 and also by praying for the Spirit to be with us as we listen.

In my preparation this week, I felt prompted to not only pray for the spirit but also to write down specific questions and concerns I have. Lately I have been really worried about our upcoming year. Spencer will shortly be taking the DAT and applying to dental schools so that we can hopefully be starting into dental school a year from August. I have full faith in Spencer's abilities and I am sure that we will be fine, but I have been seeking comfort from the Lord to reassure me as well as give me the strength to stop stressing so much about our future. I strongly feel that by preparing myself for Conference I will receive the comfort that I am searching for.

I have a strong testimony in my Savior, Jesus Christ, and I am thankful for His selfless sacrifice for us. The gospel of Jesus Christ has been such a blessing in my life, and I hope to instill a love for it in Madisen's life too. I am so grateful to know that families can be together forever because I have the world's most wonderful husband and daughter and I would be lost without them. :)

I hope that all who watch Conference will be spiritually edified as I will be!