Thornton Mom

We spent Sunday visiting my Dad's cousins who live in Florida.  It was so fun that I forgot to take any pictures.  We went to their church with them and then to their house for lunch.  It was delightful to visit wit them and their two kids.  Ben and Lindsey spent the whole time entertaining our kids.  They all love it.  It was delightful a great Sunday activity. Monday we began our drive back home.  Because of the flooding in South Carolina we again had to go through Atlanta and so broke it up into a 2 day trip.  The last day Michael slept a lot and by the time we reached home he had a fever.  That night he was sick and threw up.  We were just so glad that it happened at home and not on the trip.  We felt very blessed. The Lord is good to us.  We love Him and honor Him.  What a blessing to have Him in our lives. Yielding Our Hearts to G...

Our last day in Disney World was spent at Animal Kingdom.  We got there late so that we could sleep in.  Our adventure began at Mount Everest a fabulous roller coaster that even goes backwards!  Maddie sat next to me, we always keep our hands in the air when we ride roller coasters and Maddie is no different.  As we began our hands were up but as we went backwards and upside down my hands came down.  After a few moments I felt Maddie's arms against my shoulder, they were sill up!  I was being bested by my 6 year old!!  My arms shot back into the air and my respect for Maddie and her love of roller coasters increased dramatically.  She really loves fast roller coasters and can keep up with the best of us. While we switched around with Mount Everest we let Michael play in the Bone Yard.  As I was coming back from the ride Derek informed me that Michael almost cut his eye open.  I started to panic.  I wheeled as fast as I could to...

This was by far my favorite day on our trip.  It was a tender mercy from our Father in Heaven and we really enjoyed it.  We started off on the Jungle Cruise and laughed at all the corny jokes. When we had been in Adventure Land the first time the kids saw Aladdin's Magic Carpets and really wanted to ride them.  My favorite part of the ride was wen we flew by a camel and got wet.  "Watch out, they spit!"  He spit at us.  It was awesome!!  We were told that the best place to get a treat was the Dole Pineapple Stand.  Wow!! Amazing!!  It was pineapple ice cream put in pineapple juice for a pineapple float.  Or you could just have the ice cream.  Derek and I were in seventh heaven.  The kids got slushies and we all loved it!! Aren't they just so cute?  We went on the new ride the Seven Dwarfs.  On our previous visit we had been blessed when an employee just handed us some fast passes which w...

Our next adventure was Epcot.  We were tired.  After the craziness the night before we didn't have much energy.  We had planned to sleep in and not visit the countries.  Oh we were so grateful for this plan. We began at Test Track where Michael really enjoyed designing his own car.  The kids loved going fast and then playing in real cars when we got done.  Derek and I were even able to sit in a Suburban with our children to see how we fit.  (That is one of the cars we are thinking about for next time we buy.) On to Mexico, the only country we visited.  Derek went on his mission to Mexico so he really wanted to visit it.  We went on a ride and then looked in the shops.  When we got done we were tired and hot and grumpy.  I then took all the little ones to a fountain park and they all got soaking wet.  They LOVED it!   Dad then got Mickey Mouse ice cream bars.  What is not to love? We then end...

 Our Second Day in Disney began at the Magic Kingdom.  We were tired from the day before but got up and pressed forward knowing that we would get to return to the hotel and rest.  After several rides we ended up at Be Our Guest Restraunt.  We were here for the ambiance and so just ordered cupcakes there was one that even boasted "try the gray stuff it's delicious, don't believe me ask the dishes."    We were in the Beast's Room and sat right next to the rose.  There was continaul thunder and lightning going on and it made Michael very uncomfortable.  He wouldn't eat his cup cake so we got out the ear protectors I had gotten.  As soon as we put them on he smiled a huge smile and began to sing "Under the Sea" as we had just gotten off that ride.  The ear protectors were a huge hit throughout the trip.  One of Elizabeth's favorite princesses is Bell.  She was in Seventh Heaven.  After Be Our Guest we retur...

Our first day in Disney started in Hollywood Studios.  We began on Rocking Roller coaster and then immediately went to Tower of Terror.  Maddie and Michael waited patiently for all of us to ride those rides and were quite delighted by the reward of Disney Jr. Live!  Everyone did great on Rocking Roller coaster but Samantha did not like the Tower of Terror and when I went on with Elizabeth I was terrified.  I kept grabbing her leg as we would go up and down.  I was really wondering why I even got on this ride.  I was grateful when it was over.  Elizabeth loved it, it was by far her favorite ride. Because my feet are not yet back to normal I ended up being in a wheel chair for the trip.  It defiantly had it's advantages.  One was that we got to sit right up front for many of the shows.  Here Maddie and Samantha wait for Beauty and the Beast to begin.  That was stunningly beautiful and fun. Michael wanted nothing more than t...

When we were planning our vacation to Disney we planned it around the idea of keeping the Sabbath Day holy.  The plan was to leave early Monday morning after General Confrence and then come home the following Monday so that we would not travel on Sunday.  The weekend before we were to leave brought a huge storm with lots of rain.  Most of the storm hovered over South Carolina for several days.  We felt an urge to get packed in case we needed to leave Friday night.  By Saturday we were almost ready to go and felt good going into conference.  We went back and forth hourly about when we should leave.  We didn't want to travel on Sunday but were worried about the roads in South Carolina. Conference was just like it is every year with children.  They are excited about the candy (this entices them to listen to the speakers) and then there was a bonus candy if they listened to a member of the 12 and wrote what they had learned on a sticky note....

  Maddie started complaining of her tummy hurting about an hour before church.  I assumed it was because I turned off the TV and she had to give a talk in primary.  She seemed okay during sacrament meeting and even got to sit on daddy's lap.  She did a great job on her talk about the Holy Ghost.  A few minutes later her teacher told me that she was complaining about her tummy.  I went in to check on her and just as I put her on my lap she threw up.  Immediatly I was surrounded and taken care of by my ward memebers.  We took Maddie to the bathroom cleaned her and me up as best we could.  When I returned to the primary room to get my things the mess was completely cleaned up.  As I went to grab my other children someone volunteered to take them home for me.  It was so kind of everyone.  I felt so loved and blessed to be in such a great ward.  (Maddie has not had a problem since.) Book of M...