It's my "baby boy's" birthday today. Caleb is officially 6, and declared his 5's were great, but his 6's will be even better. One thing you might not know about Caleb is that he can be pretty stubborn (I know, BIG surprise considering who his parents are), but once Caleb has an idea formed in his head it's practically impossible to change it, so I'm betting his 6's really are spectacular.

Here are few highlights from his 5th year of life:

1. Going to the Toronto Zoo. Not a surprise that he listed a zoo as his number one highlight last year. He's still obsessed with zoo's and is still determined to be a zookeeper when he grows up. Jack Hannah better watch out!

2. Hugs and kisses from his mom. Aawww...melt my heart little boy. He's so easy to love.

3. Going to Utah to be with grandma, grandpa and Suki. Suki is a dog, and he adores her.

4. Meeting Wii on the Big Boat. Wii was our waiter on a Caribbean Cruise we went on, and Caleb thought he was the greatest person ever. He even tried to convince Wii to take him with him when he went home to Bali, Indonesia this month.

5. Being in the Alvin and Chipmunks Chip-Wrecked movie. He was asked to be an extra in the movie, and now he's crossing his fingers his part doesn't get cut from the final version due out this December. It was quite an experience for him and Jordan to see the intricate workings of how a movie is made.

6. Starting kindergarten and having Ms. Lang as a teacher. Plus he really likes the days mommy comes in to help out in the class.

7. Going to Disney World. He loves that place.

What he's looking forward to now that he's 6.

1. Going to Disney World. Hmmm...I think it must have been on his mind from being 5 because it popped up pretty quick when we moved onto being 6. We'll have to see if I can make that dream come to pass.

2. Going to Utah cause he really, really misses his grandma and grandpa.

3. Loving his mom....Can I just say brown-noser, but in the cutest possible way!

4. His birthday, of course! What's not to love about birthday's?

Some of his tried and true favorites:

He still really wants to be a zookeeper.
His favorite color is green.
He changed his favorite food to apples.
Rootbeer would be his drink of choice.
Toys are still all about dinosaurs and animals.
He loves the show Wipeout, but has also discovered Dinosaur Train and Wild Kratt's.

Merry Christmas 2010

And his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

Christmas is easily my most favorite time of year. Although, I must admit with each passing year I feel the days are shorter and the season is over before I fully realize it has begun. I wish it could hang on just a little bit longer. I'm one of those girls who doesn't mind hearing Christmas carols in October, or seeing store shelves lined in holiday decor before Halloween has had a chance to finish. Personally I'd much rather see ceramic nativity displays, sparkly tinsel and garland, and shiny wrapping paper over ghoulish and gory dress-up clothes. That's not to say I don't enjoy Halloween. There are certain elements I like just fine, but I **adore** Christmastime. When I turn on a radio and hear Karen Carpenter singing one of my favorite Christmas songs, I can't help but smile.

I pray you all had a wonderful, peaceful, magical Christmas this year, and that the true meaning of Christmas didn't get lost in the hustle and bustle of the season.

Merry Christmas, and warmest wishes for a joyful New Year.

Jordan opening his present form grandma and grandpa Scott on Christmas eve. My poor baby was exhausted from being sick all night, but this present put a smile on his face.

Merry Christmas, Jordy!

I made these shirts for the boys as part of a present from Grama Jeanne and Grampa Tom. The boys found out that we get to spend some time together at Universal Studios next month, and they couldn't be more excited about vacationing with them again.

Caleb's present from his grandparents.

Christmas Eve dinner only included 4 of us. Jordan was too sick to eat, but he managed to make it downstairs for a reading of the Christmas story and for caroling.

One of the few traditions we like to incorporate into our holiday is the opening of English party crackers. The boys love it, and we all get a kick out of the little prize, paper crown and joke tucked away inside.

Caleb playing the role of Santa on Christmas Eve.

Christmas morning at my house.

Another awesome design by Kyler.
He made some amazing things this year, and this was the present for his dad.

Kyler gave both his brothers an art set this year which was an instant hit. They love to be creative and draw oodles of pictures.

Caleb asked Santa for a very specific Zhu Zhu pet that looked like a porcupine. Santa did his best, but when Caleb opened the box it wasn't quite what he expected. Apparently Caleb thinks he needs to become a Zhu Zhu pet designer, because according to him it should only have one color of brown for the quills. The nerve of those designers!!

Caleb gave Kyler a remote control car. It's one of the only gifts Caleb didn't find at the Dollar Store where he typically finds most of his treasures.

This was Jordan's favorite gift this year, and I must agree that it is awesome. It's a tic-tac-toe board that Kyler made himself out of Ash and Walnut wood. It's beautiful, and if I hadn't received something even a little bit better from him, I would steal it for myself!!

This was what Jordan gave Kyler for Christmas. Kyler loves Mickey Mouse, and he received a few things themed after that famous Mouse.

Here's a few more Mickey items for our Scott household chef to be inspired by.
A new Mickey Mouse pancake mold, a Mickey Mouse apron, and a Mickey Mouse chef hat.

This picture requires a little background info.
My sweet Caleb is a bit of a germaphobe, and in the summertime he can't stand it when fruit flies are in our house. He does his best to cover up his food when he's ready to eat, but if one of those pesky little flies manages to land on his plate, he refuses to eat any more food.
"Santa" thought it would be a good idea to get Caleb his own fruit fly trap, and wouldn't you know it~~it was Caleb's FAVORITE gift when he opened it. He squealed in delight, and can't wait to try it out next summer. We might even be able to buy some diet cherry coke again since Caleb is positive that is what instigated the fruit fly population to begin with.
I love my little man!

Caleb couldn't stand the thought of Kevin and I getting a photo without him in it.
Good thing I love both my babies!

Kyler made us an adorable photo book.
I'll treasure it always.

One of my favorite gifts was this clock that Kyler made for me in woodshop. It's constructed of cherry and walnut woods, and is absolutely gorgeous. This picture also shows the star he made for Kevin and the tic-tac-toe board he made for Jordan. Caleb's wooden animals were put away before I had a chance to snap a photo of them.

Lyvia

I had the chance to go to Utah last weekend to meet my newest niece, Lyvia. I wish I could have smuggled this little bundle of sweetness home with me so I could spend even more time with her. She is such a sweet, good-natured baby. I couldn't get enough of her, or the time I spent with my family. I can't wait to go back again.

Lyvia Ehrhart
3 weeks old

Brooks was in Seattle the first 2 days I was in town, but got back the night before I left.
I was so happy to see him, even if it was only for a quick visit.

World's greatest grandpa with his newest grand-daughter, Lyvia.

Aunt Kelcee loves Lyvia a lot, too.

Lyvia

Cousin Dave was a great helper with Lyvia.

Travis, Hailey & Mary.
It was so much fun seeing all of them again.

Sleeping angel.

A Magical Disney Vacation

Vacations....quite simply, I love them! I relish in the process of planning, mapping, tweaking, and actually going on trips. Vacations give me an opportunity to relax, spend uninterrupted time with my family, and get my hubby all to myself for a few days every year. Those moments are priceless to me, and I feel very grateful whenever I have a chance to sneak away with my loved ones. This year we had the opportunity to go back to Disneyworld. It's a favorite spot for us to travel to. We love soaking in the bright vibrant colors, the Florida warmth and sunshine, and all the over-the-top decorations. And while some people can't handle listening to "It's a Small World After All" a few dozen times in a single day, I never seem to get sick of the songs, the plays, the musical numbers performed, and of course the rides are an added highlight for all of us. Here are a few snapshots of our most recent escape:

Outside the Tusker House Restaurant. We snagged an early morning reservation that allowed us to go inside the Animal Kingdom an hour before park opening. The food was fantastic, the atmosphere was exciting, and the chance to hop on Kilimanjaro Safari immediately after breakfast was the best. So many animals were out in the early-morning hours.

We met Donald, Goofy, Minnie, Pluto and of course Mickey Mouse while we were eating at Tusker House. These were some of the personalized shirts we made for this trip (along with the help of some very creative designers on the disboards.) I had a lot of fun creating shirts and bags for this trip.

These are the Animal Kingdom shirts I made for Kevin and I (Milliepie was the creative designer behind the logo. I just had to print and transfer, but on the back of the back of the shirts I designed a name tag you can't see.)

Another one of the shirts we made.
This was Kyler's 4 Parks 1 World t-shirt for our EPCOT day.

We had another early morning breakfast at Akershus in the Norway Pavilion at Epcot. I loved going into the parks before they opened to the general public. It helped create a whole new layer of magic we've never experienced before!

Jordan inside of Akershus.
This is his "Touring the World One Day at a Time" shirt. Kyler was the creator of this shirt.


For this breakfast we got to meet Belle (Jordan's favorite princess....He's got good taste!), Cinderella, Aurora, Snow White, and Ariel.

Here's Caleb with his favorite princess around. He loves Ariel, and her long red hair. He beamed when he saw her, and gave her a big hug.

Our family outside Epcot.

I love this picture of Caleb and his daddy.
One of the many reasons we love Disney so much is because we see this happy face the entire time we're there.

We've met quite a few characters before, but this was the first time we've ever met Mary Poppins or Bert. They were so charming and wonderful with the boys. Bert got right down face to face with the kids and talked to them about their day and asked lots of questions about them. The duo didn't seem rushed at all to have us leave, even though there were people patiently waiting for a picture and autograph behind us.

This is a bridge on Tom Sawyer's Island, and these are a few more shirts I made for the boys.

Kevin and I

The boys were able to go to the Pirate League this year and get a pirate make-over. We teased Kyler he looked too much like Brett Michaels with his smokey eyes and bandanna. This lasted for a whole day before we realized Kyler didn't even know who Brett was. I guess it's time to dust off the old albums and show him a photo. On a side-note, Kyler looked way too good in make-up!

One of the things they do at Pirate League is give the boys new pirate names. Kyler is now officially "Thomas Firecastle", Jordan will forever be known as "Hector Scurveybellows", and my littlest buccaneer, Caleb, is now known in the pirate world as "Edgar Dreadloote"

We opted for t-shirts instead of full-fledged costumes this year for "Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party" Linda from the disboards helped design this logo that I was able to make t-shirts with.

The Scott Boy Pirates!

Of course we tend to go to Disney in September which is hurricane and tropical storm season for that area of the world. In our 10 days there though we only had rain twice. One storm lasted about 45 minutes while we were indoors having dinner, and the other storm formed the night of our party. It poured, literally, for about 3 hours. The rain came down hard and fast, but that discouraged a lot of other people from coming out, and we had the park to ourselves. My brother, Brooks joked that Kevin looks like he's dressed as Little Red Riding Hood! I'm his identical twin behind the camera.

My pirate boys threw themselves in jail. They have a lot to learn lol!!

Caleb had it pretty easy inside a stroller with his dole whip float in hand while watching the HalloWishes Firework spectacular.

This is the last set of shirts we made for the trip. Kyler designed and created his own, and he also helped me design Caleb's shirt.
Once again, Milliepie helped design the logo on Jordan's.
This photo is outside the Polynesian hotel which we were able to stay in the night before we flew home.

The talking trash can found us in the Magic Kingdom. It traveled down the street with us and talked to the boys as it went. We've only seen this once before, but this was by far the best interaction we've ever had with it. I loved the look on peoples faces as they realized a trash can was rolling down the street and talking as it went.

Outside the Poly hotel.

This was our last day in Orlando. We had another early morning breakfast planned at the Crystal Palace and got to the park an hour before official opening. When we went inside the park it felt like we were in a whole different world. Notice there are virtually no people around us? How often does that happen in Disney? It was a magical way to end a magical trip!