Monday, April 25, 2016

easter

As Christians, Easter is one of the most important celebrations.  As a family, we talk about Christ, the cross, and His resurrection...and we are ever thankful for Jesus & His salvation.

We also celebrated Easter by attending our church Sunday morning and enjoyed dinner at Oma's house that evening.
(Thanks, Oma, for our Easter outfits!)
Averie Grace
10 years old
Brady Joseph
7 years old
Brecken Thomas
5 years old
Emmersyn Faith
22 months old
The Karaffa Family
Easter 2016
Siblings
From our family to yours...Happy Easter!  We are ever thankful for our Risen Savior!

a trampoline, some serious static, a tongue, & an adorable little girl

While everyone was in school, Mommy thought it would be a fun idea to let me try out jumping on the trampoline for the first time.  It was hilarious, and I loved it!

Just a quick smile before heading out!
Of course, before trying out the trampoline, I had to swing...one of my favorite things to do!  And, I've also starting really sticking out my tongue when I do things, and everyone thinks it's adorable!
The look I gave Mommy when I first got on it...
...then I tried jumping (check out my tongue!)...
...& I loved it!  I don't go too high, but I love jumping.
The longer I was in there, the crazier my hair got.  Is that not hilarious?
I'm not sure what to think about all that static! :)
But, I had fun and loved it!

emmersyn faith ~ 22 months

This Babe...we all just adore her so!  Our Emmersyn Faith...22 months old and full of smiles & giggles.  She has really developed her own personality, and we are enjoying watching her learn so much.  She repeats a lot, and she mimics a lot of what we do, which usually makes us laugh.  Her favorite things are music, reading books, dancing, playing with her siblings, watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, playing with Mommy, & being silly with Daddy.  Happy 22 months, sweet girl!
Just a little photo session outside with Mommy...
...& I sure was happy!
Emmersyn Faith
22 months old
March 2016
"Dancing" & jumping
Sweet girl

Turning 22 months can be exhausting...this is only time I've ever fallen asleep in my highchair!
Oh, and I still love putting on everyone's shoes and walking around!

Can't believe I'll be 2 in 2 short months!

dr. seuss day

In early March, it is Dr. Seuss' birthday.  To celebrate, our school has a "Dr. Seuss Day."  We get to choose any character from any of his books and dress up.  It was a lot of fun.  We sure enjoy of lot of his books.

I dressed up as the Cat in the hat...
...& Brady (who is less excited to dress up for these events) was Thing 1.
Happy Dr. Seuss Day!



disney day 4 ~ animal kingdom & downtown disney

Ready for our last day...Day 4...at Animal Kingdom.  It was another beautiful day...& another fun filled day of adventure.
Ready to head into the park!
Super fun, entertaining monkeys that we enjoyed watching!
Daddy & I riding this ride...Mommy happily just took pictures.  Can you see us in there?  We are on the left side (looking at the ride).  I loved it!
At the dinosaur exhibit, there was a place to dig up fossils.  I liked to call in "playing in the sand."
I loved it here...& spent a lot of time digging.
For lunch, we enjoyed a safari feast.  I also got to meet some of the characters again...& some of them even remembered me! ;)

Donald & me
Goofy, Mommy, & me
Daisy giving me a kiss!
After lunch, we took a safari tour through the African jungle.  We got to see lots of animals there.  I even took most of the pictures (with Mommy's help!)...& I loved the tour!

Giraffes
More Giraffes
Elephants
Zebras
(We also saw lions, okapi's, water buffalo, hippos, ostrich, & more)
The center of the Animal Kingdom is the "tree of life," so here we are.  It sure was a fun day!
That evening, we headed to Downtown Disney and made a stop at the Lego Store.  I loved seeing Woody & Buzz made out of Legos...
...& the Hulk was awesome!
(Daddy & Mommy have taken each of our pictures in front of this Hulk.)
We were planning to enjoy some dinner, but we were all so tired and the wait times were awful, so we just headed back to the hotel for a quick dinner, packed up for the morning, and went to bed.  It was another magical day.  I really had the best time in Disney...what wonderful memories I shared with Daddy & Mommy...a great way to kick off the excitement of starting kindergarten in the fall!

disney day 3 ~ hollywood studios

Up and at 'em for Day 3 at Hollywood Studios.  This was my favorite day because this park had the Star Wars themed activities/rides.  We had to get up earlier so that we could get in line early to sign up for the Jedi Training.  After being able to sign up for the training (we only had to wait about 45 minutes to sign up), we headed to ride some rides.  Toy Story Mania (one of the most popular rides) already had a long line, but we knew the line would only get longer as the day went on.  So, we jumped right in.  It was about a 35 minute wait, which was the shortest wait all day (most of the time, it's about 120 minutes wait).  Here we are in line, and we are all excited to ride this fun ride! (PS Some of the rides have the most entertaining lines!)
Ready to get on board!
Mommy & me
Toy Story Mania...here I come!
Such a fun ride!!  Afterwards, we got in line to meet Woody & Buzz...
...& that was so cool!
(I was so excited that so many of my favorite characters lived in the same spot! :) :))
Giving knucks with Woody!
Buzz, Woody, Daddy, Mommy, & me
Meeting the army man...
...& getting his autograph!
Green Army Man & me
Then, as we were walking around, the Storm Troopers came out from around the corner.  I literally stopped dead in my tracks and just started at them. Unfortunately, because they are on the "dark side," they don't stop for pictures and autographs.  But, I was mesmerized by them.  (They are my favorite Star Wars characters...)  It was SO cool!
Then, we waited in line to meet Kylo Ren.  He was pretty intimidating to meet...especially with his dark, deep voice. We weren't even allowed to touch him.  I tried to give him a hug, but he moved out of the way.
Thankfully, he was willing to take a picture, but he wouldn't stand close to me...haha!
Daddy, Mommy, & me with Kylo Ren.
As we were walking out, we saw this Storm trooper in the case...only $1,000 for the costume.  Not sure why my parents wouldn't buy it for me! :)
And, they were also selling Darth Vader's mask, but it wasn't any cheaper...it was $2,500.  Daddy & Mommy still said no. :)
When we walked out, we saw the Storm Troopers again...so cool!  This was as close as I could get to them.  Mommy tried to stop them, but they refused.  Either way, I was so excited to see a real Storm Trooper this close up!
Time for my Jedi Training...
...I was so excited for this!
Putting on my Jedi cloak...
...& then heading over to meet my challenger!
Out came Darth Vader...& I was so excited to fight him!
Darth Vader vs. Jedi Brecken...
...& I won! :)
He was so cool looking.  I like Darth Vader, too!
Kylo Ren also came out (but the other Jedi's fought him)...and, all of us Jedi's used our force to put them both back in the temple.
Jedi Training = Awesome Experience
All that light saber fighting wore me slap out...or maybe it was all the walking...but I was out cold.  A nice 45 minutes nap, and I was ready to go again.  (Doesn't this look very uncomfortable?)
Time to play in the "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" playground.  I got to take a picture on "Andy."
Daddy joined me on Andy.
Then, while we were walking again, guess who we saw again?  Yep, the Storm Troopers...
Mommy & Me
That night, we headed out on a pirate adventure...meeting Captain Hook and Mr. Smee, eating lots of ice cream, pirate booty, and punch, and then heading out on an evening boat ride to watch the fireworks over Magic Kingdom.
Me with Captain Hook & Mr. Smee
Looking a little more like pirates...and ready to head out on our boat!
On the boat ride...
The fireworks were beautiful (well, the ones I saw...I feel asleep!), the pirate adventure was fun, and the whole day was wonderfully fun!