The Great 8

Doug threw a catapult birthday party for Jaxon and his friends.  He created wooden kits for the boys to assemble and taken home.  They had a great time shooting marshmallows at the "dragon"Jaxon drew.

Thanksgiving

We were blessed to have all of Doug's brothers and sisters here (except his oldest brother & family) for the week of Thanksgiving.  It was just the distraction and help we needed.  They were a blessing as they helped cook and clean (especially Holly who stayed a few extra days and organized and cleaned my home before they left).  We ate yummy food and had great conversations.  How I LOVE the McArthurs!!!

Posted this on our Relief Society Facebook page after watching TOFW

Holy Inspirational!  I just LOVED watching the Salt Lake City "Time Out for Women"!!!  Here's to:

-Using my mind to become whom I want to be, whom the Lord needs me to be.
-Letting the atonement heal and nourish my soul.
-Pouring out my heart to the Lord, so He might fill me with His love.
-Developing rituals of daily nourishment from the Lord to overcome Satan's influence.
-Hoping, not fearing.

How I LOVE the gift of the Holy Ghost and that we can receive personal revelation from a very thoughtful Heavenly Father who desires to communicate with us and for us to know "His voice" when He talks.

Sisters, know that God's love for you intense.  He wants us to do everything we can to become like our Savior so we can be reunited as a Heavenly family.  Do NOT give up and let Satan win!  Do NOT let negative thoughts destroy your beauty.  Do NOT fear of what's to come, but DO cleave unto your covenants and rest your heart knowing that God's plan for you is divine.  You were sent here in these Latter-days for a specific purpose.  DO seek out to know what God would have you do while living here on earth.  DO let your divinity resonate throughout your entire being and live HIGHER than the world.

I love you and will stand by you as I know you'll stand by me as we choose God!

Eternally your sister,

Amber

Trunk or Treat

Guesses what we were?

Florida Day 7

When you arrive at Disney right when it opens and literally run to the other side of it to get on Splash Mountain, you only have to wait 2 breathes to get on the ride.  We had a great time and then also quickly rode Thunder Mountain again afterwards.  Then we did the Jungle Ride, ate some more pineapple ice cream, watched a parade, and did one last Soccerrer game.

The rest of the day we spent relaxing at our resort ie. pool and miniature golf and good food.

http://www.star-island.com/photo-gallery.htm

Florida Day 6

The boys, especially Jaxon, LOVED Epcot.  It's like a massive children's museum w/ lots of interactive games.  Some of their favs were:

The big ball
Learning about space
Piggy Bank Game- Colt's favorite
Phineaus & Ferb detective hunt
Lion King movie about conserving our earth
Soarin' over California- everyone wanted to do this one again
Video Game Playland- boys were in heaven

Doug's and my favorite was sampling food from around the world as it was their Food & Wine Festival.  We enjoyed:

England- Fish & Chips
France- Crepe
Japan- California Roll
Italy- Ravioli
South Korea- Lettuce Wraps
Argentina- empanada

We also LOVED the Liberty Singers as their a'capela sounds gave us chills as they sung songs from our Nation's beginnings.

Florida Day 5

Animal Kingdom!

Possibly our favorite.  Rode the Kali Rapids 4 times in a row as there's no one there right when they open.  Enjoyed the Animal Safari and the kids loved doing the little explorer badges.  The Lion King show was AMAZING!

Florida Day 4

I had a plan of attack when it came to Magic Kingdom.  Here was my detailed schedule:

8:45 Magic Kingdom Welcome Show

9am TOMMORROW LAND 

Park Opens Run to Buzz Lightyear (get FP) and ride

Space Mountain (Colt not tall enough)

Tomorrowland Speedway

Use FP for Buzz (if available)

10:35 CASTLE Stage Show: Dream Along w/ Mickey

Stay there as Parade is coming

11:00 Go get FP for Under the Sea

Parade: Move it!  Shake it! (35 min)

11:45 FANTASYLAND

Lunch @ Be our Guest

12:30pm Under the Sea

(1ish) Send Doug to get FP for Splash Mtn.

Dumbo (if line isn’t crazy)

It’s a small world

2pm Rest Time Indoors

LIBERTY SQUARE 

Mickey’s PhiharMagic

The Hall of Pres

3pm Get FP for Thunder Mtn.

FRONTIERLAND

Spash Mtn.

Frontier Shootin’

4pm The Notorious Banjo Brothers (20 min.)

Country Bear Jamboree

5pm Thunder Mtn.

5:30 DINNER (decide if we want to stay or go home)

Get FP for Jungle Cruise

ADVENTURELAND 

Jungle Cruise

Magic Carpets of Aladdin

Swiss Family Robinson

Could do Monster’s Inc. Laugh Floor

OR a ride we didn’t want to stand in line & wait for

8:45 Celebrate the Magic (in front of Castle)

9:00 Wishes Nighttime Spectacular (12 min)

The problem was, Colt threw up from 5am-7am and so plans changed.


We ended up going to Hollywood Studios where we could just relax and watch shows since we didn't want Colt throwing up on a ride.  Doug was chosen to be an extra in the Indiana Jones show.

That afternoon, we headed to Magic Kingdom and saw our friends the Gale family just briefly.

 Colt seemed to be doing much better as he was running around playing by now, so we stayed until the park closed at 11pm and did everything we wanted to, except Splash Mountain.

Buzz lightyear...one of the favorites.  The boys did it 4 times.

 Shooting arcade.

Florida Day 3

Sea World!

We loved it and loved getting in free because we're military.  No pics...I'll have to ask my friends if they got any.

Florida Day 2

Our friends the Edwards joined us on our Groupon deal to stay 7 nights for only $300 in a very nice condo, 10 minutes from Disney and 25 from the temple.  We enjoyed church on Sunday, then did a family home evening lesson at the temple, and ate lunch with my Aunt Jill and Uncle Bruce who I haven't seen since I graduated high school.  It was heavenly!

Florida Day 1

Wake up at midnight, load everyone up and drive 12-13 hours to Cocoa Beach.

Plan backfires when the kids get in the car @ 1am and are wired!  They don't go back to sleep until 3:30am and only sleep till 5:30am...with Colt asking for food every 10 minutes.

But playing at the beach and seafood dinner afterwards was all worth it!

My brother Devin got his mission call today!!!

How I feel

"I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God. Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things."  Alma 26:12 (Book of Mormon)

Talon's first soccer game...watch how many goals he scored!

Talon's 1st Soccer Game from Amber McArthur on Vimeo.

First day of school...

The boys were ready to go back...I was undecided if I was ready for them or not.

For Colton, I organized a preschool co-op.  There are 5 moms, so I'll teach 2 weeks and have 8 weeks off.  I started it off by teaching first and LOVED it.  The kids are so fun and I have a great time too!