Family Home Evening

Well actually, Family *not at Home Evening. We ended up going to Lights of the South tonight. An awesome place to go and see acres and acres of Christmas lights. The girls loved it last year so we want to make this a Fisher tradition.

We thought going on a Monday night and a little early on in the month might save us from the crowds. We were right, tonight wasn't crowded at all and we had a great time. First we ate some dinner there, hot chocolate and all. Then ventured out to go on the hay ride that rides through all of the Christmas lights. The girls loved it.
One of our favorites is a giant castle that the hayride drives through.

We loved being together, looking at all the twinkling lights, and enjoying the sights of the season.

Fall Fun

It was actually cold enough in GA for scarves last week. Although this week we're in Florida and it was 84 degrees at Disney World today. No fall sweaters down here.

Can Summer Really Be Over?

Must be blogging time again. Although now I have to go through the daunting task of catching up all the summer posts I missed. I do have to admit I loved summer and being outdoors every chance we had as a family. So excited for a new season and some time to "catch up". Although with a new calling in church, coaching Cora's fall soccer team, buying and moving to a new home, I have a feeling things are still going to be busy for a while. Lots to catch up on and lots to post. Hooray for fall! :)

A "Time Out"

I was so excited to sign up for the Time Out For Women the first weekend in May up in Columbia, SC. A week before the event we find out that Sister Beck the General RS President and 2nd Counselor in the General YW's Presidency were coming Friday night, the first night of the TOFW conference. Of course Friday night was the night I was looking forward to the most. Mark Mabry, the photographer of Reflections of Christ would be speaking Friday evening. I felt this was a decision between to good things. The group of women I bought my tickets w. chose to stay in Augusta and I chose to go up to the conference. Low and behold I hit some traffic and made it just at the end of Mark's presentation. Shoot! Soon after there was a 20 minute break. I brought my book of his images and was hoping he would sign it. I stood in line and just as I was the next in line to have him sign they started to flick the lights-break time was over. I was crushed...I stood there for a little bit longer hoping for some small miracle. I think he just took pity on me but he said "hey, if you move to the side I can sign your book even though the conf. is starting again. Talk about tender mercies from the Lord. Not only did he sign my book, but wrote a nice message, took a picture w. me and even looked @ some of my pictures. Poor guy, bet he wished he hadn't pulled me aside.


I also had a surprise and ran into my friend Anna Sisson. We were stationed with Anna and her family in Germany and Washington. They are now at FT Bragg in NC. I also had a chance to stay w. another friend from Washington, Nikki Trawick. I got to share my story with her and show her the awesome images from the Reflections of Christ book.
If you haven't seen his images or this slideshow w. put to the song Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing by Freddie Ashby you should I think it's amazing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YADkd1n_Dfo

A little break for me. Great speakers, wonderful music, inspriational thoughts,
uplifting words. Just what I needed. A chance to meet the person who was inspired
to take such breathtaking photos depicting the Savior and his life. Photos that
display such joy and emotion. Pictures that touched my heart and my Spirit, that
inspired me to keep up w. taking pictures and striving to be better.

This was such a nice "time out" for me. Hey and how often do you get to see this:

Happy Easter

Along with all the flowers, blossoms, dresses. We are so happy to celebrate Easter. It was so nice to listen to conference, do our resurrection eggs, and try to focus on the Savior this past week. It's so easy to get caught up in the commercial part of Easter, with all the candy, eggs, and the Easter bunny. I really wanted to make sure we paid extra attention to the real reason we celebrate Easter. I love that our church likes to focus more on the Savior's resurrection instead of just his death. To KNOW that he lives again and that because of him we will too. This knowledge brings so much peace and happiness.

Spring Break in Myrtle Beach

A great deal, some days off, the beach, what a perfect combo. We were in need of some R&R and what better place to get that then the off season at the beach. We didn't have to fight crowds, we had the beach to ourselves, and traffic was minimal. Growing up, this is one of the beaches we went to as a family. It was fun to go there with my own little family this time.


The favorite activity on the trip had to be combing the beach for shells. Cora loves to look for them and has quite a collection. She and my Mom could spend all day looking for shells if we'd let them.


Myrtle beach is in South Carolina but is really close to the border of North Carolina. There is a little town called Calabash right near the border and it is famous for their seafood spreads. They also have restaurants down in SC so of course we had to go partake. A buffet of Shrimp, crablegs, and every imaginable seafood dish. I was in heaven.
This is Cora looking a little crabby @ the Giant Crab Calabash. She was done taking pictures I think.

All in all we had a wonderful time. Our little taste of summer in spring.

Meeting in Madison, GA

The best thing about living in Georgia right now is that my sister's husband is also stationed in GA at FT Benning. I'm always trying to think of when we can get together and what our next adventure will be. Her husband plays in the Army band and was going to be traveling for the week, so she and my nephews decided to come for the weekend. We thought it would be fun to take a little field trip. We found a little town called Madison, GA about an hour and a half from Augusta.

Visiting this quaint little southern town almost made us feel like we were stepping back in time. Madison is famous for it's collection of restored Pre-Civil War and Victorian homes. Another name for these homes are antebellum homes. The restored down town square is like stepping onto a set of a movie. There is a big courthouse that stands right at the corner of the town square. It was so fun to look at all of the blossoming trees,and cute little shops along the way. We didn't have a lot of time for our walking tour, but we did get to go in an awesome toy shop, a stained glass store, and walked past a very unique antique store called Attic Treasure. Of course w. our time being short we went to the only restaurant in town w. only one server and the slowest kitchen I have ever seen. They didn't even have a kids menu. Of course as soon as we walk out we see the pizza place w. slices for $1.50. That would have been a better fit w. our time constraints, but we crossed the street at the wrong crosswalk and didn't notice it till we were finished at the other place. Just our luck.
Lucky for the kids we spotted a playground and headed in that direction on our walking tour. All in all we adored the little town of Madison. I hope to return and maybe read all the historical signs next time. ;)

Things I've Learned Since I've been 5

Cora really has achieved so much this past year. She turned 5 years old last June and since then has learned how to:

-Ride her bike without training wheels
-Swing on the swing without anyone pushing
-Dive off the diving board @ the McChord pool and Grandma's pool
-Touch the bottom of Grandma's pool in the 8 FT
-Reading all by herself, 1st 2 books: Green Eggs and Ham, Cat In The Hat
(I love that these were some of the first books I learned to read too)
-Tie her shoes all by herself
-Started playing soccer and scored a goal
-Will swim on our neighborhood swimteam next month

Sorry if this seems like one of those parent brag posts, it's more for our memories and everything she has accomplished in just this last year. Definitely a year of firsts that we want to remember. I'm so proud of you Cora.

My Co-Pilot

This has been an interesting year full of change. With Cora in full day kindergarten Shay and I have missed her terribly during the day. I do have to say I never thought I would have that special one on one time with Shay the way I did with Cora. During Darryl's 1st year long deployment it was just Cora and I and I called her my little co-pilot. This year I've been able to have that same special time with Shay. I look at Cora's schedule now with school, friends, and teachers, getting to see almost more of her than we do. I realize that time with her is precious and something I treasure more than I can express.
Lately Shay has been so much fun to run errands with and be my model when I want to practice taking pictures. I'm surprised she doesn't run the other way when I break out the camera with all of the pictures I've been taking lately. I do need to spend more time with her on her ABC's and 123's. It's just so much fun to have fun that sometimes it gets put on the backburner. She is saying the cutest things, she is so mellow, and she is such a snuggler. I will miss this special time with my girls when they are both in school. Thank goodness we still have the summer, then I get to enjoy more of both of them.

First Soccer Season and First Goal

I have truly enjoyed watching Cora's first spring soccer season. When she first adorned the uniform, shinguards, and cleats I felt like I was looking at myself about 20 yrs ago. I wanted to make sure this was something she wanted to do, instead of me just forcing her to play soccer. Cora came to some of the soccer games I played in up in WA and since then has told me she wanted to play too.


Her team has come a long way since the first few games especially for being one of the youngest teams. It's an under 8 league, with Cora not even 6 yet sometimes it looks like she is playing w. giants out there especially since it's co-ed. I was so excited to see her score for the first time on Thursday night. She kept saying..did you see me kick it in Mom? The Sonic drive thru was a definite stop on our way home from the game that night. She wanted a big chocolate shake to celebrate. That's my girl!

After her shake she says to me, can we play on the same team when I get bigger?

I'll have to get a new shirt, this one won't fit.

I'd be honored to play on your team my sweet Cora. sniff sniff *wipe tears of joy
Hmm...hopefully Mommy won't need a bigger shirt by then. ;)

A new year a new resolve

Gosh, hard to believe it's March already?! Where did January and February go? As you probably know I have a lot of catching up to do. I tried to promise myself that I would not let my blog turn into the same lack of consistancy I have with keeping a hand written journal. Hmmm..it has. I have been consistant with my photography blog, but when it comes down to it, which will be more important in the long term and even right now? Pictures of random flowers or whatever, or imperfect photos of my family, our follies, and memories? I definitely know the answer to this. How easy is it just to post a picture on my photo blog and maybe title it if I'm lucky. Opposed to writing something creative attached to a moment or memory. The 2nd is definitely a lot more work but is totally worth the time. Thank you Mary for your inspiration. I'm jumping on the family blogging bandwagon again. So here's to the here and now, making the most of today, and remembering the details.