this one's for the dancers

i figured that since it had been awhile, i would update on my children's dancing progress. in this video you will see A. kylee is now shy B. tessa is still crazy C. the dog is clean and shaved and D. BRENTON CAN SO BUST A MOVE. i am thinking of looking up where i can put him in some classes. i know it is a little looong but, it is worth the watch to see Brenton work hard at figuring out how to work the dance floor. it got me to thinking...maybe he did inherit something that wasn't so awful from me. if you are curious the music is by The Prodigy and the song is Stand Up.

a note to Utah

Dear Utah,

you are just giving me more ammunition to leave you. all i ask for is when it is supposed to be spring...BE SPRING! now i know you get spring and winter confused ALOT but, really it's not that hard. YOU JUST HAVE TO BE WARMER AND NO MOTHER LOVING SNOW MMKAY?! this is also why i talk about California right to your face and my children are starting to talk about it too. yup, we have decided that California would treat us much better than you do (and Florida wouldn't hurt us either...) but seriously, if you don't pull it together soon...I AM GONNA LOSE MY MIND. and i am already a mental patient, just think how bad it would be if i went crazier. i wish i had a person to yell at about the weather (and so does my husband, he gets the biggest earful) but all i have is you. which then leads me to walking around the house yelling to the air about the cursed weather...SO STOP IT!

Marci

wingtips

where you can go to get your smile on

first off, i forgot to do a big fat shout out to my SWEET CUTE NIECE SAYLEE, who turned 3 yesterday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY, THE RUFS LOVE YOU!
we continue on with our tour of THE RUF'S AT THE MAGIC KINGDOM. here we are waiting in the worlds longest line no matter where you are. did you guess it? THE PETER PAN RIDE! for some reason this line is always ridiculously long no matter where or what time it is.

and SURPRISE SURPRISE...Ky and i on a boat together with...

Walt, Tessa, and Brenton (who is hanging over his boat checking out London below us) in the other boat.

i think this is the ONLY ride that i rode with Brenton...THE TEACUPS! why? cause Walt don't like them teacups!

HOW DO YOU SAY...DADDY'S GIRL!

he WILL NOT let anyone else ride with him on Dumbo cause he is old enough to ride by HIMSELF (thus the controls are left to him and see, i told you the peace sign was going to pop up again).

luckily for Kylee, i do not feel the need to control the Dumbo i am in, and she has free reign.

a princess and her horse

Brenton, Walt, and Tessa on the last ride of the night...i think.

what the castle looks like at night all lit up...oh i would go again right now if i could! SERIOUSLY!

up too late partying

ok, so i was up too late sunday night partying the hard core mormon way. you know, with soda pop and lots of junk food and movies (inappropriate talk provided by Molly and Marci). the problem is i am now too tired to continue telling you about my vacay...oh yes, i am dragging you through more of our adventure to the Sunshine State and Happiest Place on Earth. in the meantime, i am leaving you with this sweet video or as Brenton would say "sick video (or would it be sic?) from Kylee's Birthday party.

it's magically delicious

here are a few notes about the Magic Kingdom. A. the ride for Pirates is shorter than the one at Disneyland (Walt felt jipped) B. they have no Matterhorn or Indiana Jones ride (I KNOW) C. the set up for rides is completely different than the set up at Disneyland (which totally threw off my whole DISNEY GROOVE i can get into) D. Brenton was finally OK with taking pictures now

whatcha kin do when yur kiddos
are actin up!

Kylee and i STUCK on the Haunted Mansion ride! Walt, Tessa, and Brenton were stuck on the one right behind us. it was the part of the ride where you are tilted all the way back.
waiting for Brenton and Walter to ride Splash Mountain

Ky and i on Splash Mountain (if you haven't guessed by now, our kids will only ride with certain parents...)

how we kept Tessa happy while she was waiting for the rides she COULDN'T GO ON.

the two men of the family and Brenton showing his newly found photography signal ( the PEACE sign, you will see it pop up later too)

let me end today with this story...after you park your car in the morning, you then have to take a tram, which then takes you to the monorail, which then takes you to the Magic Kingdom. i know, how crazy can they make people go. let me tell you how crazy. so, we are waiting for the monorail to come and there is this Middle Eastern family behind us speaking their whole middle eastern language and this lady has her stroller right up next to my Achilles tendon. in the back of my head i am thinking " she is going to start ramming that into my tendon...no, she wouldn't do that, people aren't that rude. but, what if they are, how am i going to react. OMG SHE IS GOING TO DO IT, I JUST KNOW IT!". so the monorail pulls up and the doors open and as i bend down to lift our stroller (with our child in it) onto the monorail...SHE STARTS RAMMING HER STROLLER INTO MY TENDON. NOT JUST ONCE, BUT NUMEROUS TIMES. UNTIL I TURN AROUND AND PUT MY HAND TO HER AS IF TO SAY WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH MY HEAD. which was (if you don't stop ramming that stroller into my tendon i am going to punch you in the face, Witch( but it really was another word that rhymes with witch)!) really, she made me want to do that but all i did was put my hand up to her and luckily she stopped and i was able to with hold all the other stuff i was going to do if she didn't stop. see-CUHRAYZEY!

MY wordless wednesday (cause i am lazy)

exception 1: THAT IS TOTALLY A REAL SPACESHIP, YO!

exception 2: the only picture Brenton would HAPPILY take, in front of Darth Maul (he then got himself a double edges light saber, which was SUPER FUN to pack up)

her name is Molly and she wants

ALL EYES ON HER!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

YOU LIVE IN A ZOO

YOU LOOK LIKE A MONKEY

AND YOU ACT LIKE ONE TOO

actually here is a little birthday present to you from my kids. while we were on vacation i was watching The Holiday on our computer in the hotel room and had paused the movie on Cameron Diaz's face and both Kylee and Brenton walked by and thought it was a picture of you! See...didn't that just make your day! i told them how much Aunt Molly is going to LOVE hearing about that. also, i heard that you used my gift on Sunday and God smote you...HAHAHAHA!

with love, the Rufs

now i want everyone to call or text my sister and tell her Happy Birthday. her number is...ok, i am not going to tell the internet her number (hello weirdos) but, if you do know and don't call her SHAME ON YOU!

where am i?

aaaannnndd i just realized that i didn't TITLE my last POST. that just goes to show that a two hour time difference completely affects me. i mean really, who has jet lag with just a two hour time difference...I DO I DO! i still don't feel totally myself and totally healthy yet. but, i am glad that SPRING finally decided to come here to Utah! i guess all it took was us leaving to Florida...and on with the show.

here is Tessa at Hollywood Studios playing in the "New York" set.
a picture at the Indiana Jones Spectacular...notice Brenton is missing. HE WAS SOOO PMSING!

Tessa getting ready to see a live show of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

and of course Kylee is always up for a photo op. Tessa stood in awe for the entire show, she couldn't believe that she was watching a real live Mickey Mouse Clubhouse! she kept saying all their names and then turning and saying them to me to make sure i knew what was going on.

well we made it back and i have a major recover from being stuck in an airport/airplane from 8 AM to 1 AM headache. yes we were stuck for 17 hours and it was AWFUL! and do i have STORIES! but right now i have a headache and am leaving you with this...

here we are at the Florida airport. luckily we could plug the computer in and the kids could watch a movie(kyle, your multiple headphone thingamajig totally came in handy this day). doesn't my husband look soooo happy? we found a cushion to put on that bench and kylee and i slept on it together. mm hmm that little wittle itty bitty bench!
this is how i FELT!

nice and warm, we are

here are some more gems from our little jaunt to Hollywood Studios Disney world. yes, we changed from the Animal Kingdom. you will see in the last video who had the most adrenaline rushing fun...and the fact that the toy story 3d had the LONGEST LINE EVER. also another question?? when boys turn 9 do they go through their own from of PMS??

a few tidbits of GATORLAND!

hello from the sunshine state

so the flights went well except for kylee being super sick. not so bad though, just a fever that i had under control with meds. they are now airport pros! even Tessa survived. one of the funniest things was that brenton got asked where he was from and he replied "AMERICA!". apparently that plane ride was so long he thought we left the USA! so we didn't get in to our condo until midnight and the next day was spent driving around looking for an instacare, which we did find, and kylee was put on antibiotics for an ear infection (which i have too but, i will just survive it). and today we went to GATORLAND! i am so glad we took the kids there because that is definitely a Florida thing to see. and. AND brenton and kylee got to sit on a live gator and have their pictures taken. so much fun to do here. we are going to the Disney animal kingdom tomorrow and the magic kingdom the next day so basically...BUSY BUSY BUSY! i will try and put of pics later on tonight because right now i am supposed to be down at the pool with everyone else. DID MY IMMEDIATE FAMILY ENJOY THE PICS AND VIDEO I SENT FROM MY PHONE? DID BRADY SEE HIS COUSINS GET ON THE LIVE GATOR??? it is so nice and warm and sunny here. don't you all wish you were me?

1 day until...

floridA

now i can take this A to mean a few things right now, so i will go through my list of AAAAhhhhsss!

AAAAAhhhhh #1- an internal screaming at the fact that i haven't yet packed anything and i have this list that keeps going over and over in my mind of what needs to be done

AAAAAhhhh #2- a soothing sigh of relief of landing in floridA and feeling the warmth of the air, the sound of the waves, and also the sound of Disney

AAAAAhhhhh #3- we have all been hit with this Awful Awful cold that is nAsty nAsty nAsty. also how is Tessa going to stay occupied on flying/layover days? how are her naps going to work? and my last big question...IS BRENTON GOING TO HAVE HIS MELTDOWNS HAPPEN? (i know i haven't discussed what Brenton is going through on my blog yet, he is going through some issues that we are working through with therapy and i worry about him being out of his safe environment...long story for a later time). in the meantime say a little prayer that everything will be OK and that we will survive! WE ARE OUTTA HERE

PS. i will try and do a couple of posts during the week but, they will be at random times and days! check in if you want to see what's happening in floridA

2 days until...

floriDa

ok so we had no internet service until just now and i don't have anything spiffy to go along with the D today. why? because i am very sickly with some nasty colD that i am praying will go away by Saturday. well, that AND i was screwing around with my guitar hero trying to pass more songs and now my whole world feels like it is moving in a strange way. i think that means i have spent too much time in front of the viDeo game! i must start making a list of everything that i need to pack right now. seriously, NO MORE GUITAR HERO!

3 days until...

florIda

short haIrcuts

for hot aIr

4 days until...

we are off to flORida. yes, i have highlighted the OR in flORida. this can actually go two ways...cause see ORanges can come from flORida and Kylee wants a fresh ORange and Yogurt Tart for her Birthday Cake. isn't that a little weird? she doesn't want a cake...she wants a tart, and a healthy one at that! anyways, she is SEVEN today and couldn't be happier about it. since she IS NOT GETTING A REAL BIRTHDAY PARTY (cause her evil parents are counting flORida and everything we are doing there as a Birthday gift) she has decided that she wanted to go out to eat at a Chinese restaurant. and then have tart. and a few gifts her mother decided to give her. HAPPY BIRTHDAY KYLEE! MY LOVELY, CUDDLY, BOSSY, MOLLY #2 CHILD O' MINE!

5 days til...

FLorida! now you might be wondering what the whole highlighting the F and L is for. i am gonna tell ya. when Saturday rolls around at about noonish i want you all to have a thought run through your head and that thought is...THE RUF'S ARE FLYING TO FLORIDA RIGHT NOW. yes, FLying to FLorida (we have a layover but, my sister said i wasn't allowed to complain. so this is me not complaining...I REALLY REALLY HATE LAYOVERS WITH YOUNG KIDS! there see i am all done now.)

also, it is THIS ONE'S SEVENTH BIRTHDAY TOMORROW! i get to speak about how unfair it is that she is getting Florida and Disney World and warm beaches for her birthday. i mean, what is that compared to having a birthday cake with your friends. really, what is this poor child's mother thinking?

lather, rinse, repeat

just start lathering it over and over yourself...

YOU ARE LEAVING FOR FLORIDA IN A WEEK

YOU ARE LEAVING FOR FLORIDA IN A WEEK

YOU ARE LEAVING FOR FLORIDA IN A WEEK

then maybe rinse with a little...

YOU WILL BE GOING TO THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH

YOU WILL BE GOING TO THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH

YOU WILL BE GOING TO THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH

and then when in it keeps BLOODY SNOWING OVER SPRING BREAK, repeat it all over again in your mind. i am sorry, i mean MY MIND!

damaged

i don't' really have much to say right now. my kids are off for spring break and i wanted to do something SPRING-Y with them but, i can't. wanna know why? cause SNOW SUCKS AND THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS SPRING IN UTAH! it goes straight from FREEZING SNOW to DESERT HEAT. i have also decided that what my family has gone through has caused us all to have wounds and damages that i don't think will ever go away. we are changed forever now. i have a completely different perspective on this life and America in general. i am sick of hearing "it's all in God's plan" and "just keep praying". right now i don't know how to help my family, especially my Mom and Dad, put themselves back together again. i wish i could now say APRIL FOOLS. I AM TOTALLY FINE AND HAPPY AND IN LOVE WITH THE WORLD AND JOY IS SHOOTING OUT OF MY HEAD. it isn't. i am lost. i am angry. i am hurt. i want to fix it. everything is damaged right now though.