Another day in Massanutten

Swimming in the pool at the resort

Wheelbarrow races with Uncle Matthew

Michael doing his excercises!

Kayden doing his workout!

Doing flips... Crazy boys!

Michaela, Grandma, and Madelin showing us their moves!

Uncle Matthew, Great Grandma, and Michaela performing for the family!

Grandma, Michaela, and Madelin dancing!

Grandma bowling

Throwing snowballs.....

SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!

Snowballs at daddy!

Relaxing on the snowballs!

Another day of fun, fun, fun.... another day of go, go, go! I cant even explain how much fun this trip has been, spending time with my brother and his family has been such an awesome experience of learning how a family of 4 and a father of 2 girls works.... Madeline and Michaela are the sweetest and most precious little girls... Dainty in all areas girlie, full of such vibrant laughter, and full of such joy! They dance on their toes, giggle when they run, and eat quietly.... Time spent with them has been so different from the life that I usually live back home in Alabama with 2 rowdy and rambunctious boys and a new baby girl! Kayden and Michael wrestle at every opportunity, growl like dinosaurs when they run, and eat loudly, expressing every taste that they are experiencing... Lily is quickly following suit to all things dirty.. She loves to devour her food, leaving nothing behind, eats with her hands, and often smears food in her hair, just because.... Two vastly different worlds, but two worlds that have so much joy and laughter! Two sets of cousins and two families that will always been connected by love and happiness! Here are a few pictures from yesterday and today! Enjoy!

I couldn't resist!

Angel face!

Big Blue Eyes!

I just love her! She is my sweet baby girl!

Well.... I know that I might be slightly partial, but in all honosty, I think Lilyann is the most beautiful girl in the whole world.... Here is some of my proof!! I hope you guys like the beautiful pictures that my brother Matthew took!

The Indoor Water Park

Lily Bug!

Lily and her Daddy!

Kayden enjoying his dinner after a day at the water park.


My thirsty little man...

My sister-in-love and I.... Sitting for just a moment before saving the world.... or at least kids!

Sweet Boy!

My neice Michaela enjoying the warm water!

She is such a firecracker! Sweet Madelin!

Lily Bug being silly!

Sisterly Love!

Go Kayden!

The Ousdahls floating down the rapids!

Kayden just posing!

Lily eager to get to the water!

Michael and Mike floating fown the river! You can see Lily biting at the rope to get to her daddy!

Michael and Madelin getting ready for the rides!

Momma and Lily....


Wow... I am pooped! We spent the day running, running, running... I don't think that we have slowed down at all today and now that the house is quiet, all I want to do is sleep.... But instead I am loading pictures for you all to enjoy!! The question of the day is this... Is 2 hours of your time worth $160.00... This morning, Mike and I went to a resort invitation, where they try to sell you a timeshare... The incentive for us to go was 4 free water park tickets... Well, at first Mike and I were wondering if the money would be worth our time, but after finding out that the water park admission ticket price was $38.00, we decided that a few hours of listening to others peoples jumble was worth $152.00. We loaded up the car and headed to the front lodge, only to find ourselves desperately wanting a timeshare... Wow, are they good salesman or what! We did leave empty handed, because if there is one thing that I have learned in my 27 years, is that you should always sleep on big decision and an big investment! And $26,000 is a big investment! We are still on the fence about the whole idea, but at least we got 4 tickets for free.... And those tickets were definitely worth it! We arrived at about 1 and we just got home at about 6:30. The boys are already bathed, fed, and sound asleep, ( and it is only 8:10).... I have enclosed a few pictures from today! I hope you can all vicariously live through the joy in my children's faces!! Love to all of you!!!

Yeah!! We are back by popular demand!!

Michaela and I on the elevator.... Cant wait to get out in the snow and make angels!

Kayden enjoying the jacuzzi tub in our room!!! Its HUGE!

Kayden making a snow angel!

Mike and Lily... Her first time in the snow!! She loves it!

Grandma and Lily... Relaxing in the room, while the big kids make snowmen!

Mike, Kayden, Michaela, Michael, and I on our ice bench!

Eating snow!

Kayden and I..... Cheese!

Michaela, my sweet neice!

Kayden... He loves the snow!!!

Micheal was more interested in cleaning the snow off of the cars!

Putting gloves on!

Matthew playing Flash Match!


Well, I know that it has been far to long since I last posted, but here we are, back and more fun than ever!! We have been busy over the past few days, traveling over 5 states ( Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virgina ) to vacation as a family at the fabulous Massanutten Resort in Virginia! It has been quite an adventure to get here, traveling through a major east coast snowfall and thunderstorms all along the way. We broke up our 13 hour drive with a stay over in Atlanta, GA and a visit with my cousin Sande. We love to stay with her, mostly because she is the BEST chef ever, and we enjoy their company too! She is an amazing host and always makes us feel welcome, so that is a regular stop for our family! Thank you Sande, for housing the Stafford's, yet again! After a good nights sleep we got on the road for our 8 hour drive. Once we hit rain and snow, our part day road trip turned into an all day affair, taking us almost 11.5 hours to travel the remainder of the way... Once we arrived in the Four Seasons resort, we were greeted by my brother Matthew and his beautiful wife Melissa, their two daughters, Michaela and Madelin, and my grandmother Martha!! Whew... What an exciting day!! This is the first time that Melissa has met Michael and Lily, and the first time that our family has ever met the Ousdahl girls.... Michaela and Madelin are absolutely BEAUTIFUL! They are just stunning little girls and the kids have all had such a great time running around our condo.... The space that Matthew got for us all is a four bedroom 4 bath with 2 complete kitchens, and 2 GIGANTIC jacuzzi tubs!! It is awesome! The kids have been running around our space, playing games, coloring, watching movies, and playing in the fresh 18 inches of snow! It is so pretty to look out our window and see valleys and mountains of fresh snow.... Everything is covered with a fresh coating of white and the boys are full of excitement each time we leave the resort... The love to throw snowballs and make snow angels, and have had a great time getting to know their cousins! This all in 2 days! Wow.... I can't wait to see what the next few days have in store.... I will keep you all posted with the new pictures and fun videos... I am sure there will be plenty of good ones today, as we venture out to the Massanutten water park.... I cant wait!! Until next time........................

My sweet angels!

We have been SOOOO busy this summer! I can't even begin to thank my parents enough for all the work that went into raising my brothers and me. Having three children has really opened my eyes to the sacrifices that my parents made for us, and a new found thanks for all they put up with, (at least from me!) Raising three kids is hard work, and doing it right is even harder! ( I like to 'think' I'm doing it right!) Our family has been so busy day to day with all of our daily activities! It amazes me that summer is supposed to be the break from all of the craziness! Kayden has been growing like a weed and has never been more of an entertainer! he loves to perform and be in the spotlight..... I'm not sure where he gets this from! Michael is officially potty trained and talking up a storm... We understand him most clearly when he is fighting with his brother, something about bugging Kayden makes his brain function clearly!! Lily is now 4 months and laughing, smiling, rolling over, and preparing to crawl... She is such a strong little girl.... I joke that it is because she is getting strength to dodge her brothers attacks... They LOVE HER!!!!! Mike has gotten orders to Fort Riley, Ks and so in November our family will be heading up there.... We are excited to see what God has in store for us... Kansas was not on our list, but we know He is preparing a home for us there, so we will be obedient to His call! We were saddened to hear that we were going to be leaving our friends here and venturing into the unknown, but we are confident that our Lord has a perfect plan for our lives.....In him we find PEACE! Romans 5:1-5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. Romans 5:1-5

Hope you all love the pictures!