my friday night date

i heart my snuggle puppy

Braid of the French

Can we take a quick vote? 

Girls, (guys, too, i guess) how do you feel about french braids? It seems to me like people either love them or hate them, and up until recently - I was a hater, but I don't know whats changed..

I think I like them, now. 

Maybe thats because they're "coming back." They are, right? I feel like I'm seeing them on a lot more girls, nowadays. 

The bottom line is, I like them. But I am curious as to your feelings about the hair-do?.. Please, do tell.

braid by savannah

Take a Look

I'm showing off Savannah, today, kay?

This sister of mine has got a talent in photography - she's always had a knack for it.

This past sunday my sweet, Grandpa Glade gave Savannah his (very nice) camera and she's put it to use, already.

Here are some of her pieces of work from yesterday evening.

Enjoy, loves.

(my boyfriend..he's gorgeous, huh? yum.) 

Gus Gus

You may not believe this (especially if you know my parents) but you should believe it. Because its true.

Guess what, guys?

The Walker family has made a major purchase.

And its name is Gus.

Mhmm, we got ourselves another adorable puppy.

A teacup shih tzu - the same breed as Angus.

(Walter, too, but Walter isn't a teacup).

He is six weeks old and a little bundle of happiness, fluff, squeaks and cuteness.

We're in love.

See, we got him because we thought we wouldn't have Angus, anymore..

But, guess what?

We still have Angus.

That equals three doggies.

Three shih tzu's.

Three brothers.

I'm pretty sure we all thought having three doggies would be madness..

I guess it may, still..

But we love it. 

I wouldn't trade any of them!

Love 'em all.

Lots.

Walter and Angus have really been sweet to Gus.

I think Gus gets a little freaked out, sometimes, but I don't blame him, the boys can be a bit rough with him. 

Its funny, actually, Gus has kind of beat up on Angus.

As my dad put it, "Its rude to beat up the handicapped guy."

But at the end of the day, they're buds.

Really, though, is he not the sweetest little face?

Gah. I adore him and his little squeaks.

I adore his puppy smell and puppy breathe and his rolly little belly. 

Daddy Day

Today is Fathers Day, have you heard??

I love this day because I think, unfortunately, daddies get overlooked WAY too often. In my opinion, there should be several Fathers Days throughout the year. Thats how great dads are, you know?

Especially my daddy-o.

If you know my dad, then you know just how lucky Savannah, Adeline and I are to have him as our very own dad. My dad blows my mind on a daily basis. He is the happiest, most spiritual, optimistic, hard-working, goal oriented, righteous man I think I will ever, ever know. He is the very definition of the worlds best example. I don't know what I ever did to get him as mine, but I'm super-dee-duper thankful that he is!

My dad is also about as selfless as they come. He always puts my momma and her happiness and wants first, and also would drop everything to be there for my sisters and I. It has been a wonderful experience to see just how kind and genuine he is to his family and all those he comes in contact with - he is one friendly, happy guy.

Perhaps my favorite thing about my dad is how spiritual he is. Since I was tiny, I can remember seeing my dad, probably daily, sitting on the couch with his scriptures, marking pens/pencils and a notebook out, obviously studying hard. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I've always been pretty good about reading my scriptures, every day, and I will always give the credit to my dad as to why I do that. He leads by example, especially when it comes to the gospel and I'm overwhelmed at how lucky I am to have that spiritual giant to look up to.

I'm thankful for my dad because he isn't just my dad, he is my friend! I know that I can talk to my dad about whatever and he is always up for an adventure and a good laugh. It has got to be the best thing ever:)

Daddy, I love you and I am so, so grateful for your example, friendship and role in my life! You're one heck of a guy!! I LOVE YOU!

twenty9

Its my BEST friends birthday!!

(Unfortunately, I don't get to spend Craig's birthday with him due to the fact that he is backpacking for the next few days, but I know he's having a blast and has been looking forward to this trip, so I can't complain. If he's happy, so am I.)

When my family members have a birthday, I have tried to make it a habit to, in their birthday post, list a few of my favorite things about them.. I feel its only right to do this with Mr. Lifferth, as well!!

So, here it goes:

• Craig is a gentleman. This is a quality I feel like not a lot of guys care to have, anymore. So, I consider myself incredibly lucky to be in-love with a man who truly is one.
• Craig loves the gospel and honors his Priesthood. He's a spiritual guy and a huge example to me. He is a Priesthood holder and lives his life worthily. Its special to see.
• Craig is healthy - he cares about what he puts in his body and he is active, often.
• Craig listens when you talk to him. I love knowing that I can tell Craig a story or something on my mind and know that he'll remember it even if it was a conversation that happened weeks ago.
• Craig is hilarious. I practically crave Craig's sense of humor, now. He is so quick and sarcastic and makes me laugh so hard my stomach hurts and my cheeks are sore.
• Craig knows how to be mature and serious when it is appropriate.
• Craig is so good with kids. This has always been something important to me. I love little kids and I've always hoped I'd end up with a guy who is comfortable around kids and more than that, enjoys being with them, playing with them and talking to them. Seeing him with his nieces and nephews always puts a smile on my face because he is fabulous with them and has exceeded all my expectations when it came to my man and kids. (my very favorite is to see him hold babies!)
• Craig seems to always have the future in mind and makes very wise decisions because of it.
• Craig gives me butterflies and butterflies are some of my favorite things to get.
• Craig is friendly..to everyone! It doesn't matter if he knows you or not, Craig will have a nice little chat with you and certainly put a smile on your face.
• Craig is family-oriented. I love it.
• Craig gives the very best hugs. They're the cure to any bad day, and if you're having a good day, they're the cherry on top!
• Craig is a hard worker - if there is a job to be done, he will do it and not stop until it is completed.
• Craig is helpful. I often find myself telling Craig issues on my mind or ask him his opinion on decisions I need to  make and he always helps me weigh both sides and, in the end, make the best decision for me.
• Craig is handsome. Just looking at that boy (especially those pretty blue eyes of his) makes my heart beat real fast:)
• Craig cares for me and love me. This sounds a little selfish, but its something about him I adore. It feels good to be cared for so genuinely, treated so kindly and loved so sweetly by someone. Especially him:) He is the best. The. Best.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CRAIG!! 

I LOVE YOU, BIRTHDAY BOY!!

Pin

Savannah is a crafty, clever little lady.

Today she presented me with this pin she made :)

How cute, right?? 

The Sweetest Thing

I am a hopeless romantic through and through - I have been since I can remember. The thoughts and ideas of true love and happily ever after and being in head over heels love forever and ever has always been something that brings a big smile across my face.

Something romantic I've always adored seeing is married couples still so in love, not afraid to show that the sparks still there. I guess in my opinion, the dating scene is so mushy, hand-holdy, giddy, etc I've worried before that once you're married that goes away, so seeing people who have been married for years and years still so in love fills me with hope, joy and gives me even more reason to look forward to my future. 

Today at the chiropractor I was able to witness one of these sparks-still-there moments with the sweetest, tiny little old couple. The moment stole my heart and gives me butterflies when I think of it. This is a story of true love, I tell you.

Like I said, this little couple was quite old, they were these sweet little tiny, smiley people and I liked them from the second I saw them. The woman went first to get her back adjusted then was moved back into these private-type rooms where you get your back iced, heated or whatever else.. These rooms have two beds in them, so when the man was finished with his adjustment he was taken back into the same room as his cute little wife. 

As he walked into the room, I heard him say, "Now, I must have done something right if I got lucky enough to be in the same room as the prettiest girl, here!!" 

My heart melted when I heard this. After their many years together, she is still the prettiest girl in the room to him. If that isn't true love, I don't know what is. I love that. I can't wait to have that, someday!!

Magic: Day Four - The Final Day

Day Four - the last day of Disneyland

Aren't you sad it has to come to an end?

Me too.

Remember how I said we like ride pictures? You'll find several more of those on Day Four's post. 

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is a ride that never fails to deliver great action shots while on the ride. I think this trip we did an exceptional job at capturing some great moments. 

See?

have you ever seen a happier guy on a ride?? i'm in love with this picture.

Let me explain the fists in the picture, below. Craig introduced a more fun way to ride Big Thunder. If you keep your hands up..like in fists..you slide around more and your bum will raise of the seat a few times, even. It really does add excitement to the already soooo fun ride.

Handsome Craig's birthday is coming up, this month, so we decided to celebrate his birthday on our last day in the Happiest Place on Earth! It was cute and I think he enjoyed it. At Disney, if you are wearing a birthday pin, just about every Disney cast member and sometimes even characters and visitors will wish you a happy birthday - so cute!

Now, some more visual happiness via photographs for y'all.

Monsters Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue

Because Bigfoot/Sasquatch/Yeti does exist..

Innoventions 

i'd say we're a cute couple, yeah?

A little Toontown fun. Craig and I couldn't quite fit in the back seat.

At one point during the day, my mom and dad happened to be by themselves and happened to snap a photograph of Kobe Bryant and his family. 

Kinda cool, I guess, yeah? 

California Adventure has a new water show called, World of Color.
To be able to view this show, you have to either get a Fast Pass (type thing) for it or do World of Color Dining, which is what we did.
We ate at, Ariel's Grotto.
YUM.
This particular restaurant was strict on reservation times..and we almost missed it.
Story time? Okay.
My mommy and daddy decided to go to Downtown Disney to do some shopping while Craig, the girls and I went to ride on Screamin' California. The plan was to meet later in time for our dinner at Ariels Grotto.
Well, as our luck would work out, Screamin' was closed down so the four of us had to change our plans. The only other ride nearby Screamin' is Toy Story Mania which had a 45 minute long wait. Really, that isn't a terribly long line - but it was 5:40 (or so) and our reservations were at 6:20. Luckily, Ariels Grotto is fairly close to Toy Story, but we still had a feeling we'd be cutting it close. And boy, did we ever.
When we finally got to the front of the line, it was nearly 6:20. Craig called Ariels Grotto and asked them about how late you could be for reservations and they informed him they hold spots for about 10 minutes. The panic sort of set in, then. We'd be cutting it very close. We decided to split our group of four into two groups of two so we could ride, sooner. It worked, too. Adi and I got on first and Craig and Savannah did a few minutes later. When Adi and I finally got off the ride, we ran, more like sprinted (no joke) to Ariels Grotto. We burst through the doors at 6:29. Barely made it. But of course, there was a line at the desk to check in. We got to the front of the line at 6:32. We were worried we'd be too late, but the lady at the desk noticed we came in before 6:30 and gave us the good news that our reservation wasn't given up.
A minute or so later, Craig dropped Savannah off at the restaurant and went to give my parents their tickets to get into the park (we had them because we'd got fast passes for Tower of Terror for everyone before we tried to go on screamin').
Finally, the six of us were back together at our table eating delicious food.
It was worth all the rushing and worrying.

at dinner - holding some of our cute dessert (this particular treat, however, was nasty)

When dinner was done, we were directed to our spot to view World of Color.The location was awesome and the show was even better!! If you haven't seen it, I'm giving you another demand: Go. See. It!!

Adi-Lu waiting for the show to start

My handsome guy and I waiting..

Standing is so tiresome

And here it is!! Two shots of the show!!

They do not even do it justice - but its a sneak peek of the amazingness!! 

After a couple more rides, the night had to come to an end, meaning the vacation did, as well.

Bummer! :( 

We snapped a few more photographs and said our goodbyes to the park and took the short walk back to the hotel where we talked, laughed, and relaxed, reminiscing on our wonderful trip!

But don't worry, I believe the plan is to return to the best, happiest place on earth in the fall!!

This was without a doubt my favorite trip to a Disney location, yet. It was truly magical and wonderful to spend quality time with my family and my love bird of a boyfriend. I am so blessed to be surrounded by such amazing, incredible, wonderful people!! 

And, for the last time..

"MAY THE MAGIC BE WITH YOU!"

-Craig Lifferth-

Magic: Day Three - Its Magical, Its Wonderful

Day Three.

(sorry i kept you waiting a few days)

Geez, I love Disneyland.

You know, I could sit here and tell you about all the rides we rode, but I realize that would make for an incredibly boring post.. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so allow these next few photographs to do the speaking for me with a few brief commentaries from myself :)

in line for Pinocchio

By some miracle, Fantasyland wasn't busy, at all. For example, Dumbo had a SIX minute long wait. That is unheard of. Really. Dumbo always has a looooong line. We even rode it twice throughout the day.

Here is Craig and I holding our wooden feather, about to board our flying elephant..

We laugh at this picture because we look so happy about this feather and also look completely exhausted.

savannah and momma on Alice in Wonderland

adi, chels & craig on Alice

teacups!

Disneyland is a pricey place, unfortunately. These cute little Mickey and Minnie Mouse hats are super cute but also super expensive. So rather than buying them, we took our pictures with them on - saved us lots of money.

mom on Mr. Toads Wild Ride

Another iconic photograph spot..

King Arthurs Sword in the Stone.

This is me and Craig's second take on this picture.. Our first one turned out..not so cute.

See? I told you we rode Dumbo twice.

We rode the canoes on the Rivers of America..

It was cool. We got to "help" paddle the canoe.

I say, "help," because in reality, the cast member at the front of the canoe and the one at the back did most the work..Or all the work. Either way, it was fun.

Perhaps it would have been a little more enjoyable if the girls that were in front of Craig and I could row in any sort of rhythm. Thanks to them, I kept hitting Savannah's oar. Ah, good times.

But, again..Still fun.

my love bird and i in line for Splash Mountain

Apparently, it is the in thing to hold your phone out while going down the fall on Splash Mountain. 

Yes, my daddy and Craig and holding their phones in the air.

I believe they're either videoing our drop or taking pictures of it?..

The girls on Grizzly River Rapids..the ride Miss Adi couldn't wait to go on!

In California Adventure there is a place called, Art of Animation.

Inside, there are several different activities for you to do.. You can learn how to draw Disney characters, turtle talk with Crush the sea turtle (from Finding Nemo), animate your own drawings, put your voice into a Disney movie, and much more.

 This is a Walker family favorite. 

drawing minnie mouse

savannah finding out what Disney character she is..

dad finding out his Disney character..

adi doing the same..

Just in case you were curious, here were our Disney character results.

Savannah - Lady (from Lady and the Tramp)

Adeline - Ariel (from The Little Mermaid)

Momma - Mulan 

Daddy - Cogsworth (from Beauty and the Beast)

Craig - Aladdin

Chelsea - Dot (from Bugs Life)

Grizzly River Rapids.. Craig spotted mom and dads camera from a ways away :)

On this particular day, poor Savannah's feet were killing her. Us Walker's have what we like to call, Toilet Paper Feet.. We have very fragile feet that shoes easily upset. 

Luckily for her (i guess), our dad had to go back to the hotel for a work call, so she went back with him leaving the four of us at the park.

Craig had talked about Disneyland's churros since before we even knew we were going on this trip.

Adi..she just loves churros.

Naturally, we had to get the two their tasty treat.

Here is Craig trying on a VERY cool shirt we found in one of Disney's many stores.

I quite love it.

Sorry girls, Craig's taken :)

Finally, we ended the night by using our last amazing gift from my moms high school friend..

Our preferred seating at the firework show, Magical!

We got to sit up by the train station on benches with nothing and no one blocking our view. 

Magical :)

Don't forget..

"MAY THE MAGIC BE WITH YOU!"

-Craig Lifferth