5 Year Reunion!

Well, it's been a long time coming, but after about 5 years my old GBA (Good Buddy Always), Sulu and I were finally reunited in her hometown of O-town! :) It was totally awesome to see her and I'm so glad she had New Year's Eve off work so we could meet up at Downtown Disney. I'm not 100% sure when the last time we saw each other was, but I know she had just started dating Keith (her hubby) and we just had Hailey and Shelby (who was a baby). We met up at Chilis in Ft. Laud. for a quick lunch or something...and later that year, I think Sue and Keith got hitched and Suester and I both had bouncing baby boys. A lot has changed in 5 years, but I have to say it just felt like old times when we met up last week. Sue always makes me laugh and she's so light-hearted and fun(ny) :) And her little boy is just like her....a mix of crazy, cool and happy-go-lucky :) I love the above pic...I think we look pretty good for being 32 year old mamas :)
A little flashback to 12/28/02 which was when Sue came to visit us in Bloomy...we had only been in our house a few months and only had Hailey at the time. Remember this, Sue? I have very little recollection of this trip aside from the fact that we took a jaunt to our fav. restaurant in Indy, Melting Pot! :)
And another blast from the past...us on our high school graduation night in 1995 with "Bird" (Chris A.) :) Yikes, we look like youngin's here! :) Hard to believe it's been 15 years. Sue and I were the bestest of friends in high school....she was always the super-funnest pal to have around :) and we had lots of crazy times speeding around in my silver speeder (my first car). Those were the days...
And now look at us...."grown up" with babies of our own...here's proof of our offspring...our sweet little "twin" boys :) I laughed cuz we even had them dressed sorta alike this day. They do look alike from the back don't they? Same hair color too. Jack (right) was born 4 months before Dylan. They loved looking at the lego creations at Downtown Disney! :)
We took a stroll around Downtown Disney...Sue showed us around...we had never been there. It was probably the worst day to go there since it was New Year's Eve. The place was packed...but it was still fun to hang out there. So much going on and as long as you don't buy anything it's free to stroll around. We liked this World of Disney store. It had a Stitch on top that spit water at you at random times :) Jack had to show us how it worked. Dylan wasn't so sure he wanted to get wet...later he agreed to it and liked it :)
We let the kids go on the train. The girls hung out with Jack in the caboose...
Dylan was a rebel/loner and sat with a stanger in the engine :)
Posing with Mickey and Minnie in the pin trading store :) Silly boys!
Buzz! LOL...Jack soooo reminds me of his mama! :) Crazy as ever :)
The boys seemed to really hit it off. It didn't take long for them to break out in an all-out boy brawl. They got creative and made swords out of long grass leaves. It was pretty funny.
We marveled at the Disney wildlife. This lizard just hopped right on Hailey's leg....
...and then onto Shelby's back :)
The crazy kiddos showing their true colors.
Sue got to see what Steg chaos is all about. I hope we didn't overwhelm her :)
Ash telling us, "I'm done with that crazy bunch!" Bye, bye!
Sue and I and our clan :) Who knew back in 1995 this is where we'd be in 2010!
Sue was even gracious enough to take a lovely family pic of us...with our new son :)
Have I mentioned that the boys felt very comfortable with one another. They chased each other all over the place...their circle kept widening :)
Nothing like some downhome boy fun!
Before we said goodbye to Sue and Jack...they showed us around the lego place. Awesome. The boys, especially really loved it. (by boys I do mean daddy Kev too!) :) They have an area where you can build anything lego you want...Dylan liked the raceway where he could race lego cars...
This is the cool T-Rex restaurant we had hoped to eat at....but we just couldn't get there in time to eat lunch...but Sue and Jack did. It was so neat inside...all dinosaur stuff. Maybe next time we'll have more time to chow there....
The lego t-rex....made of ALL legos. Very cool.
The Loch Ness (actually in the water by the lego place)...made all out of legos....
very impressive. And below is proof of how wiped out Dylan was after his afternoon frolic/sword-fight with Jack. :) He slept all the way home and then for 3 more hours after that....this is unheard of for our boy who never takes naps anymore.
It was a great way to end 2009...seeing an old friend and meeting her handsome little guy. Hopefully it won't be another 5 years before we meet up again, especially since she lives so close to Disney and we have 4 more days of fun to use up at the parks! :) Hopefully next time we'll get to see her hubby, Keith, too. Thanks, Suester and Jackster for taking time out of your busy NYE to spend with us. We had a ball roaming around DT Disney with ya'! You haven't changed a bit and you're just as cool as ever...maybe even cooler since you have a super cool son now too :)

(**I just realized that 2009 was a year of many reunions of old pals....first my sis, Holly, then my old BFF, Wen, and now my GBA, Sulu....interesting :))

Update! Congrats is in order for another old time FLCS (high school) friend, Stef and her hubby Jason. They just welcomed their first child, a beautiful daughter, Paige Melody, on January 5! She is just beautiful! Congrats, guys! :) fyi...Stef also lives in the Orlando area and is Sulu's bestest friend, so I'm guessing Sulu has seen the darling little bundle already :) Yay, gotta love new babies! :)

New Year's Eve!

Here's the last half of what we did on New Year's Eve Day/Night....Above is Shelby standing by the very cute Gingerbread house at the entrance of our resort (Orange Lake Resort and Country Club in Kissimmee). It was an awesome place to stay. We were so spoiled there! Shelb had to be in this pic cuz she LOVES anything that has to do with the Gingerbread boy (thanks to her Kindergarten class :))
Here's our last dip in the awesome, huge pool. We only used the pool twice, unfortunately since it was too cold most of the time or we were at Disney. It was a heated pool though so very comfy as long as you didn't get out! :) The girls (see above) loved it! :) Dylan was sleeping at this point so he only enjoyed the pool for one day (those pics to come later...I'm doing our trip in reverse order)
Ash LOVES water and all she wanted to do was run in and out....she kept slipping and falling and hitting her head, but she didn't care
Daddy with his girls :)
Hailey the Ham!
Silly Shelby!
Our last few minutes in the pool before dark and before our NYE dinner. The girls were bombarding daddy with water...
Ash loves to splash!
Dinner at the resort restaurant. Kev splurged and got bananas foster for dessert (and some yummy, frofroo girly drink :))...here they are flaumbeing (sp?) the bananas :)
2nd cousins, Hailey and Harrison...they hung out a lot together on the trip! Harrison was apparently really enjoying his dessert in this picture :)
B-day girl, Cousin Alyssa, and Shelby enjoying their desserts. NYE is Alyssa's b-day, thus the nice dinner and why she's all dressed up (not that she doesn't usually look great! :)). Happy 18th, Alyssa! Welcome to adulthood! :) I still remember when she was in our wedding when she was only like 6! How time flies! :) We enjoying getting to celebrate with her and all the family!
Cousin Danielle teaches Ash how to text her friends :)
Back at the "other Stegs" condo...we had a b-day celebration for Alyssa and some rowdy, horn-blowing NYE fun!
Then it was to bed right before midnight...we let the girls watch Disney til about 11:55pm. Dylan just happened to be awake too in his hide-a-bed to he was allowed to join the "big kid" fun too....I took this pic at 11:59....the last pic of 2009!
And here is the tv at 11:59. Bye, bye 2009! It was a good year.....

More pics to come of our earlier half of NY Eve fun!

2010 in FL!

Just another quick post to recap our New Year's Day in the Sunshine State! We started it off with the normal "watching the ball drop" on TV. We were packing to leave anyway so it wasn't a stretch for us to be up at midnight :) 3 of the 4 kids (minus Ash) were up as well....so we celebrated together! I got the first shot of the TV after the ball dropped! YAY for 2010!
The kids (well mostly Dylan) did a New Year's jig to celebrate! :) fyi...this is the girls' luxurious room in the timeshare condo. They were both in heaven having their own queen size beds and their own bathroom! :) Dylan didn't mind his pull-out couch in Nina and Poppy's side of the condo either :)
This is how Ash welcomed in the New Year...sound asleep....she almost made it to 2010....fell asleep like a half hour before....
After a few hours sleep we were up and packing some more...the kids mostly just lounged on the couch and watched Disney...one of their fav things to do at the condo (a luxury for the Steg kids who don't get anything but basic cable at home...i.e. NO disney channel :)). This is part of the condo living room/dining room. I missed getting the HUGE flat screen tv in this pic. It was ginomous! :)
Here's the outside of our condo...we are on the second floor...you can hardly see the kiddos and Kev, but they are on the screened in porch next to the window with the light on inside (between the 2 cars on the right)
Can you see them now?? :)
And after driving about 6 hours we finally reached my brother's house in GA. We were soooo glad to be there! Here's a shot of the kids (their first together in the New Year) all ready for bed at 9pm. We actually all went to bed then....the earliest we'd been to bed in weeks! :)

And above is Ash exploring all of her cousin, Brooke's, new Christmas toys. We sure missed seeing Candy, Jeff and Brooke on the way back home (they were/are in Ft. Laud), but it was fun to see them on the way down (more pics of that to come). Oh, and since I'm bad about updates I will post my congrats now to Jeff and Candy on their newest addition due on Aug. 31 (they found out right before Christmas that they were expecting again). Brooke will be a great big sis and we can't wait to meet our new neice of nephew! :)

More pics to come later....

B-day Surprises :)

Well, I'm starting out slow and easy as far as getting caught up on the blog....so, no Disney/FL/Christmas pics yet. Instead I leave you with a lil' personal b-day recap. And by little I do mean little! There wasn't much to my 33rd as we were yet again on the road driving back from FL (second year in a row to be driving back to IN on my b-day and 3rd year in a row I've been gone for my b-day). I'm not really fond of either...being gone and definitely on the road. Have I mentioned we Stegs really despise driving. Me especially :( Anyway...so it was a hum dinger of a b-day for me, stuck in our very, very crowded van from about 7am-7pm :( But, much to my surprise when we walked in our house that evening this (see pic above) is what sat on the kids' table that definitely made me smile :) I had left our key with our wonderful Hootie friends across the street and Jill and fam. surprised me with the biggest b-day balloon I've ever seen, a hilarious "mom" book that had me laughing out loud, a super cool singing card (I've never gotten one of those!) :)....AND my most fav. gift of all...a CHOCOLATE Cold Stone ice cream cake!!!!! YUMMERS!!!! :) Truly I was so touched by my dear friend, Jill's thoughtfulness....to do that for me after she knew I'd be on the road all day and not had much of a b-day celebration. Well, it meant the world. Thank you, dear friend!
We were quick to indulge in the choc. treat!!! It was the BEST cold stone cake I've ever had! :) Love that choc. ganache and the choc. cake and the choc. chip ice cream. To die for. As you can see from the pic of me and my sweet kids, Ash was quite tempted to dig right in :)
Another close-up of the chocolately goodness :)
And Kev's parents were sweet enough to surprise me with some b-day goodies too. Gotta love bath and body stuff (I need it!)...and a VS gift card/cash! YAY! :) So incredibly sweet of them to think of me, especially considering they had been on the road with us that entire day and were exhausted and ready to go home too. I didn't get a pic of this (oh, actually Dylan is holding it in the pic of us all above), but Shelby heard it was my b-day when we got home (apparently the kids didn't know before this?)...and she wrapped up and gave me the very special shell she had found on the beach in Ft. Laud. It was very sweet. She really has the most giving of hearts. Hailey felt bad she didn't get me anything so she regifted the gift she had given us a couple months ago...her art magnet (which I love!) :) Kids are so funny and thoughtful :)
And just so Jill knows...our kids have never had so much fun with b-day balloons as they have had with these....this is proof. Ash LOVES them. I finally had to lock them in the bathroom so she would stop dragging them all over the house. That one balloon is bigger than her! :)
I think her face says it all :)....and so does his (below) :)
So....that was that....a day of driving on my big day....but at least I can say I spent the entire day with my 5 favorite people :) I guess that's not all bad. And truly it was a wonderful end to the day to find such b-day surprises there to greet us in our kitchen. I can't thank the Hootie Gang enough for their thoughtfulness. They never cease to amaze me. Special thanks go out to them also for keeping our pipes in working order in this subzero weather and for keeping our pets alive (fish and 2 kitties included :)). And for saving me with my whole "memory loss" fiasco (more about that later). We are so blessed by so many wonderful friends and family. Thanks to everyone who wished me well on my b-day. It was much appreciated. Love ya'll! More pics to come soon of our Disney/FL fun! :)

We're Back! Happy New Year and Happy 33 to ME! :)

Well, in case you wondered if we Stegs fell off the face of the earth....we did not! We were just living it up the last 2 weeks in the Sunshine State! There is lots more info and fun to blog about, but for now I just wanted to check in, say "howdy" and wish ya'll a Happy 2010 and wish myself a Happy 33rd (yesterday)....yikes, I am old lady! :) Nothing like driving all day in a very cramped van with our crazy fam. of 6 and all our crap to make my b-day complete. It was a hum dinger! :) But, the 2 weeks before that made up for it. We had the most awesome time in FL with my fam. in Ft. Laud. and then with the Stegs in Orlando area. So many fun and wonderful memories and be rest-assured there'll be some fun pics to come. Disney was awesome and I can't wait to share all about it. Happy New Year, everyone! :)

Merry Christmas from our fam. to yours! :)

Had high hopes of posting this pic on Christmas from FL, but that never happened. Hope ya'll had a great one! :)