bad belle vs. good belle

Its been 5 months since our trip to Disneyland (ohhhh how I miss it!) I never shared our Princess Aurora experience (coming soon, right Calley?) But I did want to share what we observed with the Belle's that we met.

Our first princess experience was at the luncheon at Ariel's Grotto. We were lucky enough to get a prime seat right by where the princesses entered, so I think we met them while they were fresh and enthusiastic, before they met the other 100 little girls (or however many people they had to greet that day).

Our second experience was at the Princess Fantasy Faire, where you wait in line and each family gets one on one time with each princess.

Here I give you my personal opinion and comparison: Bad Belle (at Ariel's Grotto) and Good Belle (at Princess Fantasy Faire). See if you agree with me.

Bad Belle:

Yes, she enters the room like a princess, but would the "real Belle" be like that? Is she too fake?

Summer looks adoringly at her, but Bad Belle is all business.

She's good at posing for pictures though.

Here is where we will see her true colors. Summer is coloring the picture she got, and wants to give it to Belle.

Clearly, she doesn't have time for it, and dismisses Summer off, and tells her she didn't color the Beast. (summer is eagerly turning to run back to our table to finish her work)

Summer dutifully colors the Beast, and tries to give it to Belle for a second time.

Oh, another excuse. She tells Summer she forgot to do something else on the paper. Summer rushes back and finishes the paper. (by the way, Summer waited until Belle was not busy greeting any other tables).

The final finished product is given to Bad Belle for a third time. She ran out of excuses. She has to take it.

Good Belle:

Genuinely happy to see Summer.

Makes eye contact.

A good listener, and shares that they have something in common (see her pointing to herself, saying she likes the same thing as Summer).

Gives her undivided attention . . . she gets up and goes over to where Abby is.

More undivided attention, spends a long time talking to the two of them.

One more hug for good measure.

In conclusion, there may be many girls who play Belle, but I think we got the best and the worst of them. Thank you Good Belle, you really know how to make the princess experience the most rewarding!

elder redd: one year on the mission

Today, Toby's been on his mission for one year!!!



That was us one year ago, getting up early, taking him to the airport to say goodbye. (Lukey Suzuki was a tired boy.)

Happy to report that Toby's eating healthy.

And not drinking the water.

He's had tons of baptisms. I really should've been keeping count, but I've lost track.

He might be living in poverty, but he's also surrounded by beauty. (yeah, just ignore that trash behind him.)







He plays a lot of soccer.

We're so proud of him!



Okay, I'm putting in my plug: write him! Send him a Christmas card! Send him a birthday card (Dec. 22)! It takes a while for him to get mail, so you gotta do it early!

Elder Toby Redd

Brazil Maceio Mission

Av. Dom Antonio Brandao, 333 Sala 402

Ed. Work Center, Farol

57021-190 Maceio - AL

Brazil

If you want to keep up with what he's doing every week, check out his website. He just got transferred to a new area and there are monkeys! (nobody is happier about this than Luke.)

she turned 5 years old

Yesterday was Summer's 5th birthday! We did a lot of celebrating!

Here is the birthday girl.



Presents were ripped open and loved.

I think her favorite might have been the Rapunzel doll from Uncle Lukey. Rapunzel came along on the rest of the evening's adventures.

Of course it was hard for Abby to not share in all the present-getting, but she did get to try on Summer's new Cinderella bride costume.

The celebrating started out with dinner at the Spaghetti Factory.

Looking out at pier 70 and a passing train.





The waiters bringing her some birthday ice cream and singing Happy Birthday.

Her biggest birthday wish was to ride to the top of the Space Needle. That's us walking in the rain.

Very rainy.

Looking down on the gift shop while waiting for the elevator.



Of course we needed to go on the outside observation deck . . . in the rain . . . and wind . . . and cold . . .

Qwest Field all lit up in pink lights.





Looking over Lake Union (actually from the inside).





In the warm and dry inside, we checked out the maps of the views.

And controlled the camera views.

Hi-fiving with Grandpa.



Summer's next tower she wants to visit is the Eiffel Tower. (I would be happy to help chaperone that, whenever you decide to take her there)

Here's a little snippet of riding the elevator down . . . I love how emotionally Summer says "its BEAUTIFUL", and at the end when Abby says "OKAY!" she sounds like Alvin in the Chipmunk's Christmas Song.

. . . . and . . . . the end to a very very fun 5th birthday! Love you sooooo much Summer!!