We wish you all a VERY Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year! May God be the center of our lives and guide each step we take. May 2010 bring you health, happiness and wonderful memories to hold in our hearts!

Austin's Art Work

Austin is in 4th Grade and is an excellent student who excels in all subjects. He is an indepent learner and works hard...always giving 110%. Our county opened a new school this year - Starling - and Austin had to write a poem about it. It is really neat to be in a brand new school where everything is clean and new! I thought he did such a great job and wanted to share it. He also had to write about Thanksgiving. I don't know about "liking all the food", but he does like turkey and loves mashed potatoes and rolls - neither of which he mentioned in his paper, which surprised me! He is the pickiest eater in the family, but slowly expanding his palate. Since his Gan introduced him to real mashed potatoes, they are his new thing...and he can make them himself from peeling to mashing! (Good for me, because I still hate peeling potatoes!).

Animal Kingdom

Our last day in the parks together and it was time for Animal Kingdom. We rushed through the park to Expedition Everest to get our first fast pass...we knew there would be a long wait for this ride! The boys and Jeffery got in an extra ride through the single-rider line...a perk of the boys being older, they can ride alone and get some extra rides in and not wait the 90 minutes in the regular line! We enjoyed wandering through the park and hit a few rides along the way...caught the Nemo show this time...it is hard to get into that show...the first one was full, so we had to wait for the next show and we made it! We all did the Dinosaur ride...I thought it was a bit scary (I'm a chicken) but Anna wasn't scared at all...and I was worried about her! Ha I did however, love Everest! Roller coasters are great, I just don't like surprises and loud things jumping out at me. Jeffery and Anna had fun on the Triceratops ride...she said "that alligator ride was fun"...it was green, so close enough for her. It was a nice day and a great day for the mickey ice cream treats...always a favorite. Brandon and Jeffery had to leave a little earlier for soccer practice, so the 4 of us stayed and wandered through Africa and took the train the Conservation Station...we had a nice surprise as Jimney Cricket and Rafiki were both there...we got photos and autographs. We were too late for the safari, but we watched feeding time on the webcams...those animals are certainly well trained to go back into their crates at night. It was a fun day and we were thankful to have this great time together!

Magic Kingdom 2

A few more photos...the kids were asked to be in a Disney parade around one of the big stores in ToonTown...they were hysterical...especially Connor, he was really into it and hamming it up. Brandon was more reserved and really just wanted the floor to swallow him up. While the boys used all 6 fast passes on Space Mountain, Jeffery, Anna and I found the Disney Dance Party outside...it was so much fun. Anna got to dance with Goofy, Stitch and Chip & Dale...we danced till we could hardly stand up! Anna even talked Daddy into a little dancing...so sweet! We finally got to Peter Pan's Flight (Jeffery and I at the top) and Pirate's before we headed to Mainstreet for the desserts. We really had a great day and enjoyed sharing this time together!

Magic Kingdom 1

Inspite of the rain, it was a Magical day in the Magic Kingdom! As you can see, we all started out in rain panchos...it rained all morning and finally stopped in the early afternoon. We managed to take some soaked photos, but captured the fun inspite of our "rain hair" and my running make-up. We got fast passes 1st thing and hit our favorite rides...Buzz Lightyear, Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain...Anna did them all this year and loved them! We managed to find a short line to visit the Princesses...the boys were such good sports to get their photos taken with Anna and the Princesses...I owe them one! They made it special for Anna and I appreciated that...such great big brothers!! In all our trips to Disney, we had not made it to Tom Sawyer's Island, so we took the "raft" across the "river" to the island...it was fun exploring the caves and the barrell bridge gave us alot of laughs...thankfully, no one ended up in the water! It was a great day and we had so much fun...from park opening to park closing! We ended the day with fabulous desserts on main street...I believe those were the BEST cinnamon rolls (and the biggest ones!) we've ever had! The funny part was that in our rush to catch the tram in the morning while putting on our lovely rain panchos, no one bothered to look where we had parked...we had no clue! Thankfully, there were only 3 lots to choose from and we got lucky with our first choice and found the van without incident! Whew...lucky break! Must be that Disney Magic!

Epcot

I think Epcot won for the favorite park this trip...we had a fabulous day there! We were treated to a visit to HP's RedRoom thanks to Jeffery being an HP employee...the kids loved that and felt very special. The ladies working in there were so nice...soda's, coffee, internet service and a video-post card station. The ladies were so complimentary of the kids behavior and they rewarded them with VIP passes to the 2 most popular rides in the park...Sorin and Test Track! They were elated!! Of course, this got us to the front of the line at HPs sponsored Mission Mars...Anna, Austin and I rode the green line (I was a total chicken and did NOT want to be motion sick the rest of the day) and Jeffery, Connor and Brandon braved the Orange line...and they did quite well...no one got sick, thank goodness! Anna was able to ride nearly all of the rides this trip and Test Track was one of her absolute favorites!! We had lunch in Germany - Oktoberfest - it was yummy and the entertainment was fun! We visited China and then had pastries in France...another favorite! We enjoyed seeing everything from street entertainers in Italy to the dancing fountains! We stayed till the park closed...it was truly a magical day!

Hollywood Studios

Day 1 at Disney we went to Hollywood Studios...it was a fabulous day! The favorite rides here were Rockin' Roller Coaster (my personal favorite thrill ride!) and Tower of Terror (my least favorite ride, so I squeaked my way out of that one!). We saw Buzz, Woody and Frozen at the park, but the lines to meet the characters were very long! We took a short Animation Class where we all drew Donald Duck...I was quite impressed with all the drawings! It was such a great day from beginning to end...we ended the night with a walk through the Christmas Wonderland in the BackLot and made it just in time for the final Indiana Jones show of the night. Busy, busy day, but filled with wonderful memories and great family time!

Thanksgiving 2009

We all gathered together to celebrate the season of Thanks! Thanksgiving is always a time of family togetherness and a time to reflect on our year with thankful hearts. Though this year has brought challenges and trials, God is always faithful to provide and to be our strength when we need it most. After traveling the week before, I had my doubts about pulling off a family feast, but everyone chipped in and we managed to pull it all together before the family arrived for dinner! There was lots of yummy food. The kids played Thanksgiving Bingo...and ate most of the candy-corn "chips" as they played. We played a game of picking up candy-corn with chopsticks...KK really liked this part...especially when I told her she could eat all the candy-corn she could put into her cup. By the time dinner was finished, I felt like the stuffed turkey! I am thankful for my family and for the spirit of Thanksgiving that is felt not just on Thanksgiving, but all year through. We have much to be thankful for...Thank you God!

Preparing for Thanksgiving

Anna and Mom had fun preparing for Thanksgiving. We made oreo Turkeys for Anna and Austin's classes. Then, we made food for the family Thanksgiving. Anna was busy mixing up the cheeseball. It is nice to have some little chefs in the house!