Houston... We made it home safe!

I plan on writing about our Days 5 and 6 at Disney and sharing other fun pics. Just not tonight.

I am looking forward to a GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP IN MY OWN BED! I have seen way too many Dateline NBCs and 20/20's to not live in fairy tale world (even in Disney) about what LIVES in hotel rooms :-) IT IS GOOD TO BE HOME!!!


So... GOOD NIGHT... SLEEP TIGHT... and DON'T LET THE BED BUGS BITE!

M.I.C...K.E.Y.... M.O.U.S.E.

So... here I sit once again, in a room full of sleeping people. I am drinking a cherry coke (wonder why I have trouble sleeping??) and eating Doritos. SICK RIGHT? Well, I had to share a few more favorite pictures and honestly... if I don't journal what we did NOW... I might forget. I am so tired, but I am HAVING A BLAST!



Day 3 - We headed to Hollywood Studios. We thought it was called MGM (it use to be)... no wonder we couldn't find the bus! ha! You learn something new everyday. Especially when the bus is right in front of you and leaves before you find someone to ask "Hey... where is the MGM bus?" "Oh... so it is that one that JUST LEFT!" We caught the next one.





This (above) is the big "take you picture in front of this" THING (can you tell it's late) that is at MGM... I mean... Hollywood Studios.



Here I am with sisters S and S.

Not sure what language this is (below) but I know COCA COLA when I see it! I am a HUGE coke drinker... it's my "coffee"

Meet Prince Caspian. Check out that hair-do (or hair don't). Ted is reading the Chronicles of Narnia to the kids right now. They were so excited to meet Casp. (I know ... sounds like we go way back)
I loved the parade they do at Hollywood Studious. I got out in the street and danced! It was so fun. I am sure I looked like a fool. AND I am sure I embarrassed my kids but when I heard "come! join us!" I DID :-) No pictures of that... I had the camera around my neck.

These (below) were taken at the Rockin' Roller Coaster (in the store after the ride). THIS WAS MY FAVORITE RIDE OF THE ENTIRE TRIP. IT IS AMAZING!

I think this has to be my favorite picture of the ENTIRE TRIP... HOW FUN!

Being the good mom that I am, I took Aidan and Avery in the Tower of Terror. They'll be scared for life!

Aidan DID NOT like it. Avery on the other hand went right back on. YEP! She's nuts!

I loved seeing the Power Rangers come to life for Aidan.

Remember how I said we came during free dinning week? Well... we have eaten some of the BEST food since we have been here. FREE... yes, you heard me right! They only offer this once (maybe twice a year). I think they offer it during their least busy time to get people in the park. Well... I don't have pictures of where or what we ate but one night, we went to dinner at the Polynesian Resort. After a WONDERFUL meal, the girls got to hula dance. Then they had Ted come up and dance with them (no hula for him)... SUCH A SWEET MOMENT. I wanted to bust out in song. Of course, my song would have been "Cinderella" by Steven Curtis Chapman.

(Heck, I might have even sang Butterfly Kisses... it was SO PRECIOUS)

Day 3

We started our day at Animal Kingdom. We had dinner at Epcot. AND finished out our night at Magic Kingdom.

Abel's face says it all! WE REALIZED ON THIS TRIP THAT OUR SON IS QUITE THE LITTLE FLIRT. He made friends every where he went. He had people looking his way and commenting on how precious he was EVERY WHERE WE WENT!

The tree at Animal Kingdom

Yes, we got a fast pass (see above) for ALL OF THE RIDES at Animal Kingdom. It's the Year of a Million Dreams and Aidan was picked to receive the Fast Pass for the day and because we were all in his party, we got the passes too. WAY COOL

This picture of the baby giraffe was taken on our safari ride at Animal Kingdom. The tour guide mentioned you will RARELY or NEVER see a giraffe lying down. SO TRUE. Isn't this baby beautiful?

AND MY FAVORITE PLACE OF ALL.... MAGIC KINGDOM!!!

This man... Walt Disney... is simply a master mind! I was blown away learning about his life while on this trip. The best part was seeing all the failures before he found success. What an inspiring story.

Just a cute picture!

It's A Small World After All...

Oh how I love Disney. When I was growing up, my dad had a tin can that sat in the laundry room and it had change in it. He always said it was our Disney fund. We never went. Well, about 5 years ago, we had our first SMALL taste of Disney and I walked around all day saying "Dreams Really Do Come True!"

Thank you Uncle Sam (IRS... Mr. President... US of A)... this year, we put our economic stimulus to good work. I am sure if we would have given it much more thought, we could have put it to even better use (college funds, groceries... etc).... but NO.. WE BOOKED A TRIP TO DISNEY.

It seemed rather like an "A HA" moment.... we find out about the "economic check" and about that same time we hear about the DEAL OF A LIFE TIME (not really but you get my point)... discounted tickets, free dining week, and friends that wanted to go at the same time. It was a YES for us! When we booked the trip we had like 150 days until departure... WELL, TIME FLIES!


WE ARE HERE!




On the BUS to Epcot. Our family had only been to Magic Kingdom so Epcot was new to us. We had a great time! The family we are traveling with ... The Hornes ... they are GREAT PEOPLE! We laugh and think "What have they gotten themselves into... Traveling with the A-Team"

Here we all are on Day 1. At Epcot we did SO MUCH. Here are the highlights for me (I would take a survey of the family... but they are all sleeping and of course, I am up! I have sleep issues when I am not in my own bed).

My favorite at Epcot... the ride, Soaring. The ride where it feels like you are hang gliding. I will NEVER hang glide in my life ... so that was a BLAST for me to experience!

Funniest moment of the day... We went into a sea turtle show and Crush from Nemo talks to the audience (which is AMAZING!). He is animated or computer generated... whatever that is called - haha! ... well, he hears Abel squawking and says "I'm sorry dude I don't speak Dolphin". It was so funny because Abel was the only baby in the show and Crush talked about him a few times ... The whole gang!

I have and will have so many funny stories from this trip... of course, 4 kids will do that for you! I want to memorize everything they are doing and saying because it is stealing my heart!!! (I will have to tell the story of our "beach picture"... I'll tell it later. We tried for that family picture on the beach... long story short... my kids were SOAKED before the camera ever pointed at them. Not just wet... SOAKED!
So when we got this picture (below) with Belle and everyone is looking at the camera I said "this just might have to be our Christmas Card picture". Maybe I could photoshop Belle out - ha!

Here's my boy (below) in a little African section at Epcot... Africa is not a country in their "countries" but it has an "outpost" ... not sure what that means... but my boy loves to beat on the drums! He is always beating on something!

I love this Mickey Mouse doll. I didn't buy it but I so wanted too. I wanted Abel to just want to cuddle it but he looked at it, hugged it and then threw it out of the stroller. If he can live with out it... I can live with out paying for it!

OH - the reason I titled this post "It's A Small World..." is because at Epcot, we ran into someone we met on the plane when we were coming home from Ethiopia with Abel. They had just adopted a little girl from ET. Her name is Ella... anyway... I see the husband/dad walk by and I couldn't remember his name so I scream "HEY!!! I KNOW YOU!!!!" It was so fun to run into Joel and Jennifer. Their baby girl is getting SO BIG!


DAY TWO

One of my princesses!

I'll take the one in the middle!

MY GIRLS!


Can't remember the name of this ride but it's where they tell all the "punny" jokes. Well, Aidan was asked to drive the boat. We were so proud. We were cheering him on.

We had lunch with Winnie the Pooh and Tigger too! (and Piglet and Eeyore).

Favorite memory of today for me... Riding the rides with the kids. Addie rode Splash Mt. and she CRIED... HARD! Then a few hours later she said "I want to ride it again". So we did... TWO MORE TIMES. This is the time of year to come to Disney because there are NO LINES (It could also be because of the Hurricane... which we have not had any bad weather here). WELL... we are on our third time to ride Splash Mt., when the ride had a MALFUNCTION... while we were on it! NO big deal... just me and three of my kids on a ride (Ted was sitting out with Abel... he's not fond of the water in this ride). SO I had to keep them entertained in a log for 3o min.

I must turn in before my computer turns into a pumpkin! :-)

Get your tissues...

This is my dear bloggin' friend... who I feel a SOUL SISTERHOOD with but I have never met. We have talked MANY times though and she was such a part of our adoption ...
WELL... It is THEIR TURN...

You have to see this video :-)

Happy Birthday to MY MAN!

Happy Birthday to my Ted. He is 36 tomorrow (His birthday is on Monday.. the 25th). Here are 36 things I love about him.
1. His heart for Jesus. This man sits at the feet of Jesus daily. He loves the Lord and honors him with his life. He challenges me in this area with out saying a word. I have so much respect for him!
2. His love for our children. He is an INVOLVED dad.
3. He discipline... if he sets his mind to something, he does it.
4. His wisdom. I tend to follow the flesh but Ted is a man who is slow to speak and quick to listen.
5. His humility.
6. His love for me! I know that I know that I know that HE IS IN LOVE WITH ME.
7. His loyalty.
8. His love for education.
9. How after all these years, he still laughs with me (and at me!) ... a lot!
10. His PATIENCE.
11. His faith - this kind of goes back to #1 but Ted trusts and has such faith.
12. His GOOD LOOKS!
13. His grilled steaks - I LOVE IT WHEN HE GRILLS OUT!
14. His heart for community.
15. His ability to remember where I put the keys (ok.. KEY.. our key is broken so I just have this one key). He a lot of times will see it and put it where he knows I will find it.
16. His humbleness in driving the piece of junk that he does. He doesn't complain at all. And this car is held together by gorilla glue.
17. His willingness to put others before himself.
18. His excitement for life!
19. His willingness to always listen.
20. I love that he has walked through HARD TIMES with me and not given up!
21. He has served me... and been such an example of sacrificial love... especially when my mom was sick. He would go and check on her. He took her to all of her treatments and insisted that I stay home with our baby. Until the day she died... he served her. He loved her so well.
22. His commitment to prayer.
23. I love his go-T
24. I love that he is a dreamer.
25. I love to hear him teach.
26. His support (especially recently with my photography bug!)
27. His longing for me to grow as a person.
28. His seeing my heart!
29. His AIR DRUMS! (he always plays air drums in the car).
30. How he memorizes things that our kids do ... he is so in tune with them.
31. His willingness to apologize... especially when I see him do this with our kids.
32. His love for STORY! He loves a good adventure.
33. His longing to be whole. Allowing the Lord to reveal his heart to him.
34. His always telling me he loves me. I hear it through the day.
35. I love the way we are HIS FAVORITE people and he wants to be with us (the family).
36. HIS ZEAL!

I love you Ted. Yes, I am declaring to whoever reads this blog my love for you! YOU ARE MY MAN and I AM SO PROUD OF WHO YOU ARE! I am honored to be your wife! Thanks for fighting for my heart and I pray this next year is filled with blessing! and that blessing being KNOWING MORE OF HIM!
YOU ROCK!!!!!!!!

PICNIC FUN!

We had a picnic out at the Swoboda Farm last Sunday. It was such a GREAT TIME! Here are some pictures from the night.

There were blow up jumpy houses and water slides. The kids had a great time. We have over 100 kids that come to Fellowship Kids each week. A lot came out for the picnic. They had a blast... and there were no injuries. Wait... I think I remember a bloody nose (right Maddie?). AND a wound care issue. Thank God for a sweet family in our church that are both Doctors. :-)

Look at these eyes!

This is a friend of mine... she is having a baby this Fall. I love her shirt!

I've never entered any kind of contest ... but if I did... I would enter this picture right here (below). Is he not adorable? He belongs to a family in our church. I just love his sweet look in this picture. It's priceless!

I actually made it into a picture! That's me with my blonde friends!

How precious is this little girl? She was helping me out with Abel. She fed him his first watermelon... HE LOVED IT!

Here are a few more kiddos that loved them some watermellon :-)

Abel has a new member of his fan club. This 6th grade girl is pretty crazy about our baby boy.

This blue-eyed beauty is one of 6 kids in her family. She's a little love!

I got a giggle out of this little one (below) singing the Happy Birthday song. I asked her "Who's birthday is it?" and she said "Mine". I turned and asked her parents and they said "no, it's not her birthday". It was so cute. She was convinced it was. I was too :-)

This (below) is Abel's buddy. They were both adopted and even share hair care products :-)

All three pastors from our church got into the dunkin' booth. It was so much fun to watch them get dunked. Not sure why all of us "church goers" got such a kick out of throwing a ball as hard as we could at the pastors... BUT IT WAS FUN! The crowd went wild when the pastor went under!

Ted and Addie watched Brother Brandon (haha...) get dunked! Little did Ted know... he was next. Actually he did know. He just really enjoyed seeing Brandon get dunked!

IS IT COLD?

Johnny was talking smack them minute he got in there (jk)... The first person to dunk him... a 4 year old named Savannah. YEP.

This is one of Aidan's best buds!

And last but not least... this is my crazy FRIEND Robin. She was actually doing a little country dancin' when I took this. She's a HOOT!

What a fun evening!