Celebrating at WDW!

So, we just got home yesterday afternoon from a trip to Walt Disney World.  It was a very different kind of trip for us.  We've never been gone away from our children that long!  It was nice, but kind of weird, too.  

We weren't away from all of our children, though.  We met up with the oldest! She's working at WDW this semester on the College Program, so not only did we get to see her, but she also got us into the parks for FREE! Can't beat that!!

We also got a discount on our room.  This is outside on our balcony at Animal Kingdom Lodge. It's beautiful there! Who wouldn't want to see giraffes outside their door every day?!  I wanted to bring one home!

Lauren considered this our birthday celebration and Disney is HUGE on helping you celebrate! We received birthday buttons when we arrived and restaurants treated us royally when they knew we were celebrating!  On of our sons said it was a 2nd honeymoon, which topped our first one to Amarillo, Texas, by quite a bit! :)  Vier means celebrate in Swahili!

We went to Animal Kingdom on arrival day, then went to Magic Kingdom the next day.  Breakfast at the Beast's Castle in the "Be Our Guest" restaurant was great! The food was fancy-ish and we didn't like all of it, but it was good.  It wasn't our taste, but we know that many, many would like it.  We would order something a little different if we were to go again.  But the castle was beautiful!

One of our daughter's roommates was working at the Christmas store that day, so we went by to visit her.  What a fun job to say "Merry Christmas" every day! :)

That night we ate at "Whispering Canyon" at the Fort Wilderness Lodge.  It was great and lots of fun!!  This huge mason jar was the biggest water glass my husband has ever had. He was sooooooo happy!!

The "skillet" was great, too!  Served family style and in a never-ending fashion, this meal really fills you up!

They had a few fun photo props to take pictures.  I really liked this jail!

If you need ketchup at this restaurant, you don't just ask for it, you YELL it!  'WE NEED KETCHUP!"  And then the table with the ketchup takes it to that table!  There were 15 bottles on a table at some times! It was definitely a play on words for this place to be called "whispering".  There's NO whispering! Ha ha!!  Such fun!

You can't beat seeing "Wishes" at Magic Kingdom.  Our daughter told us the story behind the song the little girl sings at the beginning and end of the fireworks show. She had cancer and her wish was to be a part of MK in some way. It's her song that plays and may be her even singing it.  She passed away, but she did get her wish.  What a beautiful song and story!

The most beautiful part of the trip was seeing the annual International Flower and Garden Festival going on at EPCOT.  It was truly amazing!

God made beautiful flowers and man finds a great way to share them all with us!  Especially at EPCOT!

We ate at "Canada" on EPCOT day.  It was a delicious steak!  And great desserts!

Our daughter works in the American Adventure as part of the staff at the Liberty Inn.  What great memories she will have!

In Germany I found the best dessert ever - a caramel bar! It's in the Werther's store, but it's not Werther's caramel (or if it is, it doesn't say it).  It was so good, I got it two days in a row!

They couldn't leave Elsa and Anna out of the flower festival!  Elsa can't freeze the flowers now!

I had always wanted to go to this festival. It was beautiful, but also educational.  We learned so many things about plants and how to plant them that we didn't know!  But mostly, we got to enjoy the unique way Disney does things!

Another treat was this violet lemonade made with real violets! I talked our daughter into eating the flower.  She wasn't impressed, but it was just strange, too!  But, the lemonade was delicious!

We ended the day with Illuminations.

The last night we ate at Cape May in the Beach Club Resort. It was a lot more seafood than we like, but the food was delicious! They gave us a special birthday cupcake, as well.

The sandcastle they have displayed is so neat! We sat right by it!

That day we were at Hollywood Studios. We took the time to go to drawing class. Can you tell what we drew?  I thought we all did pretty well!

My husband and I sat in the old car replica for a quick photo. It was fun getting lots of pictures of just us together! We never do that!

We ended the evening with "Fantastic"...a wonderful ending to a great trip!

Animal Kingdom Lodge is a great place to visit!  It is expensive, so it was especially good to get a great discount on the stay.  In fact, that's the ONLY way we will be staying there!

But the perks of staying on Disney property is really worth a little extra money.

Our trip home started early.  We had to leave the resort at 3:30 a.m. (Florida time) and arrived in Dallas at 8:05 (Texas time).  After stopping for Bible class, worship, and lunch at Babe's Chicken, we arrived home at 4:00 p.m.  The boys were glad to see us, and we were glad to see them!

It was a very special trip and we had a great time celebrating many things: Our birthdays (a month apart, but celebrating in-between the two), our anniversary (early for 27th, but a late 25th), and our daughter being a Disney CastMember (CP).  Another of our daughter's roommates gave us a special welcome packet for celebrating our birthdays and anniversary when we visited her at the Boardwalk Resort.  

And now we're celebrating being home! :)

(I'm adding this photo after posting this, so it's just tagged on to the end. This carriage is from the movie "Cinderella". It's the real carriage that was in the movie! So cool!!)

Fly Away, Butterfly!

For our daughter, Lauren....our beautiful butterfly! 
(Written September 2014, but first time to publish.)

Once upon a time there lived a little caterpillar. She lived in a small town with her parents and three younger brothers.

The little caterpillar loved to explore. She traveled to other places, learning and doing all kinds of things. She met all kinds of people. She made lots of friends along the way.

The little caterpillar also enjoyed being at home, with her family. She sang songs. She played games. She learned important things that helped her grow and mature. She learned a lot from a very special Book. Her parents told her that this Book was the greatest book of all! So she read from it every day. She learned some very great things from the Book. Yes, she had a very wonderful, happy life.

The most important thing the little caterpillar learned was that she had a Creator. Her Creator loved her! She also had a Savior. Her Savior loved her! So much so that He gave His life for her! 

The little caterpillar couldn't image a love so wonderful as that love, but from that day on began to share that Good News with others.

Something began to change. The caterpillar stopped growing, stopped shedding her new skin, and she felt all safe and secure and content, but yet felt like there was something more she was supposed to experience. 

Her family was excited about her growing up, but realized that she would soon be making a big step in her life - a step that would change their family forever. They were happy and sad...all at the same time, but knew that the Creator was with her, and that He would guide her steps and direct her paths.

The little caterpillar began to feel different. She changed. She changed more and more each and every day, but these changes were different than the ones she had had before. One day something very wonderful happened! The little caterpillar was no longer a caterpillar! Her Creator had transformed her into a beautiful butterfly!

And so it was that it was time for her to fly away. And she did. She flew away from her safe and secure home. She ventured into new and exciting places, continuing to tell the world what the Creator and Savior had done for her. She shared words from the Book with others daily.

The beautiful butterfly would come back to visit her family whenever she could. Oh, they missed her, but were so excited to hear all about her new life!  They were thankful that the Creator had done such a magnificent thing for their little girl and sister. 

     

The little caterpillar brothers looked forward to seeing those changes in their own lives some day. They were learning more and more about the Creator and Savior, as. well.

The beautiful butterfly learned to spread her wings and fly in ways she would have never believed she could. She had great faith in what she could do, because of the One who made her. He gave her dreams wings! He gave her plans and paths that led to all kinds of new things. And that was just the way it was supposed to be. It was the Creator's wonderful plan that she would learn to fly away. He knew she would all along.

    

"Fly away, beautiful butterfly! Fly away!", she heard her Creator, Savior, and family sing as she flew. And she knew that this was way it was supposed to be. 

I Love My Daughter!

It's no surprise to most people that know me well that I always wanted four boys.  Grade school drama - partly because of my own doing - made me not want girls. I was afraid to have a girl.  I was afraid I would have a "girly" girl, a prissy, drama-queen girl....and that wasn't anything I thought I could handle.

So, when we were expecting our first child, and didn't find out the gender, I just knew it was a boy. I had always wanted a big brother (still do), and just knew it was a boy. But, about two weeks before my due date, I dreamed I had a big, "hairy" girl!!! I mean hairy as in a LOT of hair.  That might have been a clue as to why I had so much acid reflux, as the wives' tale says.

September 21st went by, and no baby.  I kept working...even on my due date.  I worked for an ophthalmologist part time. He could deliver babies.  He had in his residency. He joked that he didn't WANT to, though :).  And, he didn't have to.

On September 24th,  after being in he hospital since a little after midnight, our GIRL was born at 8:45 p.m.  She weighed 8 lbs. 9 oz., so was a big baby.  And she did have a LOT of hair - even little fuzzy hair on her ears!  My dream was right! Perhaps that dream was God preparing me.  Maybe!

This past weekend, Joe and the boys were gone skiing. Lauren was able to come home from college for a day to stay with me. It ended up that her babysitting plans were changed, and she was able to stay the whole weekend. She left last night.  We had a lot of fun together.

As we were driving home from worship, she mentioned the "all boys" thing that I had wished for pre-childbirth.  I didn't tell her that for a long time, but now she knows and has heard me say it.  What she hasn't heard me say enough is that I'm sooooooo very thankful that God blessed us with a GIRL!!!  She was not a "girly", frilly, blingy girl, BUT if she was, we would love her just as much.

We cannot imagine life without her.  She brings something to our family that no one else can, simply because she is a girl.  God knew we needed a daughter.  He gave her to us for that need.

As she grows up and grows older, this quote...that a daughter grows up and becomes your best friend....became more real.  I know that from being friends with my own mother, but it is wonderful to know it from your own daughter.

So, Lauren....THANK YOU.  Thank you for being our daughter.  Thank you for being in our family. Thank you for staying with me and keeping me company this weekend. Thank you for taking out the trash since your Dad and brothers weren't here :).  Thank you for wanting to spend time with me.  Thank you for being a friend.  I LOVE YOU MOST! :)