Disney-Day 1

we had a fabulous time at disney world!
chris and mckinlee had never been and the last time i went i think i was 15 or 16.
so there was so many new and exciting things to see.
mckinlee was at a great age to go--she could walk everywhere (with only a little bit of complaining), she was tall enough for everything (and would ride every roller coaster chris would go on with her!) and she will remember everything.

here are some of the things i noticed at disney.
i was absolutely amazed at the number of people:

a) with tiny (i'm talking 5-6 week old) babies
b) women obviously about to give birth
(usually with 3-5 small children trailing behind them)
c) dressed in all sorts of odd things

whether you wanted it or not, here are my thoughts on the above three observations:

a) maybe it's just me (apparently it is because i was there with my 11 year old) but i have no desire whatsoever to take a little child, much less an infant, to disney world, especially in july. it was desperately hot, humid, crowded and so many little children were crying and miserable--i really felt terrible for them!

b) what would possess a woman about to birth a baby to go on a trip to disney world? the thought just made me cringe--i know how exhausted i was walking all day long, i can't imagine how some of the women i saw felt at the end of the day!

c) i just don't get it--cute girls/women dressed in darling strapless dresses, coordinating jewelry and tall wedge shoes.
what are you thinking?
i was so miserable in the little clothing i wore. everytime i walked by a drink cart, i would grab a handful of ice and rub it all over me in an attempt to cool off! and i can't even begin to imagine the blisters after those adorable shoes came off their feet.
or people dressed like it was a crisp fall day in long jeans, jackets, etc. i don't know if they didn't realize what the weather would be in florida or if it wasn't bothering them!? and i'm even used to the extreme heat!

anyway, enough about my people watching skills...

here we are right before we left.
we have started taking a picture here in the breakfast room before we leave on a big trip.

mckinlee in the airport--waiting for us to "aboard" as she called it!
(i have found that i absolutely love airports! i love to see people from all over the world, i love the bustle of people catching flights--i could just sit and people watch at an airport all day long! chris thinks i am insane--ha!)

speaking of insane...ha ha! (i'm only kidding, honey.) here is a shot of chris on the plane already organizing and keeping track of the money we're spending on our trip.
my little accountant--i just love him!

i can never take self-portraits very good. i finally figured out it's because my arms are so short.

a couple shots out the window

chris checking in the hotel. the lobby was so beautiful.

mck "touching" the fountain.
(each day my camera would get so hazy--coming from the cold hotel into the humidity. it took 30 minutes or so each time for it to adapt.)

a view of the back of our hotel-the dolphin.

chris & mck on the boardwalk. we walked down here and found a restaurant to eat at as soon as we arrived.

i loved the storefronts--so old-timey looking!

a nice family took our picture on the way back to our room.

we went back to the room and changed and headed straight for magic kingdom since tour guide mike said this was a good day for it. (if you ever go to disney, spend the $21.95 before and plan your trip using tour guide mike's plans--it really works!) the parade and light show was tonight and we wanted to be sure we saw that.

we got there at least 2 hours before the parade was going to start and people were already lining the sidewalks to get a good spot.

there's something so thrilling about seeing that castle!

as you walk through the castle, there are gorgeous mosaics of movies on the walls. this one is of sleeping beauty, i think.

our very first ride...it's a small world.

how can you not love this?

this was my favorite part--all the blues, purples & crystal-y stuff!

after we rode that, it was time to get our spot for the parade. we followed tour guide mike's suggestions and found a spot near the president's hall.
you can't go to disney and not see the parade. but let me tell you, it was so stifling hot (not a leaf was moving on the trees) and i had such horrible cramps and a backache, that i wasn't too terribly excited about the parade. and i knew i couldn't even stand up, much less leave--so i was feeling a tiny bit claustrophobic. so i just focused on taking pictures and eventually it was over!

i think this one is from alice and wonderland

cinderella

pete's dragon

when the parade was over we went back over near the castle so we could see the fireworks. if you ever go to disney, you HAVE to stay for the fireworks. this was our favorite thing and it was absolutely magical. these measly pictures do not do it justice at all! it was incredible--the sky was lit up like it was day and everyone was gasping and clapping at how beautiful it was.

this picture made chris and i laugh. it looks like 'armageddon at disney' or something! ha!

as we were leaving i took these of the castle and i just love them.

the castle at night is so much more thrilling than during the day!

so that was day 1.
(hope you weren't bored to tears.)
come back tomorrow for day 2 :)

i'm back...

oh my goodness--i have a TON of pictures to post.

we had a wonderful (if not exhausting) time at disney world and i will definitely start posting all of those pictures soon. i think i will break them up by day.

as soon as we got home from disney, we immediately started packing to go to fort worth for our district convention.
we usually just drive back and forth, but this year we stayed at a hotel there and it turned out to be really fun. (after so long in a hotel, mckinlee did not want to go home. she LOVES hotels!)
patricia and her kids were also staying there. so thursday night we walked to the square where all the restaurants are and ate at razzoo's.

patricia, ryan and camila

here we are

camila wanted to take a picture of this horrible creature!

i love all the old buildings downtown

patricia and i being silly

camila & mckinlee

friday morning was the start of our convention.
i always take a picture of the sign every year so i won't forget the theme!
we heard so many wonderful reminders about how to keep ourselves and our families close to jehovah god.

olivia & bethenie
this was their convention too and we had such a good time catching up with them!

sandy, ani & ursula
they are from our congregation--the sweetest family!

michele & i

rachel, natalie & patricia

julie & i

kevin & michele

chris & i

some of the girls (and carson)

there was a wonderful symposium on communication in the family.
chris had the part about children communicating with their parents and ani had a soliloquy.
the talk was really good and ani did fantastic!

mckinlee & alexa
(this was one of the few pictures i got of mck with her friends. during the breaks they were always off somewhere together and had no time for pictures!)

day 2: saturday

quinlyn--so sweet!

chris & i
(funny story about the guy behind me in red. he was so talkative and funny.
after the first session he said to me,
"thank you for taking such extensive notes and for writing nice and big. when i missed something, i just looked down at yours! ha!)

sadly, those are the few pictures i took on saturday.

day 3: sunday
sandy & dan
they used to be in our congregation in waco and it was so nice to see them again.
she had a hilarious demonstration about showing empathy to others.

amber & mck

me & bethenie
(i am so upset. we went out to eat with them & another family to this great bbq place and i forget my camera!)
we have known each other so long and have been through so many fun, and not so fun, experiences. we had such a great time being together and laughing!

kali & i
i didn't know they were coming to our convention & was shocked when she walked up to me!

phil & beth

chris & mck

chris & i

patricia & i

i'm always so sad on sunday and don't want to leave.
the drama on sunday was wonderful--full costume set in Bible times--no modern day.
our peak attendance was 7971--but it didn't feel very crowded.
on saturday we had 61 baptized. they ranged in age from 8 to 80!
and we got several new releases that will keep us busy until next year!

so that's the convention recap--now i will start on disney...

look out mickey...

here we come!

our long weekend

last weekend we went to pick up mckinlee who had been in waco for 2.5 weeks. she had so much fun getting to spend the night with her friends several nights, doing fun things with both grandmas and being with nini and sadie. she came back to plano excited to see her friends here, sad to leave waco and with a boat load of new clothes!

here are some of the pictures i took last weekend.
(i need to look on her camera and upload the ones she took too.)

mck with mama dee and papa

chris and i with our girl

i am always taking pictures and never have any with me and sadie.
danielle took this one of us and i just love it!

sadie with mama jeanne

sadie and nana

4 generations:
sadie, danielle, mom, mama jeanne

i love this one.
look how sadie and mama jeanne are looking one way and mckinlee and nana are looking the other!

4 generations:
me, mom, mama jeanne, mckinlee

i took mck to the pool the evening after we had taken these pictures and she sure entertained me!

this beautiful sunset i captured through the bars of the swimming area!

i've got lots more pictures to post--especially some really cute ones of sadie and mckinlee from when i was in waco. will try to find time to do that later!
have a great day :)