Animal Kingdon

Finally back to some vacation photos!

Our next stop was the Animal Kingdom

The Tree of Life!

and a great time was had by all!

Best of all, the park is only open until 5 pm,

so then we headed back to our hotel

and the kids got to swim in the pool to their hearts' content!

Officially, a very good day.

The Most Magical Place On Earth!

Delightfully, I got to spend a day on our vacation at the Magic Kingdom. As always, it was magical!

First things first...mom and Aleah went to see some princesses

and Dylan and dad went on Space Mountain and saw Buzz Lightyear

Sounds about right, doesn't it??

It was a good start to a great day!

We drove racecars

Dylan and I rode in a spaceship

We all went "Under the Sea" with Ariel and friends (sorry for the poor picture...didn't know if I should post any from the actual ride)



Mike's favorite part is all the people (insert sarcasm please)

I actually think that everyone at the park this day must have been on this street at this exact moment, because the crowds really weren't too bad!

We of course went on "It's A Small World" and saw the County Bear Jamboree

and of course...Cinderella's castle

It was a magical day...

and a very "romantic" way to spend our 18th wedding anniversary:

almost 12 hours of walking and keeping kids going to get the most out of our one day there.

Really though, I can't imagine a better way to celebrate the 18 years we have been married...

spending it together with our great kids :)



and then we had more adventures in our next days...

The Mouse

So, we are at Disney World with our kids. It is the first time either of them have been here. We started with just a partial day today at Hollywood Studios because it was the last day of their Christmas lights.

The kids most enjoyed the lunch at our hotel after we checked in, the parade right when we got to Hollywood Studios here this afternoon, Fantasmic (a light, water and theater show), and the Osbourne Family Dancing Christmas lights. Today was the last night they were being done so we were so thankful we found out about it! (thanks to the wonderful, Disney-wise family we sat by on our flight!)

It was so fun to get the first experiences of Disney without the totally overwhelming nature of the larger parks. The kids are doing great...wanting to stop at every souvenir shop they can find, but we have diverted any purchases until later so far. :)

Our plan is to do one of the larger parks tomorrow...probably Magic Kingdom. That is one of my favorite places in the world so I am so excited to share that with them!

Here are some photos, in no particular order because I can't do that on the blogger app I have.

Movie-addicted cousins

Keegan (almost 1), Aleah (7), Dylan (12)...these kids do so great together!

I love that my big kids love their little cousin so much!

Christmas Thoughts

Well, it has been way too long since I have posted. There have been so many things going on that I would have loved to post about, but because so many things have been going on, I haven't taken the time to post...a vicious circle.

It is nearly Christmas, which is crazy...
I am done teaching for the semester, which is great...
My kids still have school for another day, which is nice for mom...
My kids only have one day of school left, which is nice for mom...
I finished wrapping presents today, which is a relief...
I haven't gotten our Christmas picture and letter done and mailed yet, which is a little hopeless...
The picture we will be using is the one I had printed for last year and didn't get mailed, which is totally pathetic...
I am so thankful it is the Christmas season, which allows me to focus on the baby born in a manger...
It also means my kids are a little focused on other things...

But we are working on remembering the reason for this wonderful season...

My baby and me...

in sketch form, thanks to a very talented artist at our elementary school's craft sale today.

Priorities

Our church is having a "challenge" right now encouraging people to be in God's Word daily. It is called "Bring it to life" (BITL). Each day there is a different chapter to read. Today's chapter is 1 Corinthians 7. Wow, this is a challenging passage that makes lots of people uncomfortable I'm sure. It talks about marriage, divorce, sex, and relationships. Yep, that is all talked about in the Bible!

What struck me about this passage when I read it just now was that it really is all about priorities. Well, PRIORITY would be more accurate. We are called to have one main priority in life, and that is God. I think one intent of this passage is to point out that we should limit or minimize those things in life that will take our focus off that one main priority.

Even good things can shift that priority. Marriage is a good thing, but it takes a big commitment and can be difficult at times. Anything that takes this much work must not be entered lightly. This passage actually says if you can avoid temptation it is better to not be married.

In my own life, marriage has been both a blessing and a trial at times. Has it taken my focus off what should be my top priority? Absolutely. I have recently asked God to help me realign my priorities. I know this will ultimately help all my other priorities be more effortless.

Whew! Lots to think about! Where is your main priority?