Quick blast from the past!

Notice the shirts? That purchase has been really good to us! I'll post the rest of the trip this weekend...but loved seeing how big our girls have gotten since then...sigh.

Epcot

Our family absolutely loves Epcot and so we made sure to head there on our first day in the parks! We were so excited that the weather cleared up and we had a gorgeously cool day in the 70s that first day. We were also amazed at the Epcot Flower Festival that was going on the week we were there! In the background you can see all the flowers, topiary trees, and characters made out of flowers! Truly it was an awesome sight to see!!!Anli was given this pin at our hotel since it is the "year of celebrations" and we were certainly celebrating Anli's 10th birthday. EVERYONE wished her a happy birthday the entire trip!
Thanks to a friend we were able to order lots and lots of pins for trading off Ebay. They actually got many pins that they ended up loving and had some pretty neat collector's pins. They loved trading and they enjoyed getting new collections.

As we walked into Epcot we saw Stitch!

Virginia LOVES Stitch!!!

Then, we headed to our favorite ride called Spaceship Earth! These are our photos of our "future" we created together!

How cute are they?

The girls hanging out with Nemo at the Living Seas!

They had some really neat playgrounds opened during this Flower Festival that we had never seen before! Since the weather was wonderful we enjoyed hanging out and playing in them for a while.

Daddy spins Virginia on the playground. It was a great playground.

We headed to Le Cellier in Canada for the BEST food in the world! Jay got a steak (of course...it's a steakhouse!) but I had an amazing mushroom ravioli that was to die for! Anli ordered her first grilled steak and loved it too! The flowers were just breath taking everywhere!

They even had a Tinkerbell Fairy garden! We were in heaven since Anli is the biggest Tinkerbell fan and has been since I can even remember. It was awesome to see how the gardeners created beautiful fairies and a garden that was so secluded.

They also had a butterfly garden with real butterflies! Virginia was so very excited! She loves butterflies...

My pretty butterfly!

At dinnertime...the rain came. This will be our uniform for the next several days as the rains came...and didn't leave! But, as we said, a wet day in Disney is better than a day ANYWHERE else:)

On the Road and Downtown Disney

We got up early the next morning and got on the road to Disney. Since we were going to Disney right around Anli's birthday, we kind of celebrated her birthday all week long there. So...we gave her a birthday gift on the way there because she would love it while in Disney!

She got a digital camera to take lots and lots and lots of pictures and videos in Disney! She LOVED it and had been asking for it and we were thrilled to give it to her on the way. It gave her some fun on the trip too!

Finally, after many hours in the car listening to Disney songs and playing 20 questions Disney style...we got to Downtown Disney! We went straight there to hang out before we got to the hotel. The weather was gorgeous and cool...perfect for a night walking around the shops!

The fist stop had to be the HUGE Disney store! It was a blast and they began to spend some of the spending money family gave to them for the trip.

Ahoy there me hearties!

Anli taking photos! She almost took as many photos as her mom...and that's hard to do!

Daddy's princesses!

Virginia loved all the Legos at the giant Lego Store. This sea monster is awesome and totally made from Legos! She loved it!
Well...this was taken from the car and was just a taste of the week to come...

We're back!

We are back and we had a wonderful vacation in Disney World! It was pretty wet, but we all agreed that a wet day in Disney is better than a dry day ANYWHERE else! How can anyone even imagine complaining when you are in DISNEY?

I had already been in Richmond, Virginia sharing at a women's conference and it was really great to meet so many women who love the Lord and His work around the world! I will share more on my DFM blog site about that trip. I flew out on Tuesday stayed three days, flew in on Thursday and then we left for our vacation the next morning...whew! I hadn't been in my own bed for over 12 days.

But, we had a great time starting with a quick trip to my parent's house to drop off Pacey and spend the night. We swam and played and just had a wonderful time.

The girls had a fun time jumping off the diving board! This was a "rock star" move Anli invented!

Go Virginia!

Then...the kids found a frog! I don't think he lasted very long since he was in the pool. Chlorine is not a friend to frogs!

Then, the most exciting thing happened...the girls wanted to learn how to dive! I had taught Anli a little bit last year, but she didn't remember. So, we had a quick (I mean like 20 minutes) lesson and then they amazed me by doing these beautiful dives. Look at their straight legs and perfect hands...I was totally shocked and so proud!

My sweet hubby brought us out some yummy watermelon that was a big hit with the kiddos. He's such a sweetie! Aren't these the cutest kids in the world?

Well, this was the fun that we started with on Friday and then we were headed to Disney the next morning! I'm so blessed to have such wonderful parents with the coolest place to live! I mean 11 acres, horses, dogs, a pool and tons of FUN!

Early Birthday Party!

When we returned to my parent's house to pick up Pacey on the way home from Disney...this sign greeted us! My sweet family had prepared a wonderful 10th birthday party!
Look at this CUTE cake! My mom is the most creative person and she always makes moments special. She went all out for her party.

The cousins! Talk about three totally different expressions!

Anli had asked for a red velvet birthday cake for the past 2 months...but she had NEVER had one! She just saw it and wanted one. My mom heard about that and suprised us ALL by making one for her. She is the BEST and Anli was thrilled! It was so very yummy and we got to take some home with us too!

We all wore our party hats! Happy "early" birthday to Anli!

Kingdom Women: Impact Your World

I will be at the Kingdom Women: Impact Your World Women's Leadership Dialog today and I would love to have your prayers! I flew to Richmond, VA to meet up with women from around the nation to dialog about how to engage women in missions. Each woman has a specific area of leadership in ministry and they desire to bring us together to talk about ways we can all work together to engage women in missions.

Please pray for me as I will be one of the session speakers on "Going as Engagement." I will be sharing along with Paula Hemphill about ways we can engage women in going! Pray that God will fill my mouth with the words He desires!

I will then be out of town for the next week with my family on vacation. I'm so looking forward to this time and will not be posting for that time. Thanks again for your sweet prayers for myself and for DFM ministries. Have an amazing week in God's Word!

A Wonderful Mother's Day weekend!

I had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend! It began on Saturday morning when Jay and I were woken by the girls bringing me breakfast in bed!!! It was completely their idea and they got up early to make it all themselves. Jay and I were in shock!

My breakfast was so precious! Since they can't use the oven and dad wasn't there to help out, they used the toaster. They made me heart shaped toast with butter, a granola bar covered in peanut butter (precious.), and yogurt...and water!

Anli even made a pretty napkin tied with a bow! Oh, and the silk flowers are from their room. They thought of EVERYTHING and did it all by themselves!!! It was a breakfast I'll cherish my entire life. They are such amazing little girls...that are getting too big too fast!

What a treasured Mother's Day breakfast! Jay asked them why they did this on Saturday instead of Sunday when it would be Mother's Day. They answered that Sundays were just too crazy and they wanted me to have time to enjoy it...SMART girls:) They truly understand their father's view of "functional holidays!"

Well, this is the sweet card the girls gave me...sorry it's sideways! Look at that perfect handwriting from my Anli...I'm so proud!! And that ladybug is just the BEST. Thanks girls!

OK, I don't know what is up with these two pictures! They are straight in my photos...and I even worked to make sure again and upload them once more...who knows! Anyway, we still had our normal pancake breakfast together and I made pink and purple castle ones!

We only have 4 more days until we leave for DISNEY!

On Sunday, we had a wonderful service and then got some lunch and headed home. I got on my pajamas (those who know me understand that I LOVE my pajamas and my bed!) and opened my presents. It was pretty funny. See, I asked for all the supplies to print out my blog for the past year and put it into a book form...a blogbook instead of a scrapbook.

So, the girls were a little shocked that I got printer paper, ink cartridges, page protectors, a HUGE binder, and things like that for Mother's day. But, it was EXACTLY what I wanted! So, I spent the afternoon relaxing and putting together my blogbook for 2008. Its...HUGE! There are over 500 pages for the past year that I have journaled and had photos for.

Well, after lots of ink and paper...I'm still not finished! We ran out of ink once and Jay went back out...and then ran out again. That was all the budget could handle for this month. In June, I'll have my fun money and use that to finish out the book.

I'll have to post the enormous book when I finish. But, I LOVE having this printed out with all my photos and journaling for the past year. It may not be as ornate as my other scrapbooks, but this is so much more our lives. It's the every day thoughts, memories and silly things that make up our home. It's more than just a series of events...it's daily life. I LOVE it.

Thanks Jay and girls for making my Mother's Day amazing. But, truthfully...you make every day amazing. I'm so blessed to have you in my life.

We sent my mom 2 dozen roses for Mother's Day. One to honor her and the other in memory of my grandmother who grew roses. She even supplied all the roses for my wedding...and that was a LOT. It was a day of celebration of my mother and my grandmother and my precious mother-in-law whom we put together a Shutterfly scrapbook of some fun memories we made with them this year. It was such a great day and full of rich blessing from God.

Thank you Father for blessing me with such awesome women in my life!