yikes!

that last blog... yeah, i wrote it on June 22 and haven't published it. let me tell you what. it's been a crazy summer.

after we got back from disney, Josh was in Atlanta for a week and then, June 20, he had knee surgery to repair a torn ACL and Miniscus. he has been down almost all summer, and we have had a time. i am so thankful for friends and family who have been there to help me keep my sanity. it may have just been God's protection of my blog readers and my reputation that i have not had time to blog during most of his recovery. there have been times where God has revealed so many ugly sides of me during the last few weeks. i love my husband more than anything. it was just such a challenge to take care of him and three small kids. our marriage and appreciation for each other have definately increased over the summer.

on to other topics. i have started running. a new buddy best friend, Rachel, has gotten me hooked. i'm not sure i like it, but i don't like letting her down, so i go. and i like to get out of the house, so i go. and, i like reducing booty jiggle, so i go. we are training for a half marathon in October. me? a half marathon? yeah, right! that's my thoughts from a few weeks ago. but, as we've trained, and prayed and shared and done life together, i think we can do it! will keep you updated (don't gasp if it takes me two more months to update my blog).

i am so appreciative of God's love and forgiveness and grace. i need Him everyday!

the most magical place on earth

we have been so SWAMPED since we came home from Disney World. nonetheless, i still need to blog about it! :) for some time now, we've been planning a trip to Disney World with Lincoln and Leslie Clark, and their 5 year old twins, katie and cole. Linc's dad lives close to disney world and he works there on the weekends. Ed was able to get us a good deal on the trip of a lifetime. we left on a friday, drove to orlando, stayed with the clarks for a day, and then hit Disney on Sunday. we started at hollywood studios and the magic kingdom on day 1. the first thing we rode at hollywood studios was the tower of terror. in my most convincing voice, i told the kids, "it's gonna be dark, and fast, and FUN!" they jumped right on and had a blast! wanna know the best time to go to disney? when your kids are AT LEAST 40" tall, preferable 44". laura grace was right at 40" and able to ride thunder mountain, splash mountain, star wars, tower of terror, test track, and most of the things that she wanted to ride. at 44", caden was able to add space mountain and mt. everest to his list of rides that he was tall enough for.

most days, we slept in, took a while getting to the park and then stayed for a while, came back to the hotel and napped, and then stayed out until the park closed. there were literally days where we closed the parks down.

on tuesday, we had bought tickets to eat breakfast with cinderella in her castle. laura grace could not have been in more awe. we got to go IN  the castle, meet cinderella and then sit down to a fancy breakfast. one at a time, the other princesses would be announced and they would come out of a door, into the dining area where we were all sitting. they would then come one by one to our table and talk to the girls and have their picture made with them. this was probably the best part of the trip.

wednesday was spent at animal kingdom. i didn't have high hopes for this place. boy, was i wrong! we started the day with lunch at rain forest cafe. the kids loved it and it was a great atmosphere. our favorite things at animal kingdom were meeting the characters (ask caden how many times minnie mouse kissed him), watching the lion king performance, and riding the safari. we saw lions and elephants and zebras and hippos and all sorts of "wild" animals. we were in a huge jeep and it was almost like a real safari. the kids loved it!

thursday we spent the day at hollywood studios. we had finally gotten in the disney groove, and had figured out how to travel together, how to not kill each other while waiting and waiting and waiting in line, and how to pack the backpacks... too bad it was our last day! :) we rode the starwars ride, we went to the Narnia exhibit, watched our favorite show of the trip (little mermaid) and ended our last night of the trip with the toy story ride and meeting buzz and woody. it was by far, our best day!

here's a little slide show with some of our favorite shots. i have intentions of putting a book together so that we can remember this trip, so ask me in a month if i've done it yet...