PLEASE PRAY FOR KATIE

We need reverent prayers for my cousin's 5 year old daughter, Katie, who was hit by a car last night. She is in ICU with a fractured skull, and so far no other notable injuries. The next 24 hours are critical,.. so far, there is no swelling of her brain.

PLEASE pray for Katie-Bug. That God would wrap her up in His loving arms and ease her pains. That He would work through the hands of the doctors to give her the best possible care, and to help her heal. That she will not suffer from any further injuries that may not have presented themselves yet, or brain trauma. Please lift her up in your prayers. Pray hard; pray strong.

PLEASE pray for Barb. As a mother, I know her heart is literally outside of her body on that hospital bed right now! Please pray for her peace & comfort, for strength in this awful nightmare she is going through right now. Pray that she will be able to allow herself the rest she will need for endurance, that her mind will break from panic so that she can be a shining light for her daughter. That God will speak to her softly & remind her that she is not alone in this, that He is there, and that He will carry them through this.

PLEASE pray for GT. He is one of the bravest men I know. He has served in the military for about 16 years, done several tours overseas, and yes, Iraq, too, and I am certain that none of that compares to what he is going through right now. Nothing can prepare a parent for this kind of thing, and I know he is scared out of his mind right now. He needs your prayers, too. Pray for his strength & clarity of mind, and that God would also work through him to be a pillar for Katie, Barb & the boys, but don't forget to pray for his aching heart. Pray for his peace & comfort, too.

PLEASE also pray for Zachary & Jordan. The boys were home babysitting Kathryn when the accident happened. It ocurred through no fault of their own, but I am sure they are feeling a great deal of responsibility. Please pray that God would lift that guilt from them, and that He would give them a peaceful spirit in all of this. That He would remove any doubt from their minds. That they would feel His love around them, and that they will find comfort. Thay they will not carry this burden with them.

Thanking you all in advance!

I will try to post an update when I hear any further news.

Fantasmic!

Here's the Grand Finale, if you will... We certainly have scores & scores of more pictures from this trip, but I think you've gotten a pretty good look at it! :)

We had an AMAZING time, and I believe these new, happy memories will last Brittney a lifetime.........

I {heart} My GOOFY Kid! :)

What an incredible bonding opportunity... I have to say that I am so very thankful to have been blessed to have these experiences with my kids this year. People who have multiple children know how difficult it can be to get in the important, one-on-one, quality time with each child. The kind that makes them feel truly special, unique to your heart, and an individual. I highly recommend taking out Mother-Child time, and Father-child time for that matter. It doesn't mean you have to go on some big trip to do it, and it doesn't mean you have to make special acommodations for each child on a daily, weekly, or even monhtly basis, but try to take time out to spend individually, periodically, as you can... they will never forget it, and your relationship will be stronger for it. I even try to make the point to have one-on-one chats tucked away in another room of the house, play one-on-one board games periodiclly, stuff like that as well. But, this trip,.. what a huge treasure it turned out to be for us!

From our third & final day, here are some favorite pics of my "GOOFY" while we were there... I think she makes the cutest Goofy I've ever seen, but then,.. I'm partial. ;)

Disney's Play Parade!

This is probably the most fun of all of the various parades that Disney puts on! It's interactive with the audience, bubbles are flying everywhere, and watch out, you can get squirted, too! This parade consists of the newer Disney/Pixar characters, whereas the Main St parade has mostly the traditonal/original, although it has been updated quite a bit with newer Disney characters as well... ones they certainly didn't have when I first saw it at the tender age of 9, LOL :)

This parade takes place on the Disney California Adventure park side...

California Adventure

A few pretty shots from around the California Adventure side of the park...

Lights, Lights & More Lights!

Before the parade, we decided to start off the evening with blinky necklaces & went for some spinning, wobbling fun on the ladybug ride, LOL, those things are a bit wilder than the teacups, and harder to take pictures when you're moving so much,.. see? Goodness though, how we laughed!!

Then, we bought matching, blinky Mickey ears and found a primo spot to watch the Electrical Parade!

*Tea-Time!*

We {heart} the teacups... C'mon, seriously though, who doesn't?? Even big, burley, grown men LOVE riding the teacups!! They are FUN!

And,.. they are even cooler at night!

Yo-ho, Yo-ho, a Pirate's Life for Me!

We scoured the Pirate's Lair in search of our favorite, heart-throb pirate..... and found treasure!

And then we finally found him...... Cpt. Jack Sparrow!



I mentioned this in a previous post, but here's the story again to go along with the photos:

That day, we had our hearts set on finding Captain Jack Sparrow so Brittney could get him to sign her autograph book, and we could get pictures with him. We dressed in our 'girlie' pirate mouse ears... we were too cute! We searched all over the Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island, exploring every nook & cranny, and finally found him on the back side of the island,............. just as he was going on a break. *sigh* But! We used our noggins and stayed there and waited for him to come back, whereas almost everybody else went ahead and left. We waited there for a half hour before he came back, but it was well worth the wait because when he did finally come back, there were only a few other people there besides us so he took a lot more time, and played around with Brittney! It was hilarious, and nobody else bothered rushing up for their turn next because they were enjoying watching so much. It was just too funny! You see, this guy played Jack Sparrow to a 't'. He had the look, the lingo, the hand gestures, the whole mannerism of Jack Sparrow, just as Johnny Depp portrayed him in the films. So, he takes her autograph book, and gets her to turn around so he can use her back to sign it on, then leans 'round and toys with her a bit while unbeknownst to her,... he was pilfering her! While he distracted her, he had gotten into her backpack and taken out a key chain she had just purchased prior to going over to the island (& it was too perfect b/c it just so happened to be a skull, LOL)... So he gives her back her autograph book, and as she is walking away, he says something admiringly about 'his trinket'. Brittney says, "oh cool, I have the same.... hey, wait a minute,.. that's mine!". She asks him if she can have it back, he says, "oh sure thing, love, here you are" and passes her back the little shopping bag. She says thank you, and as she's walking away, I whispered that the bag was empty, then she squeezes it & realizes I am right, LOL. Meanwhile, he has wandered over by a rock wall, and placed his new found 'trinket' on top of it where he proceeds to admire it some more. Brittney marches over to him, and their conversation proceeds as follows: Britt: "Hey you stole that, can I have it back please?" Jack: "I didn't steal it,.. I'm 'borrowing' it, Love"... Britt reaches out for it, and as she's reaching, Jack grabs the skull back out of her reach with one hand while placing the other hand on her shoulder with which to hold her back! ROFLMAO,.... and he says, "You can have it back tomorrow, Love". It was such a hoot! Too fun!

M.I.C.K.E.Y. M.O.U.S.E.

Day Two: You know the day is off to a good beginning when it starts with everybody's favorite mouse!

More to come,.. stay tuned! :)

The Sword in the Stone

And what trip to Disney is complete without a tug on the ol' sword, eh? If only Merlin would've given her a little "help", LOL,..

Magical Moments

After the fireworks, we wandered around and checked out everything all lit up... so magical!



Main St at night,.. it just glows!

What a WONDERFUL first day!!

Fireworks Extraordinaire!

Our first evening, we chose to view the amazing fireworks display you see here... it was absolutely, hands down, the BEST fireworks display I have ever seen in my life. Truly stunning! We had an excellent spot right in front of the castle... An unforgettable experience!

Parade of Dreams

These are also from our first day... We were fortunate to get some good seats!