Been way too long...

So I was downloading some of my pictures from my camera today and I realized it's been way too long since I posted on here last. I always bug other people about how dead their blog has gotten, but mine doesn't look much better. So hopefully these next few posts can catch you up on what's been going on lately....

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving day was spent with my mom's cousin's family down in Seaside. It was a typical Seaside day....beach rain! But we had fun.

Day after Thanksgiving was spent up at Ryan's sister's house in Redmond. We had a blast hanging out with the family & eating lots of pie :-)


Micah "hangs out" with cousin Heidi


Horse play with Daddy

Skate Shop

We continue to help out at the Skate Shop here in town. Micah made a lot of sales this Christmas season by his good looks & charm.


Micah tries to convince customers to buy the plastic toy skate boards.

Florida Coast

As I said earlier, after we had completed our time at Disney World we headed off to Merritt Island. We had a delightful time with friend down at Teen Missions. It's hard to go back there & not want to be working in this ministry. We were really encouraged by our time spent with friends. Ryan and I are now seriously considering leading a team next summer, either to Sicily or Nepal. Please be praying that his work will allow us to do this.

After our visit with friends down at Teen Missions we decided to head North up the FL coastline. We had a delightful time exploring the Merritt Island National Wildlife Reserve and the Cape Canaveral National Seashore. Wow, what amazing places! The birds were everywhere & we even got a close-up view of the space shuttle on the launch pad (I think there is a scheduled launch in early December).

Funny Story: So I decide that Micah & I need to put our toes in the Atlantic. So we decide to drive up the shoreline & find a beach. There are 13 parking areas to choose from to stop & enjoy the ocean. We choose parking area #13. We haven't been on the beach for more than 3 minutes before a park ranger stops us to inform us that the beach we have choosen is frequented by nude sunbathers!! He even takes the liberty to point out a nearby sun enthusist! As you can guess this cut our beach combing experience short :-)









An exciting opportunity that we had in this visit was to see the much illusive Mannatees!! It was amazing to watch them swim about & explore the river floor.

Breakfast with Minnie

We decided to conclude our trip with a character breakfast. This was really fun! We had breakfast with Minnie, Goofy, Chip & Dale. This totally made Caleb's day & Micah was beginning to get comfortable enough with the characters that he was a little curious. Hope you enjoy these shots :-)

Mommy & Daddy get a night to themselves...

With Grandma here that ment Ryan & I could get a night to ourselves. We chose to visit Disney's MGM. It looks a lot like Disney's version of Universal Studios. We stayed out late (till almost midnight) ridding the rollercoasters & the "Tower of Terror."

A highlight of the park was an amazing Christmas Light display...with snow & everything!!

Animal Kingdom

Our next park that we visited was Animal Kingdom. This is Disney's attempt at an animal park/zoo. It's great & one of our favorites. Caleb absolutly LOVED this park. He demonstrated his vast knowledge of animals & love exploration.

The Boys view the animals

Character Sightings

Who can resist these boys?!

The first ride we went on was the Killimanjaro Safari. We saw lots of cool animals....

Some of the beasts we saw

They're out of control!!

At the Mearcat sighting Caleb answered some questions about the little critters & was made a "Jr. Animal Researcher." He was pretty proud of his accomplishment.

More Character sightings

With "Asia" in the background Caleb waits anxiously to go on "Everest," a new and exciting rollercoaster ride which he had been talking about all weekend (it's the mountian in the background)

In true amusment park style everyone, except me, decided to ride on a soaking water ride...the only problem was that is was only in the low 70's outside, so it was kinda chilly.

Aren't Vacations Great!!!

Well, as many of you know we just got back from an amazing vacation! Ryan & I took 9 days in Florida & had an exciting time!! We spent 4 days at Disney World. We were joined on this portion of the vacation by Ryan's mom & his nephew Caleb. Then we spent 4 days with friends who are on staff with Teen Missions. Finally we used our last day exploring the coast north of Merritt Island. It was exciting, relaxing & hard to return home :-) I thought I'd share some of our photos from our trip. I hope you enjoy...

Our first stop on our Vacation was Epcot Center at Disney World

Caleb in front of the "golf ball" (as Ryan likes to call it)

Our boys prepare to watch the fireworks

Dinner the first night was at a Morrocan Resturant...it was exciting, although a little out of Caleb's element.

Fasts Goof around in Aladin's Realm