Hey there! I figured that you'd had enough of a break (to process the information overload), so I could come back and introduce a few more folks that will be traveling with us!
First of all...my mom:
This is her with Jack about a year ago from his pre-k "Special Person Day." She's a pediatric RN who will hopefully be all but retired by the time we get to this trip. If she goes through with it, I'm getting her an "I'm Celebrating" button! She keeps my dad busy with all kinds of projects around the house, since he retired several years ago. She's a doting grammy, and loves to spoil my kids absolutely rotten. They live in my hometown about 40 minutes south of us, so we get together as much as we can. This is a rare flattering picture of her - she has a knack for contorting her face in weird ways when the camera flashes. She does everything she can to hide from the camera, but she's not going to be able to at WDW!!
My aunt (one of her seven siblings) is also coming along, but I need to find a good picture of her! She's an LPN and the office manager at a large health clinic in eastern IN. She was my childhood babysitter (as we grew up next door to my grandparents), my confirmation sponsor, and my cheerleader as I competed in the ISSMA (high school music association here) contests every year. It's been tough as she's farther away now, and because she had the intense task of caring for my grandmother when mini-strokes robbed her of all of her personality/faculties slowly over 10 years. Gram passed away last May, and Deedee (everyone else calls her Dee, but I just can't) is now my grandfather's best friend and entertainer.
She's never been to Disney before, and can't wait. She's also simply one of the most fun-to-be-around people I've ever known!
My MIL and FIL:
This was taken at 'Ohana at the Poly in 2007. We had such a great time with them! We don't have the typical in-laws relationship at all. They've even gone on a week-long vacation with us and my parents! My father-in-law comes down (2 1/2 hours) each week to babysit for us for several days straight. He's an amazing caregiver during the week. He retired from U.S. Steele in 2003, and has been coming down here since Jack was 10 months old. My mother-in-law still works up in their hometown, but heads down every chance she gets. I'm spoiled rotten, because when she comes down she cleans, cooks, and organizes! She just left today, and my garage and two of my closets are completely re-organized.
Bryan's Uncle (Un)
Haley began calling him "Un" when she was very young, and it stuck. He's my father-in-law's brother, so we'll have three generations of brothers coming along for this trip! He's so attentive to and patient with my kids - Haley has had his hair in curlers, he's watched countless hours of video with Jack, and Will just climbs all over him. We don't get to see him near as much as we'd like due to his work schedule, so we're looking forward to seeing him for a straight week. He is an EXPERT photographer, and I know he's looking forward to taking lots of pictures (and we're looking forward to seeing them!). This isn't a great picture, but since he's usually behind the camera it was hard to find a good one. He's also a train enthusiast, so Shelley and I have been telling him about the train tour.
Bryan's Grandma and Great-Aunt:
(This is them - the two to the left - with their sister-in-law)
We were pleasantly surprised when Grandma and her sister decided they'd be joining us. They're currently living in New Mexico, where they took care of their mother and step-father until they passed away (Great Grandma passed away last June...it was a rocky start to the summer!). They're now adjusting to their increased freedom. They've decided to stay the whole week instead of the three or four days they were originally talking about, and they're also staying with us at CBR instead of the GF because they want to be with the group (yeah, that's a sacrifice!
). I know they're interested most in Epcot, and in watching the kids enjoy themselves.
Ok...I think that's everyone who hadn't already been introduced! You can see why we're so excited. It's such an amazing group of people!!! All of the ages, and sides of the family...we're coming from lots of different places...and we're hopefully all going to have a blast.
I hope your head isn't spinning now. I can always draw out a diagram for everyone to follow.....
It is so much fun! Especially since you are into history you will love it! Someday I would love to do the Backstage Magic tour which is all day. I will have to really save up for that one.
