The ABC's of Trip Reporting- PLEASE JOIN US ON THE NEW THREAD!

[All7OfUs]

Yes we are getting VERY excited.


I am going to do a TR though and I will let you know when I start it.

And I am definitely VERY excited FOR you!!

And please DO PM me when you start it; I don't subscribe and sometimes forget to "check" the TR board for new starts!

 

[pooh'smate]

And I am definitely VERY excited FOR you!!

And please DO PM me when you start it; I don't subscribe and sometimes forget to "check" the TR board for new starts!

I will definitely PM you.

 

[that's nice]

Most of you have probably noticed that maroo has not been around the last few days, since her last post, in fact. Whenever she goes a'missin, I get worried and eventually call her up. Sure enough, she could REALLY use our prayers right now and for the next while. I mean this very seriously! Please, if you think of her, remember her and some life stuff. I know she would be very grateful to all of you!!

I will keep her in my prayers.

On a more light-hearted note, but just as TR-related, Mike went to our old house in Portland to look for my Mickey book, pick up some mail that slipped through the forwarding request, and take back the garage door opener. After a bit of searching, deep, deep, deep under one of the couches, there was my Mickey book. Right near the place I usually sit and do my updates, but obviously kicked (WAY) further in during some random rowdy pillow fight or Tae Kwon Do demonstration. I can't tell you how elated I am to have found this!!! And you should be too; because now you can have a true-to-life adventure, and not some plausible, but probably very fictional, account of our trip.

I must of missed that it was missing. Glad you have it back!

And please DO PM me when you start it; I don't subscribe and sometimes forget to "check" the TR board for new starts!

I never understood why you don't subscribe.

I have it set so I don't get emails or anything like that- I just check my User CP to see my subscribed threads.

 

[Poolrat]

Phewww Finally all caught up.


What a great way to enter Disney. What a starlet you are!

I will keep Mary in my thoughts.

I can't wait to hear where you go next.

 

[maroo]

Most of you have probably noticed that maroo has not been around the last few days, since her last post, in fact. Whenever she goes a'missin, I get worried and eventually call her up. Sure enough, she could REALLY use our prayers right now and for the next while. I mean this very seriously! Please, if you think of her, remember her and some life stuff. I know she would be very grateful to all of you!!

Thank you for that! And thanks so much for calling. I sorta retreated for a few days. My DISing is going to be sparce for a bit, I am afraid.

Maroo, wherever you are, I am sending many, many prayers for you, sweetie.

Thank you! I am still around! I have not gone off the deep end or anything - but your prayers are very much appreciated. It has been a long week.

I am praying for Mary. I am also glad that your dh was able to find your Mickey Book.

Thanks for the prayers!!

I will keep her in my prayers.

Thanks, Tim!

I will keep Mary in my thoughts.

I can't wait to hear where you go next.

Thanks, Pat!



I am sorry to be so vague about what is going on - everyone is healthy and such, including all of my friends and family - I have just gotten myself caught in a mess.

I am going back to catch any comments from my last update and then I will post my E!

 

[brookelizabeth]

Praying for you Mary that this "mess" works itself out.

I hear the DVC is an ok deal. I wonder how much it'd cost to live there every day 365 a year.

We looked into this actually....and....THEY DON'T LET YOU! The max number of points you can buy is 5,000 which equals about 6 months of stay at even the "cheapest" resort (OKW).

But still...6 months, that's pretty amazing!

Actually, I"m learning rather quickly that living in a larger house means larger (amounts of) work.

Yes it does! I don't miss my big house ONE BIT! I love my 500 square feet. (except that we too have a postage stamp bathroom, it's literally less than 5 feet x 5 feet, and it gets dirty so quick, I feel your pain!)

Just found out that the job he really wants accepted the minimum qualifications on his application! WOOT!

Keep us posted! I hope he gets it!!!

I am going to do a TR though and I will let you know when I start it.

Let me know too!


And Liesa - FANTASTIC ToT update!!!! I LOVED it! Very clever! That last pic of you is just awesome.

 

[tinacaplan]

We looked into this actually....and....THEY DON'T LET YOU! The max number of points you can buy is 5,000 which equals about 6 months of stay at even the "cheapest" resort (OKW).

But still...6 months, that's pretty amazing!

That IS amazing... I would love to live in a small dwelling of some kind under the monorail line in Futureworld at EPCOT, personally.

 

[All7OfUs]

I will keep her in my prayers.



I must of missed that it was missing. Glad you have it back!


I never understood why you don't subscribe.

I have it set so I don't get emails or anything like that- I just check my User CP to see my subscribed threads.

I am so happy that "the book" is back!! I was nearing apoplexy status!

I don't need to... I just always go to TRs and run right on down the row to the ones that are checked that I've posted in- from top to bottom. I usually can make it ALL the way through anything on page 1, and if I'm lucky and have few extra minutes, I go to page 2, and if I'm REALLY lucky, I can scan page 3 and enter into banter.

I really hated the 4oo emails that came in. And for me, going to my user CP takes forever to load AND I might miss a new TR I should check out. There's my reasoning. Good, Bad, or Indifferent.

Phewww Finally all caught up.


What a great way to enter Disney. What a starlet you are!

I will keep Mary in my thoughts.

I can't wait to hear where you go next.

I wondered where you were off too!! Glad you're caught up- you've got one up on me. Your own thread has been flying lately too.

I think you'll like my next steps.

Thank you for that! And thanks so much for calling. I sorta retreated for a few days. My DISing is going to be sparce for a bit, I am afraid.

Thank you! I am still around! I have not gone off the deep end or anything - but your prayers are very much appreciated. It has been a long week.

I am going back to catch any comments from my last update and then I will post my E!

See! I'm glad I "listened" today, and gave you a call! I knew you needed to talk and have someone pray for you!!

And can I just say... I cannot WAIT to read your "E". In fact, I'm very E...xcited!!

Praying for you Mary that this "mess" works itself out.

We looked into this actually....and....THEY DON'T LET YOU! The max number of points you can buy is 5,000 which equals about 6 months of stay at even the "cheapest" resort (OKW). But still...6 months, that's pretty amazing!


Yes it does! I don't miss my big house ONE BIT! I love my 500 square feet. (except that we too have a postage stamp bathroom, it's literally less than 5 feet x 5 feet, and it gets dirty so quick, I feel your pain!)

Keep us posted! I hope he gets it!!!

And Liesa - FANTASTIC ToT update!!!! I LOVED it! Very clever! That last pic of you is just awesome.

Really!? Only 6 months?? I'd take 6 more days! (Within the next 6 YEARS!)

Our first house, which we still own, is only 800, but we finished the basement, and almost doubled that. But before it was done, having 4 kids in it was tough! And it was messy too. There just isn't enough space to put everything you need away!

Our one bath is 3 feet X 5 feet and then a shower stall. The "master" bath is only 5X 6 Maybe! I hate that I dont' have a ginormous space to spend hours in the tub, but ah well... it is what it is.

After Mary gets her "E" up, I'll start on my NEXT ONE, which shall not be named, since I already got in trouble for on Dan's thread.

 

[All7OfUs]

That IS amazing... I would love to live in a small dwelling of some kind under the monorail line in Futureworld at EPCOT, personally.

I think if I could live anywhere on property I'd choose that little cottage in the Canada Pavilion. Ahhhh... so, so pretty with that waterfall splashing beside you and perfectly tended flower gardens, and steaks just next door!!

 

[pooh'smate]

I think if I could live anywhere on property I'd choose that little cottage in the Canada Pavilion. Ahhhh... so, so pretty with that waterfall splashing beside you and perfectly tended flower gardens, and steaks just next door!!

That little cottage is very Canadian. It reminds me of the neighborhood at the end of my in-laws street. (They live in Montreal) Every time I see a picture of that cottage I think of all the stone houses at the end of their street that look over the St. Lawrence River. I too love it.

 

[burly]

All caught up!
Prayers Mary
My son Kevin is studying Latin in 7th and now 8th grade, absolutely loves it. His best friend is from another country, can't remember which?, and he understands the parents perfectly. He has a knack for languages. And since he wants to be a vet, the Latin should come in handy.

Loved the update. My sister and i were dragged backstage to your hotel before the park opened once, when they first started the million dreams campaign. We rode TOT first thing and we were the only 2 people on it!!!
We were so early in fact that when we disembarked, the people at the picture station looked at us like we were ghosts and demanded to know where we came from. Thankfully the system was up and running and we do have that awesome picture, just the two of us.....thanks for the memory...


KIM

 

[maroo]

I'm so glad you got to meet up with Noah's family!! I know you really connected with them the first time you met them, and how special they are to you! Noah was such a bundle of sweetness, and of course they must miss him so much!

I remember you mentioning that the charge wasn't holding at first, so they sent a new one! Good thing- you really didn't have any more problems after that.

I really didn't have any more problems once I got the "new" chair...I actually almost had some problems one day because we barely slept and it didn't really have 8 hours to charge... But for the most part it was awesome!! And their customer service was great!

I love Noah's family! They are all so neat!

I can't wait to read about this dinner, you have me intrigued.

Is that a river at the back of your house? I pray you aren't near that flooding going on in Oregon right now .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maroo, so sweet of you to meet up with that Wish family again. I am glad you had a good time and it was great to see the good customer service from Apple.

I was worried about that high river, too!

I had a great time with them!

Liesa, your house looks very American to me - in a good sense I love it that you have a stove! Do you need it or is it just something etxra for cosier warmth?

Mary - so gerat you were able to meet this special family again!

It was amazing!

Maroo, you have me in tears. What a story about Noah. I'm so glad you were able to meet up with the family and catch-up, what a special DIS meet!!!

It was really special! It is hard to describe, Noah, really. You would think that a child that can't talk would have a hard time communicating...but he was just so expressive and giggled and laughed so much! That sweet child had tubes in him and he was still so happy!

It was really a testimony of his family, too - kids are not that happy unless someone is taking very good care of them and loving on them a ton.

Liesa- what a beautiful house!!!! (except for that wallpaper!!! Little to busy for my taste. ) I'm so glad you are able to finally get settled in.


Mary-
Love the pictures of Noah.... you can see the joy radiating out of his face.

How great that you had time to meet up with Noah's family again. I know it must of been hard for them to be back in Disney without Noah, but I'm sure it was comforting to them to get to spend some time with you.

WTG Apple Scooters! What great customer service!

Radiating joy is right!! I hope I brightened their day! They sure encourage me!

Maroo: great story about meeting Noah and his family! I'm sure you will cherish the memories.

I definitely do!!

Liesa - your house is gorgeous. I absolutely love the surroundings and scenery. And the deck and views are just lovely! Are you very far from the town/city? I'm just breathless looking at those photos. I would love to live in a house like that some day

Maroo - a very touching story. It would be so sad to meet up with the family who just lost a child. I'm glad to hear you were so well taken care of with your electric chair!

They really didn't radiate sadness at all...I am sure that it is so hard for them...but they were really enjoying themselves that night, I think!

Maroo, Noah's story has me in tears. Awesome that you were able to meet up with the family again. I hope there are no more wheelchair issues. You know, it's ironic. You've done so much to help families with WISH trips who often have children who are wheelchair bound, and then of course there's your work with Lauren. But now you even have MORE expertise to share now that you've experienced WDW in a wheelchair yourself. Maybe your foot problems were a little blessing in disguise in that way?

It worked out well for me on this trip because I was able to rent an actual power wheelchair - which kept Leisa and LeeAnn from having to push me around - so all of that "work" with Lauren more like hanging out with Lauren! - has really helped me for this trip!

And it gives me a whole new perspective...especially when I was by myself...regarding how difficult it is to get around, even at Disney, in a wheelchair. The crowds, the doors that don't open by themselves, the buses loading and unloading...it was really a lot harder than it looks!

Okay, I'm here getting caught up! Liesa your house looks so nice! Thanks for sharing it with us.

Maroo, that is such a touching story!

thanks!! How are you?? long time no see!!

Maroo - so sorry about the computer but woo-hoo for a MAC! Jason says we are never getting a non-MAC again!

I am so happy you got to see Noah's family again and that they got to go to WDW again! I will never forget them and of course we always have the special smilie on the DIS to remind us of Noah . I would love to see the paver that was bought for him at GKTW some day.

Liesa - Glad you don't think Mike will have to take the CA job. Hope all goes well tomorrow with his interview! You know - there are some pretty awesome people living in PA in case he would get a job offer in here.

I am so glad you enjoyed your DHS time so much - it is tons of fun to read about!

I am also glad to hear Zach is rolling right along with all of the changes!

We really enjoyed Tangled too and Jordan really wants to do the play and greet next week so we will try it.

Love the new house and I think it looks remarkably settled considering you just moved in! Hope you find your trip notes ASAP!

Maroo, Liesa, Camille and anyone else that is interested- if you have time, watch FB starting Saturday for updates from me of our WDW trip. I plan to post pics and updates via my iPhone. If anyone else is interested, feel free to friend me on FB - Jennifer Baney.

Awesome!!! I am going to look right now!! Oh...wait...it's tomorrow.

Mary: How nice that you got to meet up with Noah's family? I've read their TR and they seem like such a wonderful family. The older kids were so caring and understanding with their special little brother. I'm sure Noah was there with everyone in spirit that day.
Glad you got a new scooter in due time. Apple Scooters seem to really be on the ball.

Liesa: Beautiful house! Love the views of the river.

Their older kids really are special kids! I have met a lot of special needs children and siblings and most siblings have understandable issues because their sibling is so sick...but those kids were particularly well adjusted.

I can't say enough about Apple Scooters!!!

 

[maroo]

I have no idea where maroo is to comment on this stuff!! Maaaaaaaaa-rooooooooo??

lol

Looks like I should have heard that from way over here!

MarooHow awesome that you got to meet up with Noah's family again. That brought tears to my eyes.

Liesa
I love your house. It's so me. Wanna trade? I don't have a river...everyday, but when it rains hard enough my two creeks merge and then I have a river...even a lake.

AirsuckyTran? I flew them once, and got a free ticket when my flight was delayed 4 hours, so then I used my free ticket to fly to Texas and got another free ticket when they lost my luggage and then once they found it delivered it to the wrong person. So now Feb 1st I am using that free ticket to fly to Mi. As much as I would love another free ticket I am hoping "third time is a charm" rings true for me.

I loved the update, super funny.

I love that family!!

Liessa Loved the pix of your house !! BUT that wallpaper Your description of ToT was hysterical!!But not enuff to make me reserve a room!!!

Maroo . loved the insight into Noah and family !!

Thanks! I love sharing about these neat families!!

I love this update!!!!!!!!!!

You are putting my TR to shame, I might add. I think the problem is I didn't put the disclaimer at the beginning of my TR this time- you know, the one that states I am NOT a writer.

I hope every ride you went on has an update like this... we'll be reading this TR for years!!!!

no doubt!! years!

You CAN write!!!!

What a great story about Noah and his family, and so sad for their loss of this precious child! Thanks so much for sharing and so glad you got to meet with them again!
Laughing again about your Liesa Greeting!
My next goal for travelling during a different season is to see those fall/halloween decorations!!!

You know...that angel is named FOR Noah!! Did you guys know that? Not sure if I mentioned that?



Yeah...Liesa Greeting. LOL That is funny!

I have become a lurker. I admit it. I read and don't respond.

I can't keep up.

I did want to say though, and I've said it before, Maroo, it takes a special kind of person to be what you have been to these families, Lauren's, Noah's...I'm always in awe of how much love you have to give.

I promise they all give me more than I give away!!

You were my FIRST real solid TR writer that I followed on the DIS - so you sorta started a lot of this stuff!!

Maroo, so sorry to hear about the computer...that would have made me nuts.

Liesa, YOU ARE A STAR!

I love your description of Tower of Terror...you really should write a book as you are such a great storyteller.

Now I am thinking the computer thing wasn't the worst thing that happened all well.

Best Update Ever.

Seriously, that was so much fun to read!

TOTALLY agree with this!!!! BEST update!! That was awesome, Liesa!!!!!!

Now I just have to figure out what page the ToT update was on, somehow, I totally missed that!

This thread FLIES!!!! It takes me hours to catch up.

Praying for you Mary that this "mess" works itself out.



We looked into this actually....and....THEY DON'T LET YOU! The max number of points you can buy is 5,000 which equals about 6 months of stay at even the "cheapest" resort (OKW).

But still...6 months, that's pretty amazing!



Yes it does! I don't miss my big house ONE BIT! I love my 500 square feet. (except that we too have a postage stamp bathroom, it's literally less than 5 feet x 5 feet, and it gets dirty so quick, I feel your pain!)



Keep us posted! I hope he gets it!!!



Let me know too!


And Liesa - FANTASTIC ToT update!!!! I LOVED it! Very clever! That last pic of you is just awesome.

I have 900 square feet and love it! Just me and my puppy!

See! I'm glad I "listened" today, and gave you a call! I knew you needed to talk and have someone pray for you!!

And can I just say... I cannot WAIT to read your "E". In fact, I'm very E...xcited!!

After Mary gets her "E" up, I'll start on my NEXT ONE, which shall not be named, since I already got in trouble for on Dan's thread.

E is coming!!!!

All caught up!
Prayers Mary
My son Kevin is studying Latin in 7th and now 8th grade, absolutely loves it. His best friend is from another country, can't remember which?, and he understands the parents perfectly. He has a knack for languages. And since he wants to be a vet, the Latin should come in handy.

Loved the update. My sister and i were dragged backstage to your hotel before the park opened once, when they first started the million dreams campaign. We rode TOT first thing and we were the only 2 people on it!!!
We were so early in fact that when we disembarked, the people at the picture station looked at us like we were ghosts and demanded to know where we came from. Thankfully the system was up and running and we do have that awesome picture, just the two of us.....thanks for the memory...


KIM

thanks for the prayers!!!

 

[maroo]

I realize we probably have some new readers now that this is on the Trip Reports board, so I will recap a little about Baker and his family. First Baker...

This is Baker. Baker is severely autistic.

As you can tell in that picture, his Mom is having to hold his face so he will look in her direction to take a picture. Taking pictures of him BEFORE Disney was pretty hard. So when you see pictures later in this report that show his face…this will give you an idea of how hard those are to capture.

He is 13 years old and loves all things Disney! He is one of US!

Check out his birthday party pictures!

His honored guest was MICKEY!!

And notice in that picture that the other seats are filled with Mickey things, too. And his cake is Jiminy Cricket!


Here is some background about how I met their family…

On April 24, 2010, an F4 tornado tore through Mississippi. Some of you guys probably remember hearing about it on the news - it was national news for a few days. The tornado was 149 miles long - it never got off the ground for 149 miles!!! It started in Louisiana and went nearly straight across Mississippi. The tornado was 1.75 miles WIDE. It was huge!

Baker literally saved his family because he was freaking out about the storm and alerted his family.

His family was in this house…

The walls were barely standing when the winds finally died down.

Some walls were not standing.

The damage to their property and area was horrific.

They lost many precious items in the storm.

Very unfortunately, their neighbor was killed when she was literally laying down over her three children to protect them from the flying debris. The three children survived, but the mother was killed. And she was their neighbor and friend. Baker's older sister, Sarah, babysat for the children. It was a tragedy for their whole community.



Video of some of the damage in the same town.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8J9Oj7dNhg&feature=watch_response



But the community also came together. My church, located just 30 miles away, provided some assistance to a handful of families. All of the families were special, but this family really stood out to several of our church members and the family was sort of adopted by a group of us.

We set out to meet more than the "basic" needs for this family and tried to particularly help Baker. Baker LOVED Disney videos and they really calmed him down when he got upset or agitated due to his autism. But they had lost them all in the storm. So we replaced things like that. To restore some normalcy to their lives.

Baker owned a BUNCH of Mickey Mouse dolls before the storm, but FEMA asked them to get rid of all of them because they had asbestos in them from the walls of the house.

So our church family replaced things like that…

And one day his Mom mentioned that they had a dream of taking him to Disney one day because he is such a fan - but the money they had been saving now was being used for furniture and other things they needed. Someone got word to me about his "wish" - and I mentioned it to a few of my friends - including some of you - and we made it happen!

We sent his family to Disney!

A room at the POP Century - Free Dining - and tickets and they were good to go! And it worked well for them to go over Labor Day weekend - which meant I got to tag along and play tour guide during the first few days of our trip! So you guys get to come along for the ride!

So…hang on to your seats…because wonderful things are going to happen to this little boy and his family on their special trip.

 

[burly]

Your heart is unquestioningly one of the biggest i have ever known.
You are the bestest Maroo!

Can't wait to hear all about it.


KIM

(bestest is a descriptive word....he he)

 

[All7OfUs]

I will never forget nearly 3 (maybe more) years ago opening up your thread about Lauren's trip. That was one of the first threads I followed regularly, and when I first "knew" that I HAD to get to know you! I cried real tears of joy and amazment and praise at what I saw "Dad" doing through you. I will never, never forget it!

I am sitting here in tears again at how very, very special these trips are to kids who otherwise have a really difficult everyday life. And what a healing balm these trips can be to them. I already know just a little, really, of some of the things Baker and his family got to do. I've seen some of the pictures of some things coming up- but to see them again, and hear about it all over again with more details is really going to be a highlight for me.

Each of us went for what we needed to do for where we "were" in life. I NEEDED to have some alone time for SO many reasons, and the Lord called you to once more act on his behalf for this special family! So cool that already so early in the trip we were both just where we needed to be and having such a great time!

 

[mom3sonstt]

I was "late" to this TR and never knew about your extra-special reason for going. I knew Liesa was having an "escape", and I knew that you all had become online friends, and were going to become "in person" friends down there. But I had never heard about Baker and his family and your amazing participation in their lives.

I am continuously moved and touched by the wonderful, caring, loving, selfless, etc, etc, etc.....people on these boards.

I pray that whatever the "mess" is that you are dealing with now, works itself out soon. Somebody who has been such a positive force in so many lives deserves only good things to happen to you.

 

[maroo]

Your heart is unquestioningly one of the biggest i have ever known.
You are the bestest Maroo!

Can't wait to hear all about it.


KIM

(bestest is a descriptive word....he he)

You are so sweet.

I will never forget nearly 3 (maybe more) years ago opening up your thread about Lauren's trip. That was one of the first threads I followed regularly, and when I first "knew" that I HAD to get to know you! I cried real tears of joy and amazment and praise at what I saw "Dad" doing through you. I will never, never forget it!

I am sitting here in tears again at how very, very special these trips are to kids who otherwise have a really difficult everyday life. And what a healing balm these trips can be to them. I already know just a little, really, of some of the things Baker and his family got to do. I've seen some of the pictures of some things coming up- but to see them again, and hear about it all over again with more details is really going to be a highlight for me.

Each of us went for what we needed to do for where we "were" in life. I NEEDED to have some alone time for SO many reasons, and the Lord called you to once more act on his behalf for this special family! So cool that already so early in the trip we were both just where we needed to be and having such a great time!

I am totally with you! This was totally a God thing! To go a few days early and then end up doing exactly what we were each supposed to be doing - it really is nice looking back to see where He had each of us. Reminds me that He is going to look after all the things going on this week, too.

I was "late" to this TR and never knew about your extra-special reason for going. I knew Liesa was having an "escape", and I knew that you all had become online friends, and were going to become "in person" friends down there. But I had never heard about Baker and his family and your amazing participation in their lives.

I am continuously moved and touched by the wonderful, caring, loving, selfless, etc, etc, etc.....people on these boards.

I pray that whatever the "mess" is that you are dealing with now, works itself out soon. Somebody who has been such a positive force in so many lives deserves only good things to happen to you.

Honestly...we were going first...and added Baker and family later. To be honest. But it was totally awesome to be able to just fit them right in to the plans that were already there! It was an amazing experience to watch, too! I very nearly had to cancel because I didn't have enough money to make the reservation...but at the last minute...the last day...the final amount came through an anonymous donation straight to the bank I had been telling people to send the checks to...so it worked out just perfect!!!!

Thanks for the well wishes!



I love the DIS so much....

You guys just have no idea how much your friendships mean to me! It is so nice to have a few people in real life that are a constant cheer squad!! You guys are the best!!!!

 

[jenb1023]

I already knew most of the story bit what a great update Maroo! I cannot wait to read what special things were in store for this family that has been through so much! Helping with the Big Give and reading their stories is so heart-breaking sometimes. You are a very special person to have the emotional strength to be so helpful to so many!


Now, on a happier note,
We leave for WDW in 2 1/2 hours!!!!!!

 

[englishrose47]

Maroo you are an inspiration to us !!! I too did know the story about "Baker " I am looking forward to following along !!!
Liessa I am sooooo glad you found your Mickey book!!