~~ They're leaving the nest, sew it's time for a trip - or two - or three...~~ D~'s bag ~9/22 ~~

[huggybuff]

Merry Christmas to you and your family, D~!!!

 

[FantasiaMagic]

Lasagna sounds delicious for dinner as well! And yum that bread you were talking about making sounds fabulous also. Christmastime is a good time to splurge on some good treats.

The wall quilt is beautiful! What a nice idea to have as a decoration for Christmases to come.

Wow, Allison's project is amazing. She definitely deserved 1st place. It looks delicious and it's so clever and crafty. If she enjoys designing things, maybe she would want to do something of that nature as a career?!

Love the idea for the luggage! if you decide to keep it I bet it will turn out great!

Also, that is a beautiful picture of you three. You could frame it and display it in your home!

D - I wish you and your family a wonderfully merry Christmas. Enjoy!

 

[Born 2B a Princess]

That wall hanging is gorgeous! If you're ever interested in making one and selling it, please let me know -- I would love one for my home! Love the picture of you and Allison with your grandmother -- so special! Have a wonderful Christmas!

 

[DMGeurts]

Merry Christmas friends!!!!

Sorry - I don't have time to do replies this morning, but I wanted to take a moment to wish each and every one of you a Merry Christmas! I cherish each friendship I have made here on The Dis, over the years, and I love my time here, where I can share my trips and some of my life with you all! I hope that each of you are able to spend this day with family and friends! A very blessed holiday to each of you!

D~

 

[Wood Nymph]

Merry Christmas, Dee. i hope you have a wonderful day with your loved ones.

 

[Clio]

Merry Christmas and have a wonderful day with your family.
Liz

 

[DMGeurts]

Victoria's log cabin house is adorable. She deserves first place for creativity. I've only seen gingerbread houses but hers looks like a real cabin.

Your wall hanging is very pretty. You'll have to post a picture of it hanging on the wall. I have made Christmas wall hangings, too, and they really make the room look Christmasy. One of them is hand quilted but I did the rest by machine, I used a free style machine quilting method to quilt those wall hangings. The trick is to move the huge amount of fabric around the needle. It is sometimes a challenge.

Your picture with Allison and your grandmother turned out great. You look very good in that picture.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas. I can't believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve already. I have so much left to do.

Thanks Sue... Allison did a great job on that one... She said the idea wasn't her own (she found it on Pinterest), but the execution was great!

Thanks, I will... Sadly - I did not make it any further on it than what is pictured... And now that the holiday is over - I fear, I won't finish it now until next year... But we'll see...

Thanks - I really like that one a lot.

Thank you - I hope you had a wonderful Christmas Sue!

The wall hanging looks great.

Allison's log cabin house looks great.

The picture of Allison, your grandmother and you looks great. But I can understand why you want to edit your aunts out of the background, it would be a better picture that way

Merry Christmas to you and your family. I hope you have a great Christmas.

Thanks Lillian! Merry Christmas to you and Ulf (and your family) too!

OMG that cabin is just SO AWESOME! Great job by her!!!

Can't believe your next Disney trip is next month! Sounds like you have most of the plans all in place. Cool!

I have started booking our trip for NEXT Thanksgiving this week. Looking forward to it but will really miss the Osborne Lights. However seeing my two young nephews (2 and 4 for the trip) experience Disney for the first time will be so much fun!

Wishing you and your family a wonderful holiday!

Thanks - I thought so too!

I know!!! We leave in 3 weeks and I am a little frazzled about it!

Yay - I hope you are able to go then - that would be so much fun!

Thank you - same to you!

The cabin is very cute. I love it. It does throw me off somewhat to hear that there is still school. Chelsea officially started winter break on the 18th and returns on January 6th. Jacob and Marissa have been off since the 10th and start back on the 4th.

The luggage set I bought Marissa had a soft cover. It was very cute. She made it to Ireland and back to Portland with it looking great. From Portland to Eugene flight, the suitcase ended up being black and filthy (it was a houndstooth pattern). Then on her next trip (to WDW), it made it there, but on the way back, something ended up cutting it on the backside, diagonal, and the airline replaced it with a hard shell suitcase. So with just 2 trips, her set is mismatched. I wish I had gone with a more indestructible set. I went with fashionable and it just didn't seem to work out.

I love the picture with your grandmother and Allison.

I hope you have a great Christmas.

Thanks Shannon... LOL - yes, my girls still had school Monday and Tuesday. Chelsea is lucky she gets such a nice long break.

Hmmm... This is food for thought - we never did give her the luggage set, but I haven't returned it yet either. It's still sitting in my bedroom and I am not sure what the plan is... but I'd sure love my $40 back if Josh decided he wants to do the VB (or some other good brand).

Thanks! I really love that one too!

Thank you - I hope you had a wonderful holiday as well!

The wall hanging is looking amazing!

Beautiful family photo with your grandma

I'm sure it'll be fine, I'm just sad he won't be there to cheer me on. Speaking of running, how's the weather been there? It's been so muggy and rainy here! Ver had to resort to the treadmill which I'm not a huge fan of.

Hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas!

Thanks! I never did finish it though - and now that the holidays are over, my ambition level is much lower. LOL Maybe it will be done in time for next Christmas?

Thank you!

I understand... That is such a bummer. The weather has been weird. I hate to admit that I haven't been out for a run in 2 weeks... My lungs were not doing well with the colder air temps, and I was finding running difficult. We finally have a good snow pack down - I may try to get out there this weekend? I received a good gift from my inlaws (I'll post a pic below), which may help me out a little?

Thank you - same to you! I hope your Christmas was wonderful!

Merry Christmas to you and your family, D~!!!

Thank you!!! Same to yoU!!!!

Lasagna sounds delicious for dinner as well! And yum that bread you were talking about making sounds fabulous also. Christmastime is a good time to splurge on some good treats.

The wall quilt is beautiful! What a nice idea to have as a decoration for Christmases to come.

Wow, Allison's project is amazing. She definitely deserved 1st place. It looks delicious and it's so clever and crafty. If she enjoys designing things, maybe she would want to do something of that nature as a career?

Love the idea for the luggage! if you decide to keep it I bet it will turn out great!

Also, that is a beautiful picture of you three. You could frame it and display it in your home!

D - I wish you and your family a wonderfully merry Christmas. Enjoy!

Yah - some of that food... Well, lets just say that today is another day - and I am back to eating well again. I am feeling a bit bloated after all that. Yikes!

Thanks!!! I didn't finish it in time for Christmas - kind of bummed about that, but hopefully for next year. Now that Christmas is over, my ambition level is way down for Christmas crafting - and I am in full swing Disney mode. I have lots to do and a very short time to do it in - but I seem to thrive on that.

Well, we still have it - but it was not given to her for Christmas... So, I am not sure what the plan is for that?

Thank you Alison - same to you and your family! I hope you are enjoying your time away from school and your time with your family!

That wall hanging is gorgeous! If you're ever interested in making one and selling it, please let me know -- I would love one for my home! Love the picture of you and Allison with your grandmother -- so special! Have a wonderful Christmas!

Thank you!!! I haven't finished it yet... I just became too busy with holiday prep, and I was never able to get back to it - now that the holidays are over, my ambition level to complete it is almost non-existent. Oh well, I guess that gives me the next year to learn how to free motion quilt?

Thank you - I am glad we were able to get a picture with her, I just wish V was there too.

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

Merry Christmas, Dee. i hope you have a wonderful day with your loved ones.

Thank you Sue!!! I wish the same to you!

Merry Christmas and have a wonderful day with your family.
Liz

Thanks Liz!!! the same goes to you!!!

********************************************************************************************

Well, I am going to have to break this up into 2 posts... I just have too many pictures to share! I honestly can't even remember which day I left off with....

I'll just start with Christmas Eve day... Oh yes... I remember now....

Josh called me from work at 6am, he'd forgotten his wallet at home... Had it not been Christmas, I would have told him to suffer - but he'd volunteered to work a full day... Allison and I were going out to do some last minute stuff anyways (she had one more gift to get for Gus, and I had a few groceries to get that never made it on to my list) - so we combined our running and took pity on Josh.

We started off at Kohls, so Allison could get her last minute gift for Gus... Then we ran Josh's wallet up to his work... Then we stopped at Target on the way home for the groceries I needed. Oh - and Allison took me out for coffee. It was nice. We were quick and back in our driveway by 9:30am.

While we were out n' aboot... I realized that I'd forgotten to make my Fast Passes for our day... So, while Allison was driving, I was trying to arrange our day by memory. Everything was available that we'd wanted, it was just a matter of trying to get it all done and edited from my phone.

I came home and immediately began more food prep... I had done Christmas eve dinner the day prior, so now I had to do everything for Christmas day... I made the meat loaf... Then I assembled the trifle... Then I did the crack bread... By that time, it was time for lunch - so the girls and I ate the appetizers I'd planned... Cheese ball with crackers, cocktail shrimp & crack bread... All 3 were very good, but in retrospect - it was just the girls and I (I didn't know this when I'd planned it, I thought Josh was going to be home)... We could have just had other food, as this was a bit much for us. But it worked out OK.

Once we finished eating, I went back to work in the kitchen... I washed potatoes so they were ready to throw in the crockpot before bed, and I cleaned up, from there, the girls and I tidied up the house and waited for Josh to get home from work.

Victoria and I went to Christmas Eve service at 4pm... It was beautiful, and moved me to tears several times.

I after we came home, we ate lasagna for dinner... I forgot to take pictures of the table... I'd used my grandmother's China, and Gus arrived just as we were sitting down for dinner...

After dinner, we opened gifts...

Victoria received these wonderful drawing supplies and a gift card from her friend Shanna... Shanna is one of our former neighbors who sold her house last year and moved to a farm about 4 miles from us - Victoria babysits for her family all the time, and Shanna is like a 2nd mom (or 3rd mom) to V.

Allison had made Gus a tie blanket for Christmas... She made it extra long for him, because he is so tall...

Allison had found me this 35th anniversary edition Strawberry Shortcake doll - I had one just like this as a little girl!!! I was so excited!

Then, Josh had found this light thingy for Allison - I don't know the official name of it - but photographers put them up in their studios for lighting... They usually have a foil type side and a black side? Anyways - Josh had found this one for her, and this one is portable, so she can carry it with her... It also folds down, so when she was opening it - it snapped open in her face... We all laughed hysterically over this for about 5 minutes. It surprised all of us, because we weren't expecting it.

Victoria's big gift this year was a new set of colored pencils... She was so excited to get them, and even more excited to find out that there were 2 layers inside the tin.

And finally, one of my gifts from my in-laws... A face mask - with holes, so I can breathe when I am running! I am very excited about this!!! I have a balaclava, but it doesn't have the breathing holes in it, so when I breathe in (visualize heavy breathing while running), it sucks into my nose/mouth and I feel like I am suffocating... So, I really needed something with holes in it. I cannot wait to take this out for a test run to see if it helps. Me posing with all of my new winter gear... A monogrammed hat, a cashmere scarf and my new balaclava. You know, for sure, it's me, because of the monogram.

OK - update #2 will have pictures from Christmas day with my Dad, I know you all are anxious to see him.

D~

 

[ljcrochet]

Christmas Eve looks like it was lots of fun.

 

[DMGeurts]

Christmas Day and Disney update

Yesterday morning, I was up early... I had made "make-ahead" french toast the night before, and I wanted to get it in the oven, so it was ready when the family woke up. Sadly - I'd overflowed the lasagna the night before - so I had to clean my oven first. Merry Christmas.

Oven cleaned and French Toast in... I sat down on the computer with my coffee to check in on all of my friends and family in FB.

This year - there were no "Santa gifts" under the tree... We just did stockings. So this was a little sad for me, but as it was, I was having a hard enough time shopping for everyone - it would have been worse if we would have had to try to find more gifts from Santa. It worked out in the end.

Allison woke first and opened her stocking... Josh and V were behind her.

Some of us had French toast - some of us didn't. I have lots of leftovers of this, and I don't think I will be making it again. It wasn't horrible - but it was too soggy for my family's liking.

Once we ate and opened stockings, we had to get ready. We had a Skype date with BMTL, and we had to leave immediately after for my Dad's house. Oh and Allison couldn't come with - she had to work yesterday 12-8.

A selfie with V...

One of my gifts from Josh was a long flannel shirt - I love this look this year! And even better, he found one that matched with one of his... So we were matching yesterday... I love it when we match - I think it's so cute!

It was great to see BMTL... Thomas got his first bike... It's so cute! And he was so proud! Lara just slept the whole time. It was great to see them - they make such a sweet and perfect little family! It's always so hard because they are so far away... but we were all a little consoled this time, because they will be here for 2 weeks in Feb. We are all so excited to see them!

Once our Skype call was done, we got on the road right away, I wanted to get to my Dad's early because we still had to finish cooking the meal.

Traffic was quite bad - something we weren't expecting. It wasn't until we were on our way home, I figured out - it was probably bad because Christmas was on a Friday this year, and maybe people were headed north for a long weekend with family? Not sure - but it made sense at the time.

We had a great visit with my Dad and brother... Both of them were in great spirits! Our big gift to my dad is a new tablet... we splurged and got him a 10" one, so it's easier for him to see... I am a little nervous that it's too big though? He was very excited and just like a little kid at Christmas!

I spent a lot of time with him, showing him the games we put on there for him and trying to show him Facebook - that was part of the reason for the tablet... His family is still pretty horrible about visiting him - most of his family he hasn't seen in years... but most of them are pretty active on FB - so I created a FB account for him and set it all up. Sadly - I forgot to activate his internet last week, so I was pretty limited with what I could show him. But he was super happy with what he could see.

My brother also had a good time... Josh sat with him and helped him with a few gifts and modeling them.

It was a wonderful day - if not a little hard for me...

I don't often talk about this part of my life - I really try not to think about it often either - as it is very, very painful for me, but while setting up my dad's tablet, I was going through old pictures, and it's just so hard for me to see both him and my brother aging. I often take for granted that they will always be there. They are kind of a "duo" together... My dad has always been there for my brother and my brother has always been there for my dad... Even though my brother has only ever lived with us when he was a baby... my parents had to put him in foster care when he was just tiny, because they couldn't care for him, take care of me and take care of my mom - I remember it being a very difficult time for my family and I, I remember screaming and crying every single time we had to bring him back. My parents told me the story several times... When my brother was born, he was diagnosed with hydrocephalus - and my parents were told he wouldn't live a full day... I was 2.5, and the Drs made an exception, at my Mom's insistence, that I be gowned up and allowed to meet my brother. Shortly after that, he was rushed into surgery to put a shunt that ran from his brain to his bladder to drain the excess fluid off of his brain. From that moment on, he was "my baby"... I loved him so much (I still do) - probably more than any little girl could love her baby brother, because he was so sick - even though I was not yet 3 years old, my parents often allowed me to care for him... I have very dim memories of crawling into his crib during the night to sleep with him, and I held and cuddled him every chance I had. I wouldn't let anyone hold him or touch him, as he was mine, and he was very sick. Growing up - I was his protector, always...

Even though my brother hasn't really ever lived with my family, my dad and him are still very close and are just wonderful companions for each other... So, going through my childhood pictures this week, and then seeing them together - always so happy together - yet both of them aging... It's difficult. And it's just a hard reality for me.

As a side note... Growing up, my parents were very poor, very very poor. Looking back at pictures of my brother and I - we were never clean, my clothes were always dirty and mismatched... But I was always ALWAYS loved... never once in my life have I doubted my parent's love for me or my brother. Both of them were told by many Drs, because of their own illnesses - they would never be able to have children. Both Jonathan and I were always treated like miracles, because we truly never were supposed to be born.

Sorry - I am probably telling too much here... But I am just really struggling with this "aging process" right now, and I thought it might help you all to understand why it's just so important to me, and so emotional for me to see my dad and brother together. Even though my dad's health is slipping fast - he continues to care for my brother when he is home, and would sacrifice his own health, without a doubt, to care for Jonathan.

And this picture - right here - this is it... You can see the love & happiness in their lives, and it just breaks my heart - because I know that each of them lives for the other.

Ok - bawling like a baby here... Must move on and regain some composure.

On to more fun things...

************************************************************************************************

Disney trip planning

Allison and I leave in approx 3 weeks! Crazy, isn't it??? It's coming so fast.

First things first - FPs are DONE!!!!

This is what we have... No specific order here... Since we only have a 4 day hopper military pass for Allison and we want 2 full MK days - this means one day we will have to park hop, if we want to get all 4 parks done this trip. Since Soarin is down for refurb while we are there - we have very little we want to do in Epcot... Test Track, School Bread and Illuminations... And TT is debatable.

AK day... Park opens at 8am this day. Allison and I plan to be there promptly at 8am. We will ride KS immediately. We have breakfast ADRs at TH @ 9:10am. Right after, we will head to EE... Ride single rider as much as necessary, then ride with our FPs before 11am. We have a short break between FPs - during this time, we will wander the park, the only other real objective is to do FoLK, and the ToL trail - what little there is of it yet.. We love AK and we are happy to wander around and bench sit when ever we feel like it - probably hunt down some Photopass photographers too? Then we have FPs for Primeval Whirl and Dinosaur, we hope to be completely done with AK by 3pm. We have not decided what we are doing after... We are thinking a break at the resort - then heading to Epcot for Illuminations and School Bread - if we have time, we will ride TT as single riders. Since tomorrow is a "day off" for us - it is possible that we may even hop to MK - since MK doesn't close until 12am... It just really depends on how long it takes us to get out of Epcot after Illuminations - since we will be taking the monorail to the TTC anyways. We'll see how we feel.

Our park days will be GO, GO, GO.... But we have a few days off, with only late breakfast ADRs - so we will really be able to relax on those days - I hope. LOL

I will save our other day plans for another update... I feel like this update is getting too long as it is.

I hope that each and every one of you had a wonderful Christmas - I truly do. And I hope you were able to spend it with your loved ones.

D~

 

[Terkina]

Looks like you had a great Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Thank you for telling the story about your family and your brother. It's nice to get to know you and your family a little better

I can't believe it's only 3 weeks left until your WDW trip. Sounds like you have everything under control regarding your trip.


As usual I celebrated Christmas Eve with my family we were 12 people there. We had Christmas dinner and sang some Christmas carols while walking around the Christmas tree and after that we opened all our Christmas presents. It was a nice evening. Yesterday the same people had dinner at my aunts and grandmothers house. Well my grandmother lives in a flat on the ground floor and my aunt lives in a flat on the 2nd floor in the same house. Today Ulf and I are invited to my parents house for dinner. My brother and one of my sisters with her husband and little girl will also be there. We are going to eat Spare ribs.

 

[Iamthequeen]

Finally caught up with your ptr. I am going to message you about your plans for which days. We have some of the same adrs, but I don't know which days are which.

 

[DisMom1981]

Hugs! And more hugs! And some more!! Glad you shared. You captured a really special photo/moment- glad you have it and had such a nice day together!

 

[brb1006]

Christmas Day and Disney update

Yesterday morning, I was up early... I had made "make-ahead" french toast the night before, and I wanted to get it in the oven, so it was ready when the family woke up. Sadly - I'd overflowed the lasagna the night before - so I had to clean my oven first. Merry Christmas.

Oven cleaned and French Toast in... I sat down on the computer with my coffee to check in on all of my friends and family in FB.

This year - there were no "Santa gifts" under the tree... We just did stockings. So this was a little sad for me, but as it was, I was having a hard enough time shopping for everyone - it would have been worse if we would have had to try to find more gifts from Santa. It worked out in the end.

Allison woke first and opened her stocking... Josh and V were behind her.

Some of us had French toast - some of us didn't. I have lots of leftovers of this, and I don't think I will be making it again. It wasn't horrible - but it was too soggy for my family's liking.

Once we ate and opened stockings, we had to get ready. We had a Skype date with BMTL, and we had to leave immediately after for my Dad's house. Oh and Allison couldn't come with - she had to work yesterday 12-8.

A selfie with V...

One of my gifts from Josh was a long flannel shirt - I love this look this year! And even better, he found one that matched with one of his... So we were matching yesterday... I love it when we match - I think it's so cute!

It was great to see BMTL... Thomas got his first bike... It's so cute! And he was so proud! Lara just slept the whole time. It was great to see them - they make such a sweet and perfect little family! It's always so hard because they are so far away... but we were all a little consoled this time, because they will be here for 2 weeks in Feb. We are all so excited to see them!

Once our Skype call was done, we got on the road right away, I wanted to get to my Dad's early because we still had to finish cooking the meal.

Traffic was quite bad - something we weren't expecting. It wasn't until we were on our way home, I figured out - it was probably bad because Christmas was on a Friday this year, and maybe people were headed north for a long weekend with family? Not sure - but it made sense at the time.

We had a great visit with my Dad and brother... Both of them were in great spirits! Our big gift to my dad is a new tablet... we splurged and got him a 10" one, so it's easier for him to see... I am a little nervous that it's too big though? He was very excited and just like a little kid at Christmas!

I spent a lot of time with him, showing him the games we put on there for him and trying to show him Facebook - that was part of the reason for the tablet... His family is still pretty horrible about visiting him - most of his family he hasn't seen in years... but most of them are pretty active on FB - so I created a FB account for him and set it all up. Sadly - I forgot to activate his internet last week, so I was pretty limited with what I could show him. But he was super happy with what he could see.

My brother also had a good time... Josh sat with him and helped him with a few gifts and modeling them.

It was a wonderful day - if not a little hard for me...

I don't often talk about this part of my life - I really try not to think about it often either - as it is very, very painful for me, but while setting up my dad's tablet, I was going through old pictures, and it's just so hard for me to see both him and my brother aging. I often take for granted that they will always be there. They are kind of a "duo" together... My dad has always been there for my brother and my brother has always been there for my dad... Even though my brother has only ever lived with us when he was a baby... my parents had to put him in foster care when he was just tiny, because they couldn't care for him, take care of me and take care of my mom - I remember it being a very difficult time for my family and I, I remember screaming and crying every single time we had to bring him back. My parents told me the story several times... When my brother was born, he was diagnosed with hydrocephalus - and my parents were told he wouldn't live a full day... I was 2.5, and the Drs made an exception, at my Mom's insistence, that I be gowned up and allowed to meet my brother. Shortly after that, he was rushed into surgery to put a shunt that ran from his brain to his bladder to drain the excess fluid off of his brain. From that moment on, he was "my baby"... I loved him so much (I still do) - probably more than any little girl could love her baby brother, because he was so sick - even though I was not yet 3 years old, my parents often allowed me to care for him... I have very dim memories of crawling into his crib during the night to sleep with him, and I held and cuddled him every chance I had. I wouldn't let anyone hold him or touch him, as he was mine, and he was very sick. Growing up - I was his protector, always...

Even though my brother hasn't really ever lived with my family, my dad and him are still very close and are just wonderful companions for each other... So, going through my childhood pictures this week, and then seeing them together - always so happy together - yet both of them aging... It's difficult. And it's just a hard reality for me.

As a side note... Growing up, my parents were very poor, very very poor. Looking back at pictures of my brother and I - we were never clean, my clothes were always dirty and mismatched... But I was always ALWAYS loved... never once in my life have I doubted my parent's love for me or my brother. Both of them were told by many Drs, because of their own illnesses - they would never be able to have children. Both Jonathan and I were always treated like miracles, because we truly never were supposed to be born.

Sorry - I am probably telling too much here... But I am just really struggling with this "aging process" right now, and I thought it might help you all to understand why it's just so important to me, and so emotional for me to see my dad and brother together. Even though my dad's health is slipping fast - he continues to care for my brother when he is home, and would sacrifice his own health, without a doubt, to care for Jonathan.

And this picture - right here - this is it... You can see the love & happiness in their lives, and it just breaks my heart - because I know that each of them lives for the other.

Ok - bawling like a baby here... Must move on and regain some composure.

On to more fun things...

************************************************************************************************

Disney trip planning

Allison and I leave in approx 3 weeks! Crazy, isn't it??? It's coming so fast.

First things first - FPs are DONE!!!!

This is what we have... No specific order here... Since we only have a 4 day hopper military pass for Allison and we want 2 full MK days - this means one day we will have to park hop, if we want to get all 4 parks done this trip. Since Soarin is down for refurb while we are there - we have very little we want to do in Epcot... Test Track, School Bread and Illuminations... And TT is debatable.

AK day... Park opens at 8am this day. Allison and I plan to be there promptly at 8am. We will ride KS immediately. We have breakfast ADRs at TH @ 9:10am. Right after, we will head to EE... Ride single rider as much as necessary, then ride with our FPs before 11am. We have a short break between FPs - during this time, we will wander the park, the only other real objective is to do FoLK, and the ToL trail - what little there is of it yet.. We love AK and we are happy to wander around and bench sit when ever we feel like it - probably hunt down some Photopass photographers too? Then we have FPs for Primeval Whirl and Dinosaur, we hope to be completely done with AK by 3pm. We have not decided what we are doing after... We are thinking a break at the resort - then heading to Epcot for Illuminations and School Bread - if we have time, we will ride TT as single riders. Since tomorrow is a "day off" for us - it is possible that we may even hop to MK - since MK doesn't close until 12am... It just really depends on how long it takes us to get out of Epcot after Illuminations - since we will be taking the monorail to the TTC anyways. We'll see how we feel.

Our park days will be GO, GO, GO.... But we have a few days off, with only late breakfast ADRs - so we will really be able to relax on those days - I hope. LOL

I will save our other day plans for another update... I feel like this update is getting too long as it is.

I hope that each and every one of you had a wonderful Christmas - I truly do. And I hope you were able to spend it with your loved ones.

D~

It's almost January? Are you girls getting hyped for your visit to WDW? Is it okay if I can PM you for any good advice before you leave in a fewy days?

 

[DMGeurts]

Christmas Eve looks like it was lots of fun.

It was a lot of fun - I really enjoy just spending it with us... The lights are on - the Christmas music is going, and it's just us. It's something I truly enjoy and I am glad it's something I've insisted on over the years.

Looks like you had a great Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Thank you for telling the story about your family and your brother. It's nice to get to know you and your family a little better

I can't believe it's only 3 weeks left until your WDW trip. Sounds like you have everything under control regarding your trip.


As usual I celebrated Christmas Eve with my family we were 12 people there. We had Christmas dinner and sang some Christmas carols while walking around the Christmas tree and after that we opened all our Christmas presents. It was a nice evening. Yesterday the same people had dinner at my aunts and grandmothers house. Well my grandmother lives in a flat on the ground floor and my aunt lives in a flat on the 2nd floor in the same house. Today Ulf and I are invited to my parents house for dinner. My brother and one of my sisters with her husband and little girl will also be there. We are going to eat Spare ribs.

We did - thanks Lillian.

We are getting there... I plan to start working on my HP bag tomorrow. A little nervous about it, because I still haven't 100% decided what I am going to do with it?

Mmmm.... I do love spare ribs. I hope you had a great day with your family yesterday!

Finally caught up with your ptr. I am going to message you about your plans for which days. We have some of the same adrs, but I don't know which days are which.

Yes - do that Tess, we need to meet up. I was just telling Allison the other day that you and Charlie will be there, and she is very excited to meet you too!

Hugs! And more hugs! And some more!! Glad you shared. You captured a really special photo/moment- glad you have it and had such a nice day together!

Thank you Ann... It's been a rough and emotional week for me. For some reason, the anniversary of my Mom's death really hit me hard this year - it wasn't a significant year or anything, so it kind of took me by surprise. Then this on top of that... I think it's mostly because i know my girls are leaving soon, and it's all just really hard on me. I am probably making it worse on myself than what it actually is. But thank you just the same.

It's almost January? Are you girls getting hyped for your visit to WDW? Is it okay if I can PM you for any good advice before you leave in a fewy days?

Sure! I can try to answer for you, no guarantees though.

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So, yesterday - I worked out. Like a good girl. Even though it's a weekend, I needed to have a better frame of mind. I will be working out again today too. And tomorrow - I will start the high intensity stuff until we leave on our trip.

Then I cleaned the entire main floor of our house. I am keeping the Christmas decorations up until next weekend though - I am having a hard time parting with our tree this year, I just love it so much! It feels good to have a clean house - sadly it's already a mess though. A person would think, with 2 teen agers and a husband, things wouldn't be that hard to keep clean. Sigh.

BFF came over for "lunch" and to celebrate Christmas.... They were kind enough to help me clean up my leftovers... So, the crack bread is gone. The french toast is gone. I still have the shrimp cocktail (I opened another bag yesterday - so it's fresh) and the cheese ball left, along with a little bit of brie. We had leftover lasagna last night for dinner - so we are down to 1 piece left of that too. It feels good to have it all GONE and out of my house! After we ate - we opened gifts... BFF gave Alli a roll of quarters (for laundry) and a few kitchen gadgets she had laying around from various parades (LOL) to add to her "move out box". It was kind of funny.

After they left - I really wanted to take a nap, but I didn't. Instead, I went upstairs and I started to make myself a shirt for our upcoming trip. I am pretty excited about it. It's a tighter fitting shirt - so I went up a size, so it was more comfortable... I am definitely carrying bloat from all of that Christmas food, because even at a size up - it's still tighter than I would like. But - it's flattering and fits well, so I am excited about that. I am almost done with it - but sadly I can't show you yet, because I am waiting for one more yard of fabric to ship... Thankfully - it's the last piece to go on, so I was able to get the shirt completely done with out that piece, then I can just add it when it gets here. I see many more shirts like this in my future. So, on my list of things to make for the trip yet... 2 pairs of crop leggings, 1 HP bag and the piece I need to add to the shirt I just made. The leggings will take an hour, at the most, to make... And I am starting on the HP bag tomorrow.

Today... It's Sunday - so I will be working out. We are supposed to get really cold temps starting today - I am not ready for this!

The girls want to go check out some of the after Christmas deals - so we are going to go brave the madness for a little while this afternoon.

Then I will probably come home and be lazy for the rest of the day.

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More trip update stuff...

First things first - OCTOBER 2016 trip... Yes - I said October, not January... I wanted to say that I've started buying fabric for my Halloween themed outfits - I am soooo excited about this!!!!! I recieved the fabric for my Halloween bag the other day. And I've started shopping for fabric for my Halloween outfit - even though we are only planning to do one MNSSHP - I think I may need a few Halloween outfits - I just LOVE Halloween!!! We'll see...

Alrighty... On to our upcoming January trip...

OK, so for one of our MK days.... We have our cherished PPO CP breakfast at 8:10, usually our PPO breakfasts, we are walking out of the restaurant just as the park opens or shortly there after. We will spend our morning time in Adventureland and Frontier Land, squishing in Jungle Cruise possibly, and then heading straight back to Splash to ride before it gets busy. We have our first FP @ 11:30 for Splash and 12:30 for BTMRR. We will kill some time here, riding HM and maybe a few of the no wait rides in Fantasy Land, also hunting down some Photopass Photographers and Character meets. We have a BoG lunch reservation at 2:30... I have not decided if we are ordering our meal in advance, or if we will order when we get there? Once we are done with lunch - we will exit the park to our resort to relax and hopefully squeeze in a nap. We have to be back to Fantasyland by 8:40pm to ride SDMT in the dark. Then we will wander around - hopefully catching wishes, or even just riding Splash in the dark - one of my favorite things to do! MK closes at 11pm on this day, I am hoping to stay until close, and be one of the last few out of the park. But we'll see how tired we are.

Our 2nd MK day... We will have a small breakfast in our room to tide us over, and we will be at MK in time for the opening show. I am thinking we will concentrate on Tomorrow land this day? Allison can ride Space Mtn as much as she wants in the morning... We will hit any other attractions we'd like to do while we are there, before it gets busy. We have to be at Peter Pan's Flight by 10:45... I am excited about this one - we haven't ridden it since 2008, and I really enjoyed it at that time. Depending on how much time we have, we will either hit HM or another FL attraction or two. We have an 11:30 lunch reservation at LTT - very excited about this one too - we have not eaten there since our 2013 trip. We have to be to Splash by 1:25 for our FP. Depending on how we feel, we may leave the park at this time, or we may decide to push through? We will see how busy it is and what we feel like doing. We might have lots of energy after just sitting down for a long lunch? Our final FP for the day is SDMT by 8pm - so we do have time to get a good break here if we need one. The park closes on this night at 12am, and we are hoping to close it down.

I still have plans for one more park day to tell you about... 2 of our days off and Universal - which I have done NO research on. I put Allison in charge of that - and I fear we are in a bit of trouble, because i don't think she has researched much?

I hope you all have an amazing day!!! Prayers and Pixie Dust to all!

D~

 

[huggybuff]

Your MK days sound great! As for Universal, I wouldn't worry too much. If you're just going for HP it's pretty easy. Are you getting the park hopper for Universal? Pretty smart how they charge you double to see both sides of HP and ride the train. It's pretty awesome though. I really liked it a lot. Still working on my TR and I'm not up to Universal day yet, lol.

 

[Clio]

It looks like everything is falling into place for your January trip. I just hope it isn't too cool for Splash.
I love Halloween at Disney. I really missed MSSHP this year since we stayed home.
I'm glad you enjoyed your Christmas. It's always good to get together with friends and family. Your dad and brother looks so happy in those pictures.
I went to my daughter's for Christmas. At one point there were 24 people there. She had my sister and brothers and their families,my nephews' girlfriends and later on my niece brought her in laws over. It was a little crowded but we still had fun. She still has leftovers, so I'm going over later for supper.
Yesterday I worked. It wasn't as busy but was steady. My photo problem of the day was that the cd/dvd writer stopped working. Fuji never did call me back yesterday so there are sendout orders without cds sitting on my counter. I swear Fuji's tech center knows me by name because I've called so much this past week.
Enjoy your Sunday
Liz

 

[Terkina]

Sounds like you all had a good time with BFF.

How cool that Alli got some stuff for when she one day is moving out.

I can't wait to see your outfits for your October trip.

Your MK days looks like a lot of fun.


In Norway every store has been closed since 1PM on the 24th December. Tomorrow is the first day the stores are open again. I got some really nice slippers as a Christmas gift from Ulf. I tried two different sizes before he bought them and I thought I was happy with the size. But when I tried them on Christmas Day I feel they are a little too big and a really regret that I didn't try one size smaller than the size I ended up with. So tomorrow I'm going back to the store to try the smaller size just to see how it feels and then decide if I have to exchange the slippers for a size smaller.

Yesterday I had a great time at my parents house eating spare ribs. It was a really good but greasy dinner. Today I'm just staying home.

I got Ulf to help me bake the Chocolate Chip Cookies on the 23rd. They turned out really good.

 

[DisMom1981]

Sounds amazing! I can't wait to read the TR! Universal will also be interesting- I haven't been there since 1999!!!! Lol

 

[Wood Nymph]

It looks like you had a really nice Christmas. I love the story about your brother and how you took care of him. I'm glad that he and your father can spend time together.

We have a BoG lunch reservation at 2:30... I have not decided if we are ordering our meal in advance, or if we will order when we get there?

I've heard that the live for people who pre-order is really short and the line for people who haven't pre-ordered is really long. so they advise you to pre-order. You can change your order when you get up to the cashier if you want to. We are eating lunch at BOG on our upcoming trip. I love the braised pork. DH only agrees to eat there because I like it so much.

We have an 11:30 lunch reservation at LTT - very excited about this one too - we have not eaten there since our 2013 trip.

We are looking forward to this lunch, too.

I am keeping the Christmas decorations up until next weekend though - I am having a hard time parting with our tree this year, I just love it so much!

Your tree turned out great. I wouldn't want to take it down too fast either. I like to wait at least until New Years Day before taking down the decorations.

 

[FantasiaMagic]

Hi D! It sounds and looks like you and your family had a nice Christmas!

All your plans for January sound great - you and Allison are getting so close!!!