No Ghost

We stayed in The Menger.

It has a very interesting story. 

Part of that story says it's the most haunted hotel in Texas. 

Yeah, I didn't know that when I made the reservation. 

But we're up this morning all in one piece.

No ghost sightings! 

Hahaha!

Off to eat breakfast then visit the Alamo.

God bless!

Tired

Mattie and I are taking a mini vacation.

She choose San Antonio.

We've had fun! 

But I'm tired. 

Seeing the Alamo in the morning! 

God bless!

It Has Been A Busy Summer

WOW! July 24 already!!

This summer is flying by!

And we have been enjoying every bit of it!

June 29 we left on our two week vacation. We always plan our vacation time around the US Open Karate Championships in Orlando, FL and this year was no different.

We just took more time off than normal.

Frank and I wanted to see some of the sites between Abilene and Orlando that none of us had seen before. Originally we had planned to leave on Monday July 1, but if we left a day earlier we would have a little bit more time to play.

We didn't drive very far the first day, partly because we didn't think we were going to be able to leave as early as we did and secondly because I didn't measure our distances between stops very well. It all worked out ok though. Terrell, TX was our first stop and we got there early enough that Mattie got to swim for a long time.

This kid loves to swim!!



 

We got up pretty early to make it to our first stop. West Monroe, LA. We were headed to Duck Commander Headquarters. It was a surprise for Mattie. We love watching Duck Dynasty. The Robertson's are an amazing family that have held to their Christian values. We need more people like them on TV.

Looks just like it does on TV!

 

Then we headed on down the road. We had not planned to make any other site seeing stops but we missed a turn and while our GPS was getting us back on track, we passed this...

We all agreed we had time to stop!

 





We all love BPS and even though we didn't buy anything, we used the stop to eat lunch. And of course it was really good!

 

After we got back on course, we headed on to our Day 2 stop in Magee, MS. Again we got there early enough for Mattie to spend some time at the pool. And I needed to pick some things up at Walmart and it was just a stop light away, so very convenient for Katie and I to go by ourselves and not get lost.

 

We didn't have any stops planned for Day 3 because we needed to get on to Orlando and get in the hotel. It is about a six hour drive from Pensacola to Orlando with not much to see other than trees. But this time we got into some rain. And I mean it rained!!!!

Boy! Would we like to have this stuff back home!!!

 

It took us just a little longer than normal to get to Orlando because of the rain. There were some points when Frank was going about 50MPH because visibility was so bad! But we got there safely and all in one piece, checked in the hotel, ate at Joe's Crab Shack, Mattie and Katie hit the pool, then we settled in for the night. I had a lot of work to do and we had to be at the tournament site at 3:00PM to start getting things set up.

 

On Day 4 we had a yummy breakfast at the hotel, then I had to get to work. I had to turn two balloons covered in plaster of Paris into glitter filled coconuts and make a sign for each of Mattie's stations in her creative open. We packed Katie's Cricut and even though I had never used it, it didn't take me long to figure out how to get all my letters cut out. and Frank helped me get them glued on to the signs. We finished just in time to get to Coronado Springs and start unloading equipment. Well, I didn't unload anything, but everyone else did!!

All the material has to be unloaded off the trailer...

then unloaded again inside the building. It takes much more muscle and energy than I have these days.

 

After all this was done, it was time to find food, swim for a minute, the get to bed for another busy day.

 

 

Getting the tournament site ready for competition is always done on Day 5. It is always held at Disney's Coronado Springs resort. It is a great facility. When we walk in this is what it looks like...

 

And we have to get it ready for breaking (protecting the facility from the boards and bricks) 

 

And we also have to separate all the breaking material that everyone has ordered and get it ready for the competitors to pick it up.  

 All these bricks and boards will leave this building tomorrow in bits and pieces!!

 

 

We got finished early enough that we had some time to play, so we headed to Down Town Disney!

I wish I had this at my house!!!

 

 

We had time to go to a movie while we were there. Mattie wanted to see The Lone Ranger but it was all sold out so we saw Despicable Me 2. Just as good as the first and the most comfortable movie seats I have ever sat in!! Then it was back to the tournament to check in, get kinks worked out before the morning, the off to bed to get ready for competition.

 

Day 6 is what this vacation is all about, competing at the US Open Karate Championships. The WORLD'S largest karate competition. We have mad so many friends in the few years we have been going and that held true for this year as well. I must say, my family did very well this year. This was Katie's first year to compete and she was in two divisions and won them both!!! Frank won 3 firsts and one third. Mattie won 4 firsts and 1 second. She was so focused this year and her creative open stole the show. She had several of the masters tell her how much they enjoyed her performance. My family is amazing!!!

 

Competition took up the entire day, but Katie and Mattie did get out in time to go find some fireworks. It was Independence day after all!! It was a great day and we were ready to finish off with the ISKA competition on Saturday.

 

ISKA is by invitation only and is so much fun to watch. It is the Masters that we all love to watch. Frank helps on stage, helping to set up and to hold for the breakers, so he spends a lot more time there then the girls and I do. We headed down to the pool after Larry and Don did their creative,  then when Frank was finished he joined up. We decided to do a little bus hopping and went over to the Art of Animation resort. Frank and Mattie had never seen it and we had dinner there.

Then we headed back to the hotel to get ready to leave for Tampa on Sunday.

 

The drive to Tampa was nice. We got checked into the hotel, then headed over to Clearwater Beach to meet up with everyone else, spend some time in the ocean and have a cookout. Its what we do every year. It is a day to not have a real schedule because we all need a rest from all the rush of the competition. We had a lot of fun on Day 8 spending most of the day at the beach.

 

Day 9 was park day. We choose to go to Busch Gardens and it was a great decision!! We had a blast!! Great rides, beautiful park, and fantastic food!!!

Our visit was over come Tuesday morning, Day 10. We were headed to New Orleans. None of us had ever been there and decided to take a different route home so we could make a stop. It was a long drive and we arrived just in time to get checked into the hotel, find some supper and take a swim before it was bed time. We had some great food at a location recommended to us by the hotel. We were all very full. The child's hamburger that Mattie ordered could have fed three kids her size and Katie and I were so glad we decided to split something! It was more than enough for both of us!

Yummy!!!!

 

 

I had told Frank there was only one place that I really wanted to go while we were in New Orleans, and he kept his promise and we had breakfast there on Day 11

Café Du Monde, a must stop in NOLA!!

 

After a little site seeing and some shopping, we got back on the road and headed to my cousin's house in Kingwood. We stayed the night there and had a great time visiting, it just wasn't long enough!!!

 

On Day 12 we headed for home. It was a relaxed drive, well for us anyway! Frank won't let anyone else drive but he doesn't seem to mind!!

 

It was so nice to get home, but we are ready to do it all over again next year!!

 

We had a couple of days to relax before Frank had to go back to work and I was ready for my next surgery. I hope to have my video of our travels ready and posted in the next few days.

 

I will also have a post ready for you about my surgery.

 

In all this time away from home and seeing more of God's great creation that we have seen, it more evident than ever that,

 

Everything is going to be ok!!!

 

Until next time,

God Bless 





Mattie May's Excellent Disney Adventure - Day Five

Tuesday found us on the way to Disney's Hollywood Studios. Maybe it was because the long days and short nights were catching up with us, maybe it was because our muscles were beginning to tighten up, or maybe it was because we had such an exciting and excellent day on Monday at EPCOT, but for whatever reason, it was a unanimous decision that this was not our favorite park. We all agree that if we ever get to go again, this will be the first park we visit. That way we won't be so tired and maybe we will find it to be as exciting as the other three parks.

But of course, it is a Walt Disney World park, so there were some fun time had here!!

The first item of business on Frank's agenda was renting a stroller! He never complains about walking and toting Mattie May around on his shoulders, but by now he could tell he was wearing himself out. Mattie May doesn't like to ride in the buggy at the grocery store so we weren't real sure how this big girl was going to react to being asked to ride in a stroller. Frank came out with it and she jumped right in! I think her legs were getting a little sore from being on his shoulders all the time. So any of you that are planning a trip to WDW with young children, rent a stroller! The best thing we spent money on all week!

We were real sure what to do first and Mattie May saw a picture of Belle, so in we went to "Beauty and the Beast - The Musical". Mattie May and I enjoyed it, Frank and Katie not so much. Neither on of them are fans of musicals. Remember, Frank took a nap in Nemo! LOL

After the show we just started walking towards the Toy Story ride but got sidetracked when we saw Quincy and June signing autographs. Of course we had to stop. Mattie May loves the Little Einsteins, and she has always looked a lot like Annie.

Right across from where Quincy and June were was voyage of the Little Mermaid. Mattie May saw Ariel and headed to the line. I think she liked the bubbles coming from the ceiling better than any other part of this show.

We wanted to ride the Toy Story ride because this is the one ride in this park that everyone said is a must and of course being the sheep that we are, we had to follow. They had already handed out all the FastPasses for the day so we would have to wait in line, which at the time was a two hour wait. We decided before we committed to that we had better get us some lunch. Looking at the menus, our best bet with our two picky eaters was Play N Dine at Hollywood and Vine. The way our day was going I was afraid we weren't going to be able to get a table but we only had to wait about 5 minutes. It was an American food buffet, but not a great selection for my non-chicken eating husband, but he found some things he could eat. He had to get them off the children's buffet but no one tried to stop him. I guess they could see the hunger in his eyes. We got to eat, dance and play with Handy Manny, Oso, Leo and June.

It really was a great choice for us. It was a place Mattie May could just be a kid and eat what she wanted or get up and dance when the music came on. Grumpy even got in on a couple of dances, after all, he is just a 49 year old kid!

We walked a different route back to the Toy Story ride. On the way, we stopped for some shopping and pictures under Mickey's big magic hat.

We stumbled upon what looked like Grauman's Chinese Theater and had to look around at some of the prints in the cement. Katie found her favorite and fell in tears on top of it!

Not really, she just sat down so I could get all of her and the entire square in the picture.

We finally made it around to the Toy Story ride and the wait was down to an hour and a half! We decided we had to wait it out because we really didn't want to make a trip back to this park. There are enough things to look at in the line that Mattie May really did well for the wait and it ended up that we only waited for 45 minutes until we were to the booth to pick up our 3D glasses. Frank and Katie picked up our glasses and the cast member taking head counts told them that they didn't need them because we were leaving the ride. WHAT?! I think she finally realized we didn't understand what she was telling us. The ride was broken and they didn't know if it would open back up that day. Oh! Just one more disappointment at this park. Buzz Lightyear and Woody were right across the street. Mattie May wanted to wait for them so we did. Even though this was a pretty long line, it went rather quickly and Buzz and Wood were great. They both took their time with Mattie May and even made Katie get in some of the pictures.

We found Frank and he told us a cast member at the Toy Story ride had told him not to go to far, but we hated for Mattie May to have to step right back into another long line and possibly be disappointed again. I saw Green Army Man standing on the street so we went to talk to him.

Man we timed it just right. Right after we had pictures with him, Frank was yelling at me to hurry and just as I handed Mattie May to Katie they opened the ride. It didn't take us long to get back to the point where we had to leave and finally got to ride the ride.

Mattie May in the Toy Story Ride line.

Oh yes! It was definitely worth the wait. What a fantastic ride. The most fun we had all day. We all wished we had time to ride it again.

The exit for the ride took us out to where Mattie May had seen Quincy and June earlier in the day. She started pulling on Katie's arm and pointing all the while shouting "THERE SHE IS! THERE SHE IS!" She took us by surprise but we finally realized she was pointing at Annie and thankfully the line was not long at all.

Frank, Katie and Mattie May all wanted to ride the Tower of Terror. I hate those types of rides but was going willingly as not to disappoint Mattie May. At the last minute, we decided it was best for me to tell her that I really didn't like these types of rides but that we all thought she would really enjoy it because she is so much like Grumpy and Mommie. She thought that was OK so I went to wait on them and rest my feet. I knew they weren't going to have to wait to long because the line was rather short, so when they came back in about 15 minutes and Frank and Katie were both smiling I thought they had enjoyed the ride. I asked Mattie May how she liked it and she told me they didn't ride it.

I was so confused. Frank told me they got on the ride and buckled in when all the sudden Mattie May told the cast member she wanted to get off. :-( I tried to get Frank and Katie to go back and get on it but they didn't want to do that to her.

It was getting late and when we asked her what she wanted to do, she said she wanted to see the fireworks with the world floating on the lake. That was all the way over at EPCOT and we really didn't know if we had time to make it. The lines for the buses were long because the park was closing. Frank asked a cast member if there was a quicker way there and he directed us to the water taxi. That was fun and a bit more relaxed than riding the bus. Plus it took us up to some of the resorts we wouldn't have seen otherwise.

It had come a little shower so things were wet and it cooled off quit a bit but she was determined she was going to see that show. We did make it and it too was worth going back for. Amazing what they can do with lasers and fireworks. It was a great way to finish off a day that had had so many disappointments in it.

We turned in our stroller and Mattie May ended up on Frank's shoulders. I looked up and this is what I saw...

Yes, she really is asleep, he is not, I just caught him during a blink. We all crashed when we got back to the room and got a little rest before getting up for Day 6.

I know your probably asking yourself where all the trouble and disappointments were. Other than the ride shutting down, I left them all out! Even though this wasn't our favorite park, there really were a lot of fun things we did. And they would really take a while to write and read. We love to remember the happy times so they will stay with us.

God Bless!

Mattie Mays Excellent Disney Adventure - Day Four

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATTIE MAY

FIVE YEARS OLD

Mattie May went to bed a four year old and woke up a five year old. Believe me, there was no way she was letting us forget that today was her birthday. We all sang happy birthday to wake her up. We had a few gifts for her to open, including her birthday ears. I've decided that everyone should wear Mickey ears on their birthday! They're just too much fun!

We had a great breakfast at Chef Mickey's where we were joined by the big guy himself. Mickey, Minnie, Donald Duck, Pluto and Goofy were all there. They each came to our table to wish her a happy birthday.

They were all great and the food was fantastic. Donald duck was even able to get a smile and a laugh out of Frank! We all know how difficult that is!

There was so much going on, she was having trouble eating. And before she finished her breakfast, our waitress brought out her birthday cup cake. The candles and the wrapper were the only things not edible. Even that little Mickey face was made out of chocolate.

Look at the five year old smile! Who couldn't love this kid?!

About all she could finish was her milk and then she was ready to ride the monorail to EPCOT. By the way, did you know EPCOT is an acronym? Do you know what the actual name is? Well if you promise to read to the end of this post, I'll tell you! As anxious as she was to find Mulan, she asked to go in "the ball" first.

OK More useless trivia - do you know the ball is called Space Ship Earth? That is also the name of the ride inside!

While we waited for our FB time for Test Track, we watched Captain EO. Let me say, that movie is 25 years old but the special effects are still really cool. They must have really been ahead of their time when they filmed that! Mattie May was so excited that she was getting to watch Michael Jackson, but when the villain cat lady thing appeared on the screen, I started looking for a way for us to get out of there! She screamed this terrified scream, a truly blood curdling scream. Katie got her to take of her glasses and sit in her lap until she calmed down. She put her glasses back on and just closed her eyes when "the scary cat lady" came on the screen. She was very happy when she turned into a nice person at the end of the show. As we were walking out, she just kept jabbering about how good that was and if we had time could we see it again. I guess she has a love/hate feeling for Captain EO.

To waste more time we rode Imagination w/Figment. That is a really cute and educational ride. We had a pretzels and popcorn for snacks because we couldn't find an ice cream stand. We looked all the way to Test Track and never did pass one.

Test Track is amazing!! We were a bit concerned about the simulations of wrecks (we're all still a bit jumpy from last year!). OH MY GOODNESS! That was the most awesome ride! Trina, I'm really sorry you didn't get to ride it, but now you have a reason to go back! It is so cool!!!

Heading into the World Showcase, we found Mattie May an ice cream stand! She hadn't had any all day and we were afraid she would go into withdrawals! That kid loves ice cream! She would eat it every day at every meal if we would let her!

We visited Mexico for a while, walked through Norway and found the castle where we were to have her birthday dinner and then made a bee line to China. This was going to be the most important stop on our entire trip.

Why?

Mulan is in China!

We had to wait about fifteen minutes for her to come out but it was worth the wait. Mattie May patiently waited her turn with all the other princess in line. I don't think I have ever seen that child's eyes light up like they did when she saw her. When it was her turn, Mulan motioned for Mattie May to come on up, but before she took a step, she respectfully bowed to Mulan. It was so cute and Mulan was very impressed with her. Mattie May explained to Mulan that she liked her so much because she knew karate too. Mulan asked her what belt she was and asked her to show her some moves. She did part of her kata for her and gave her a bit of surprise when she did her little yell! Mulan said "Every good warrior packs a surprise!"

Mulan was impressed with Mattie May's kata.

They talked for a bit longer and Mulan signed her book, then they posed together for some pictures. I think Mattie May could have stayed right there for the rest of the day and been happier than any other child in the park!

Mulan asked for a Warrior pose!

Mulan gave her a great big hug, wished her happy birthday and told her to keep practicing her karate. Maybe next time they see each other, they can demonstrate some of their weapons skills! LOL

Always time for a silly picture!

After we watched an amazing movie on China in a round theater, we headed to Germany. Katie, Mattie May and I waited in line to see Snow White and Grumpy disappeared! He reappeared just as it was Mattie May's turn to speak to Snow White. He was a very happy camper with a bratwurst, sauerkraut and beer in his hands! Snow White got pretty amused when Mattie May told her she lived with one of her dwarfs. She asked which one and Mattie May told her Grumpy and showed her where he was sitting. Snow White waved and blew a kiss to him! It was just priceless!

From Germany we walked to Italy where Frank insisted that we try some gelato. It was only about 45 minutes before we our dinner reservations, but we had some anyway. I had never had any and it is probably a good thing that there is no where near home that sells the real stuff or I would be huge!!!! That is some yummy stuff!

Italian Gelato on the way to dinner?

Of course! It's Mattie May's birthday!

It started getting cool and we forgot Mattie May's jacket, so as we walked through Italy, America and Japan, Katie and I would walk through the stores looking for a child's jacket. We could only find clothes in adult sizes. It was so strange. Finally in the Japan pavilion I found some cute hooded jackets that Katie liked, so I got one that would fit her and we rolled the sleeves up and Mattie May wore it the rest of the night when we were outside.

It was taking so long that Frank and Mattie May came in to find us. While they walked around, they found the oyster bar. Not an oyster bar for eating but one for buying pearls! Frank had snuck around and bought two oysters for me for our anniversary. He knows how much I love pearls and I can't wear my pearl stud earrings any more.

This store was so much fun. I don't remember the conversation, but the little girl helping us got Mattie May to count for her in Japanese. She, the girl helping us, got so excited! She had all the other girls in there listening to her. I think she would have taken Mattie May home with her if we would have let her!

She was also the person that opened the oysters to find the pearls. After she opens the oyster, she leads everyone in a count down in Japanese as she takes out the pearl. When she did our pearls, she had Mattie May lead the store in the count down! I think everyone in there was amazed that this little girl with blue eyes and blonde hair was counting in Japanese!

Both of my oysters had pearls and they are very close in size but one has a yellow tint to it. They wanted me to change one pearl so they would match, but these are the ones I picked and the ones I wanted. Besides, they are on opposite sides of my head and so far, no one has noticed the color difference!

When the girl finished getting Frank's order on how he wanted the earrings, she came from behind the counter and had an origami crane she had made for Mattie May. She sang happy birthday to her using the crane like a puppet. She not only gave her the crane, she gave her a huge hug to go with it!

Because we had spent so much time in Japan, we had to practically run through Morocco, France, the United Kingdom and Canada to get back to Norway for dinner! Our reservation was for 7:55 and we walked up at 7:53! Yes, we were rushing! And all for nothing. They were running behind and they pushed our reservations up until 8:15! I'm glad we were doing so much walking since we seemed to be eating later and later each night!

To pass the time while we waited, we road Maelstrom, the Viking boats telling the story of Norway and the Vikings. It was another fun and educational ride, but I was just glad to be sitting down not rushing.

Our dinner was very good. We all tried something new, including Frank! I almost fell out of my chair! He never tries new stuff!! Mattie May was pleasantly surprised when she figured out she was having dinner with the Disney princesses. As much as she wore a tiara when she was little, she is not much into the princesses now. But she still had fun. During the Parade of Princesses she not only got to walk in Arial's group, but she got to hold her hand during the entire parade.

Her Mattieism for today wasn't something she said, it was something she did. As all the princesses, big and small, curtsied at the end of the parade, Mattie May bowed at the waist like she does for karate! All the people around her noticed. We actually didn't notice until we were watching the video and saw some customer's point and laugh.

She was promised she could have anything she wanted to eat as long as it wasn't ice cream or cake, it had to actually have some nutritional value! I guess when it's your birthday, any meal can be special! HAHAHA!

A hot dog for her special Birthday dinner!

Frank and Mattie May walked outside to find out what all the noise was we could here. It was the laser/fireworks show. They couldn't see all of it from where we were, but they could see enough to know it was an amazing show! And when they came back in, we surprised Mattie May with another birthday cake! It was a great chocolate cake and it was delish! We carried most of it back to our room because we also had dessert with our meals. Our waiter brought us one of each thing they had and we shared them all. And I wonder why I didn't loose any weight while we were gone!

On the way back to the monorail, we were finally able to take our time and not rush. My feet and legs were very grateful for that! I never complained, but I wondered with each step when my legs were just going to stop and say no more!! Next time I go, I'm not going to forget my pedometer so I'll know how far I walk each day!

We thought Mattie May was going to fall asleep on the monorail ride back to the hotel, but she didn't. And we walked back to our room just in time to see the lighted boat parade, so we went down to the beach and watched the rest of that. Lots of great Disney movie songs. Katie and I sang as many of them as we could at the top of our lungs. I am sure we woke some people up, but I didn't think about that until later. We were having to much fun!

Tomorrow is Disney Hollywood Studios!

God Bless!!

EPCOT is an acronym for Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow. That's your useless trivia for today!

Mattie May's Excellent Disney Adventure - Day Nine From Her Journal

Well, this is it. Her last entry in her vacation to Disney journal.



I am too lazy to go back and look at my other post so I may be repeating myself on this. The entire time we were gone, she kept telling us she was ready to go home any time. We would ask her if she was not having a good time and she would tell us she was, but whenever we were ready to go home so was she. We just couldn't figure this one out. We knew she was having fun. Who wouldn't? We played all day, ate things we shouldn't have been eating at times we shouldn't have been eating, ice cream before meals, meeting all sorts of characters, and lots of laughing. She would never mention going home when we were working on journal. We just couldn't figure it out. I think when you read the last line of this entry and see the picture, you will have it figured out too!

Can you believe this was on her mind the entire time we were gone?! She has the most amazing mind!



God Bless!

Mattie May's Excellent Disney Adventure - Day Eight From Her Journal

OK! I'm back on track!

This journal entry is a little bittersweet for me. It was our last day in Florida. I was very ready to get back home to Texas and my own bed and house, but we were having such a great time that I didn't want it to end. And I must admit, when I called Mom to tell her we were heading to the airport, I had to choke back some tears. I'm sure part of that was because we were so tired, but most of you know, that's just me, the crier!

I just love her drawing in this post. When she showed it to me, she pointed out the crooked windows. She was extremely proud of those. LOL. Silly goose. If you haven't figured out the H Hotel, it is the Holiday in Express. We stay in them almost every time we travel. It took us a couple of times to figure her out, but look here at their logo. That is where she got the name. She is learning to read and she definitely has her letters down! Just love her!

See you tomorrow for her final vacation entry.

God Bless!

Mattie May's Excellent Disney Adventure - Day Two From Her Journal

I love her concept of things. Look at that castle on the bottom of the page. She loves to write and draw so what better way to record her thoughts on our adventure. This is something I will probably do on our trips from now on.

God Bless!

Mattie May's Excellent Disney Adventure - Day One From Her Journal

I finally had to time to scan her journal. It is in my writting but in her words (mostly). At night we would quickly go over what we had done that day, talk about who she had met and got autographs, and she would give me one or two of her favorite memories from that day. She would start out dictating to me, but most of the time she would fall asleep. The next night, I would have her draw her picture and then we would start on what we had done that day.

I think she enjoyed doing this! I have always hated keeping a journal or diary, but maybe this will be a start to her keeping one.

If you have trouble reading it, I think you can click on it to make it larger. Enjoy!

Until tomorrow, God Bless!

Oh My! It's Been Almost a Month

I can't believe that it has been almost a month since I posted to this dear little blog of mine! Where has the time gone? Well, I guess we have been busy!

We have been doing a bit of this,

some of this,

quite a bit of this,

and not nearly enough of this.
We've caught a few of these,
and had another one of these

that got us this.
We have spent a lot of time with these people
(but not enough for me!),
and she caught one of these!
We taught Mattie May to do this,

and have started doing some of this.
So, I'm sorry if I haven't had a lot of time to keep up this blog, but I'm still visiting all of yours and I promise to post again when we get back from this!

Vacation 2009