Upward

Oakdale just finished a great season of Upward Basketball and Cheerleading, and we were grateful that our kids were able to participate!

Thanks to John's coaches, David and Kim Wells (above).

Our favorite moment of John's season was when he was able to do a devotion during one of the halftimes:

Thanks to Anna's Cheerleading coaches, Renee Howell and Lauren Sledge. (I was one of the cheerleading coaches, too, but I was taking the picture.)

Likewise, our favorite moment of Anna's season was when she was able to lead a devotion:

And thanks to Christopher's coaches, brothers Danny and Matt Varnell.  Thankfully, I was able to get this basket Christopher scored on video....although I almost missed it!

The season ended with the Upwards Awards Ceremony this past Sunday night in the church's gym.  The event provided Oakdale the opportunity to present the Gospel to more than 600 attenders.  Praise the Lord, we saw 31 first-time professions of faith from the invitation!

 Oakdale's Interpretive Movement group performed to Casting Crowns' song East to West...

 The kids in the audience especially enjoyed the performance of Christian ventriloquist Steve Brogan:

Oakdale Deacon Robert Chadwick was a good sport when the ventriloquist turned him into a "human dummy:"

It was a proud moment for this mom when Christopher's team-mates voted him their team's Most Christ-like...

A super-big thank you to Aaron Rhodes, Oakdale's staff Upwards Director, and to his wife Trina for doing such a tremendous job with the program this season!

Final Thoughts on Our Trip...

In reflection upon our 1st family Disney trip, 

I wanted to thank a few people:

Thank you to Heather - our awesome Disney travel agent - for all the time you invested in making sure our trip was less expensive, free of hassle, full of joy, and altogether magical.

Thank you to Alison, Diana, Nikki, Lindsay, Megan, Chris and Jason for all your fantastic Disney World advice and ideas.

Thank you to Nana for sending the kids spending money to enjoy.

Thank you to John, our driver to Epcot, for making the whole bus sing "Happy Birthday" to me.

Thank you to James, the guy who worked at Hall of Presidents, for knowing absolutely everything about Presidents, and for being so interesting to listen to that Tim didn't even want to go see the show, but instead just stay in the lobby and talk with you.

And a big thank you to Tim for giving me my dream 40th Birthday trip, and for being such a good sport by joyfully going along with all the Disney things the kids and I wanted to do.

 Best Food at Disney World:

For me, it was the "Make Your Own Pasta" at the restaurant at Port Orleans.  My pasta included spinach, artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, pesto, and parmesan.  It was stinkin' awesome.

Biggest Surprise at Disney World:
Little if Any Lines!  February is a great time to go... 

Best Place to Shop at Disney World:

The World of Disney at Downtown Disney

 Biggest Aggrevation at Disney World:

None of the many European visitors there believe in standing in line.

Our One Disappointment at Disney World:
We didn't get to ride the monorail.  It was down.

Greatest Lie Told at Disney World:

When I was told by the workers "Happy Birthday" in response to my birthday pin, I would respond, "Thank you!  It's my 40th!"  Many times they would say in return, "You're kidding...You don't look 40!" And those people almost sounded as if they really meant it.  I don't know how Disney trains its staff to be such good liars, but I loved it.  :)

Greatest Ego Trip at Disney World:
The guy checking my fanny pack on my way into the park one morning told me it was 'the biggest fanny pack he had ever seen.' I felt like an awesomely-prepared mom at that moment.

Funnest Treat at Our Resort:

Discovering what the "mousekeepers" would do to surprise us each day, such as making Mickey Mouses out of our towels and washcloths.

Biggest Challenge at Disney World:

Trying to get all five of us to look at the camera & keep our eyes open at the same time for a good picture.  (Story of my life!)

Biggest Laugh at Disney World:

Watching John (who hates princesses) at the princess breakfast.

Best Momentos of the Trip:

1. Pictures and videos.

2. Ears

Glad to be home.
We are tan, rested, and ready for God's good plans for us...

Silver Springs

Many years ago when we were on vacation, my family used to frequently visit Silver Springs in Ocala Florida.  (Above, sitting at the entrance to Silver Springs in 1982, are my brother Jason, my dad, and my grandmother and uncle who both passed away this year.)  So it was a treat for me to visit Silver Springs again while we were in Florida this past week...

Silver Springs is no longer a theme attraction like it once was.  It has recently become a state park, and Tim and I - who love a good state park - think it has great potential for that!  Of course, the reason Silver Springs is world famous is because of its glass-bottom boats that have toured the silver river for 70 years.  Our captain, seen in the background of the picture below, has been driving these glass-bottom boats for 57 years!

  The water in the Silver River was SO CLEAR!  You could see to it all the way to the bottom.  The black hole in the picture below was an 80' cavern.

Since Florida was being settled as early as the 1500's, there are all kinds of cool artifacts in the Silver River.  In the videos below you can see the remains of an Indian canoe and a Spanish boat that are hundreds of years old.  Amazing!

Unfortunately, the fish didn't show-up very well in my videos.  

But there were all kinds of them down there.

Silver Springs also has many pop culture ties.  Because the water is so clear, 20 movies and countless tv shows have been filmed in Silver Springs, including The Creature from the Black Lagoon, Rebel Without A Cause, Distant Drums with Gary Cooper, and numerous James Bond films such as Moon Raker and Never Say Never Again (in which statues still remain from its filming in 1983, seen below).  Cool!

The whole time we were at Silver Springs, there was a misty fog across the water.  This mist is common due to the constant 75 degree temperature of the warm water hitting the cool air.  The reason the water stays a constant temperature is because it is fed by an underground spring.  On misty days like this, we could see why Silver Springs made a great backdrop as a "Black Lagoon." 

 But the fog didn't scare-away the many kayakers we saw.

Once we got off the boats, we headed for the hikes.

We had hoped to catch a glimpse of an alligator while we hiked, but we found none.  

What we DID find, however, was much more surprising!

Below is a mama monkey with her baby.  How sweet!    

Although I have no recollection of them, my dad tells me that the wild  monkeys at Silver Springs have been there a long time - and that I saw them when I was a little girl.  Tim and I did a little research and discovered two possible origins of the monkeys: some folklore says that they escaped while one of the many movies at Silver Springs was being filmed; another legend is that they were placed there strategically by Silver Springs decades ago when they had a "jungle cruise" that went down the river to make it look more authentic.  What you have to understand is that Silver Springs is in no way enclosed:  it opens-up to the other wild areas of central Florida. So it's astounding that the monkeys have stayed in that area all those years.

But the monkeys were only ONE of our big surprises.  Perhaps the greatest wild photos I have ever taken on any hike happened that day at Silver Springs.  We found a wild American Bald Eagle!

 At first we thought, "There's no way there are Bald Eagles here.  That must be some kind of hawk or something."  But once I zoomed-in on that pointed beak and those huge, orange claws, there was no mistaking that he was wet and might have been molting, but he was certainly our national bird.  And after looking into it we found that Bald Eagles are frequently spotted in the Silver Springs area.  He stood there patiently while I went through shot after shot trying to get the perfect one through the fog.  What a blessing and a thrill for our family that day!
Thank you, Lord!

Another couple on the trail had spotted and played with an armadillo, but we were never able to find him.  We did, however, get to end our day with a sweet little deer who wasn't the least bit afraid of us. He probably would have come over and eaten out of our hands if we had anything to feed him!

Awesome end to an awesome vacation.  

Downtown Disney

 On the night we arrived at Orlando, we took a boat from our hotel (Port Orleans Riverside) to Downtown Disney, which is an area of dining and shopping within Disney World. 

 I was surprised by how excited my family got over Downtown Disney.  Their favorite spot? World of Disney, which is a hyped-up store full of ways for children to find a souvenir from the trip...

 Anna's favorite part of World of Disney was the "Magic Mirror."  If a little girl stood infront of it, the mirror would look like she was dressed-up in different princess dresses...

 Each child got to pick-out a pair of Mickey Ears at World of Disney.  Christopher had a great time trying-on hats and ears...

And since the boys are so very into Legos, we visited the Lego store in Downtown Disney.  They had some cool Lego sculptures, which to my surprise were completely touchable, instead of enclosed in glass.

And yes, this outdoor display below was made entirely out of Legos.

The boys also got a kick out of watching the Volcano erupt at Rainforest Cafe.  If you were standing at all near that restaurant at the eruption, it got WARM!

Christopher and John are crazy about all things Star Wars.  John's souvenirs included a Star Wars gun, and Christopher chose the "Make Your Own Light Saber," which he did with his dad.  They had a great time...and a little help from John.