Our Recent Trip to Disneyworld

We went on our semi-annual (isn't that every two years?) trip to Disney World January 2-9. This marked the 6th time we have done this Disney vacation with the Mims family (Kelly and Lynn and kids). The Johnsey family (Joe and Leanna) have joined us three times, and this year we added Julie's husband, Big Sam, and Parker's wife, Alyssa. (Parker is Lynn's oldest son). Our family was missing Olivia and her husband, Brian, but we did have a new family join us, the Green family (Mike and Amy). Our total headcount was 26. 

Just looking at the hundreds of pictures we have between my phone, Jimmy's phone, Jimmy's camera, and the Disney Photo Pass makes me want to go back! The weather was so nice, and we had so much fun!

I selected several pictures from the week to give an overview of our time at the four parks. We visited each park two days except for Animal Kingdom--we only went there one day. But the day we visited Animal Kingdom, we were all on the 7:00 AM bus in order to be there when the park opened. Our plan, along with hundreds of other people, was to run straight to get in line for Avatar. Which we did. And after a 2.5 hour wait, we rode it! It really was amazing and entertaining, and worth the wait. However, I am not sure I would have waited much longer for it. As we exited the attraction, we saw that the current wait time was 4.5 hours! 

All four Disney parks were exceptionally busy and crowded the whole time we were there, and we spent a good bit of time waiting in various lines. But, since our people are all older, it was fine. We just enjoyed each other's company (and lots of snacks!) while we waited. We did have fast passes each day, but other than that, we had to stand in line. For example, we stood in line for The Little Mermaid for over and hour! Crazy! But it was still fun.  One thing we did to minimize the wait (and again, this worked for us because our children are older) was to take advantage of single riders lines when they were available. We don't mind riding with strangers if it speeds up the wait!

One of the things the children enjoy doing on the rides that take your picture at the "most thrilling part of the ride" is to pose in crazy ways for the picture. I am sharing several of these pictures to give you an idea. 

Here are some pictures from the fun week:

What a fun filled week! I can't wait to go again!

Our Trip to the Outback Bowl

Recently after talking with a few people who used to read my blog (when I actually blogged), I realized that I missed blogging! I like sharing my faith.....my blessings, my struggles.....putting my thoughts into words is something that I like to do, and I hope that it can serve as an encouragement to others as well. Plus, I really do like recording some of our family events.

So....to play a little catch up....

Our family (minus Olivia and Brian), the Peters family (Julie, Sam, and Mae), the Mims family (Kelly and Lynn and their four kids plus Parker's wife, Alyssa), the Johnsey family (Joe and Leanna and their four kids), and the Green family (Mike and Amy and their three kids) all planned our every other January trip to Disney World for January 2-9. We normally go later in the month, but our college kids wanted to come too, so we had to move our trip up earlier in the month before their classes began.  (Our headcount for Disney World was 26.)

Sometime in December, it was announced that Mississippi State would be playing in the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Florida on New Year's Day. Kelly sent out a group text asking if we were interested in going to Florida a couple of days earlier to go to the game. Since Jimmy was already off because of his holiday schedule, we said, Yes! The Mims and Johnsey families were in too, so we bought tickets, reserved hotel rooms, and bumped up our departure date. The Peters and Green families joined us at Disney World like they had originally planned.

So. We left at 3:00 AM on December 31 for the 12 hour drive to Tampa. Our goal was to make the Outback Bowl parade in Ybor City at 5:00 PM. We made it! Even though Clay was involved in a minor car accident on I-75 in Georgia, we still made it. Barely. And we were tired, and we looked like we had been on the road all day with little or no sleep! (Lynn never even went to bed the night/morning before we left.....I slept 2-3 hours I think).

at the parade...running on caffeine and cowbells!

Fun Fact: A local news reporter asked me a few questions about our trip to Tampa, our going to the bowl game, etc.

The crowd was so loud, and I don't even remember what I said! But it was on the news that night!

The kids were also featured on the front page of our local newspaper on January 1, with a story about our families traveling to the Outback Bowl.

Here we are the morning before the game.

And here is the whole crew!

Jimmy and Me

We arrived about 2 hours before the game began so we could enjoy all the pregame festivities and just take in being at a professional football stadium. It really was a lot of fun, and the weather was beautiful!

Our family of five

We sat in front of the pirate ship which was cool!

Sadly, Mississippi State lost the game to Iowa. Iowa was considered the home team, and it certainly felt like they had a home team advantage in some areas. The announcers kept making it a point to remind us that this was Iowa's 6th Outback Bowl appearance! However, the Iowa fans that I met were super nice. And all of us enjoyed the sunshine!

After the game we searched for some time to find a Cuban restaurant that was open on New Year's Day. We were joined by Jimmy and Leanna's first cousin, Warren and his family too. Next we returned to our hotel to repack and get ready for our early morning departure the next day to Disney World!

Romania Day 2 or Is it Day 3?

Here is a recap of our traveling halfway across the world!

• We left our house in Mississippi on May 7, at 6:45 AM (CST) for the 4.5-5 hour drive to the Atlanta airport.
• We checked in our flight, got our boarding passes, found our gate, and waited for our 3:25 PM (EST)  departure.
• Next, we flew to Toronto, Canada, and arrived there at 5:53 PM (EST). We flew Air Canada, and the kids all watched movies on the airplane screens while I read a book, The Bridge Ladies.
• We had about a 4 hour layover in the Toronto airport. We went through passport control, got our little tickets, and proceeded to find our next gate. 
• We left for our flight to Istanbul, Turkey at 10:30 PM
• We flew Turkish Airlines, which was a wonderful experience! As we boarded the plane, we were welcomed by soothing Turkish music playing in the background. There were fresh flowers on display, and the airline attendants were so kind and professional. We walked through first class (which was amazing!) on our way to our economy seats. We sat on the second row of economy seats, and they were really nice! We got settled, and soon we were in the air for our 9 hour, 45 minute flight. All four of us watched our own movie--I watched Me Before You which was a good movie for most of it, (I had no idea what is was about) but about halfway through it took a disturbing turn.....assisted suicide. I was so sad! Anyway, we were served "dinner" about  midnight, and that was delicious. Soon after I finished my movie, and then we tried to settle down for some sleep. I slept on and off from 2:00 AM until about 7:00 AM when the airline attendants turned on the cabin lights and cheerily announced "Good Morning!" and promptly served us a hot breakfast. It was yummy too! Of course as we flew overseas the time changed, and by the time we landed in Istanbul it was 3:15 PM local time, and I have no idea what time our bodies thought it was. It was Tuesday, May 8.
• We had to go through security again at the Istanbul airport. I was not mentally prepared for that, and I had to rebag my contact solution and remind the kids of everything they had to remove from their backpacks before going through security. We made it through, and were own our way to find our gate.
• Our layover was 3.5 hours, and by the time we did security, shopped for Turkish delight (delicious), and found our gate, we really did not have that long to wait before our 6:45 PM departure for Bucharest, Romania. The plane was delayed about 30 minutes. We had to ride a bus to our plane, which seemed very far away. I think the bus drive was at least 10 minutes. Then we climbed stairs to board the plane. It was also a Turkish Airlines plane, and while it was smaller than the previous one which had 10 seats on each row, it was still a very large plane (6 seats per row). We did not watch a movie on this 1 hour, 20 minute flight, but we were served a wonderful supper. Turkish Airlines is now my favorite airline! 
• We landed about 8:45 PM, and going though our final passport control was not as scary as I thought. it would be. The man asked us how long we would be in the country and why we were there, and that was all. It wasn't far to the baggage claim area, and our bags were already there. Yay! Our baggage made it. We exited the airport, and we there were Julie and Big Sam!
• And we were off and running. Since our plane was delayed, we had to rush to the train station to try to catch the 9:20 PM plane to Craiova (where Julie and Big Sam live). We crammed our luggage and ourselves into 2 taxis and drove to the train station. The ticket attendant said we could not possibly make it on the train, (we had 7 minutes until it left) but she was wrong! We ran with our 5 huge suitcases and heavy backpacks in tow, and just barely got on the train before it left. Whew! The next train to Craiova wasn't until 11:45 PM!
• It was a 3 hour train ride to Craiova. We passed the time eating Turkish Delight, laughing, talking, and just delighting in each other's company. After a while, all three boys fell asleep, and Julie set an alarm on her phone so we would not sleep through our stop. 
• We got off the train at 12:30 AM (Wednesday, May 9). The buses to their apartment had stopped running, so again, we crammed into two taxis for the 10 minute drive to their apartment. Finally, just before 1:00 AM we arrived at Julie and Big Sam's apartment. I think our total travel time was 34 hours, if my math is correct. 
• We were in bed by 2:00 AM, and I slept until 12:45 PM the next day (today). 

My prayers for safe travel were answered!

And We're Off!

First of all, tomorrow is my 10 year blogging anniversary! I cannot believe how fast those ten years have flown by, and how much my family has changed. Ten years ago, my children were 2,4,9,10, and 13. Now, the two oldest are married, Clay is in college, and we are expecting our first grandchild in early September!

I have big plans to blog several lists of ten things during the month of May to celebrate my ten years of blogging. These lists will include things like 10 favorite beauty products, 10 best homeschool materials, 10 ways to study your Bible, and many more. But......I may be delayed in beginning the lists of tens because:

We are on our way to Romania!

Clay, Leah, Sam, and I are leaving Atlanta in just about an hour, and Jimmy will be joining us next Monday. (Don't worry about robbers finding my house....I have a house sitter, a great security system, and four big dogs that guard our place.)

I hope to blog about our trip while we are here. I have great intentions!

A Spontaneous Road Trip

Last Friday Leanna texted Lynn and me inviting us to join her and her family for a short trip to the beach. The plan was for Lynn and I to drive down to Seagrove, Florida Sunday afternoon after our church services, spend all day Monday on the beach, and then drive back after lunch on Tuesday.

Hmmmmmm. Let me think about that.....a short 6.5 hour drive to my favorite place (Seagrove is right next to Seaside) for one full day of reading in the sun, listening to the the ocean waves crashing, feeling the breeze, smelling the salty air.....YES. I'm in!

So, Lynn and I asked our husbands if we could, and of course they said yes, so we planned and packed, and we were off!

Someone asked me yesterday if it was worth all that driving for just one day of sand and sun, and I said, "Most definitely, yes!" I finished one book, and skimmed two others. Then I bought two new books at my favorite bookstore, Sundog Books in Seaside.

The kids (eight total between the three of us mamas) had a blast. They spent all their time either in the heated pool, playing in or beside the ocean, and playing card games. We three girls talked and talked and generally enjoyed our break from our normal, busy lives. We walked to Seaside Monday night to browse the bookstore, and then Lynn and I and our children spent almost three hours in Seaside Tuesday morning before we left for home. We browsed, shopped, and enjoyed lunch from the food trucks.

It was a short, much needed spontaneous road trip!

Our Staycation

Jimmy was off work last Thursday through yesterday (Monday). We have known about this little block of time off for a year (he has to request his days off one year in advance), but we had changed our plans for this vacation time more than once. As it finally turned out, we chose to stay home, but still treat the time as a vacation. We called it a staycation. We would stay at home, but we would not do school or go to any activities, and purpose to make it fun and different from our regular days.

Our local church congregation hosted Wilson Adams as the guest speaker for a Gospel Meeting all last week, so we had something on our calendars for the Thursday and Friday night of our staycation. (By the way, the series of lessons he presented was excellent!--I was convicted, encouraged, and motivated each night.) We decided to pick one fun/different-than-normal activity to do each day.

On Thursday, Jimmy took Sam fishing that morning. Then they came home for a quick lunch and also to get Leah and our tiny house pop-up camper. Spontaneous camping trip! They spent the early afternoon setting up the camper while I ran to the grocery store for camping groceries. We went to the 4:00 showing of A Wrinkle in Time (a theater movie is a rare treat for us....we go to the movies about once or maybe twice a year). A Wrinkle in Time was very weird and strange, and I loved it! I have read the book aloud to the children, and we listened to it a second time on Audible. Jimmy has not read the book, so he had no idea of the story line (and he may have napped on and off during the movie). After the movie we ate at the food court of the mall and then went on to our evening church service. Later we went to our camper, cooked smores over the campfire that Sam built, and turned in for the night.

On Friday, we spent most of the day at our campsite. Leah painted scenery, Sam fished, and they both explored the campground. I read a new cookbook (100 Days of Real Food) and made a weekly grocery list. It was relaxing to be outside (or inside the camper when it got too windy/chilly for me) and away from my home and my regular housework and chores. We ended our day by attending the last night of our Gospel Meeting.

On Saturday, I bought groceries at both Sam's and Kroger (in the rain!), and then we went to Corinth to work on Jimmy's parents' house. This was not exactly a fun staycation activity, but the day was pleasant--getting to spend time with Jimmy's siblings and their spouses. We got a lot of work done, and then we all enjoyed a meal together at Pepper's.

On Sunday afternoon, Sam attended a play with a friend, and Leah and I had the privilege of babysitting a sweet, precious 20 month old! She is our preacher and his wife's little girl, and we had a delightful time playing with her. (I can't wait to be a grandmother!)

And yesterday, we ended our staycation by going to Memphis for the day. Our first stop was Air Memphis, which is a trampoline/jumping kind of place. Leah and Sam jumped for a solid hour, while Jimmy and I watched them and did some reading. Next we ate lunch at the Whole Foods buffet, then we went to the Pink Palace Museum. We toured the museum and watched an IMAX movie (except it's not called IMAX anymore, and I can't remember the new name) about engineering.

We arrived home in time to eat a supper of whatever you kind find in the refrigerator or pantry, tidy up the house, and get ready for bed. I read a chapter of Little Women to Leah and Sam, Jimmy read a chapter of Proverbs to them, and we were ready for bed!

We start back to school today along with a week full of activities. The break was nice!

One Week From Today

Well. Wedding #1 is one week from today. Julie and Sam's wedding. I am not quite ready!

Here's what's been going on since I last blogged on May 2:

• We hosted several of Olivia and Julie's college friends for a weekend while they all came to run the Coke 10K race. We bought new bunk beds for Sam's room for this occasion which sleep 5! The beds are two double beds bunked with a twin trundle bed. I only put 3 college boys on these beds, but I am thinking that 5 future grandchildren can sleep there just fine.
• Our family also ran the Gumtree 10K the following week.
• Clay graduated, and we had a huge party to celebrate the occasion at our home. It was supposed to be an outdoor BBQ, but it rained and rained, so I had to host 94 people inside my house! I was able to seat 42 people in tables and chairs on my porches. Still, it was fun and crowded!
• Our family of seven took a short vacation to the Rocky Mountain National Park. Except we did not do much hiking in the mountains.....it snowed. Three feet of snow in 24 hours! We have never experienced snow like that before! We stayed in a cabin in Estes Park. The first day, before the snowstorm hit, we were able to do three hikes. The next two days we played in the snow and even tried to drive into the park to explore (unsuccessfully!). The last day we drove to Boulder, Colorado, where we were able to drive up to the summit of Flagstaff Mountain. We took a few picture there in the snow before heading down to explore the Pearl Street Mall.
• This last week I have done wedding stuff every single day. This included counting and sorting tablecloths, vases, lanterns, and candles, shopping for ribbon, fabric to drape over the arbor and various other items, taking the program to the printer, picking up Olivia's invitation envelopes (the outer and inner envelopes were printed), and much more.
• Last night Leanna and I spray painted 38 clear vases gold and silver speckled. 
• I've had my final meetings with the caterer and florist. 
• Lynn and Leanna have been diligently working to plan the flow and flip of the ceremony and reception. I am so thankful for both of them, and there is no way I could pull off these weddings without their help. 
• Julie finished her wedding dress and veil, and they are both beautiful!
• Olivia's dress is hemmed and ready as well. Both gowns and dresses along with bridesmaids dresses are all hanging in the closet.

I actually have so much to say about our fun and busy month of May, and I have lots of pictures to share. I really hope I can find time to do that! 

Big Sam will fly in Tuesday! He will stay with us until the night before the wedding. I am sending all guests to a hotel for Friday and Saturday nights. :) After that, the Johnson Hotel will reopen for business. Julie and Sam have not seen each other since the beginning of January, so they are both super excited! Their plan is to come back here after their honeymoon and some other traveling they need to do (Sam will be giving reports to the churches that have supported him the last year). They will stay with us until after Olivia's wedding on July 22. Then they will fly to their new home in Romania. 

Happy Saturday!

Disney 2017

Our family went to Disney World January 10-17. In fact, we left exactly at 12:00 AM on January 10 (Monday night/Tuesday morning). We followed Lynn and Kelly and their family on the 12 hour drive to Orlando. The four adults took turns driving and trying to sleep. We stopped around 6:00 AM at a Cracker Barrel for coffee (lots of coffee) and breakfast.

 The Mims and Johnson Children at breakfast.

(They slept all night in the car!)

We kept on driving and driving, and finally we arrived at the Florida Welcome Center. Yay!

 Reluctantly posing at the Welcome Center. I always stop here when traveling to visit my college girls, and I always make my kids make a picture here.

We got to our hotel, checked in, unpacked the cars, and were at Disney's Hollywood Studios by 3:00 PM. After 2-3 hours of broken sleep, the adults were ready!  

Do we look sleep deprived?

By Tuesday night we were joined in our hotel by Lynn's sister, Lesley, and her family and our friends Greg and Esther and their family. We were a party of 22! We had matching shirts to wear each day, and we had the best time!  This is the 5th Disney trip that Lynn and her family and my family have made together. This is the second time Lesley has joined us, and the third time for Esther and her crew. There is definitely never a dull moment with all of us!

Leanna and her family and Stacee (both are Jimmy's cousins) and her family were also at Disney World for four of the days we were. We met up with them some at the different parks. That made us the occasional party of 32!

I do not have all the wonderful pictures of the week on my laptop yet. Uncle Kelly obtained a Disney Photo Pass for us. It has many, many pictures on it, but I don't know yet how to download them to my laptop. Jimmy took pictures with his camera and phone, and everyone else took pictures with their phone as well. I think we all uploaded them to our Disney dropbox....I just need to figure out how to access them!  Anyway, I have a few pictures to share from my phone.

 The men and their backpacks!

Kelly always brings his army backpack, and we always  bring our navy blue Lands End backpack with "Johnson" monogrammed on the back. Sadly, I forgot to pack our backpack! So I bought this cute Mickey Mouse backpack in the hotel gift shop. Everyone loved Jimmy's backpack!   :)

This is on the Primeval Whirl ride at Animal Kingdom. We were bumped, jolted, and slung around!

 Sam, Jimmy, and Clay

These are our new Disney shirts for this year.

 Lynn and I rode Splash Mountain three times in a row on this morning.

We should have stopped at two! After this picture we got drenched!

The very last day of our vacation Olivia, Brian, and Julie joined us!  Their college is just 70 miles from Disney, and they had no classes because of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. We went to Magic Kingdom that day. It was the first time Julie had ridden Splash Mountain in 8 years! (Normally when we go to Disney World in January, Splash Mountain is closed for refurbishment.)

Jimmy, Julie, and Me

I'll share more highlights as soon as I figure out the picture deal.

Lynn and I have gotten this Disney vacation thing down to a science.  Esther has joined right in with us wholeheartedly, and I think we wore Lesley out!  :) But it was all so much fun!