Turkey Day at the Happiest Place on Earth!

We spent Thanksgiving 2009 with Mama Lydia and Papa Constance in Orlando. Friends we met in China (Lori, Jim and their kids) rented a house in Kissimmee and invited us to stay with them. Mama and Papa stayed at the Gaylord Palms (my favorite hotel in Orlando) about 10 minutes away. We got into town Wednesday and was witness to rain and traffic accidents what seemed to be every half mile. The news that night stated there were actually 366 incidents that day!

Wednesday we had dinner in Celebration - a great little town! Thanksgiving day we headed for Epcot (Magic Kingdom was too crowded). Our Thanksgiving dinner was in China - just worked out that way! Friday we spent the day at Hollywood Studios and then headed home. We spent the weekend watching the FL/FL State game with friends (causing our new found love of Vodka Tonics) and also decorating the house for Christmas (still not done). Overall a non-traditional but wonderful Thanksgiving!

The pictures are in reverse order - difficult to re-arrange the pics so I'm not going to try!






Hollywood Studios
NYC backdrop
















San Francisco
well sorta . . .
It's like when
we were there
last March!
This pic is for
Ninang Char!











I ♥ my
Mickey Mouse
shades!














An ode
to the
familia
in Daly
City























My first
balloon!



















Waiting for
the monorail!
Look at my
stickers!













At the
Gaylord
Palms-
Mama &
Papa's
Christmas
Picture!









Jamie &
Stephanie
















Sweet
Addison!














The gang-
(Clockwise)
CJ, Addison,
Stephanie
and Jamie

Happy Halloween!

It was kinda nice having Halloween on a Saturday - plus Mark was home this year to celebrate and participate! I got Stephanie's costume back on Labor Day - I know, I'm anal. She's our princess so I wanted her to dress like one - Jasmine from Aladdin. I also got her another costume - she'll have it for next year - and Daddy and I match Stephanie!

We went to a Halloween party at the Little Gym on Friday. Stephanie had a blast! So many kids in their costumes, games, pizza, snacks - lots of Fun!! On Saturday we planned on going to Moosehaven - a retirement community that was offering family friendly and safe trick or treating. As I was driving her there, she fell asleep. She basically slept through all the trick or treating. Plus when she finally woke up she was a little groggy. Good thing we went on Friday nite otherwise she wouldn't have celebrated. Here are the pictures from the Little Gym:

Talking

to one

of the

teachers!









Playing Halloween

Hopscotch

with

Bess












Playing
with
Daddy














Bess
and
Stephanie

Great Fall Weather and Professional Pictures!

We had great weather this past weekend - sunny with hi's in the upper 60's. That along with it being birthday weekend, we decided to go to Orlando. We stayed at the Gaylord Palms hotel. Very nice hotel that is all enclosed in an atrium (with the exception of the pool). We then went to Epcot to enjoy the Food and Wine Festival! It was very good - there are kiosks set up where you can taste different foods and alcoholic drinks from various countries. They also had a dessert and champagne kiosk as well as a cheese and wine pairings kiosk. We sampled from Chile, Puerto Rico, China and Mexico (the only picture we have which is below) to name a few.

The first few pictures are inside the Gaylord Palms (the inside of the hotel and then pictures of our room - they gave us a suite!). Then there's a picture of Mark in the country of his heritage (the only picture from Epcot - too much eating and drinking - not enough picture taking). The last photos are pictures we had taken of Stephanie for turning two!

At breakfast,

Stephanie feeding

Tigger.

MeeMee -

look at the

fish!

Wow!

Mark and his

churro

(Stephanie

was

napping).

The suite

was sweet!

We could've

just hung

out here!

The view from

our

balcony.

The building

is a steak

house.

I love

my baby's

smile!

She looks

like a

little

lady

here

to me.

I love

this

kid!

Photography by Stephanie

Stephanie got a hold of one of the digital cameras and just started taking pictures. Dada helped her with her photo composition after a few shots. Here are the results - not too bad for a two year old:

Where Did the Summer Go?

Wow, wasn't it just July 4th yesterday? Oh, July 4th was the last time I posted on the blog - my bad! I haven't been able to keep up with what has been going on - just busy working and keeping everything going! Or maybe I should stay off of FaceBook - hmmm.

Let's see what's happened since Independence Day . . .

Mark's sister Lisa graduated from the Art Institute in Atlanta - if you need to hire an interior designer - she's the one! We went up to Atlanta for a very quick trip.

Just plain happy!

Lisa, Mark


and


Stephanie










Stephanie


checking out


the World


of Coke








Stephanie
had to have
a Coke
Polar
Bear


A true
shopper
like her
Mom!










Our friends Susan and Jonathan and their precious twin daughters, Lily Kate and Eleanor, came
to Florida for a visit. We went to see them at the Riz, Susan and Sophia's home.
It was great to see them - we hadn't seen them since China! It's amazing how big
all the girls have gotten!





The girls and their
Daddies!












The girls and their
Mommies!













Stephanie and
Lily Kate
driving
Sophia's car!














All 4 girls
playing together!















Then our Baby Girl turned 2 years old - seriously, where does the time go?
We had a small cake on her actual birthday and then we had a small
get together a few days later. Next year her birthday will be at The
Little Gym - easy peasey!

It was a fun time!





The Birthday Girl!















Her Custom
Kitchen!

She'll get more
use out of it
than Mommy
gets out of hers
(as stated by
my friend
Marie).

Stephanie was

a bit

intimidated by

the candle.

Daddy

later helped

her blow it

out.

The girls:

Katherine,

Iris,

Stephanie

and

Sophia!

And just a few days ago Stephanie's Nana came for a visit. She had a nice time getting to know her. Below is a picture of Stephanie, Nana and Dada at a restaurant in Fernandina Beach.