Disney: Day 2

We headed to Magic Kingdom bright and early! I am so thankful for my dear friend Melissa and all of the tips she gave me before going! We got there early enough to see the "Good Morning Show" before they opened the gates. I think this may have been one of Aven's favorite things about our trip! Mickey, Minnie, and a host of other characters came riding in on the train with dancers and music! The kids loved it! It was such a magical way to start our day at Magic Kingdom! 

We spent the morning riding rides and seeing shows. One of the first things Levi spotted was a Pirate show with Captain Jack Sparrow where he would pick kids out of the crowd to be in the show. Levi was so determined to do it! So we staked out a place in the front and got there early for the next show. We warned Levi that he may not be picked! Brian told Levi to do exactly what he said and maybe he would be picked:) so whenever Jack Sparrow would ask the crowd questions, Levi would jump up with his arms in the air and answer. Jack Sparrow asked "who is ready for adventure?!" Levi jumped up and said "I AM!!!" Jack pointed to Levi and said "I know you are, little guy." Then he came off the stage bent down to Levi and said "I want you to be on my crew". Levi was so excited. He went right up on stage! Captain Jack Sparrow instructed each of the four kids on how to fight the other pirate on stage and when it got to Levi, captain Jack said to the other pirate, "step aside! I want to fight this one myself!" I could have cried I was so happy for Levi! He had wanted so bad to fight Jack Sparrow! Levi was so animated up there! He yelled out his name and all of his lines when Jack asked him. It was one of the hilights of the trip, for sure! 

Pirates of the Caribbean

Aladdin's magic carpet

Levi's first roller coaster!! He loved it!!

Mickey's Philharmagic!

Buzz Lightyear

Swiss Family Robinson treehouse

Later in the afternoon we went back to the resort to take naps. All 7 of us! We headed back to the park around dinner time and rode a few more rides, watched the electric parade and stayed up late for the light show and fireworks!

We kept the kids up until almost midnight that night and they were as happy as could be! Can I just brag about my kids for a minute? We stayed up late, skipped naps, ate lots of sweets and totally exhausted them, yet we did not have one. single. meltdown on the entire trip! Not one! And I have a 2 and a 3 year old! I could not have been more proud of my kids!

Disney: Day 1

We left bright and early! 3 a.m. to be exact! In hopes of enjoying the pools at the resort for an afternoon before we hit up the parks the next day! The kids did not go immediately back to sleep as we had "planned". It took them over an hour to finally realize Disney was coming no time soon and sleeping would be best! They all slept until the sun rose and then we stopped for food and a bathroom break. They watched a movie, played with iPads, and colored until about 10:30 when I threatened them with naps once we were at the resort if they didn't go back to sleep in the car. 5 minutes later, Levi was sacked out and Aven was not far behind him! 

We arrived at the resort around 1:00 (my parents had gone down the day before) and went straight to the pools! We were all so excited about the warm weather! 

That night we went to Downtown Disney and ate at the Rainforest Cafe before getting rested up for the parks the next day!

Can you tell who didn't sleep much in the car on the way to Florida?

15 years ago....

There are big things that happen in every family that shapes who they are and who they become. 15 years ago today, was one of those moments for my family. We almost lost my little brother at the age of 12. There are so many details that my parents have shared with me over the years that I didn't know about at the time, or was oblivious to because I was a 15 year old kid. I've never written any of them down, or shared much of the story with a lot of people. But it seems fitting today as we celebrate the last 15 years that we have been able to share with Parker.  Especially since we were so close to losing him. I have found us talking about it so much more recently, as Parker and I are both parents now and realize the reality of what it would be like to almost lose a child.

Parker was 12 (6th grade) and I was 15 (8th grade). We went on our school's annual ski trip to Snowshoe, WV. My parents went along as chaperones (by God's grace!!). Parker went skiing with my friend and I that day. On one of our trips down the mountain, I looked behind me and realized he wasn't with us anymore. We stopped and waited, but when he didn't come we started moving back up the slope to see if we could find him. We saw ski tracks going down a bank into the trees, and when we looked down we saw him. My friend, Julie, and I jumped down the bank, and to this day, I can still vividly remember his face when he turned to look at me. His entire right eye area was crushed and bleeding. My reaction was screaming at the top of my lungs. Julie told me to go find help and she would stay with him. At that time we had no idea how serious it was. We just saw blood.cJulie's mom is a nurse, and I am so thankful Julie had enough medical sense to keep him awake. He kept telling her he wanted to go to sleep, but she  did not let him. She kept him awake. I found help, they got him down the mountain, and took him to the clinic at the ski resort. This doctor stitched up his eye and sent him up to the lodge. That's it. 

Later that night my mom could tell Parker was not acting right. They called an ambulance and had him transferred to a local hospital. It was snowing like crazy and th roads were treacherous! They discovered Parker had crushed his entire eye orbit in the area that doctor at the ski resort had just stitched up. Air was now escaping into his brain and pieces of bone were splintered and close to his brain. 

The local hospital said they could not handle anything this serious and they would need to transfer him to West Virginia University Hospital for major surgery. This hospital was not close and the roads were getting worse. 

They rushed Parker into surgery. Which involved making an incision from one ear to the other, reconstructing his eye orbit, and placing a metal plate in his forehead area where they used as an access point. 

He was in the hospital for 10 days. I was able to go visit him at WVU after his surgery thanks to our dearest friends. Danny Cox had gone as a chaperone as well, since his oldest daughter was on the trip. He had driven up earlier in his suburban and not ridden the bus, so he and Amber went with me to the hospital, but our luggage went home on the bus:) The little things like that happening made our trip back to NC an adventure and took my mind of the seriousness of things in WV. The hospital gave us scrubs to wear and went to walmart to buy some clean underwear since we no longer had any clothes. We were trying to drive back home in a snowstorm and eventually had to stop and spend the night even though we were driving a 4WD vehicle. I've never seen so much snow in my life. 

We made it home after quite the adventure and I stayed with the Cox's while mom and dad were at WVU with Parker for the next 10 days. We were greeted at home by the Cox boys having shaved their heads in honor of Parker, since his head had to be shaved for surgery. 

Parker turned 13 just days after he got home and had a long recovery. He was instructed not to play any contact sports for quite awhile, which was extremely difficult for this sports fanatic! That's when he picked up Golf:) He competed in tournaments for the remainder of Highschool and got a golf scholarship to Liberty university. 

This was definitely a defining moment for our family. The Lord taught us all a lot through it. It definitely could have ended differently, but The Lord chose to spare Parker's life that day! We praise him for it!  We are so blessed and extremely grateful to The Lord for the last 15 years. 

Next Up: T-ball

Brody had a great first season of basketball! Next up: 2nd season of T-ball!!

Wordless Wednesday

Farm Boys

I love my little farm boys. With all of the rain and snow we have had recently, the little creek beside our house has been running. They have taken advantage of the warmer days and the creek!

The Grove Park Inn

Brian and I were blessed to be able to attend the Weekend to Remember at The Grove Park in over Valentine's Day weekend! It was a much needed time away for us and the conference was amazing. The Gove Park Inn did not dissapoint either. It was INCREDIBLE! It had just snowed before we were there and it snowed a little more over the weekend. It looked like it was straight out of a fairytale! We enjoyed a date night out at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse while we were there and enjoyed lots of coffee and the gorgeous views while we relaxed in the Inn. Brian gave me one of my favorite gifts to date while we were there....a gorgeous ring to remember our weekend away together.