Three Christmas Celebrations!

7 1/2 Months

1 1/2 years

2 1/2 years

What a difference almost 3 years makes!

Walt Disney Vier

Here we are at the "Disney Club" that Dad kept calling a "disco"

Dad and Leah

Brian, Jenny, Joshua, and Leah with Woody and Bulls Eye

Belle telling a story

AND ... Cinderella's Castle decorated for Christmas!

Title in German

Disney World Trois

Jenny, getting on the Goofy Rollercoaster...

Dad and Jenny in line
(notice Dad blocking her exit)

Before the ride... Dad is still holding her in

Cinderella
Boo even sat on her lap! (Leah liked Prince Charming)

Sleeping Beauty

Title in French

Disney World Numero Duos

Boo was exhausted by about 7:30, but she found a wonderful resting place!

This picture scared all of us...

...but Josh behind the wheel is even scarier!

"It's A Small World"

Mom and Dad on her favorite ride, "It's a Small World"

Title in Spanish

Disney World Part 1!

We went to a Magical Mickey Christmas our first afternoon, we were there from
4:30 PM to 12:00 AM!

Sisters and Best Friends
After traveling 8 hours with only 4-5 hours of sleep, they decided they need to stick together!

Leah in front of CINDERELLA'S CASTLE!

O Christmas Tree

We took our Christmas tree down yesterday, so it is about time for me to blog about it...

Boo was fascinated by the lights!

Jenny liked the garland.

Mom and Leah liked laughing at the crazy antics that came about during the assembly of the tree.

we're alive, We're Alive, WE'RE ALIVE!!!

Well, our GPS which we called Lexi has been renamed to Lucifer! After a simple shopping excursion to a nearby town, we used the GPS to find our way back to the top of the mountain. Unfortunately, we took a wrong turn (unclear directions from the GPS). After it recalculated, we were supposed to go two miles to the main road, no problem. Big problem, those 2 miles were switchbacks...(Wikipedia/Mulhearn) definition"a road or trail joined by hairpin bends, not for large vehicles."This switchback is a lot wider than ours, Mom had to go in reverse just to get around some of the turns.
Yes this was accomplished in our big charcoal van with Mom driving!!!! And to top it off, we were driving through a cloud, in the rain! Even on normal (mountainous mind you) roads, natives were traveling at a mere 20 miles per hour. We are very grateful that Jenny had stayed home with Emily and Leah to complete their studies, or Jenny would have gotten out of the vehicle and walked up the mountain, in the rain and clouds! Thank God we are back home, and Mom has vowed to cut up her drivers license and begin taking the seniors bus from the retirement community! The only problem with that is then I would have to drive everywhere the bus doesn't go. YIKES! (I would have parked the car in the middle of the road on the switchback, popped a tire and called AAA!) Notice I did not mention this idea to Mom while she was screaming, "I hate this road, no Josh we are not supposed to hate anything, but I hate this road!" Enterprising young Brian was mentioning how easy this road would have been to navigate if Mom had let him get a motorcycle! Good try Brian! Boo was wanting to know where her cookie we promised her was. The bakery on top of the mountain was closed by the time we survived the trip up! What a day!

25 Days Until Christmas!

Well, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving and a great visit with our friends the Dolans two days later! We are now back in Tennessee, doing school and just living life! We will have pictures of our trip to Disney World once we get back to Missouri (Alyssa forgot her camera cord at home). More later...

Trip to TN!

Things got a little crazy on the ride to TN this time. We left the power cord to the TV home, so after 6 hours in the car, people started getting a little nutty. Dad slept, luckily MOM was driving at the time...

Here is Joshua singing an Irish Ballad (by Dolly Parton so it's not authentic, but still it's Irish). Brian and Emily are in the background doing the ChaCha Slide.

AND BOO SLEPT THROUGH ALL OF IT!

Bluegrass Convention!

We went to a bluegrass convention in Springfield, IL! We saw a lot of really good bands. Maddy B. came with us! We got up at 4:00 AM to get there in time for Brian's mandolin camp.

Jenny was way too awake, I think she got into the sugar or something.

THE MULHEARN FAMILY!
We were in a bluegrass showcase.

Above - Doyle Lawson
Below - Rhonda Vincent

Carrie Hassler and Hard Rain (Below)
We opened for her in TN last year. She remembered us, so that was really cool.

I'm not sure who this is, but they were good, with a great fiddle player.

Dailey and Vincent, the hottest bluegrass band right now!

P.S. Taylor - Cub is still available, HA HA HA!

Boston, Again!

Here is the seat where Theodore Roosevelt sat in at The Old North Church. The Old North Church ... Paul Revere rang the bell, it became a landmark. It was packed with tourists so we could barely move, but the gift shop was really nice.

The Boston Commons was a really nice area. Great architecture, but I won't bore you with all of my pictures of buildings.

Here is Quincy Market, part of Fanuel Hall Market Place. A great place to shop and eat!

Paul Revere statue.

I thought this was the cutest vehicle ever. If I ever live in an urban area, I so want one of these. They would be much easier to park. Oh yeah, if I ever go to Italy I am taking one of those tours of Rome when you ride around on one of these things. Off subject, I know.

Hahvahd Univehsity!

Here is Harvard University!
The photo above is a house where about 10-15 presidents stayed during their time at Harvard or during a visit to the university.
The photo below is of the gates going into the school.
P.S. I didn't mess this photo up, it is supposed to be an "artistic" view. Some people don't seem to understand that though.

Here is one of the tour guides, he was majoring in English. Why someone would spend $200,000 on an English degree from Harvard is beyond me. Medical or law school, I could see the need to go to Harvard, but English.

P.S. IF YOU EVER GO TO HARVARD U. DON'T RUB THE STATUES FOOT! Don't ask why.

BOSON, MA!

Here are some picture from our recent trip to Boston.
We went on the USS Cassin Young
a World War Two Battleship.

It was really cool! They hadn't modified anything!












This is where the troops slept, I couldn't do it. I would be lucky to talk myself into staying down there for any length of time, but there is no way I could sleep.







Here is Mom and I at the hull or the stern, I don't know which. Here we are at the front of the ship=)
UPDATE - I have been kindly informed that we are at the BOW of the ship! Thanks Taylor=)