Minnie, Living Across the Hall, and Matching Helmets!

 Hi everyone,

I hope you're all doing well and that the extreme weather we've all been having hasn't affected you too much.

 

We walked through the front door at midnight on Monday. Chuck had to work on Tuesday but I was smart enough to take the day off. 😏 Beth and I spent the day unpacking and doing laundry. I worked Wednesday, then went grocery shopping to fill our empty cupboards, then back to church to lead a class. 

 

Then worked Thursday and now it's officially the weekend for me.

 

I've been uploading pictures of our trip and keep telling myself that I don't need to show you every single thing that happened on our trip! We did so much, and had so much fun. 

We had a few hours between landing and checking into our timeshare so we went to lunch with my half-sister. It's been too long since we've seen each other and it was so good to get to talk with her. She's our dad's first daughter, and is 15 years older than me. Just hearing her voice again was so good for my heart.

 

 We all got to the condo around 4:00 on the 1st. Diana, Peter and Adelaide flew in from Pennsylvania, we flew from Seattle and Sharaya and Ally drove from Seattle. They stopped at the Redwoods on their way down.

We reserved two condos, and were able to get them right across the hall from each other. As soon as we all got in, Diana and Adelaide came over. I loved being that close to them!

Her favorite character is Minnie so I gave her the plush right away. In her little one-and-a-half year old voice she yelled, "Meenee!" then ran to show mom. 💕 When she got to meet the real Minnie, she loved her from afar.

We ended up walking to Disneyland on Tuesday morning because we couldn't figure out where the shuttle picked us up. Even various people we asked: in hotels, on the street, even a city bus driver didn't know. Well actually, they all very confidently told us something different.

 

Once we got there we slowly made our way back to Galaxy's Edge, the Star Wars area, and I took pictures of Beth along the way. By the Teacups and the Matterhorn.

 

She was excited to see the storm troopers! 

She bought the hat the last time we were at Disney! 

 

We had lunch at the Red Rose Cafe. AKA The Beauty and Beast restaurant. I was expecting it to be about Belle and the castle, but it's designed after Gaston's tavern. But it was still fun, and the food was good. If you get a chance to go, you really should "try the gray stuff, it's delicious!"🎵

 

We rode the Train around the park, went on The Jungle Cruise, It's a Small World, Adelaide played in Toon Town, and the kids went on the Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance ride. We had such a great time being together. And Adelaide's new favorite word? "Splash!"

 

Til next time - I pray the Lord fills your life with happy splashing!

What's Been Happening

So many things going on around here lately. I'll try to keep them short so I can get everything in. 😊

Diana and Peter bought Adelaide a water table and she loves playing in it! That girl has such a happy heart.

Sharaya sent us this picture of some crepes that my granddaughter Allison (14) made! We all decided we want her to make them for us when we're all together this summer!

The Junkos are expanding their family this spring. Built a great nest in the wreath on our porch again and have 4 tiny eggs!

Beth had a party at the bowling alley today. They have them about once a month and last night she and I were up until 10:00 dipping these pretzels. The leaders keep asking everyone to bring 'healthy' desserts and this was the easiest thing I could think of that didn't need to be refrigerated and would travel well on a bus.

I've been talking to her about the kinds of foods she eats. I truly believe she's addicted to sugar. Every single week she buys a large bag of marshmallows, the family share size of m&ms, two big bags of red vines, pop tarts, chocolate... she gets angry when I ask her to put something back. She's gotten so heavy and I'm concerned not only about her health, but also her stamina when we go to Disneyland this summer. I talked with her last week and told her my concerns, then asked her if I could help her learn to eat healthier. She said yes. I asked her, "If we're at the grocery store and you put something in your cart that isn't healthy, will you get mad if I put it back?" "No." So... a couple days later we're at the store, I put a small veggie tray in the cart and she did too. She put in orange juice, fresh fruit... and no junk food! I told her it's not Friday (we have a 'junk food Friday' tradition that has gotten way out of hand) so none today. I checked out first and I happen to see her put a candy bar on the conveyor belt. I told her again we weren't buying junk food today and I put it back. She was NOT happy! Walked about 20 feet behind me out to the car; s-l-o-w-l-y got into the car and just sat there. I asked her if she was going to get buckled, she shook her head. I said, "Okay" and I took off my belt, turned off the engine and we sat there about 30 seconds before she s-l-o-w-l-y got buckled... something has to change. For years I've tried to let her make her own decisions in life of course, with guidance and advice, (I wouldn't dare tell my other daughters what they can and cannot eat) but it's getting to a point where I'm going to step in. I'm going to try my best to teach her how to eat healthy.