Happy Birthday Erica!

Happy birthday Erica! I hope you enjoyed a month long birthday celebration!!

Gobble, Gobble - Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Turkey Day!!!

Sending heartfelt wishes for a great day to family and friends, near and far...[sigh] we can't wait for the "Guam" family to return next year!

A special Thanksgiving blessing to all the people serving us and protecting us so that we may share in this relaxing and indulging day with the people we love... BE SAFE!

To the many friends and family who ran a Turkey "trot" this year - Cheers!!! I wish I could have been there to cheer each and every one of you along! Go eat some pie!

Happy Birthday little brother!

Sending birthday squeezes to the first "little pumpkin" in our famiy! The numbers are creeping up on you! We love you Uncle Scott!

American Girl Doll Cupcake Tea

What a fun Sunday afternoon! Samantha, Allie, Sue and I went to the Ritz Carlton for the American Girl Doll Cupcake Tea Fashion Show. Samantha and Allie were able to sit right by the runway and watch all the girls model American Girl doll outfits. The models also carried the AG doll which was dressed identical. It was really cute! Samantha brought Josephina and Allie brought Charissa. As you can see they also wore the same dresses as their dolls. After the show the girls were able to do their own catwalk down the runway (I think this was their favorite part!)

Gracie's Christening

Here are a few pictures from Gracie's Christening in October.

Grace in her beautiful gown!Grace with Mommy, Daddy and Godparents.
Mommy, Daddy and Grace at ChurchSamantha and GraceNana (Auntie) and GraceUncle Jake and Grace

In summary....we're back...

Cleopatra herself...

Whispering Canyon Cafe

Miss Bunny and Thumper (I didn't even know there was a Miss Bunny??)

Downtown Disney Legoland - I thought the dogs were real from afar....

Helping in the parade at Disney Hollywood Studios

At Chef Mickey (Contemporary Hotel)

Meeting Mary Poppins

Alice in Wonderland

Sam made a wish at every fountain....

The pool at our hotel, complete with waterslide

Just a few photos of our fabulous vacation at Disney World!!! Florida couldn't have treated us better. The weather was record-breaking with temperatures in the 90s!!! Although the humidity and my hair - well, let's just say I didn't think my hair could grow that big anymore - I like to think I'm beyond the 80s hairstyle... Samantha and I flew down to Orlando Monday morning. We hung out by the pool and water slide....... Tuesday, we hit Epcot where she met Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto in one shot.....I loved her expressions as she asked each character for their autograph (that seemed to be the most important thing with all the characters) and then offered up a huge hug! Lunch at the Coral Reef where we ate with sharks, sea turtles, sting rays and other cool undersea creatures swimming by - Dinner was a treat at the Contemporary with Chef Mickey and his cooking pals (I have to say Disney is great as far as her allergies - we had a chef come to our table every time and make her something she requested). Wednesday - Disney Hollywood Studios where the Star Wars ride caught her fancy (we went on it 3 times), followed by the Toy Story ride (which I liked)....we had lunch at the Toy Story Pizza Planet and headed home to waste away in the pool.....John and Sarah caught up with us on Wednesday evening poolside... Samantha loved the idea of swimming at night (the pool was open until midnight - no, we didn't make it quite that late....) Thursday was a big day - Magic Kingdom! We headed for Splash Mountain (Sam wanted to ride this one first) we went on it three times in a row as there was no wait (seriously, we didn't wait for any rides longer than 10 minutes) and then we hit Thunder Mountain and I was a little nervous she wasn't going to like it. She went on with Sarah and John and I were in the back. I swore she was screaming to get her off the ride, but she was actually screaming "I love it, I love it, it's so cool" over and over again... phew! Lunch was with Cinderella and her princess friends! I may have made Mom of the year with this one... Friday, Animal Kingdom and breakfast with Donald Duck and his Safari friends. The Safari ride was amazing! We all got soaked on Rafki's rapid ride and Samantha was a hair too short to ride Everest. John and Sarah went on and Sam received a card that said she was too short to ride and to come back (fill in the date) when she would be tall enough. One of my favorite lines from Sam "what am I going to do with this card? I'm not going to be here when I'm 44"" She was so po'd, but did triple-check that I saved the card for future use. She is 43.75" tall. Dinner Friday night was at the Wilderness Lodge, Whispering Canyon where they do anything but whisper (I highly recommend this place as they totally involve children - just don't ask for ketchup or you will have 20 bottles on your table until the next person asks.) Saturday we went back to Epcot. John and Sarah hadn't been there yet and I wanted to go on Soarin' - we got a fastpass and visited the countries while we "waited". Saturday night was the big night at Magic Kingdom for us - trick or treating... I have to say I probably wouldn't do it again if Halloween was on a Saturday night. I would pick a week night to come when it was just actual tourists as this was the most crowded I've seen any park all week. It was chaos at the park, but the parade and fireworks were spectacular. Also, you don't trick or treat to the actual characters (I was disappointed), Sam did come home with pounds of candy. All in all, Cleopatra had a great time with the Doctor (me, so original), Curious George (Sarah), a Banana (John). Sunday we went to the Superclafragilistic breakfast and then a quick trip to Hollywood Studios so John and Sarah could ride the Star Wars ride with Sam... John decided to go on Tower of Terror - well, Sam wasn't going to let her fear get in her way... and we all went - Sam loved it until the very end (was actually laughing) but then felt a little nauseous.... She was fantastic in my opinion..... Back at the pool to cool off........ John left for San Diego and Sam, Sarah and I headed back to HS to see Fantasmic (I highly recommend) after which Sam wanted to go back on Tower of Terror so she could tell people she wasn't scared. I said that was unnecessary she had nothing to prove, she went on it already and that was something. She said "no, I need to go on it." So I took her and just as we were to get on she said "I've changed my mind" I was so happy as I didn't know how she would do on a second round.... It was such a great trip all around....Disney really does a great job! How's that for a "quick" summary.... good grief it's a novel...

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy birthday to my wonderful mom!!! We love you!