Last Day Part 4

We ended our last day at Disney with the older kids going on the Lilo and Stitch ride and me taking Addie back on the Buzz ride. We also took a tour of Minnie's house (we did Mickey's house on the 2nd day). They loved that.
We watched the fire work show and saw Tinker Bell fly out of the castle window.
We ended the WHOLE TRIP with the Peter Pan ride and then headed to the LONG LINE to go home. The monorail line was SO LONG. By this point the kids were exhausted. We made though. We got some dinner (LATE) and then headed to the hotel. We got up the next morning and headed home.

It was a WONDERFUL trip. We are so grateful and thankful to have been able to do this with our family. The Lord provided for this trip in HUGE ways through some very generous people. I must give HIM ALL THE GLORY. We were given money by different people from church, family, friends... and were able to take this ENTIRE trip with out using tax money to do it (that was how we were taking the trip). ISN'T THAT INCREDIBLE! I just had to share that because it amazes me how people would give to us and say that the Lord put it on their hearts to give this amount to us... and we had enough to do our entire trip. THANK YOU LORD... you are a giving GOD! We have been so blessed being in ministry and it blows my mind that we would be able to take a trip like this. We count it a HUGE BLESSING... THANK YOU LORD! and to all those who gave to us out of your generous hearts!

We had the time of our lives!

Last Day Part 3

We went to Belle's story time which was really neat. Addie wanted to be a part of her show so afterwards when it was all over she went on the stage. It was an interactive show but Addie didn't get picked. We were way in the back. It was a very cute story time. The pictures taken by the small Christmas tree is from the stage. They all went up there and sat by the tree.
We rode It's a Small World this day. That was fun for all of us.
We rode a small roller coaster... even Addie got to ride it. It was the Goofy roller coaster for those of you who have been to Disney. Her face was hillarious. I would have taken pictures if I could have managed that. It was funny.
We rode the train around Disney two times. We enjoyed sitting for a while and I got the kids one of those long skinny suckers and we shared a frozen lemonade while we rode around.
After we got off the train we let the kids do a little shopping. This was their favorite part of the trip.. haha. They were given money for the trip so they got to buy some things. Avery bought a hat and had her name put on the back of it. She also bought a doll set of Jasmine with these little clothes. She got a cup with a crazy straw in it. She also got a set of pencils and a pencil holder (for school). She got a shirt with Minnie Mouse on it.
Aidan got a light saber (is that how you spell it?), he got a sword, a gun (is he a boy or what?), a power ranger miniture figurines set, a shirt with Mickey on it. Addie got two doll sets... she got Sleeping Beauty (or Booty as she says) and Ariel, she got a shirt with princesses on it.

WOW - I have to do a part 4... still too many pictures.... we were there for 14 hours... so lots to share!

Last Day Part 2

We rode the tea cups on this day. That was lots of fun. Addie was sleeping so her and Charlotte sat this one out. I learned that Avery loves a thrill. I thought the spinning would scare her...
NO WAY. Her and Ted were spinning the thing faster and faster. I can remember being a small child and my mom trying to convince the operator (at a local carnival) to stop the ride because I was freaking out... Not Avery... she was yelling FASTER FASTER.
While we were on Splash Mountain with Avery, Ted took the other two kids and just happened to see Woody's round up show. Aidan is a big fan of Toy Story so I was glad he got to see that.
I got to eat one of those huge turkey legs (love that stuff!)
We were walking through the park and saw Jack Sparro (Pirates... it wasn't actually Johnny Depp but a guy that looked a lot like him). Charlotte was thrilled. She has a little crush on Jack (and Aladin and Goofy - haha).
We went to the tiki house and saw the bird show.. that was neat.

Gonna have to do a part 3... hit the max again on pictures

LAST DAY AT DISNEY... DREAMS REALLY DO COME TRUE!

We started this day EARLY. General Ted has us on a SCHEDULE... haha. I appreciate it so much because we needed that! The day before the park had closed because there were so many people there. We all made a list of some things we wanted to do that day. We wanted to leave and have done all the things we wanted to do. We started our day meeting MICKEY MOUSE. I am glad we did this first thing because we didn't have to wait too long. Then we went over and met Minnie Mouse, Pluto and Goofy. That was lots of fun as well. The kids are amazed at meeting these characters and getting their autographs. I think it is one of their favorite things about Disney. We also met Pooh and Tigger this day.
My favorite ride was SPLASH MOUNTAIN and we rode it this day. Charlotte and I went on it with Avery. Avery loved it. I couldn't believe she did it but she wanted to. She saw the slope before we went on it and knew we'd be going down that thing. She did great and loved it.
Charlotte and I also rode Space Moutain. That was a HOOT. It's a roller coaster that is in the dark... it's a thrill ride for sure!

I am going to do a Last Day part 2 because I can't upload any more pictures to this entry....

DISNEY DAY 3

Our day three was much more laid back. We did not go to a theme park this day. We slept until 9:30am. That is the LATESTour kids have EVER slept. We went on this day to down town disney and went to Disney Quest. DQ is a huge interactive video place. The kids got to do some virtual stuff (like fly on Aladin's magic carpet). They got to play video games... which they love! They got to do these really cool electronic art computer thingy (haha).
We took a break and drove aroud a bit for lunch and then came back that evening. Ted took Avery and Aidan back to Disney Quest and Charlotte and I enjoyed the shopping in down town Disney with Addie. Addie enjoyed being the only kid with us. Charlotte took her on a carosel and she enjoyed every minute of that. We ended the night and headed back to the hotel to gear up for our last day at Magic Kingdom. It was a good day!

Disney TAKE 2

Our second day at Disney was much more dry! We had an umbrella and we were prepared. It started a little wet but cleared up and was a BEAUTIFUL day!

On this day we met lots of princesses. We met Sleeping Beauty (aka Aurora), Snow White, Cinderella and Belle. Aidan went with Charlotte and got to meet Chicken Little, Donald, and Chip and Dale. (I have to get those pictures from Charlotte's camera). Aidan also met Genie from Aladin. We rode the magic carpet ride this day. I am so glad Charlotte was with us because it gave us a one to one adult to kid ratio. That made our lives so much easier. Addie slept during this part of the day because she missed the magic carpet ride. Ted stayed out on this one with her. We rode the Pirates of the Carribean ride this day. Aidan was not fond of this ride. He hid his head the entire time. We bought him a sword though afterwards and he loved that. Many people accidently got hit with the sword that day at Disney... oops. We finished up our day with riding the Winnie the Pooh ride (which the kids loved). It was a wonderful, magical day!

FIRST DAY AT DISNEY

What a great time we had at Disney World. We drove through the night on Christmas Eve and arrived at Disney at about 11am on Christmas morning. There were TONS of people there. We did not realize it was PEAK season. WHO KNEW??? I guess a lot of regular attenders.
We got there and there was a parade right when we walked in. It was SO NEAT! Then the heavens opened up and the RAINS CAME DOWN. It rained so hard. There was not a dry inch on our bodies and we had ponchos on. It was coming down big time. WHAT WAS GOING ON... the day we dreamed of and we were getting rained on and the kids were so tired, wet and cranky. SO... we left! YES, we left. We went and checked into our hotel got dried off, let the kids nap and then BACK TO DISNEY WE WENT and it was ALL REDEEMED... we had a BLAST. It was still a little wet but we prepared ourselves. We had a great time!
We rode the Dumbo ride, the Buzz Light Year ride, the Snow White ride, we met Ariel, we saw the fire works.
I think my favorite ride this day was the Buzz ride. Aidan thought it was SO cool. We actually got right back on it because we enjoyed it so much. We were there for 4 hours that night. It was so much fun.
The lights were incredible at night and they actually made it snow... ONLY IN DISNEY. It looked like a snow globe.

It was a great first day!

THE NIGHT OF CHRISTMAS EVE

We started our evening Christmas Eve with friends at the Blockers house in Knoxville. The Blockers, Randalls and Mazoons were all there. It was a great time. They served spaghetti (we didn't eat though because of prior plans to eat with the Cruzes). Then we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus. The kids got to decorate cup cakes for Jesus. It was so sweet. We were only there a short time but I sure did laugh a lot!

After leaving the Blockers, we headed over to the Cruzes for our Christmas celebration with them. We have spent the last 4 Christmas Eve's at Buddy and Charlotte's house here in Knoxville. Buddy and Charlotte go to our church. They have 4 grown children and 14 grandchildren. They have been so sweet to have us come and join their family gathering the last 4 years. It means a lot to us. Debbye Wright (who works at the church with Ted and is my mentor) is one of her children. Buddy Cruze (Charlotte's dad - the Charlotte that hangs out with our family a lot) is also one of their children). We have a great time because most of them go to church with us and we know them well. We've also vacationed with them (a few years back). Granny goes out and gets the kids some fun presents. This year Aidan got lots of dinosaurs. He also got a cool Cars hoodie with a vest. He slept in that shirt and wore it to Disney the first day. Avery got barbie dress up clothes and a dancing princess barbie. She also got some really nice jeans and a shirt. Addie got a tea set, a mini barbie and a mini barbie box. She got a Winnie the Pooh outfit (so cute!).
We had a great time. The Cruzes are very generous.
We had a WONDERFUL meal as well. It was SO GOOD! I look forward to Christmas at the Cruzes every year. It's a great time!

Christmas Eve Morning

These are pictures from Christmas Eve morning. Aidan has a wall hanging on his shirt. He's a funny one :-)
You can click on the pictures to see them better.
What a wonderful Christmas Eve! I think it might be my most favorite one yet! We started the morning getting dressed for church. Ted
taught the message at church this morning (www.fbcknoxville.com - if you'd like to hear it. Click on Resources and it should be there).

We headed to church then afterwards we went to lunch with Janie and Kendal. Ted came home and went straight to bed to get rested up for our drive to DISNEY WORLD. I packed, cleaned house and went and ran a few errands. It was a fun day.

Christmas with JANIE and KENDAL

Last night we had a sweet surprise! Janie and Kendall (both college students that go to our church... Janie is in my Bible study on Sunday nights and we have really gotten to know each other this year... she's a DOLL!) well... they came over to visit. They brought in these garbage bags full of presents for the Ancelets. It was so sweet and so much fun.
The kids got SO excited (heck, I did too!). They gave the kids some fun toys. Avery got a ballerina barbie and a strawberry shortcake make up bag (which we already painted nails). Aidan got a great punching bag (spider man), and a t-ball and bat. FUN STUFF. He of course was hitting the ball in the living room (NO!). Addie got some jewels and a dress up skirt (that use to be Janie's).
Ted will be sporting a polo shirt he got from them at church tomorrow when he delivers the Christmas message to our congregation. He'll look sharp I'm sure :-)

THANKS JANIE AND KENDAL! What a sweet gift... you guys are to our family.