All I Want For Christmas Is an Okapi, a Dinosaur, a Herd of Elephants and ...

[Poolrat]

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I'd like to ask you all to keep a couple of families in your thoughts and prayers in the days ahead. The lady that has been sitting at the other end of my pew at church for the last several years died this week. She was a sweet, unassuming lady named Muriel in real life, but to the country music world, her name was Kitty Wells. Some of you from the southern states have heard of her, I'm sure. Her husband, Johnnie Wright, sang with her. He died last fall. They had kids and grandkids who grew up going to the same school my kids grew up in. Keep her family in your prayers as they grieve their loved one.

Also, keep in mind the lady that sits behind me. Her name is Cheryl. Her husband has been sick off and on for years, and the only troubles she has had is knee issues. She found out while I was gone to Florida that she has inoperable cancer in her stomach. She said the first thing she thought of when they told her was how fast Joan was gone. She's concerned about her grandchildren, because her son has already died and she helps with his children and with her daughter's children. Losing her will leave a huge void for this family. She's concerned about her husband being sick and alone. This is a very giving couple who met when they were both living in an 'orphan home', so they have grown up together.

As always, we don't know when our time will come to leave this earth, so let's make the best and the most of the opportunities we have to live and love and give and serve. Thank you for your friendships that brighten our lives daily!

BIG going out to you and your friends and their families. I did hear about Kitty Wells. So sorry that Cheryl will leave such a big hole.

Hey guys! I just wanted to pop in and apologize for the new report taking so long to start. It is entirely my fault. I have about 32,000 things on my plate right now. I am the only person in the office for 6 weeks while my boss is out on medical leave. I am running a school of 145 students, touring and enrolling new families for the upcoming school year, planning a 2 day teacher conference, doing prek assessments, and planning prek orientation. On top of all that Brooklynn starts school in 2 weeks, her birthday is in 4 weeks, and her party is in 4 and a half weeks. Oh yeah and some time in the next 8 weeks I'm supposed to give birth. I should have the new report started by this weekend, please just bear with me.

Jill- No worries. Your plate is overflowing. We will wait here patiently.

 

[micandminforever]

Jill take your time starting the report. We will be here when life slows down alittle bit for you.

 

[vamassey1]

Jill I'm exhausted just reading about your life right now, I can't even imagine living it. Take as much time as you need. I hope things slow down soon. You need to be able to enjoy that new little baby.

 

[uncw89]

Hi, we usually get off I-95 and take SC-38, then US-501 to North Kings Hwy.
You are very lucky to get to live near the beach.
I've been going to Myrtle Beach since I was a child and I love it. My parents were die hard golfers, enough said.
I would go anytime...but Disney World is still my first love.
I'm kinda excited to daydream about a possible quick trip there next summer.
My DMom and Lexi have given their thumbs up already.

Myrtle Beach is fun! We usually just go down for the day to shop and eat!!! I live about 15 minutes from the beach, but we actually don't even go that often!!! In the summer on the weekends it's hard to find a parking spot!!!

It would be a fun time if Memom & BrooklynnsMommy were to join us for some beach time.

Definitely!!

We are staying at Pop. We also booked one night to stay at Art of Animation. We couldn't pass up the opportunity to stay at a new resort the first year it opened.

Cool! Can't wait to hear about AoA!! I've read some good things about the food court.



I take it that means you like Disney water, too?


Disney water is good!!


You would love MNSSHP!

I hope to get there for it someday!!!

I like to have Disney plans for at least the next 6-12 months out. It allows me to function normally in the real world.

Me too!!! I haven't to have vacation plans in the works at all times!!!! Especially Disney ones!!! I hope I can survive with my next two trips being Xmas 2012 and Xmas 2013....might have to figure out something in between.....at least I will have a Disney cruise in there.




As much as I would love to, we will be coming home after Gatlinburg. Dollywood will be at the end of the Vero trip, so it will be time to go back home after that. We certainly will not rule out a Myrtle Beach meet one of these days, though!

Yes, a Myrtle Beach meet would be great!!!!!! Several years ago, there was a rumor that Disney had bought some land around Brunswick County(between my house and MB) and was going to build a resort or something.....so far that hasn't happened!! I was really hoping that it would.




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I'd like to ask you all to keep a couple of families in your thoughts and prayers in the days ahead. The lady that has been sitting at the other end of my pew at church for the last several years died this week. She was a sweet, unassuming lady named Muriel in real life, but to the country music world, her name was Kitty Wells. Some of you from the southern states have heard of her, I'm sure. Her husband, Johnnie Wright, sang with her. He died last fall. They had kids and grandkids who grew up going to the same school my kids grew up in. Keep her family in your prayers as they grieve their loved one.

Also, keep in mind the lady that sits behind me. Her name is Cheryl. Her husband has been sick off and on for years, and the only troubles she has had is knee issues. She found out while I was gone to Florida that she has inoperable cancer in her stomach. She said the first thing she thought of when they told her was how fast Joan was gone. She's concerned about her grandchildren, because her son has already died and she helps with his children and with her daughter's children. Losing her will leave a huge void for this family. She's concerned about her husband being sick and alone. This is a very giving couple who met when they were both living in an 'orphan home', so they have grown up together.

As always, we don't know when our time will come to leave this earth, so let's make the best and the most of the opportunities we have to live and love and give and serve. Thank you for your friendships that brighten our lives daily!

Hugs and prayers for your friends and their families!


Jill, take your time, we will be here.

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Caren, yes, I remember Kitty Wells and her husband. My parents were big country music fans. Isn't wonderful how in everyday life she was just a regular person and not all caught up in fame.
So sorry for your friends that are hurting. My prayers go out for them

Jill,
Thanks for waiting for me to get back from Boston to start the TR. I figured I'd be 100 pages behind by now!
You have so much going on right now. I can't even imagine how you are getting it done!
Hang in there.

 

[mickeyfan71]

Memom-I will keep the families in my thoughts and prayers.

 

[MeMom]

Will pray for Muriel's (I've heard of Kitty Wells) family and for Cheryl.

She was a huge deal in the country music business. Her funeral is tomorrow, and I am sure there will be many country music performers who come to pay their respects.

First - your friends will be in my prayers! I also heard of Kitty Wells and I think I read about this in our paper recently. How difficult for Cheryl and her family.

Second - the water pictures were lovely - I would jump into a Poly scene for sure! I am so excited for our October trip to get to eat there twice! Ohana dinner and Kona breakfast!!! I really would love to spend a week there. Ahhhh! that's how I feel when I see those pictures!

I think I would be with you on jumping into the Poly picture. It is on of my favorite resorts, and the lobby is lush and so pretty. I love the flowers all over that property.

MeMom I'm so sorry for the struggles and losses of your friends and their families. I will keep them and you in my prayers.

I have heard of Kitty Wells. You and your church family have lost a great person and country music has lost a great voice.

Country music has seen a lot of people rise up out of lowly circumstances to become big 'stars'. It's always nice to read about the ones who remain so humble and focused.

I'll say prayers for Muriel and Cheryl. Lifting them up to the Lord.

Thank you.

Your friends and their families are in my prayers.

Thanks. Cheryl's family is really facing some changes. They will need a lot of strength.

Good to be back in town Hmmm... I hope this isn't rhetorical because then things just got awkward, but... the Polynesian or the Fountain of Nations, I miss both so much



I'm sorry to hear about your friends, MeMom. I will keep both in my thoughts and prayers along with their families. Hope they all find strength in these harsh times along with those ahead!

Polynesian for me, too. We'll eat a Kona steak and then go out to the beach to watch fireworks.

Unfortunately that night is our dinner with the other ip-dips. Then I think we might got o Poly to watch the fireworks and have a lapu lapu.

I started a pre tr here on the DIS if you would like to follow.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2959693

We'll work out another time, then.

I will certainly keep your friends & their families in my prayers.

It sounds like a good-sized group will be at WDW Christmas/New Years 2013! Cool!! I might have to plan on being there...

Your water pictures were lovely!!! What a nice way to capture all those. I think at too often we rush by things & don't savor their beauty; I know I am guilty of that! Thanks for the great images!!

I sent Jarvis a text to see if he would be interested in a Christmas 2013 trip, and he says he's in. Maybe all of our group can go, for a change.

I think I am just the opposite. I would slow down too much and never get out of one World Showcase country!

Definitely so! Thanks for sharing!

Good. We like Disney smiles.

Two weeks? Didn't MA get the memo about schools starting late in Alabama this year? Obviously we don't have to follow the guidelines, but we did postpone our start until the 15th.

Seriously, though, don't worry about the report. We'll all be around to read it when life settles down a bit for you!

Not sure how settled life is going to get for a while. Her doctor thinks she may go a couple of weeks early, so her last eight weeks may only be six!

BIG going out to you and your friends and their families. I did hear about Kitty Wells. So sorry that Cheryl will leave such a big hole.

Jill- No worries. Your plate is overflowing. We will wait here patiently.

I think she will make time soon to start. Maybe Friday night. She was thinking she might send the girls to Parents' Night Out, and then she could have some time to put her feet up and rest on the couch, which would be much needed at the end of the week.

Jill take your time starting the report. We will be here when life slows down alittle bit for you.

Thanks for understanding.

Jill I'm exhausted just reading about your life right now, I can't even imagine living it. Take as much time as you need. I hope things slow down soon. You need to be able to enjoy that new little baby.

I thought she got six weeks for maternity leave, but she said this afternoon she gets eight. I am glad for her! It will be nice just to hang out at home and not have to get up and out the door with all three girls every day.

Definitely!!

Hugs and prayers for your friends and their families!

Jill, take your time, we will be here.

Thank you for your good thoughts for these families.

Maybe sometime this weekend Jill will have a minute to write the intro. I could write it, but that's her official job, and then I come in next. It would be strange not to do it like that.

Caren, yes, I remember Kitty Wells and her husband. My parents were big country music fans. Isn't wonderful how in everyday life she was just a regular person and not all caught up in fame.
So sorry for your friends that are hurting. My prayers go out for them

Jill,
Thanks for waiting for me to get back from Boston to start the TR. I figured I'd be 100 pages behind by now!
You have so much going on right now. I can't even imagine how you are getting it done!
Hang in there.

Some days she is hanging by a thread. I think today was pretty drama-free, so it was not too bad. She seemed to be doing very well when I talked to her after she left the doctor's office.

Memom-I will keep the families in my thoughts and prayers.

I knew our DIS friends would be so thoughtful.

 

[sunny_stace]

I used to love Kitty Wells' music when I was younger. My parents were huge country music fans and my dad had bought me a tape of her greatest hits. The first time we drove to Florida when I was 10 (we took about 3 days to do it - a leisurely pace), I would play it over and over on my walkman and sing at the top of my lungs and drove my parents crazy! It's a favourite memory of mine and I was very sad to hear of her passing. My thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends. I'm sure she was a wonderful woman.

And more thoughts and prayers for Cheryl and her family and friends.

Hey guys! I just wanted to pop in and apologize for the new report taking so long to start. It is entirely my fault. I have about 32,000 things on my plate right now. I am the only person in the office for 6 weeks while my boss is out on medical leave. I am running a school of 145 students, touring and enrolling new families for the upcoming school year, planning a 2 day teacher conference, doing prek assessments, and planning prek orientation. On top of all that Brooklynn starts school in 2 weeks, her birthday is in 4 weeks, and her party is in 4 and a half weeks. Oh yeah and some time in the next 8 weeks I'm supposed to give birth. I should have the new report started by this weekend, please just bear with me.

Wow!! I'm tired just reading your schedule! Make sure you take some time out to relax a little! We can wait!

 

[MeMom]

I used to love Kitty Wells' music when I was younger. My parents were huge country music fans and my dad had bought me a tape of her greatest hits. The first time we drove to Florida when I was 10 (we took about 3 days to do it - a leisurely pace), I would play it over and over on my walkman and sing at the top of my lungs and drove my parents crazy! It's a favourite memory of mine and I was very sad to hear of her passing. My thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends. I'm sure she was a wonderful woman.

And more thoughts and prayers for Cheryl and her family and friends.


Wow!! I'm tired just reading your schedule! Make sure you take some time out to relax a little! We can wait!

I wish I had known that. I'm sure she would have enjoyed hearing that story.

Thanks for the thoughts and prayers for Cheryl's family. This is a huge shock.

I know Jill was pulling out baby clothes last night, because she sent me a text about watching the girls discussing the things Sophie will be wearing. Apparently, she was retelling the stories of their arrivals, too, and at one point said that I was so excited to hear about them that I danced around like a silly ninny. In Bella's version, I was so excited when I found out she was a girl I was dancing around like a 'Minnie'!


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I will be in a Balanced Math workshop all day today. That is, if we can get there. We had bad storms last night, and there are some fallen trees and flooded roads. We'll start that way, anyway, and see what happens.

I thought I might leave us with some October trip thoughts this morning, as I know that is what will keep me (and some of you) going for the next few months as we anticipate our fall fun.

I would do a few more, but I have to get ready to leave soon. That's enough to get me pumped up for this October. It will be a very nice reward at the end of the first quarter of school.

 

[CanadianWDWfan]

My thoughts and prayers go out to all the families.

Jill, you are amazing! I can't imagine having all of that to do and being pregnant at the same time.
Please do take care of yourself.

I am happy to wait for the new TR....we have fun pics to look at in the meantime.
I really, really want to see the fall decorations.
I priced out a quick weekend trip for late September.
I could swing it financially but my DMom thinks I'm nuts to go back so quickly after our August trip.
I didn't book anything cause she has a point.
I'm trying hard to convince myself that I don't need to go...

Hope all goes well at the conference today. Be safe navigating your way.

 

[DWGal210]

Thanks for the great Fall pictures!! I plan to get some cute Halloween decorations while I'm there!

At this point, I am 99% sure we'll be arriving in Orlando about 4 PM on the 12th. We'll coordinate as it gets closer.

Jill, I'm praying for you & John -- that schedule sounds CRAZY!!! I hope things quiet down for you a little bit at least

 

[ClaireW]

Thoughts and prayers to the families from your church,

and a big to Jill with so much on her plate at the moment.

Or should it be a for keeping it all together?

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Caren and Jill, since we are arriving LATE on the 12th, I'm hoping there is some way we can plan to meet in the morning before you go. We can just come to where you are!

 

[MHTeacher]

Loved seeing the fall pics this hot, humid morning!

 

[lovegrumpy]

I've never gone to my in-laws with out my hubby. I might have to this time if his gone for work.

 

[MeMom]

My thoughts and prayers go out to all the families.

Jill, you are amazing! I can't imagine having all of that to do and being pregnant at the same time.
Please do take care of yourself.

I am happy to wait for the new TR....we have fun pics to look at in the meantime.
I really, really want to see the fall decorations.
I priced out a quick weekend trip for late September.
I could swing it financially but my DMom thinks I'm nuts to go back so quickly after our August trip.
I didn't book anything cause she has a point.
I'm trying hard to convince myself that I don't need to go...

Hope all goes well at the conference today. Be safe navigating your way.

She has the girls at Parents' Night Out tonight, so she has until 10 to do whatever she needs/wants to do. She got a good report from the doctor yesterday, but the doctor does not think she will go until the 11th of September. Maybe September 1?

August, September, and Christmas? You are as bad as we are!!!

The workshop was broken into five sections. One was good, three were normal, and one was so boring people were either falling asleep or getting up to go to the bathroom just to get out.

Thanks for the great Fall pictures!! I plan to get some cute Halloween decorations while I'm there!

At this point, I am 99% sure we'll be arriving in Orlando about 4 PM on the 12th. We'll coordinate as it gets closer.

Jill, I'm praying for you & John -- that schedule sounds CRAZY!!! I hope things quiet down for you a little bit at least

They sure do have some cute Halloween things. I did notice last year, though, that some of the Halloween Mickey stuff was getting a little more scary than usual. I didn't particularly care for it.

If not the 12th, maybe the morning of the 13th when you can also see Marc and Anita, since it looks like we'll be meeting then. Sometimes we make one last jaunt through MK, but we'll let you know. Having a baby with us will make things kind of unpredictable.

Thoughts and prayers to the families from your church,

and a big to Jill with so much on her plate at the moment.

Or should it be a for keeping it all together?

She does a great job at what she does, but even the best get worn down sometimes. If everything stays 'normal' at work, she makes it okay, but when work gets nuts - short-handed because of staff being out or extra things going on, her plate begins to run over.

Caren and Jill, since we are arriving LATE on the 12th, I'm hoping there is some way we can plan to meet in the morning before you go. We can just come to where you are!

Okay. We will let you know. Sometimes we go to MK, sometimes we go to DTD one last time. I told Katie to plan to meet up with us, too, that morning, so hopefully that will work.

Loved seeing the fall pics this hot, humid morning!

Me, too, and I like seeing Epcot's spring flowers and palm trees pictures in the middle of winter.

I've never gone to my in-laws with out my hubby. I might have to this time if his gone for work.

Oh, I see. Just let us know.

 

[LookinUp]

Praying for Muriel and Cheryl and their families. As a country music fan, I miss Kitty Wells, and as an e-friend of yours, I miss Muriel. It's so incredible of Cheryl to worry about her family more than herself.

So many blessings, too! Hurray for an early Sophie sighting (probably)! Hurray for 8 weeks' maternity leave! And wow - so many fall Dismeets, it could be dizzying.

I would love to do a Dollywood Dismeet! Depends on DD's summer camps, but I think I can make it. How fun to have you there in person next year, because I kept thinking of you the whole time we were there this year. Will have to look up our hotel info. Close to Dollywood, clean, nice, and a very good deal thru Groupon.

Happy news here: DH said let's go to WDW this fall after all! We'll still do our special anniversary trip in October, but then we'll see Mickey in December!

 

[MeMom]

Praying for Muriel and Cheryl and their families. As a country music fan, I miss Kitty Wells, and as an e-friend of yours, I miss Muriel. It's so incredible of Cheryl to worry about her family more than herself.

So many blessings, too! Hurray for an early Sophie sighting (probably)! Hurray for 8 weeks' maternity leave! And wow - so many fall Dismeets, it could be dizzying.

I would love to do a Dollywood Dismeet! Depends on DD's summer camps, but I think I can make it. How fun to have you there in person next year, because I kept thinking of you the whole time we were there this year. Will have to look up our hotel info. Close to Dollywood, clean, nice, and a very good deal thru Groupon.

Happy news here: DH said let's go to WDW this fall after all! We'll still do our special anniversary trip in October, but then we'll see Mickey in December!

You can help us with our Dollywood planning, then. Let us know what not to miss and how to plan the day.

Yay for a fall Disney trip! What a great husband you have to suggest that! Definitely something to be excited about!


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I thought maybe we could hang out with some Disney characters this morning.




Mulan and Mushu

Lilo and Stitch

Pocahontas

Peter Pan and Wendy

Rapunzel and Flynn

One of my favorites.

Aladdin, Jasmine, and Old Genie Boy

Belle and Beast

Mr. Incredible

Jiminy Cricket

Brer Bear and Brer Rabbit

Santa Goofy

Frontier Donald

Daisy

Minnie

Mickey

Have a great weekend, friends!

 

[declansdad]

Just looking for the new thread signal.

 

[MeMom]

Just looking for the new thread signal.

Getting tired of seeing my old pictures, huh?


Well, here is the link to the new report.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2962147

Hope to see you all there!

P.S. You might want to wear a poncho for the first few days.