Thanksgiving in Michigan

Another blog way over due....We went to Michigan for Thanksgiving and had a great visit with the family- Everybody was home, including two new puppies! We were spoiled this year because we got to have both sides of the family together in one place for Thanksgiving instead of hopping between houses. Gaines had such a great time...especially with his nana and papa!

Hopefully mom wont care that I included a PJ shot, but I just love this picture! Gaines is saying cheese...his "cheese" pose has become an underbite grin instead of a smile for some reason!
Maddox is getting so big, Uncle Mikey and Aunt Amanda were especailly happy to see him!

Uncle Andrew and Aunt Erin

Uncle Brandon

Another crazy grin with papa

Grandma Leeser

This is Brooke and Tedo (Drew and Amanda's new pup)...Gaines was his biggest fan!

Rudy Girl

For those of you who haven't heard...we lost our little girl last week. We had dropped Rudy off at camp when we went to Orlando. Shortly after returning from Orlando we left for Tennessee to plan a mission trip for this summer. It was on our way to Tennesse that we got the call. Bruno's owners (Bruno was Rudy's boyfriend and partner in crime at camp) called and said they had some bad news. A neighbor went walking that morning and found her on the side of the road (off of South Millls- the main road leading to camp). He seemed to think she didn't suffer. Although we are extrememly sad, we believe she lived the best five years a dog could live...she was very loved.

Gaines' First Trip to Disney!

Our trip to Disney was planned with Mae Mae and Pops back in Nashville many months ago, yet it is amazing how quickly it came! It seemed like we hardly had time to think about it and then all the sudden we were on our way. It was a great break for the whole family. It was so good to spend time with Will's parents and Gaines just couldn't get enough of them. It's obvious that he misses them. We got to Orlando Sunday night very late, hopped parks for three days and then headed home on Thursday morning. We are so grateful for the time we had there. The following pictures were taken at our hotel. They had the cutest little play area- although I think Gaines and Will both about lost it on the spinning chairs!

Seaworld!

Our first adventure in Orlando was heading to Seaworld. Gaines LOVED it! This dolphin show was really neat. Everything has improved greatly since I had been there (about 16 years ago). It wasn't just dolphins doing tricks, it was a theatrical performance. The best part were the high divers dressed as birds.

Animal Kingdom

Day two...the Animal Kingdom. We started out this day going on an African safari. Then we watched some tribal dancing. Gaines got into the music, clapping his hands and dancing. The best part of the day was watching the Lion King Show. It was VERY impressive...great music, dancing and acrobatic monkeys. The funny thing is in the midst of the loud music and bright lights...Gaines konked out. He was DEAD alseep through most of the show! After the show we went to see most of Africa and Asia and then it started to rain. We headed to the Animal Kingdom Lodge and checked out the animals there and had a FEAST of a dinner.

This is a picture of the acrobatic monkeys. They were pretty amazing. Most of my photos from the Lion King show didn't come out because it was too dark. My cute buddy.
This is a picture of the Animal Kingdom Lodge. You can stand from your room's balcony and look out to the Savannah. There were giraffes, wildabeast, huge horned cows, etc.
This was taken the next day on the ferry ride over to the Magic Kingdom.
Gaines has been saying the word "NAAACK" (with a major northern accent) for quite a while now, we just recently found out he was saying "snack"...well, giving him a snack was the only way we could keep him in the stroller.

The Magic Kingdom

This was our third day of touring parks and I was just waiting for Gaines to have a breakdown from being so tired. He proved himself to be even more of a trooper than we believed him to be. He just kept on rolling, and when he got tired he took himself a nap while Will and I took a ride on Space Mountain. Gaines' favorite pass time.
Walt Disney, Minnie Mouse and the Tuckers.
Gaines found a house just his size in Toon-town.
The Carousel was the best ride, with the shortest wait.
We went to a character lunch and Gaines wasn't sure what to think at first, but by the end of it he thought it was pretty funny and was giving pooh and his gang high fives and knuckles:)

Will and Gaines watching the parade.
Our little buddy just couldn't hang on any longer...
Gaines loves Mickey.

Teen Retreat

This blog is way past due. We had the teen retreat in late October and it was a great success. The purpose of the weekend was to get our teens more comfortable with eachother and give them activities and opportunities to get to know eachother better. The setting couldn't have been any more gorgeous. The retreat was held at Josh and Stephanie's family cabin (Josh and Stephanie are friends from church) up at Linville Gorge. The girls got to stay in the nice cozy cabin and the guys had to rough it out doors. Josh and couple college students helped Will and I with team building activies, repelling and caving! The caving was way cooler than I ever expected. The whole thing went so well- we are greatful to the Lord for a safe and successful weekend!