Florida Reflections

Last nite on the way home from prison....ok, that will always make me laugh...Marlon and I were reflecting on our vacation. I told him that I know it was so prayed over because of the peace that I felt having someone else in charge...the days seem to last forever and the 5 days felt like 15...with a group of 12 we all got along amazingly well...the kids had a blast and Jordyn missed us, but didn't regret spending Thanksgiving with her dad's family.

Highlights:
The boys swimming in the ice water (the heater broke) and Uncle Jerome jumping in with his jammies on to swim with Izzy!

All of us gettin' our praise on in the morning after Marlon and Uncle Jerome dissected some scripture and gave a bible lesson...only in Uncle Jerome fashion. Niecy even entertained us with her interpretative praise dance!! lol

Marlon and I getting a night to ourselves to go out for dinner while everyone else watched the boys...except why did it take them as long to get their take out as we did eating AT the restaurant??? lol

Seeing the boys faces as they met new characters at Universal or Island of Adventure.

Having Isaiah tell everyone that next time he is taking all of the cell phones and putting them in a box and they can get them back when vacation is over!! (Let's just say the 16-26 year old group had trouble letting those calls go...lol)

This might not make much sense if you weren't there...but Uncle Jerome's silly self singing, "We are a part of the Rhythm Nation...." over and over again because he wanted to hear it so bad and nobody could find it on iTunes...lol. Now Elijah and Izzy sing that same line non-stop and they've never heard the whole song!!

Just spending uninterrupted time with such a loving, fun, crazy group of people!!

Marlon's Grandparents...

So I am not sure why Marlon's grandparents have been on my mind. Well, maybe I do...but that's another story. I look at my husband...at the amazing man of God he continues to be...and I know that their love for him and raising him are big contributors to who he is. Pops is laid back and cool. He is kind of quiet, but when he has an opinion about something--he'll let you know. Now Granny...when I met Granny...I remember I was so intimidated. She was a grounded, outspoken Christian who made no apologies for her direct, straight-shooting way.I felt the need to push back a little and let her know she wasn't pushing me around. :) Marlon was my man and I was the queen of MY castle...I knew how to be a mom and I knew how to raise my family.After one extreme argument (and when I say extreme...I mean it...I actually broke my foot running down the stairs to get away from her...lol) things just changed between us.It's like she had a newfound respect for me.This woman was a big part of my growth as a Christian.

She lived out Jesus.If you needed something--she was going to get it for you.She would even get things for people she didn't know. One time I had mentioned to her that my cousin needed furniture. Not even a week later she called and had found her a couch.She knew the work I did with foster care and would always call when she'd been rummaging and found bags upon bags of clothes.

She lived out Jesus.This woman prayed.When scripture talks about praying without ceasing...she took that seriously! From her moment of waking until her head hit the pillow she prayed.She taught me to claim things in faith and then watch God work.She taught me that God has a plan for each of us and He will get you through whatever you come across when you release it to him.

She lived out Jesus.She evangelized until the day she died. I never knew someone who wanted to tell everyone she met about Christ and the impact he'd had on her life. As she grew weaker in the hospital she witnessed. To doctors, to CNA's, dietary aides and housekeepers. She said, "They tell me I have the Big C, but I tell them I have a Bigger C and he is going to take care of me.He's either going to heal me or take me home and either way I say thank you!"
I am thankful to God that she and I grew to love each other deeply and respect each other greatly.I love her and know she is enjoying living it up with Jesus...and probably hanging out with my Grandma Nickel chatting about those great grand-kids!

More Photos

The boys run from the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park...

The characters in Suess Landing were a riot...of course there were 10 of us rotating to take pictures so of course they started to really ham it up with us...

Uncle Jerome strikes a pose as he rides the waves on the City Walk...

Thomas and one of his many "boos" ....lol

Florida Photos

Universal Studio and Island of Adventure were such fun!

Isaiah, Elijah, Israel and Morgan attacked by Jaws!!

Elijah giving Morgan a piggy back...and Isaiah attempting to jump on...lol

Michelle, Dee Dee and the boys strike their Captain America poses.

Home...

So we got home on Thursday about 9pm. Our flight left late. The plane was so empty...we all got to switch our seats around pretty much wherever we wanted to sit. Uncle Jerome even got to move up to first class. At 6'4, it's good for him to be able to stretch his legs out. There were quite a few kids on the flight home...arguably some of the most misbehaved children I've seen in awhile. The flight attendant was so sweet...she came to our row, bent over by the boys and handed them each a brownie...then said, "You three are so well-behaved and sweet...here's something for being so good....when the others aren't." The boys were so excited. As a mom, of course it makes you proud for your kids when are caught doing what they're supposed to and then rewarded for it. I'm thankful for those times (one other time when they were with their grandma out for a breakfast, a stranger paid for all of their breakfasts because they were such a pleasure to sit by) that they get positive reinforcement from people other than us. It's one thing for your mom and dad to give you encouragement...it's another for a stranger to point out when you do something well.
Anyway...yesterday Marlon had to get back on track by going to a prison for bible study (the boys and I straightened up) then we went to visit with Pops and pick up Chloe' from my mother in law. At Pops, Niecy gave me three large crates of clothes. I love it when she cleans our her closet! lol It's such a blessing for me because I hate to spend money on myself and if I do, I never want to spend much. She has such nice things and takes such good care of them that it looks like brand new stuff. Today we sat around lazy all day (well except for laundry which is always being done...lol) Tomorrow is church and then we have a prison to go to at night.

As for the remainder of our Florida trip...I'll post more pictures. We went to Universal Studios/Island of Adventure on Tues., Wed. and even a few hours on Thurs. before we left. Uncle Jerome stayed back on Wed. and cooked a yummy Thanksgiving dinner for us all. I must say it was one of the most relaxing vacations I've been on. There's something to be said about going when someone else is making the plans...normally with my family I help do a lot of the planning and "entertaining" so it was different to just sit back and go with the flow. I wasn't sure it I'd like it or not--- not being "in charge", but it was a nice break and needed rest. We had a blast! The Pitchford's are already talking about making this an every other year or every third year tradition...taking time to see other attractions different years. As long as we stay in that same beautiful house!!!

Sea World

Here we are starting out our day at Sea World. It was a great day, sunny and about 60-65 all day. It wasn't very busy either, so we went to see the Shamu show, the dolphin and shark show, went on a water ride twice (the boys and I did...Marlon and Lynetta thought we were crazy...lol) and of course went through some of the other stuff too.

This was so cool. You are in this long glass tube and the aquarium is all around you. The water is full of sharks! Very freaky.

We had great seats for the Shamu show. The boys and I sat down very close in the soak zone and Marlon and Lynetta sat back in the safe dry zone...lol. We really didn't even get wet anyway...but I guess they warn you to make sure you know you COULD get soaked. The boys really enjoyed themselves, but I think the highlight of the day was Marlon getting to see a manatee. He was so beside himself to see that! Funny!

Downtown Disney

Have you seen the commercial for Budweiser with the donkey who wants to be a clydesdale? This is him and the horses were in a stable nearby.

Downtown Disney had a lot of cool things to see. We spent some time there on Sunday while we waited for the time when we could check into the house. They had all of these cool lego creations.

The plane ride...

Marlon, Niecy, Michelle and DeeDee waiting for our plane to come.

And we've landed!

Florida...

Here is a picture of our pool. The kids were so excited to get in...it didn't take them long to start swimming!
Here is the house we've been staying in. It is so beautiful and hard to believe that we are already leaving tomorrow! The kids have had so much fun...and we have to. I'll share more pictures and stories....

Who can sleep?

Oh my goodness...the boys are so excited! I don't know how any of us are going to get ANY sleep! My dad is coming at 5am to pick us up and take us to the airport. I am going to vacuum and do the dishes so we don't come home to a totally disheveled house...and then I am going to lay down. Marlon is finishing his packing (I finished the boys and I late last night and Jordyn this morning) and then we are good to go. I keep going over everything again and again to make sure we don't forget anything. Hopefully anything we would forget, we could do without.

My neice is getting baptized tomorrow so that is a bummer that we won't be around. I talked to her tonight though to let her know how proud of her we are and that we'll think of her tomorrow at 11am. Marlon's bringing his laptop so I might be able to blog while we're there. We'll see how time is.

Pray the boys get at least 5 hours of sleep so they aren't totally grouchy tomorrow!!

Nite!