Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Here are some pictures from our Thanksgiving gathering at the Hanna's. We had such a fun time hanging out with family. I hardly saw my kids...they were so content to play with their cousins all day. We are so incredibly blessed to have such a close, wonderful family.

The 3 Musketeers


Ashton's new wheels.

Zeke & Cal taking a break after LOTS of running outside.

Dan taking a break on the swing.


Zeke having his pumpkin pie because "pumpkin pie comes with Thanksgiving!"


K snuggling with Doug.

Jack with "his Alli"

The huddle before the next big football play.

Zeke "guarding" Callie

Trip to Aggieland

Tuesday our family took a road trip to College Station just to see the campus and take the kids around some of our favorite spots at A&M. It even turned out to be Elephant Walk day, an Aggie tradition for seniors....where students walk around the campus, reminiscing about the sites on campus...they do a few yells with yell leaders. A&M brings elephants on campus for the students to take their picture with. So, needless to say, we were not without things to look at/watch on the campus....there was a lot going on.

That evening we had dinner with Stephen & then went to watch an Aggie basketball game. It was a late night...so after about an hour into the game...Zeke & K were reaching a point of crazy delirium...so I took them on to the hotel while the guys stayed to watch the rest of the game.

The next morning we got up and took advantage of the pool for a little swimming. It was so quiet in our hotel....we felt like we pretty much had the place to ourselves....it was awesome!

Lil' Aggies

Kaelyn picked out her pearls to wear with her Aggie outfit...I think it makes a nice touch.

Kaelyn thought that it would be really funny to open up my office filing cabinet...pick a file and climb in. She thinks she is SO funny! "C-H-E-E-S-E"

This is an outfit that MeMe bought for Kaelyn last September....we are so proud because she is now able to wear it over a year later! With the exception of her feet, Kaelyn hasn't
grown much in the past year. She has stayed in pretty much the same size for a LONG time....much different from her big brother.

Funny Zeke-isms

We are traveling to College Station today to take Zeke and K around A&M. Brad & I decided the other day that this was something we had never done, but really wanted to...so while we were in Germany last week we made plans to take them today.

This morning I told Zeke, "Guess, what!"
Z: What?
J: We get to stay in a hotel tonight (Zeke LOVES hotels) and our hotel has a heated swimming pool inside!
Z: That is great...we get to go swimming inside our room!
J: Well, not in the room, but inside the building..that is almost as good. :)

I thought it was hilarious that he conceived we might be getting a hotel room with our own pool inside.

My second funny Zeke story came at dinner the other night. Zeke was sitting down eating his fruits and vegetables...although he is still not a big fan...he eats them without complaint (most of the time). Kaelyn decided to climb up next to her brother while he finished his meal. I was washing dishes at the sink and Zeke said, "Mom....Kaelyn IS a REALLY good girl."
J: Yes, she is...why do you say that?
Z: Because she ate my blueberries!
(so now he doesn't have to)
Those 2 certainly make quite a team....crazy children.

Sweet Reunion

We made it home!!! HALLELUJAH!

We are so thankful for a safe trip and we were thrilled to find both of the kids in great spirits this evening. (Zeke especially has struggled with our absence in the past). Zeke seems very content, very happy, and thrilled to see both of us. His settled nature is such a blessing. When Brad wheeled out of the terminal, Zeke ran full force into his Daddy's arms....it was wonderful to see.

Thank you Nonnie, Gwanddad, Papa C. and G.G. for taking such amazing care of the kids in our absence. We are so blessed to have your love and support.

Travel Excitement

Here is an update on our travel so far. Yesterday morning we got up at 6, loaded up the car (completely....the guys were both holding luggage in their laps while I drove) and then we headed to the airport. Scott's flight was scheduled to depart just 30 minutes after ours which worked out perfectly for arriving together.

I believe Scott's flight left on-time. At first our flight, scheduled to leave at 9:20am was delayed due to the fact that the aircraft was stuck somewhere else in poor weather. After an hour delay, we boarded the plane. We sat on board and watched as the luggage was loaded. We sat and we sat and we sat....after an hour of sitting on the parked plane (2 hours after orginal departure time), the captain came onto the speaker to inform the cabin that we were not able to take off because there was a window open in the cockpit that was unable to close...they were waiting for a tool to fix the problem. After another 30 minutes the repair crew boards the plane to work on the problem. It is at this point that some passengers (who had already missed connecting flights, meetings, etc) decided to get up and get off the plane. Once the cockpit window was closed....then the luggage carrier came back and we sat and watched as they unloaded the bags of those passengers who had decided to leave the fun. 3 hours and 20 minutes later we are ready to take off....it is now 12:40....our flight to Houston is scheduled to leave Amsterdam at 1:45pm....it is supposed to be a 2 hour flight.

We arrived in Holland at 2:05pm, all the while stewardesses are assuring us that there have been many delays in Amsterdam due to bad weather so when we get on the ground we should just run to the gate. :) There was a semi-stampede of people trying to exit the aircraft as quickly as possible.....I believe at least half the aircraft either missed connections or they were about to miss connections. Brad & I did our best to keep from getting run over.

Once we got to the terminal, Suzette our wheelchair assistance woman, helped us determine that our flight had indeed just left and we would then go to guest services at KLM to see about getting onto another connecting flight. Brad Wims was determined that we would be crossing the Atlantic that day. We waited in line for one hour, then spoke with the guest assistance woman for another hour about different options. We could have flown into JFK but then we would have spent the night in NY just to catch another flight Sunday NIGHT to flight back to Houston....YUCK! It was the same story if we flew into Chicage....SO.....we ended up staying the night in Amsterdam. After much discussion about appropriate transportation and accomodations.....Suzette, who was still with us (3 hours later).....took us to find something to eat and then to find a taxi to the hotel. Suzette kept saying, "it's a lot easier to get help in these matters in the US...isn't it?" She was a very sweet woman...we were blessed to have her help all afternoon. She was with us from the moment we got to Amsterdam terminal....until we got into our taxi to go to the hotel. Having her help was wonderful!

So, 12 hours of travel time in airpoirts to travel 600 miles.....I hope we don't continue this pace for the rest of the trip to the States. :)

Right now it is 9:10am in Amsterdam. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 10:10am and on an entire board of "on-time" flights, the one to Houston has in red words next to it "delayed until 11:10am." I think I am having dejavu....

I will post again once our feet hit the ground in America.....we are REALLY ready!

In Munich, Keeping our Eyes on the Weather

The weather is really looking iffy outside. It has poured all day long and it is just warm enough outside the the precipitation fell as rain and not snow. However, once the sun goes down we know that all that rain is going to completely ice over the roads and make for trecherous driving/flying conditions tomorrow morning. I wish there was a way we could fly out tonight, but I don't think that will work out.

Please pray for a our safe return to the states...we can't wait to get back home to our family. Love you all.

Treatment 8

First item of news..it is FREEZING here! It is super-cold, grey, and windy...BURR! I am very glad to have my scarf, mittens and hat on a day like today. Forcast says snow tomorrow & Saturday. The storm is predicted to bring 20 inches of snow to the mountains...I'm not sure how many inches Munich is supposed to see. Hopefully it won't delay our departure...I know one man who will not be too happy if we are late leaving.

Last night Brad did get fever...he had quite a bit of coughing and again did not sleep. I feel so bad for him but it this time it hasn't kept me from my own rest. I have gotten some of the best sleep ever on this particular trip.

Today's treatment went very quickly...it was a record leaving the clinic at noon (we've never been released so quickly). Brad started his fever at 10am..had lots of shaking...his fever went up to 39 very fast and came down almost as quickly. It made for a very short day at clinic and he was relieved....I think he is completely pooped out. Tomorrow we will come to the clinic in the morning so that we can pick up all of Brad's medications and also so that he can receive the natural killer cell injections.

Weather permitting, we then plan to drive to Nurnberg for a couple of hours..then on to Munich to pack and get organized. We are so excited to get to go home in just TWO DAYS! HOORAY!

Treatment 7

Today's treatment was really very uneventful....not even a hint of fever the entire day. That usually means that Brad will have a fever this evening, but so far, no sign of anything. Sometimes the fevers can be so hit or miss...it is hard to predict. Yesterday took such a toll on Brad's energy, I know that he was relieved to not end up with fever today...so it was probably for the best. He only slept a couple of hours the night before so he was quite tired today.

We left the clinic at about 1:30 and headed to Gunzenhausen to take Scott to our favorite Italian restaurant there. Although we have always found this restarant to keep very long hours, today they were closed...I believe they are on a new schedule for the fall-winter season. We then decided to drive on to Truchtlingen because it is more of a tourist-town and it seems to have more restaurants that keep afternoon hours. We found an open Italian place and decided to eat there..it was quite good.

1 more treatment day at the clinic tomorrow...then we will head back to Munich on Friday.....leaving on Saturday morning to head home.

Treatment 5 & 6

Sleep Status: Brad slept very well last night....6 straight hours...hooray!

Monday's Treatment:
Brad has a reasonable day at the clinic. He got fever very quickly, not much shaking and he got to 38.5 C. The challenging part of yesterday was that he ran fever from about 8pm that night until 5am this morning. Even though our den was over 80 degrees F, he was freezing the entire evening. Of course, I was about ready to strip all my clothes off, but I refrained for Scott's sake.

Tuesday's Treatment:
The shaking today was just on the border of unbearable for Brad. He was able to breathe well the entire time, but the shaking was so intense that he struggled to get through it...it lasted the entire 30 minutes....we were very relieved once that session was over. Brad's fever spiked up to 40.5 C very quickly and went down fairly quick also. Thaller said, "this is the sign of a healthy immune system." I like the sound of that.

Dr. Thaller has been injecting Brad's leg with Coley's toxins and Gaypon (a new cancer fighting drug from Russia). The injections make his leg very sore, but we are prayerful that they help reduce the tumor size. Brad is also being put on the hyperthermia table for his leg for an hour. This is very uncomfortable for him, so he tolerates it for as long as he can.

Right now the guys are sitting in the den, hanging out...playing their PSPs. We just got back from dinner about an hour ago. We stayed in Markt Berolzheim this evening, dining at the local Gasthaus restaurant. The food was terrific...as usual. Scott even had the chance to try some German Eis (ice cream).

More Pics

Nurnburg

Castle at Eichstadt

The boys playing Risk one night at Isolde's

Eating lunch at a really yummy restaurant in downtown Munich.

Oh How I Love Pictures!

I realized tonight that because we have internet at the house we are renting, I can use Brad's laptop to download a few pictures that I have taken so far. I never feel that a blog is complete without a few visuals, so here are some shots from the last several days.

Our juicer that we purchased for the trip has certainly had it's share of use so far. There is nothing like a big glass of green to keep the engines running...YUM! I just had to take a picture so that you can see how delicious the juice looks...we can hardly keep Scott out of our juice :)

A Day In Nurnburg

Brad had a so-so night of sleep...he grabbed at least a 4-5 hours of rest.

This morning we decided to make a road trip to Nurnburg. Forgetting that today was Sunday and pretty much EVERYTHING is closed, we arrived to find the stores and shops dark. We were surprised though to see so many people out and about even though you could only window-shop. We had lunch (as an excuse to warm up for a while) and then spent most of our time just walking up and down the streets. I really enjoy walking around Nurnburg because a large part of downtown is entirely blocked from vehicle traffic which makes it a very easy city to tour by foot.

The weather is not so terrific today...very cold and very dreary. Misty rain all day. Hopefully we will have better weather as the week progresses.

Hooray for Sleep!

Brad slept all the way through the night...for the first time since we arrived! HOORAY! Thank you for the prayers...I know he must feel so much better after having a long night of sleep.

Today the guys and I drove from Munich to Eichstat to do a little sight-seeing within the city, have lunch, and drive to the south part of city to tour the castle. I always enjoy seeing the castles in Europe...amazing to see a structure that has withstood time for hundreds and hundreds of years.

My parents sent a couple of emails to share stories about the kids. They were pretty funny so I thought I would post them again. Man, I miss those two knuckleheads.

...Paula has been working on K's potty training. For K it is all a game. Visit the potty multiple times, but only actually do something rarely. Keep the adults guessing. That is her apparent strategy. I put her back in a diaper for her nap. Too much potty training is bad for PaPa. K and I have had several discussions about off limits areas, i.e the pantry and the bathroom drawer where the toothbrushes are kept. We have agreed to disagree more than once. She states her position strongly and with conviction. I respond in kind, trying to maintain sharp eye contact to emphasize my own strength of feeling. It gives us both a chance to practice oratory skills.Enjoy your weekend.Love, Dad

...Some things you didn't get to hear about today-As you know Zeke dressed up in "The 50's" today for school (rolled up jeans, T-shirt with the sleeves folded back, greased up hair . . . and a couple of accessories sunglasses and a comb. When I got to school I signed in and went back to his classroom. When I arrived the kids were singing their goodbye song but Zeke wasn't in the room. His sub told me he was in the restroom. I turned around and I could see him standing in front of the mirror, combing and combing and combing his hair for several minutes. He really got into that 50's mentality of keeping every greasy strand in place. K also had a big day. We continue with the potty "training" if we are going to be here during the day. As you have said she will probably just train herself. I remind her some of the time but at least 3 times today she took herself into the bathroom, pulled down her panties, put the potty seat on the toilet seat, climbed up and pottied. Each one of these times I went into the bathroom when she was on the seat and she put up her hand and told me to "go", When she was finished she called me. Who does that remind you of?Love, Mom

A Day In Munich

It was a no go on the sleep again last night for Brad, but it doesn't seem to have slowed him down much today. He claims he only started to dose off a couple of times while Scott and I were shopping inside of H&M at the Marktplatz. I think he was too cold to fall asleep...the weather really cooled today...it was quite chilly.

We got up at about 9am this morning after a very rough night for Brad. Scott amazingly was able to keep himself up yesterday after 16 hours of travel, a full day of sight-seeing with Sabine, and then hanging out with us at Isolde's that evening. He must have been awake for about 36 hours before he went to sleep last night...thus he slept through the night and seems to be adjusting to the new time zone as if he makes international trips all the time.

After breakfast we drove to downtown Munich (something we hadn't tried before..we usually ride the train). We had a little trouble with parking, but it wasn't too bad. I threw the boys out of the car a few blocks from the Glockenspiel just minutes before it was supposed to begin. They went to catch the end of the clock viewing while I went parking-spot hunting. It didn't take too long before I found a space and then had the opportunity to practice my parallel parking skills while 50 km/hr traffic ran up my back end. I would say that it was an experience. Luckily, in my James Bond car...I had no problems. We have a really fancy Mercedes rental this time, so as I drive I pretend that I am 007 :)

Our threesome spent the better part of 4 hours walking around downtown...mostly just taking in the scenes...we did a little shopping...ate lunch at a nice German restaurant off the Marianplatz....people watched....looked at a couple of fancy churches....then we came back to Isolde's.

Right now the guys are downstairs playing computer games together. I am SO thankful for Scott's entertainment....a great distraction from Brad's pain and sleeplessness!

Treatment 4

I moved the Disney pictures to the bottom of the page....it was confusing some people since my new posts were showing just beneath the slideshow...right Amber & Sandra (wink, wink). I doubt they were alone in this assessment, so I changed the layout.

Today's treatment brought no fever for Brad. By 10:15am Dr. Thaller had administered a double dose of Coley's toxin into Brad's port. Still nothing. I found it strange because for the prior 3 days he was running fever like clockwork...every day by 9:30. We left the clinic by 2:30 this afternoon, went home, packed a weekend bag, and left for Munich to meet up with Scott. Sabine helped us out by picking up Scott at the airport for us...then she went on to play tour guide..taking him to some of the sights around Munich. I believe they went to a war museum and a concentration camp. So sorry I missed that....(I know it is history but I don't handle those types of visuals well..at all)

Tomorrow we plan to go into downtown Munich...meeting up with Sabine again. Sabine and I are going to do a little shopping together while the boys see a few more sights. This evening Brad is struggling with an evening fever (probably because he didn't get one today) and a horrible round of coughing. He is really feeling worn out. I pray that he is able to sleep some despite all of that.

The weather was a little dreary today...cold and wet. Tomorrow promises to be better...I hope that is true since we made plans to look around so much outside. Brad will freeze if he has to sit around in a damp wheelchair all morning. Much different from the past, Brad gets cold VERY easily anymore. At temperatures of 79 he will tell me that he is freezing...this is the same man who used to complain of being hot in our house when it was 70 degrees.

Right now I would ask for specific prayers for Brad's rest. I know that his body needs sleep in order to heal. He has been struggling so much with pain and cough that even if he falls asleep, he has difficulty staying that way. Thank you for your prayers, your kind words, and your love for our family. And, thank you Tammie for sharing Scott with us for the next 10 days...we feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends as you. What a gift.

Zeke, The Manipulator

I need to preface this story with a little background info so it will make sense to everyone. For those close to us, it is no secret that my children have not been sleeping well as of late. Between our travel schedule, vacation, and time change...both my 1 and 4 year old wake quite frequently in the night...it's nuts at our house once the lights go down.

My closest friends know me as the Sleep Natzi (I had Zeke tightly routined by 2 months of age), so this constant waking is truly out of my comfort zone. Zeke's sleep pattern had gotten so disrupted by mid-October that I decided to give him a morning prize (a temporary tatoo) when he didn't scream out in the night & stayed in his bed. This decision was mostly to prove to myself that he was indeed able to control these outbursts...he obviously is. Because he shares a room with Kaelyn, the screaming just proved to wake them both up....thus making it that much harder to settle everyone back into bed.

So, right now my parents are keeping the kids at our house while we are Germany. Yesterday my mom wrote me an email that I had to share because it made us laugh.

We put K in the back bedroom and she lasted until 4. Your dad changed her and she lasted until 5:45am when we all got up to party. Zeke slept the whole night and woke up needing his "present". He selected one from under the tree (we already have our wrapped Xmas presents under our Xmas tree). I explained the one he wanted belonged to Kendell and I'd have to check with you for what he would get. We then located the tatoos on the fridge. He's now got the real biker look.

Leave it to Zeke to decide he needed to raise the prize quality. HA! I doubt someone else would agree with him, right Kendall? :)

Treatment 3

Today's treatment went better for Brad...still had a rough time with the shaking but at least the problem wasn't worsened with coughing. The good part of this week so far is that his fevers have come unusually quick...we haven't had to wait around for several hours. So far, each morning by 9:30 he is beginning to get fever. That really is a blessing because waiting and waiting for the part that he dreds can be very difficult. Today was very unusual in that we were completely done at the clinic by 1pm...that is unheard of. Of course, we were thrilled.

This afternoon Brad looked at me and said, 'One more day of treatment and then my friend Scott comes!' Do you think he is a little excited about that? I know that I am! Yeah for friend reprieve!

Hugs & Kisses to you all...we sure miss you!

Treatment 2

Today's treatment was more difficult for Brad. His cough really bothered him, so that along with pretty intense shaking made breathing a struggle for him. It never got to an alarming point, but the shaking episode certainly wore him out. He was also not able to sleep well the night before so he is quite tired tonight. I am praying that he gets a good night's sleep tonight, so that he starts to feel better tomorrow.

Thank you for your prayers, your notes, your packages and your emails to check on us...we really appreciate it.

Treatment: Day 1

Today's treatment was quite successful. Brad managed to get fever without experiencing extreme shaking. Dr. Thaller spent some time this morning looking over Brad's leg, recognizing the tumor growth that has taken place since we were last here. Thaller decided to inject Brad's leg tumors directly with some of the special medications that he is also using for his lung tumor therapy. Prayerfully, that will assist in stopping the growth.

The clinic is somewhat quiet today...only a few patients upstairs with us. One patient, Alexander has been here 2 times before..the others are new faces.

The weather is perfect here right now. Mid-50's in the day, really clear and beautiful. The daylight-darkness will take some getting used to for me. It is 3:30 and the sun is already beginning to set. By 5pm it is completely dark....so strange. I can't imagine it getting darker even longer as winter approaches.

We saw some Christmas decorations as we were driving through some of the towns as we were coming into Markt Berolzheim....of course, we enjoyed seeing those. On Thursday Scott Shelton, a long-time friend of Brad's (former Southeast member) will be flying in to meet us. We are very excited to have his company for this trip. Scott is such a great friend to Brad...I know that Brad will really enjoyed spending time with him. This weekend we are considering taking Scott to the Christmas market in Nurnberg....should be fun.

In Germany for Round 4

Brad & I flew out of Houston at 3:30 on Friday afternoon, headed back to Germany. We made great time this trip, only one stop in Amsterdam, total trip time from Houston takeoff to Munich landing-12 hours, 30 mins. That was a big record for us...seems to usually take us about 16 or longer with layovers.

We both rode in economy this time with seats at the bulkhead...free tickets given to us from Carrie & Ricky Allen (thank you Carrie & Ricky!) The ride was a little difficult for Brad this time, but we were very fortunate that the plane was not even close to full. It was funny...there wasn't one seat open in first class but the economy was so empty most people had 2 or 3 seats to themselves. Brad had an entire middle section to himself...a kind stewardess had grabbed that section right up for him. He was able to change positions a lot that way which was great. I stayed at our bulk head seats, a couple of rows up. Although our armrests wouldn't raise, I still managed to rest for a couple of hours, curled up on the floor in front of my 2 seats and to my surprise, I did sleep fairly well that way. Our kids are STILL adjusting to the time change from last week....those 4 am wakings were starting to catch up with me on the flight.

The assistance this trip was unbelievable! The stewardesses were so helpful, the airport assistance treated Brad like royalty. When we reached the Munich airport we were escorted by 2 men...one who drove the wheelchair and the other who directed the traffic ahead of Brad, moving people out of the way so that we could pass easily. It was wonderful!

We arrived in Munich Saturday morning & we immediately got our rental car and drove to Isolde's to catch some much-needed sleep. Isolde is visiting her daughter Kathrin right now, so we have the house to ourselves. Normally we be missing her fabulous German-meals, but Brad & I are fasting over the week so I think it worked out for the best.

We have recently read book that was suggested to us by a friend of Scott Shelton's, called The Cure (by Dr. Brantley). The general ideas in the book are mostly surrounding dietary...one part discusses the importance of intestinal cleansing by fasting. So we fasted completely for 24 hours while we traveled. For the next 4 or 5 day we are drinking only freshly sqeezed vegetable juices 4 times a day. There is nothing like a cold, BIG glass of brocoli, asperagus, zuchini, kale, cucumber, spinach drink first thing in the morning....YUM! We even bought a special 'travel-juicer' to take with us this time. So eating will be a breeze while we are here...so simple. :) Hey, I've never been much of a cook, but I am a FABULOUS juicer! HA!

After reading LOTS of health, diet & cancer books over the past 9 months, we kept running across the same information....discussing the importance of eating vegetables, mostly raw vegetables. Most books that we have read suggested eating 80% raw vegetables, 20% other items: fruits, fish, chicken. There has been connection made to those dietary changes leading to an alkoline shift in the body, bringing the pH to a more basic state (a state that cancer does not thrive in). SO, all that being said...we are very excited to see how this change disrupts Brad's cancer growth. We had already radically changed our diet back in February to include mostly veggies, fruits, fish and chicken....so we felt that this was an easier progression to make at this point.

We are headed to Markt Berolzheim very shortly where we will check-in to the Kafferlein house (the same house we rented in September). Monday morning starts the the therapy at Thaller's clinic.

Thank you so much for prayers for safe travel and effective treatment. We love you all.

Disney Vacation 2008

Ok, ok...so I am FINALLY getting our Disney pics up on the blog for viewing. I was getting an earfull from friends and family who wanted to see them. The most difficult part was I could only get 50 of the 500 on the slideshow...so here are some of my favorites.

We had the most amazing time on our trip. It was such a wonderful opportunity to get away from everything....we just loved it. Zeke said each day when we left, "and we get to come back tomorrow!?" He couldn't believe how many days we were able to stay and play. We were gone for 10 days, spent 8 days/7nights there....6 days in the park with one "rest" day in the middle. When you travel with Brad Wims you don't do much resting. He had everyone up at the crack of dawn so that we would roll into the parks at opening....he would run us hard all day...making sure not to miss a moment. I was so exhausted by the last day, I could hardly think straight :) All joking aside...we really had a wonderful time.

We stayed at the Polynesian..one of the Disney resorts on the monorail. That proved to be very convienent for getting the wheelchair and the stroller on and off easily. We certainly spent a lot less time in transit back and forth to the parks this year. Plus, the resort was gorgeous...decorated in full Hawaiian themes....lots of lush flowers and plants...it was really beautiful.

For the first time (after multiple Disney trips) we were in the parks during Halloween celebration. That was certainly a fun twist. Many of the characters were dressed in their costume attire. Zeke loves to dress up, so he certainly enjoyed the excuse to put on his costume. Brad, Zeke & I got tickets to go to "Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party" on Sunday (our day off) night. Up until that point we had only visited the 2 parks at Universal. Brad & I really enjoyed the opportunity to take Zeke through Majic Kingdom for the first time that trip...just the 3 of us. Zeke & Brad are so enthusiastic about Disneyworld....they make visiting the parks so much fun.

One of the funniest moments that I can remember was while we were riding on the Pirates of the Carribean ride. As our boat went between to ships that were mock "fighting" and shooting cannonballs at one another, Zeke got down at the base of the boat and covered his head. When I asked him what he was doing, he told me, "I don't want to get blow-ded up."

Zeke also was especially excited about meeting all of the characters this year. He took his autograph book around to every character he could find and made sure that we took a picture. He was really cute.

Kaelyn enjoyed the trip too. She especially like the kid areas that involved large climbing pieces and water sprinklers. Who knew that in October we would still be able to enjoy the water sprinklers and be able take the kids swimming?

Overall, I think it was one of our best family trips ever. The kids were both at an incredibly fun age to take in all the excitement. Brad was feeling pretty well the entire time...what a huge blessing. We had an incredible time....took lots of pictures and made lots of fun memories.