Back To Reality.......

 Well, we just arrived back from our much anticipated Disney Vacation.  We had an absolute blast every single day as a family of 4, and really enjoyed each other.  There was truly a little of something for everyone....for Claire, all the princesses.  For Jesse, Lego stuff and Harry Potter! For Lance & I, tons of delicious food......and lots of great rides! Enjoy all the pics and just know we were slammed back to reality after driving home from the Huntsville Airport to find the Tigers losing the first round of the NCAA Tourney.  Come on Tigers....really??????

Anyway, kinda glad to be back home.......I will miss having someone cook and clean for me though!!!

 Claire entering the Akershus Dining Hall to eat with the princesses! She ran into Belle first......

 Then Cinderella....

 you get the picture.

 She really enjoyed Ariel the most because Ariel kept talking to her and Jesse and joking around.

 The food at every restaurant was very good!  Claire the mouse loved the Mickey ravioli!

 This is what deserts actually looked like every evening......such attention to detail...this was Lance's cheesecake with chocolate drizzle as Lady and Tramp.

 In the middle of the week, Lance & Jesse ventured out to Universal to do the Harry Potter thing while the girls had a pool and shopping day.  They were super impressed by every thing.....except the massive crowds in that part of the park.  Lance said it was every bit as crowded as Times Square....that didn't keep Jesse from having a blast, buying butterbeer, and his very own Harry Potter wand! Thanks to Grandma and Nana for the spending money....it came in handy!

 Another one of our wonderful dinners..

 Inside of the Team Mickey Store, Jesse got the opportunity to build his own remote controlled race car from scratch, with the guidance of a worker and some very cool tools.  Jesse told him how he puts things together all the time at home, so the guy put him on the timer to see how many seconds to attach the wheels and body....1 minute was his time,  and everyone cheered. Of course he was thrilled with all the attention!

 Oh, and by the way, thanks to lots of friends' advice, and a touring plan, we were the first at the turnstiles at Epcot and Hollywood Studios!  That was to our advantage because upon opening,  Lance would sprint across the park for Fastpasses, and the kids and I would haul to the first ride we wanted to ride.  It worked like a charm!  It was totally worth getting up so early every morning!!!

 The kids at Hollywood Studios

 Of course Jesse loved the Star Wars ride, and had to pose on this thing....no I do not know what it's called!

 To finish out our trip, we ate at The Sci Fi Drive-In Theater. Not only was the food great, but the kids loved eating in a car up in the front together, and watching old and cheesy sci fi.  

 The last character to see was Mickey, and the kids loved it!  I think we all realized how blessed we are in general after we met the lady and her little girl in front of us in line to see Mickey.  They drove 2 days from Texas to see Disney,  and the little girl was born with Cerebral Palsy. All she wanted was to meet Mickey.  When they finally reached the front of the line, her mom lowered her gently to the ground next to Mickey. Mickey plopped down and gave the girl lots of hugs and kisses and the little girl just beamed.  That was worth the whole vacation right there.  

 Anyway, on the last day of the vacation, we took lots of photos from the Resort where we stayed.....it was very big, and overboard Disney to say the least! Hey, I can tolerate anything for 5 days!

 Claire got a kick out of the giant ballerina girl....kinda creeped the rest of us out I think.

 We stayed in the Herbie section.....

Yes, even the waffles are shaped like Mickey......


Hope you enjoyed all the pictures.  We certainly enjoyed ourselves, but are glad to be back in warm Memphis!  Promises to post again soon.

Love, Gretchen

Happy 5th Adoption Day!!!

First, I would like to apologize for the long delay in posting!!!  We have been busy getting ready for our big Disney Trip beginning on Sunday, and a ton of other things going on!  Life has been fine, just busy with school and basketball, and just life in general!  But today was a big one in The Hollingsworth household....today is Claire's 5th Adoption Day!  It is truly hard to believe that we've been blessed with little Claire for 5 years today....I still remember the details of that day as it were yesterday.

I often think of all the families we traveled with on that day as well, and hope they are as happy as we are today.  We always give Claire the freedom to choose what she wants to do on Adoption day and every year it is a little different.  This year, she simply asked for breakfast for dinner in Lance's media room while watching "Inspector Gadget".  Easy enough!  So that's how we are spending the evening together.  She loves breakfast, she loves being able to turn down the lights, and watch a movie on that ginormous screen..so that's just what we did! 

Feel free to look under archives and under March 2007 and see the original pictures of when we first adopted Claire....Oh how she's grown.  Jesse also is celebrating today because this is the day he became a brother as well....special all the way around.

Well, enjoy the pics and lots more to come...from sunny Florida!!

Love, Gretchen

Dancing for his Dinner

Well, it has been a long tradition at the UofM games for people to dance wildly in hopes that the camera spots you and then they give you a free dinner somewhere.  Last night Jesse and Mr. Gordon, who holds the season tickets next to us, decided to give it a go and dance for their dinner.  They did not win, but still receive an A for effort.  I'm not sure I like the hoodie look on Jesse, but he had a blast nonetheless!!

January is flying by!

 Well, so sorry it's been a while since my last post!  We have been busy with school and Jesse's basketball season, which is coming to a close thank goodness!! The kids have been busy at school and learning a ton.   Claire is bust here making a birthday card for her cousin, whom we will celebrate her 2nd Birthday today.  How time flies!!!

 Jesse had to dress up as a character from the 1700's, give a speech, and then the class had to guess his character by his clues he gave.  Well, here is Nathanial Green, and he enjoyed doing it, except for the hat.  Oh the hat.......I felt so bad sending him to the class in that ginormous hat!  I didn't have a patttern for a tricornered hat, so I just guessed......I hope that didn't cause too many laughs at Jesse's expense!

 Well, I decided after the holidays to tackle the kid's upstairs Jack and Jill bath.  It just needed some fresh paint and TLC.  I decided the kids should do the artwork in the bathroom, so they came up with this.  I was super proud.  It just scrapbook paper that they cut out in shapes and then Mod Podged over it.  I won't deny that there were a few arguments.  Jesse wanted oragami, Claire wanted peace signs, and they both wanted some type of animal.  So they came up with this and we are all happy and all is well!

Well, we have lots coming up soon, so I promise to post again very soon!

Love, Gretch

Happy 2012

 Happy New Years!!  It's hard to believe that not only is it 2012, but I've been blogging now for 6 years!  So much has had changed in the last 6 years, but most for the better!  We rang in the New Year with our friends the Beatty Family, and the cool sparkler photos are compliments of Amy, my very talented amateur photographer friend!  The kids had a great night, as did the adults!  Great food and dancing was had by all, except for Lance.... Happy New Years to you all, and may this year be the best and most prosperous of all!!

Love, Gretchen

Merry Christmas!

 Well, it has been a whirlwind of the last few days, so my post is brief and only has 3 pictures....I promise many more to come!  We had a great Christmas Eve at mass with my family and followed up with dinner and presents at mom and dad's house.  This morning the kids had a grand time, and more festivities happened here with my dad's side coming over with the Hollingsworths and Kathmans joining shortly after. We are so blesssed.  The kids loved all their gifts.....they even managed to remember the reason we celebrate today in the first place!  Merry Christmas and more to come soon!

Love, Gretchen

Christmas Joys.......

 Well, we've just been so blessed these last few weeks to have been able to spend it with friends and lots of family!  Here were all are at my Grandpa's home celebrating Christmas last weekend. Great times!

 Here the kids had a blast at Lily Grace's Annual Christmas Celebration at her home with friends Elliot, Blake, and Lily.  This year we were joined by siblings Addison and Beckett, and Jesse!

 The girls having lunch.....in dress up attire of couse!

 We celebrated Christmas with Lance's parents and sisters last weekend at a great restaurant, followed bu snacks and presents at The Hollingsworth home..It was great to all be together again!

 Jesse and Claire with their craft from Lily's party......gotta love those keepsakes!!