You ASKED for it, You GOT it!! GKTW ALUMNI RETURN! UPDATE 1/9 MOVING DAY

[NEmel]

Love the pictures of your kids. You family does so much for the community. Something to be proud of! Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!

[happybelle]

I have had the past week off and have been reading your reports. All I can say is you are the most amazing family I have ever encountered. Your honesty in sharing is refreshing. I agree that your family gives a lot to the community. Your health challenges are scary and many. You don't pretend to be perfect and you give God the glory. Your children are so talented and gorgeous. You have a new fan. I wish I could meet you.

[mommy2mrb]

Hi Judy!

hope your Christmas was filled with peace! our was good, just happy the crazy running around is over!

didn't do a thing yesterday and still taking it a bit easy today!

continued P & PD to all in need!

[Disney9.9.10]

Your children really are an inspiration. They are all doing things that they love, things that they are good at, and things for others. What a wonderful family

[ladylyons]

Sorry I'm late but I still wanted to wish you and your family a Very Merry Christmas!! I also hope you have a safe and Happy New Years!! We leave on Saturday for Disneyland so I may not be back on before then. Loved getting to see the newest pictures that I had originally missed. Hope things are not to crazy for you this week and know your family continues to be in my thoughs and prayers!!

[blessedmom4]

We had a completely blessed Christmas and such a wonderful family time! I can't believe how quickly it passed. I haven't felt well (I will not bore you, other than to say I was getting a cold on top of everything and Elderberry extract knocked that problem out in ONE day...it is the BEST thing for a cold). The children were so thankful for their gifts, so joyous...but it is not the focus of our celebration. I have great pics and wonderful memories of our day and hope to share a few soon.

This week has been full, fitting in appts we missed with the offices closed on Monday and Tuesday. Rachel is having a great time. In November, she was invited (no cost to us) to join the Led Zeppelin Camp at the School of Rock December 27 to 30...she is having a blast! Of course she is the only girl (I wasn't surprised). They are performing at a local coffeehouse/pub on Sunday night...I can hardly wait; however, I will have earplugs, I learned my lesson in August. I am certain it will be LOUD! So far she has lead guitar (with solo) on Rock and Roll, playing bass on Kashmir and singing on The Rain Song...she was practicing her vocals last night and I got chills...she has a lovely voice; however, rarely sings for anyone other than me. This song is a bit soulful/mournful and it showcases many layers in her voice...I was actually blown away...and very excited for Sunday.

Thank you all for the wonderful messages and for the words of support and care for us. I ask you to please keep my DIS friend with cancer in prayer. She was admitted to the hospital on Saturday and needs as many prayers as she can get. This is a truly caring lady and deserves to be pain and worry free. My PM's are full of people in pain and lost. Pray for them and their needs. To those who have written, I AM reading, I just haven't had time to respond.



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Originally Posted by DisNorth

Hope everyone has a very blessed Christmas!

Thank you Tracy, I hope yours was as well!

Originally Posted by bushdianee

Merry Christmas to all!

Thank you Diane!

Originally Posted by angel's momma

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.

I know this sounds very selfish, but please pray for us emotionally. Angel's wish granter just called to say Angel's wish is being granted. She didn't have specifics, but said she knew it was a 5 (we know that isn't the Fantasy). We are very grateful that she is being granted a wish, but it was still very disappointing to find out that she won't be able to have her specific wish, and the special activities she had selected. We took it much harder than we expected. It's been a very hard year, and I think we were hoping for her wish more than we realized.

I am so sorry Angel has been disappointed, I can only imagine how hard that is after all she has been through. I discovered early on while the wish granters say one thing, reality is often another. They are told often the sky is the limit and that is simply not true, money dictates everything. For our chapter Disney wishes top the list and they have a formula they don't deviate far from. I have never heard of a wish cruise being more than 4 nights, do you all get 5? Any idea how long ya'll will have to wait for dates? While it will not be as long as Angel had researched for it WILL still be fabulous! I truly DO get it...and I am sorry.

Originally Posted by miprender

Love all the Disney Merry Christmas designs

Thank you sweet Michelle, I pray you had a wonderful Christmas!
Judy hope you had a Blessed Christmas and Santa was good to everyone

I always say, when you don't have much money, the shopping is easy! We were exceptionally Blessed!

Originally Posted by McDuck

Ahhhhh, love the pictures!!!! Everyone looks great and congratulations to all your children on such terrific accomplishments!!!

Thank you Jennie, I have LOTS more to bore you with!

Hope you are all healthy and have an amazing time!!!!!

I continue to lift up in prayer. Hope everyonr had a great Christmas. We pulled off the room switch smoothly/--thanks to my parents spending the night to help us! Kaitlyn loves it and has so much more room to play now! My new room is a wreck now, though. I did 13 miles on Christmas Eve---woohoo! Shocked at how I can do that now. The race is just a few weeks away now! Prayers we stay fit and healthy and also for our fundraising efforts. We have an actual tracking donation site on First Giving now....I have not asked permission to put it in my sig yet but I can certainly share PM. We set a goal of $500 for Team Gleason but we are only 10% there.
Sounds like a GREAT time and a wonderful surprise! I do hope you all meet your fundraising goal and have a great time in the process. The thought of running 13 yards me, so 13 miles is worthy of
I ordered a birthday cake for Jesus for our new fsmily tradition and then forgot to pick it up Christmas Eve!! We picked it up today and they were very kind about it-- asked if I still wanted it. So I can still show my face in Rouses...whew!

We have done a Cake for Jesus since Christian was 2...he knew Christmas was Jesus birthday and he wanted to know why we didn't have a cake...it is an endearing tradition! Glad you got yours! I have pics to post....

Speaking of the cake.... I think it's time to have a piece. Prayers for all the needs and for all the friends here!!!!!

Hope it was yummy!

Originally Posted by NEmel

Love the pictures of your kids. You family does so much for the community. Something to be proud of! Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!

I LOVE new readers! You are very kind, my children love to give back and be active in the community. They have had some truly unique opportunities! I hope your Christmas was blessed as well!

Originally Posted by happybelle

I have had the past week off and have been reading your reports. All I can say is you are the most amazing family I have ever encountered. Your honesty in sharing is refreshing. I agree that your family gives a lot to the community. Your health challenges are scary and many. You don't pretend to be perfect and you give God the glory. Your children are so talented and gorgeous. You have a new fan. I wish I could meet you.

Glad to have you reading along. We are very blessed to be able to do all that we do. Sometimes it is hard to believe all the children have endured, I try to put it to the back of things and just let them live as normally as possible. That isn't always easy, but I try.

Originally Posted by mommy2mrb

Hi Judy!

hope your Christmas was filled with peace! our was good, just happy the crazy running around is over!

didn't do a thing yesterday and still taking it a bit easy today!

continued P & PD to all in need!

So glad you had fun and got some rest in as well. You have a busy next little bit, my prayers have been flooding forward full force! Have an amazing day!

Originally Posted by Disney9.9.10

Your children really are an inspiration. They are all doing things that they love, things that they are good at, and things for others. What a wonderful family

You are very kind, I truly am blessed. My children are fearless and care for many people...and they actually like me! From what I see among some their ages, that isn't always the case. They know what is important...

Originally Posted by ladylyons

Sorry I'm late but I still wanted to wish you and your family a Very Merry Christmas!! I also hope you have a safe and Happy New Years!! We leave on Saturday for Disneyland so I may not be back on before then. Loved getting to see the newest pictures that I had originally missed. Hope things are not to crazy for you this week and know your family continues to be in my thoughs and prayers!!

Sandra, I am SO excited for you to take your trip, it is going to be AMAZING!!! You deserve some time away and I know many more memories wil be made! If you don't do a TR, feel free to post pics here. I appreciate your prayers so much Sandra, you are a sweetheart and I pray that 2013 brings you many blessings, you deserve them!

[ladylyons]

Originally Posted by blessedmom4

Sandra, I am SO excited for you to take your trip, it is going to be AMAZING!!! You deserve some time away and I know many more memories wil be made! If you don't do a TR, feel free to post pics here. I appreciate your prayers so much Sandra, you are a sweetheart and I pray that 2013 brings you many blessings, you deserve them!

Thank you Judy!!! Depending on the turns the trip takes depends on if I'll do a trip report or not. Just sent you a pm with some news I'm not ready to share yet but prayers are needed.

[blessedmom4]

Originally Posted by ladylyons

Thank you Judy!!! Depending on the turns the trip takes depends on if I'll do a trip report or not. Just sent you a pm with some news I'm not ready to share yet but prayers are needed.

Sandra, my lips are sealed; however, my prayers are huge! Praying for a safe, fun trip and wonderful family memories!

[happybelle]

Thank you for the welcome. How exciting for Rachel to go to camp for free. She is so talented, I am sure we will see both her and Lisa famous everywhere one of these days. I can't wait to see your pictures from Christmas.

[mommy2mrb]

rachel is going to camp again! know she will have a blast! good call on the earplugs!
hope you are feeling better!

continued P & PD to all in need

[blessedmom4]

Thought I would share a few pics of our glorious Christmas. Debating if I am going to write a TR for our September trip, there was a lot I didn't share. I will be wrapping up the MAW TR in the next few days (yes, FINALLY, I know). I plan to stop this PTR as well (Yes, again FINALLY). Life has continuously gotten in the way and I Thank those of you who have stuck around in spite of my absence. Many of you have been true friends to me and I Thank you for that.

A picture Lisa drew on her white board.



The kids cooking and playing in the kitchen.






Santa Claus and the Reindeer loved their goodies.


David LOVES this shirt I had made from Vista Prints ($4 with free shipping).


It is the picture of him I had made of him as Indiana Jones at Disney World.


Christian saw Rachel’s laplander hats (she LOVES them, wants one for every day) and said
he liked the Yosemite Sam one. So, he got it!




The next three are of Lisa finding a surprise Santa left in our freezer. She opened a box that said look in the freezer.



Back Story, Lisa LOVES meat, we don’t eat a lot of it now because of the cost, so she craves it all the time it seems. She asked for Meat on her Christmas list. She had also wanted an entire Turkey Leg on Thanksgiving and Pete forgot, so he pulled the meat off when he carved it for me to make casseroles and soup. We couldn’t find a turkey for Christmas I thought was worth the money, so we decided to have chicken instead...however, I found a package at the store with THREE Turkey legs in it, so voila...happy Lisa!


And the ONE Toy she really wanted was a Pinkalicious DS game, which I found in the bargain bin (damaged box) for $5!!


Next up is Rachel with her new Cow hat (this child loves Cows...and Mater)


Up next, David shows off his new Cross necklace.


I found a game Christian wanted and he wasn’t upset that it was used...it looked brand new!


Next up is Rachel with a new pair of red sequin tennis shoes...maybe she will wear them to perform in on Sunday.



She was also very happy to find a new brush for Bandit in his gifts, along with some treats.


The next two are from Jesus’ Birthday cake in 2006...I am including it because it is the earliest photos I have in my photobucket account with the cake shown and you can see how much the children have grown. Lisa was three and it was the first year she cared about cake, since she could finally eat it. Look how small she was, barely peeking over the counter to see it.




These are from this years Birthday Cake for Jesus.




Several weeks ago someone asked me to post pics of our yard. It is difficult to see it all in the dark; however, I will try to give you an idea what you are looking at. From the left is our train, then the nativity set, complete with Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, 2 camels, a donkey, cow and several sheep, as well as the stable, angel and star. The tree has lights and a bell. Peppermints are over our doorway, along with our Cross and Frosty on the front porch. To the right of the porch is Mr and Mrs Claus and in front of that are f small snowmen and a Snowman in the tree. The of course we have the obligatory icicle lights, as well as lights in the bushes.

[McDuck]

Such happy faces and what a great Christmas! I may have to do a TR if you close this so the posting goes on... You and your family are such an inspiration and I am happy and blessed to "know@ you!

[KatMark]

Judy, love the pictures...what fun. I love the hats especially...those are a huge hit everywhere. I like the picture from 2006...so nice to see how much the kids have changed.

Your house looks beautiful with the decorations.

[lovethattink]

Awesome pictures! Such happy faces on Christmas! Love, love, love David's shirt! That was a great idea.

I have to tell you that JJ was here looking at them with me. He says that Lisa is the best artist. He loves the picture she drew. As I scrolled down the page and he saw Rachel and Lisa he began jumping in excitement. He was so happy to see them. He likes the reindeer antlers. When he saw the carrots he couldn't believe that we forgot to leave reindeer food this year.

Love the trip down memory lane. You certainly have 4 beautiful children to be proud of.

Nice Christmas light display too.

I hope you are feeling better soon. Glad the elderberry extract helped. How do you take that? Where do you buy it? JJ is sick today. He's had a cold for a couple days, but last night he started with earache. His doc called in antibiotics and ear drops for pain last night. So glad she was the doc on call.

[DMGeurts]

I loved seeing all the happy faces at Christmas Judy... Such a wonderful family you have! And I lOVE the pictures from 2006 - the kids sure have grown, and they are just as adorable then as they are now. Your house looks very festive too! I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

D~