Disneyworld pics

During our last furlough, we took our first trip to Disneyworld in Florida. We had only 2 days to squeeze 4 parks in. So this time, we decided to make a week of it (well 5 days anyways). The boys are older now, and enjoying more of the fast rides. We all had a wonderful time, and plan to take an even longer vacation to Disneyworld next furlough. Of all the parks, the boys decided that they enjoyed Animal Kingdom the most (as far as animals were concerned).

Jamin's favorite animal-Meerkat!

Kilamajari Safari Ride

The boys felt at home with the bamboo in the park.

Jamin played one of those games where you shoot water out of a pistol into a hole. This is what he won!

For some reason, our boys really enjoy putting on goofy hats. Here are a few of those pics....

We took every advantage of resting during parade times.

The week we were at Epcot, they had a Flower Festival going on. Every shrub was in the shape of some kind of Disney character. It was really beautiful. Epcot was Mom and Dad's favorite place....especially the food at Epcot. By the way, the Disney Dining Plan is way bueno!!!!

With the Dining Plan, each of us got one free snack a day. The boys usually ate the Mickey icecream! It really was big enough for two people to eat on, but we let them splurge and have it all to theirselves.

The boys playing around in a Finding Nemo exhibit at Epcot....

Going to WDW in late April wasn't terribly hot, however it was nice to cool off every once in awhile with the little sprayers that they had placed every so many yards.

We made all the firework shows during the evenings. We went to Epcot twice to watch theirs.....being our most favorite of all the fireworks!

There is a ride at Animal Kingdom that is kind of misleading. It's called the 'Mt. Everest'. The rollercoaster takes you up inside the mountain that pictured down below. Everything is goin along fine, until it stops and goes backwards. We have no idea what really happened, but I (mom) thought for sure we went upside down there for awhile. Experienced riders told me we had not. However, this was my first and last of the scary rides for the trip. Jamin loved it!

Another ride that I thought would be an easy one....it wasn't, but we all did this one.

Aside from the usual stuff to do at Disneyworld, we decided to take a walk through all the shops in Downtown Disney (or maybe it was the Boardwalk). Anyways, there is a neat Lego store, where you can buy anything dealing with Legos of course. There are several little stations set up outside where the kids can be creative and play 'til their hearts content.

Jamin with Herbie

Our other favorite thing to eat/drink at WDW were the Frozen Lemonades. We usually chose to get the Minute Maid brand, but in MGM, we couldn't find them, so we had to settle for the Lemonade slushes. It didn't really matter, it still helped cool us off!

Mom and Jamin taking a break from the heat.

Thank you Disneyworld for such a magical experience!!!!! We will see you again someday!

Misc. April Furlough pics

April was our official first month of being in the states on furlough. We don't really have a home base, however we spent time with our families in Texas in between visiting churches on Sundays/Wednesdays.

Jamin and Jesse....getting to see their new baby cousin, Ryleigh.

We assumed that in April, in Houston, the cooler weather would be gone. We ended up having to buy a few winter clothes for a couple of weeks until the cooler weather left. Below are pics of the boys freezing!!!!!! We were glad when summer actually got there. We are used to summer weather all year round!

Jamin with his PawPaw Bruce

Our uncle Curtis and his daughter, Makenzie (our cousin)

Robert with Makenzie....who rarely let just anyone hold her. She finally warmed up to Rob.

Jamin, Clayton and Jesse

The boys with Connie's grandparents

Jamin looking all smart!!! He's not really wearing glasses...these are MeeMaw's!

Jesse, Carson, Colin and Jamin....this is taken the 2nd or 3rd weekend in April. As you can see, it's still cold!

One of Jesse's favorite things to do on furlough was roasting hotdogs. We did this quite often! I just wish we could get Oscar Meyer hotdogs here in the Philippines!

Jesse with MeeMaw Murphy

Doesn't he look like he's up to something?

Towards the middle to end of April, we had to go to Ft. Smith, Arkansas for a national meeting with our organization. Below is a pic of the boys with Bro. Speer.

We had time for a few site seeing trips. This pic was taken in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Notice our little Filipino boys wearing flip flops with their sweat pants and jackets, haha.

Even though Jesse's birthday is in January, he didn't get to spend it with any of his family back in the states. So during Jamin's birthday, we combined the two, and had a little party with just family. Because we had trouble getting both of the families together, the boys ended up with 2 separate birthday parties.

Just some pics taken at a park in Livingston, TX

"Wigging out"

Okay, so we were being totally silly. I have a clip with hair on it that my sister bought for me, back when I had short hair. I didn't use it very much...it was kinda heavy and would give me headaches....then my own hair grew out enough to not need it. The boys got ahold of it one day, and this is what happened.

This is a pic of Jamin and Jesse with some of their closest friends in the neighborhood:

(Nuchong, Jesse, Trevor, Jamin and Peter)

This was taken the day we left for the states for furlough. They were happy in the pic, but the boys were sad afterwards.