Another Year, Almost Gone...

I find it hard to believe that yet another year has come and gone and I am reluctant to let it go. There is just so much yet to do and so little time to do it in. I must say, however, that it has been an excellent year. Yes, I have grown another year older and who knows how much wiser; and I have accomplished a great deal more of my goals than I ever dreamed possible. God has been very good to me and to my family.

I want to highlight here our most recent trip to Orlando, Florida where we played as children play and thoroughly enjoyed the break from reality. Our first flight to fantasy was to Orlando Florida's amazing world of Universal Studio fantasy. We visited a great representation of Whooville, right out of Dr. Seuss's "How The Grinch Stole Christmas." We lunched with the residents and played in their magical land for a very long time. They were all so jolly and brought a great deal of the Christmas spirit to life for us.



Next, we ventured into the magicaL world of Harry Potter in the new feature for Universal. It was like a trip right into the world of magic. I had to taste the amazing Butter Beer (which I absolutely adored) and bought myself a magic wand. I guess I will have to register for classes in order to make any magic come out of it. Oh! We had a grand time. We had to hurry, though, because we had to run over to Universal Studio's section to watch the Macy's Christmas parade, complete with giant balloons and bands. Then, we made sure that we had great seats on the lawn for the outdoor performance of one of the best Christmas Concerts I have ever seen. It was "The Manheim Steamroller's Christmas Concert" right there in Universal Studios. We loved every freezing minute of it. (Yes, it was freezing cold in Orlando!)

DAY THREE:




We spent a wonderful, cold third day traveling to the eastern Atlantic coast to Cape Canaveral to visit the Kennedy Space Center. Oh, my we had such a wonderful time there. We had lunch with an astronaut and saw all of the exibits that we could possibly fit into one day. We took a bus ride out to the launch pads and saw the next Challenger poised on the pad and ready for launch sometime in February.

Last, but not least, we rode in a space shuttle simulator that was supposed to feel just like being launched into space. It was a wonderful ride and when they opened the hatch and we looked at the earth (which was supposed to be far below us) it took my breath away. Both Dean and I wanted to sign up for the next space launch right then and there. Did you know that when you go out into weightless space that you loose calcium right out of your bones? That is one of the reasons that the Astronauts excercise so much while they are in space.

I'm going to stop here and come back to this another day. Our vacation was a wonderful one and there is so much to tell and write about. But, right now, I just want to reflect on an amazing year that has made it possible for vacations like this one to happen. We have truly been blessed. We have relatively good health, we both have jobs that sustain us more than we could ever hope for. The preparation that we put into our life's careers has paid off in so many ways. We are able to help Dean's son with extra $$ for college, Billy with whatever he needs to keep his chosen career going, and whenever someone in the family has a need, we have been able to help even if it was just in some small way. The Lord has been so very, very good to us and we indeed are so very grateful.

I don't know if I will get anything posted before the New Year actually gets here, but if I don't, I pray that if 2011 is half as good to us as 2010 has been, we will be amply blessed.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!