The Excitement of our Trip to Disney World

Updated: The cutest thing about our trip so far is James Kyle's reaction when we tell him we are going to Disney World. He starts smiling and gets really happy. He must know instinctively that it is the "happiest place on Earth."

This trip to Disney World comes at a perfect time emotional for me and our family. My dad, my brother and his family are also coming with us. With my mom passing away so suddenly, we have all been mourning since April and will continue. Now, we all need happy memories to start moving on and accepting she is gone.

With all my health issues since James Kyle was born, Kyle and I haven't had a week long destination vacation since I was pregnant. We went August of 2013 to Destin, so almost two years ago. I am not trying to complain because I know we are so blessed!  It just makes this trip very special!!!

I am so looking forward to going to Magic Kingdom, especially. We are also going to Animal Kingdom and Epcot after. We are going every other day to the Kingdoms and then to Epcot. That way sweet baby James Kyle doesn't get too worn out. We're hoping he can nap in the stroller or in one of the indoor baby/kid areas that they have. We'll just have to see how it goes and of course let James Kyle lead the way.

One of the things I am really pumped about is taking that iconic picture in front of the Disney Castle. So, I know what our yearly Christmas card is going to be!! ;)


Here is our daily FastPass+ Itinerary
Monday at Magic Kingdom
Thunder Mountain
Splash Mountain
Space Mountain
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (got an extra FastPass 😉)

Wednesday at Animal Kingdom
It's Tough to be a Bug
Finding Nemo- The Musical
Kilimanjaro Safaris

Friday we don't know where we are going to go!! Stay tuned!!

So that's it for now, more blog posts to come as we explore Disney World this week!

My first Mother's Day without my mom and second as a mom

My first Mother's Day without my mom and my second as a mom. First I'd like to say a BIG Thank You to all my friends and family that have personally reached out to let me know they are thinking about me and praying for me. It is truly the comfort of the Holy Spirit that is helping me find joy in such a difficult day, which is so close to my mother, Doris Beardsley's, passing. 

To be honest, I am still kind of in shock that she is gone even after a month. I still call her and leave her messages. It feels like I am just waiting to hear from her until she calls me back. When the Lord calls me back we can finish our conversation. We sure will have a lot of catching up to do. 

When we talk in Heaven, I can tell her, again, how much she meant to me. How brave I knew she was, to fight through her pain everyday and never let anyone know how bad it was. She taught me that no one was perfect and to show myself grace. I'll tell her how much I learned from her: being kind and helping everyone as much as I can, being strong and courageous, living my life to the fullest, acting like a lady, learning and improving my knowledge constantly, and most of all loving with my whole heart!!!

Even as I write this I am starting to get emotional, thinking about how I won't hear her voice or her fun laugh again, in this lifetime. Heaven is eternity which will make this lifetime seem short, anyway. It still hurts and everyday it gets a little easier to live with the fact that she is gone. 

I am always going to remember all the memories we had together. Growing up knowing she would do and did anything for me and our family. Respecting her for working so hard to get her PhD in education. All the fun places we went together, traveling abroad and locally. Spending time at the lake on the weekends or even just watching Law and Order at nights growing up.

I am taking comfort that she is  with Jesus and with our Heavenly Father and Lord. She also is resting in such a beautiful place with such a great view overlooking the Atlanta & Buckhead skyline. It is a nice peaceful place to sit and hang out with her.