Give Thanks

 GIVE THANKS

Colorful displays of pumpkins always make me think of bountiful fall harvest and the faithfulness of God.  Here we are, just a day after celebrating Thanksgiving.  Many of us were blessed to be surrounded by family and a table laden with a feast of delicious food.  The words of the doxology that we sing each Sunday morning comes to mind:  "Praise God from whom all blessings flow, praise Him all creatures here below; praise Him above, ye heavenly host; praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost - amen."

God made a promise in Genesis 8:22:  "While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease."  He also tells us, "If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land," Isaiah 1:19.

We have so much to be thankful for and so, I give thanks to my precious heavenly Father, my beloved Savior Jesus Christ, and my dear Indwelling Spirit -- all praise and glory to You who have abundantly blessed us beyond counting!

"Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!  For His mercy endures forever," Psalm 136:1

The Most Magical Place at Disney

 

THE MOST MAGICAL PLACE AT DISNEY

    There is so much to do in the Magic Kingdom, so we spent a full day into the night and part of another day there.  You can tell by the way we are dressed that it was a cooler day than we'd had earlier, but then, that's a good thing!  It's fun to share it all with family (:

Some of the cool "fantasy" scenery as we head toward "It's a Small, Small World" ride -- Larry's favorite ride (surprisingly).  Next were, Peter Pan's ride, Winnie the Pooh, and the Seven Dwarfs Railroad roller coaster.  The architecture and attention to detail in these parks are amazing.

The character parade is always colorful and fun!

We all enjoy hamming it up for photos!

Some in our group like to ride exciting Space Mountain - do you think they enjoyed it?

The rest of us rode the more sedate "People Mover" - and we enjoyed that!

One of the beautiful, shiny mosaic pictures inside the castle walk-through tunnel

that has only recently re-opened.  The scenes chronicle Cinderella's story.

I'll end our Disney adventure with fireworks over 

Cinderella's castle - always a beautiful sight!  

I like to include scripture at some point.  Since it was a dark night that was split by these bright fireworks, I thought this verse in Isaiah seemed appropriate:  "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.  You have multiplied the nation and increased its joy; they rejoice before you," 9:2-3.  I thank our Lord for safety and good times during our Florida adventure.  He is indeed the Light of the World and His message of love shines on us no matter where we are!!

Animal Kingdom & Hollywood Studios

 

ANIMAL KINGDOM & HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS

All of us girls are sporting our patriotic Mickey shirts as we stand in warm and steamy Animal Kingdom.  Mount Everest in the background was surely about to melt in the heat.  The scenery there is so wonderfully exotic and offers a nice glimpse of Africa -- and far-away Pandora too.

As the sign says, "Welcome to Harambe - Port of East Africa

The Lion King show is always a hit - so colorful and entertaining.  

And, of course, I LOVE the music!

Then, there's the Tree of Life in Animal Kingdom.  It's covered in cool carvings of all kinds of animals.  I'm reminded of the Tree of Life that was in the Garden of Eden and the more important Tree of Life that we'll someday see when we go to Heaven.  We're told that the Tree of Life grows beside the crystal clear river that flows from God's throne, and that the tree bears twelve fruits in season.  I know we're going to enjoy eating that fruit some day (Revelation 22:1-2).  

And - there is special food just for Animal Kingdom.

This large ice cream filled crunchy chocolate cookie was delicious!!

We mustn't forget Hollywood Studios, where we rode Slinky 

Dog Dash roller coaster in Toy Story land several times.

My favorite part of The Rise of the Resistance ride in Star Wars land is this view of all these 

full size storm troopers after the enemy captures the ship.  It's a powerful scene!

Goofy's son Max is teasing Marisa with his fake chicken.  Laurrine (Derek's sister) and Landon find it all very funny.  I think perhaps Goofy is also laughing, but it's hard to tell for sure.  We were in line for the Tower of Terror - one of my favorite rides at Hollywood Studio.

I like this picture of my two youngest grandsons hamming it up in front

of Rockin' Roller Coaster, which they enjoyed riding.

We'll end our visit with Magic Kingdom tomorrow!

Let's Visit Disney World - Epcot

 

LET'S VISIT DISNEY WORLD - Epcot

    The photo above shows our gang who spent time together at the Mouse's House in Florida in October.  We had a great time tramping through the four parks, experiencing many kinds of rides, and eating lots of yummy food!  I hope you'll enjoy a glimpse of our adventures in the next three posts!

One of our favorite, relaxing rides is in Mexico where we float down a stream and view colorful Mexican scenes while listening to music with an over-the-border sound that's fun.

       We had fun on the virtual reality Ratatouille ride in France.  That little rat can sure cook!

But, this ride just happens to be the Guardians of the Galaxy - which to my surprise turned out to be a roller coaster with considerable G-force.  Pretty intense!

Vince and Landon share a giant turkey leg -- a "must" when they visit America at Epcot!

I was pleased with the beautiful nighttime shot I got of the tower in Morocco.  Wandering around the lanes and bazaars in Morocco is one of my favorite things to do in Epcot.  It feels so authentic!

I was excited to be able to watch two performances of the Newsboys as they sang Christian songs the first evening we were at Epcot.  It was such a blessing to be surrounded by so many other Christians as we all sang together songs the Newsboys made famous.  My favorite is "God's Not Dead" - He's surely alive, living on the inside, roaring like a lion -- roaring, roaring!  It was such a joy!!

Then, the finale of the evening at Epcot were the fireworks over the lake.  Beautiful colors exploded across the sky, along with these gorgeous white explosions that make me think of ice and snow.  It was quite a show!  That was the day I walked 24,500 steps!  Needless to say, my legs and feet were tired, but my heart was full (:  Thank you, Lord, for a lovely Day!  "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights..." James 1:17.