Memaw's Surprise 80th Bday

This weekend, our family did something we have never done before... we threw a successful surprise birthday party for my grandmother's 80th birthday! Props definitely go to Aunt Darla, Aunt Vicki, Uncle Randall, and Stefnie for the planning and group gift ideas. With a family as large as ours (Memaw has 9 kids (including spouses), which have 17 grandkids (including spouses), which now have 4 great-grandkids), I really thought she would suspect something from someone, but she was completely surprised -- and I think after the shock wore off, she was very excited to see all of us there!

We ate a great lunch at the restaurant, then headed back to Memaw's house for some quality family time. Our family is spread out all across Texas, so we only really get to come together at Thanksgiving and Christmas, and any time we get to see each other is loud, fun-filled, and completely precious. It's amazing how being around family can just fill you with such a warmth and joy! Some of my very best memories growing up were at Memaw's house with our aunts, uncles, and cousins, and I've grown to appreciate my large extended family more and more as I get older. I can't wait to see them all again during the holidays!

Scrub Your Toilets and Change the Sheets... We've Got Company!

So last week was a week of visitors at the Anglin house. Our first guest was of the furry, four-legged variety -- Boomer, my parents' schanuzer. They were on vacation, and instead of leaving him out in the hot backyard, we offered to keep him over at our house for the week. We figured having two dogs in the house wouldn't be much different than the one we normally have, but it was funny to see how the two "only children" interacted the first few days!



Boomer is older than our dog Toby, and so when we have taken Toby to visit my parents' house in the past, he's usually the one running around and barking while Boomer just lays on the carpet. In fact, Boomer has always been nice and calm, very quiet, and does what he is told. When Boomer came over to our house, though, the roles completely reversed! Toby was the calmer one, while Boomer was much more active than we expected! Boomer also commandeered Toby's bed for the week, which I don't think Toby really minded too much because he's more of a floor dog. In the end, they got along well, and we were happy to keep him... although I think Toby was glad to be the "only dog" and get all of the attention again when Boomer went home!


We also hosted some human visitors last week -- members of Central Baptist Church in Jacksonville, TX. They were meeting up with our church here and two churches from La Grange for a mission trip to Germany to teach a Baseball Camp for kids. They say that the kids are fascinated to learn about "American sports", and they invite all of the families for worship services each evening in the towns. Our church has been involved with this for the last 7 or 8 years, and keeps growing each summer. Todd and I had fun chatting with our guests and getting to know more about them and their mission trip before they left. What a fun week! :)

The Wonderful World of Disney

Instead of taking a summer vacation this year, Todd and I have decided to wait and take a mini-vacation when he finishes up his travel season in December. I am super excited -- we are going to Walt Disney World in Florida!! I absolutely LOVE going to WDW, and we have never been there during the winter, so it will be something new for both of us. I'm looking forward to going in December because of smaller crowds, better weather, and best of all, we'll get to see the parks totally decked out for Christmas!

Todd and I had a lot of fun last time we visited. During our last adventure, we stayed in the Polynesian Resort and saw all 4 parks in 2.5 days. I think we were only able to see everything we wanted to see because it was just the two of us -- and even then, we were exhausted by the end of it! This time we're going to take things a little slower and really soak in all of the Disney magic, including Mickey's Holiday Party and Epcot's Candlelight Processional. I booked our trip this morning, so now all we have left to do is countdown the days until we leave! (which right now, is a whole lot... better to count months instead!).

"It's kind of fun to do the impossible." ~ Walt Disney