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Ok, guess who, here it is. I have been working on this update for a week. Here is a run down of the week we went to Tampa/Orlando, Thanksgiving and this past week.

Tuesday, November 14th: Wes left around 7:10 that morning. He was in Tampa by lunch. We left Crowville at 5, and made it to Tallahassee between 2 and 3. I am really not sure, because we discovered the next morning that the clock in our room was almost an hour behind.

Wednesday, November 15th: We got up, ate, and headed to Tampa. We made it there between 3 and 4. Wes was on his way back from the conference, and we beat him to the hotel before he did. We waited in the parking lot, and Emma Grace wasn’t too sure about her daddy being all dressed up and driving a strange vehicle. However, she didn’t feel that way for long. She was glad to see her dadadad. The hotel we stayed at was fairly nice, except for the internet service. We were too far from the front desk to really pick up a wireless signal. We would get logged in and then it would go down, so that is why I didn’t update everyday. You could go right out side the door, and it would work. We decided to go out to eat and take a ride in Wes’ rental car. It was an HHR by Chevy. He decided to try it out, since that is what Tammy is driving. Well, we were NOT impressed. First of all, it was too small for a car seat and two adults in the back. Second of all, it had no pick up and go. Wes said it was a 2 and half squirrel powered. Tammy says her HHR has lots of pick up and go. Wes says it must be powered by 6 squirrels. We ate at a very good steakhouse; however, it was a little dark on the inside. Wes said I think my food is good, but I just cannot see what I am eating. We left there and toured the local Wal-Mart. We decided that if we needed a Wal-Mart, we would find another one. We did, however, see groups of people camping out for the new Playstation 3. This was Wednesday night, and they didn’t go on sale until Thursday night/Friday morning at 12. These people were crazy for many reasons. One of the reasons I think they were crazy was because there was a sign on the door that said they wouldn’t be getting them, but would be handing out vouchers for them. Another reason for thinking these people were crazy was there was a major storm coming and these people were in tents and sleeping out on the sidewalk. CRAZY and STUPID…. The weather didn’t get as bad as they said it was or at least we don’t think it did. It did lighting a good bit, but we all went to sleep.

Thursday, November 16th: Wes had to go back to the conference, but was back by 1. We took his “squirrel” mobile back to the airport, and headed to the beach. It was a very WINDY day as you can tell from the pictures we took. We were going to Clearwater, but missed the turn so we went to St. Petersburg. We went to Indian Rock beach. It was pretty, windy and cool. Emma Grace wasn’t too fond of the BIG waves and the sound they made. We would put her down and her little feet would move so fast but go no where. She got a little braver the longer we stayed. We took pictures, and headed to Clearwater. I had read where Clearwater’s beaches were voted best in the South in 2005, and they were not wrong. The place we stopped at was gorgeous, but it was too dark for pictures. We headed back to find food, and visit the local Target. (much better than Wal-Mart) We also had to try to figure out how we were going to get all of our stuff in the car along with ourselves. We made it, but it was crowded. Grammy wanted to find a shipping place, but there is no telling how much it would have cost to send a huge suitcase with dirty clothes in it. We thought when we left we had enough room, but we forgot Wes had the big suitcase.

Friday, November 17th: We headed to Mickeyland. Tampa is about 90 minutes from Orlando, but Disney World was only about 60 minutes. After finally finding our hotel, we took the bus to Magic Kingdom to only find out that Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party was SOLD OUT. I wasn’t happy, and neither were other people. We had come all this way to find out that we needed a special ticket, and it was sold out. You had to pay almost$70 for a ticket to the park, and then another 50 bucks for the party. I went to the information desk and ask them if there was any way to get tickets and the guy was not very helpful. I told him that we came two years ago and didn’t need a ticket. He said the closer it gets to Christmas you don’t need a special ticket. I wasn’t too happy with Disney. Since the park closed at 6, we had to rush around to do the things we wanted to do. We got lots of pictures with several characters. (Mickey, Minnie, Pooh (she loved Pooh), Tigger, Goofy, Mary Poppins and Pluto.) We rode the tea cups, which Emma Grace loved. She rode Dumbo with her daddy, and the carousel with me. It was getting close to 6, so I decided to try one more time. I went in and explain to a girl named Kristin, and she scanned my ticket. She said we can give out so many free ticket, and here are your's. I told her she made our day, and I couldn’t thank her enough. It was almost too good to be true. You had to get a green armband from a certain area, so I figured when we went to get them they would tell us that the tickets were not any good. They didn’t, so we got to enjoy the party. The bad thing about it was nobody ever asked us to see our armbands, so I guess we could have tried to stay in without getting the tickets. If we would have tried that, we would have been stopped 500 times. We got pictures taken with Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. We got Christmas pictures taken with Mickey and Minnie. Mickey didn’t want to let Emma Grace go. As we were walking off, he shook his head no and motioned us to come back. He armed Emma Grace up and the camera man took more pictures. He would kiss her and hug her. I guess it helped being the next last they let in. We headed back to watch the fireworks and parade. By the time it was all over, it was midnight and Emma Grace was EXHAUSTED. She went to sleep while standing in line to catch the bus back to the hotel.

Saturday, November 18th: Some of us got up early while others slept in. We headed to SeaWorld, and had to rush through it b/c it closed at 6. We stayed a good while trying to touch to the dolphins. I got to touch them several times, but I wanted Emma Grace to be able to touch one. They would come to the right of us or to the left and talk to people, but not to the most precious little girl in the world. Grammy kept saying come over here Mr. Dolphin and talk to this little girl. It didn’t work. We moved on, b/c we had to be at Shamu Stadium around 5. We saw most of the animals. The sea lions are always funny, and the penguins too. We got to pet a Clydesdale and take our picture with him. Now, that is a BIG horse. Sea World always has the most beautiful landscaping. We took Emma Grace’s picture at several locations. We made our way to Shamu Stadium just in time, and got great seats. Emma Grace fell asleep while in line, but we woke her up in time. The show was good, but not as good as the one that we saw two years ago. As soon as the show was over, they herded us out of the park. We wanted to see the polar bear, but we didn’t make it. We went back to the hotel, and took the bus to Downtown Disney to eat at the Rainforest Café. We got there before 8, and the wait time was 1 hr and 45 minutes. We got our ticket and were told to come back around 9:45. We walked around, and it was very cold. Emma Grace got her picture taken with Santa. She wasn’t too sure about him, as you can tell from her photo with him. Eating time finally came around, and we were seated in the gorilla section. We guess Emma Grace has come accustom to the thunderstorm, b/c she wasn’t scared. She usually freaks out in Galveston. Emma Grace fell asleep on the bus back to the hotel.

Sunday, November 19th: This is where the trip went downhill. Around 1:30, I hear Wes say Emma Grace is throwing up. She never woke up until I grabbed her up. It went everywhere. Cleaned that up, and sometime after 2 here it came again. This went on until 4 something. Every hour she would get sick about the same time. We finally decided to take her to the nearest ER. Wes called the front desk, and they told us the nearest hospital was in Celebration, which is a city Disney built. We finally found it, and were in and out by 6. When we got there she was her usual happy self, smiling and laughing at the nurses. She got sick one more time while there. They gave her medicine and told us to not give her anything to drink until 2 and a half hours after the last time she was sick. She could only have clear liquid every 15 minutes. We did that all the way home. We stopped to eat in Tallahassee, and she decided to start diaherra. The doctor told us she probably would. We went to Walgreen’s, but their pharmacy was closed. We called Tammy, and she found one in Mobile our next stop. We got her medicine filled, and it seemed to work. We made it home around 3.

Emma Grace was fine Monday, but Monday night she got sick again. I called Grammy to come help us around 2. She said Daddy was throwing up. Emma Grace had decided to share the love as Auntie Kim says. Grammy and I took her to the doctor. He gave us some more medicine, but she didn’t get sick again. Daddy was sick most of Monday morning. On Wednesday, Emma Grace shared her love with me; however, thank you LORD, I didn’t throw up. I was sick all day Wednesday, but felt better in time for Thanksgiving. We went shopping on Friday. Wes decided to sleep in the car while Grammy, Emma Grace and I went shopping. We had to wake him up when we were leaving Belk to bring the car to us. We got A LOT of Christmas shopping done. Aunt Tammy came to visit on Saturday, and we decorated the yard. Emma Grace loves the blow up things we have in the yard. Last year, Grammy and Granddaddy bought her the snow globe with a snowman family in it. This year, they bought her the carousel globe being pulled by Santa in a train. It is HUGE. Wes had a time putting it up. Grammy and I started going to Curve’s to exercise on Monday. Thanks to my wonderful husband who paid for our membership. We were supposed to go three times a week, but this week was very busy. On Tuesday night, we took Emma Grace down to see the lighting of the trees in Winnsboro. On Wednesday, Grammy, Emma Grace and I went to West Monroe to see Ms. Jean Bryan’s new granddaughter. She was five weeks early, but is doing well. On Thursday, Emma Grace and I went with Grammy’s class, the pre-k and first grade to see Rudolph by the Twin City Ballet. Karri and Amber rode with us. Emma Grace LOVED it. She didn’t move the whole time. She clapped and waved and had the best time. On Thursday evening, Winnsboro had their annual children’s parade. We decorated Emma Grace’s wagon and headed to town. By the time the parade started, the temperature had dropped almost 50 degrees. IT WAS COLD. Poor little Emma Grace was freezing. At the end of the parade, it started to rain/sleet. I got Emma Grace out of her wagon and carried her to the end. Amber rode in her wheelchair behind us, while Karri had to carry Lizzy. Last night was the big parade. Emma Grace had a blast. She waved at every float that went by. It was cold, but not as cold as the night before. We ate at Jessie’s after the parade per Amber’s request. Auntie Tammy and Abby came over for the parade and are spending the weekend with us. We haven’t done much today. Wes and daddy put the lights up on the house. Wes and Abby went to Grammy and Granddaddy’s house to help them put lights up on their house. I guess that is enough of an update. Emma Grace is getting so big. We are going to get her hair trimmed soon, and we need to get her Christmas pictures done. Next weekend is Amber’s benefit, and the next week Wes goes to Salt Lake City. He will be gone on our anniversary. Oh, well, I guess Emma Grace and I will celebrate alone. Wes has an appointment with Dr. Minor on December 7th to see about taking his port out. Amber is home. They came home on November 18th. She is doing good, but please continue to pray for her full recovery. Also, please pray for Mathew Johnston's family. He was diagnosed with a type of lymphoma back in January while we were in Houston. He died last Monday, so please pray for his family. He was only 18. Until next time……