Ground Zero

Before I post about our vacation to Florida, I wanted to make sure I finished posting about my trip to NYC. Before we left Brantley had asked us each what we wanted to do while in New York. One of her requests was to visit the memorial at ground zero. Her husband's little brother in his fraternity died in one of the towers on 9-11. She had previously visited ground zero on a trip to NYC but it was before the memorial was open so she wanted us to visit it to find his name after we made a stop at St. Paul's Chapel.



I had heard about the church at Ground Zero that was left essentially untouched following the towers coming down on 9-11, which is remarkable to hear about, but when you stand in the church and you see the proximity to where the towers stood...it's amazing and a visible testament to power of the God we serve. Evil may have tried to reign that day, but God's house stood up to the evil forces at work reminding all believers the real war against evil has already been fought for each believer in Christ...and we know who wins! This is the view of the new tower from the grave yard behind St. Paul's...



If that gives you any idea how close the church is to where the towers once stood.

In the days and weeks after the attack the church was used as a headquarters for the search & recovery efforts. Then it was an alter for all the well wishes sent from all over the country. When Brantley was there she said it was filled with memorials for all over the country. They've removed most of it, but there are still small reminders around the perimeter of the interior of the church...



I had no connection to anyone who was lost on 9-11...I was a graduate student in Auburn, Alabama, watching it all unfold from a small tv in the Auburn Speech and Hearing Clinic. But even though I was a very safe distance away from any of the attacks that day...I wanted to cry walking through St. Paul's as I was reminded of that day. We left the church and started the walk to the memorial.



The 2 reflecting pools are in the footprints of where the towers once stood...



And the names of all the victims are around each...



Thanks to the iPhones on hand Brantley was able to find the name she was looking for...



Standing there looking at name upon name upon name makes you feel just a tiny bit of the loss that those who lost loved ones must have felt...and continue to feel.

I think about how united our country felt in those weeks and months after this attack...and am saddened by how divided we are now.  I know I have friends who are not fans of Abraham Lincoln, but I read a quote last week where he said our country would not fall from outside forces, but that we would fall from within...I think the events in the past 15 years make that point for Honest Abe.

Brown's Halloween Party 2012

Every year our family looks forward to the Brown's Halloween/pumpkin carving party. Sally's request is that we come in costume...which we've all done as a family in the past...but this year Arch and I went in our regular clothes and because I wasn't quite sure how Tripp's costume would wash if it got dirty the Friday before he would need to wear it at Disney World on Wednesday so Ruth Ann was the only one who went in costume...



Before we got to the party we had to go by Mt. Hebron to pick up a pumpkin...



And get a few cute costume pictures...



And while we picked out a pumpkin...Tripp did a little pickin' of his own...

Pros and Cons of a Disney Cruising...

About 16 months ago my mom decided to gift me and my kids a Disney Cruise for Christmas 2011. We would set sail in November, 2012...which meant I had very few gifts to open on Christmas day...I think I just got a pair of pjs. But after much anticipation, our departure date arrived and we finally got to see Mickey and his big boat...



Let me start by listing the "Cons" to sailing with Mickey...there are NONE! This was by far my favorite of all my favorite vacations of my whole life! I knew 1 hour after stepping foot on the decks of Disney Dream that my family and I would be back in the future...the future being once Tripp is potty trained since Mickey doesn't allow children in swim diapers in his pool...can't say I blame him, I've seen the inside of a dirty swim diaper, it's disgusting.

Anyway, I took roughly 700 pictures during our week at Disney & our time on the Dream...as I sort through the ones I want to post I'll leave you with these... We got on the boat a week ago today...and all day I've been reliving our fun days in the sun...



I'd like to say they played this well together all week thanks to the Disney fairy dust we inhaled all week long...but that would be a big fat lie!



I hope Tripp hurries up and decides to be potty trained soon because I would give anything to be back on these shores asap!!



The Pros to Disney cruising are countless...I can not say enough nice things about the boat, the service, the activities, the food...I could go on and on...

If you've been thinking about a Disney cruise but haven't pulled the trigger yet...go directly to your nearest travel agent or to the Disney website and book now! If you love the customer service Disney provides...I promise, the cruise is 10x better. Or if you just value excellent customer service...Disney does NOT disappoint!

Thanks Grammy for a fun week and a Christmas gift that was worth every minute we spent waiting!