Made it to the Disney shots! We camped at Fort Wilderness - VERY fun! Cool pool with slide & fun splash park for the toddlers, and an air-conditioned bathroom :). In the evening we took part in the marshmallow roast and sing along with Chip and Dale. Afterwards we stayed around to watch an outdoor movie (with many no see um bites for Jeff and I :)!!

"Their singing my favorite song!", said Kara. ("You are my sunshine" - she's got all the words down, too - been singing it in the van - sometimes changes the color of the sky:)


The bravest Ortlings - only ones willing to touch Dale.

We stopped in Birmingham, AL to visit Em's high school friend, Carol. The boys had fun with Luke - eating, BMX track racing, praise band rockin', Wii golfing, . . .



Kara met another princess friend in Abby. Ms Carol even gave a ballet lesson. Hazel enjoyed meeting their chocolate lab, Ford. Jeff & I enjoyed the fun and relaxation with Carol and Mark. We're still stewing on the great truths taught at their church on Sunday.

Gran made an early morning exciting trip with the kids. The "plan" was to throw any fish back, but after a bit of casting, they returned with a catch wrapped up in the back of the car which Gran just could NOT cast away. Jacob was SO proud of his first catch ever, helped Gran clean it, and enjoyed the feast later that evening. Sweet memories :)!

Constant smiles on all sides as the kids wrestled Uncle Scott ANYTIME he came around (his house or Gran's)!

We stopped in to visit Em's college campus in NW Arkansas. We got together with friends from those "long ago" days. The Blair family & the Hollabaugh family. A surprise guest, Annie, came as well! The first of MANY "princess" friends were met here for Kara (they're everywhere :)!

Watching the giraffes eat! WOA! Look at the tongues!
Jacob's favorite - the gorilla named Tommy!
My goofy gorillas!
"sweet" playful lion cub
The fam at the Wichita zoo with the Nebletts. We had a great time playing with Zeke & Pete, and of course, visiting with their parents, too! We are praying for them as they prepare to go on medical missions in Asia.

Ms Tara's stepdad, Mr. Mike, has quite a collection of John Deere tractors. The kids enjoyed checking them out :)!

Fun at the lake with Ms Tara. We had a super time with she and Mr Darin. Simon's favorite at the beach was attempting to return the sand to the water :). The big kids could have lived on the BIG metal slide in the Pearson's backyard. It came from a one room school house. Yummy desserts, exciting iphone entertainment, backyard bbq & fire, and an endless backyard which Jacob would like to take to MT!

The kids did a Kyd's Radio Show (Adventures in Odyssey). Keith and Jacob read lines, and Kara and Dad did sound effects. It turned out SO neat, and we even got a free copy of the CD!

I caught up a bit (a bit, I'm still two states behind). These are some more photos of our time at Focus on the Family headquarters. Kara was showing her brothers off down the 3 story curvy slide. She, Dad, and Simon couldn't go (wrong size), but the boys and I went down :) . . . WOW - mom was a bit scared :)!
The family reading chair - we've now outgrown our one and a half chair. This might be the next step up :)!
We are reading the Chronicles of Narnia books as we go, so this is the entrance to Narnia - the wardrobe. Below the kids stand and hunt for things in the Narnia mural!

Waiting for "Aunt" Julie's scrumptious cookies . . .
YUM!!! Worth the wait!
Good to the last bite & drip :)!
We visited a really neat historical farm where there was a working farm from 1860 & one from 1890. This was a picture taken in the one room schoolhouse. Notice Montana wasn't even a state in 1860! Julie made sure the boys realized that had they been students at that school they would have had to come early to light the lamps & start the fire! Ah, what an easy life we live!!!