Graduation in the Jones family!

Good Job Paulette !

My sister Paulette has finally finished high school. On May 21 she took that long awaited walk to the stage to receive her well deserved diploma. We are all very proud of her ! Before she took that walk to Pomp and Circumstance, my mom had thrown her a party at the house. We all had a blast grilling out, eating and watching Paulette open gifts. My mom, myself and my little sis Elizabeth worked really hard to make her a photo book. She really enjoyed looking over the pictures of her childhood. Buuuuut the highlight of the night was when she received a brand new laptop. Paulette enjoys photography and I am sure this new laptop will come in handy for storing and viewing her pics. We are all very proud of you Paulette !!

Mom, Dad & Paulette

Yummmmm, cake!

Luv'in  the new laptop!

My sisters and parents

Paulette with her nephews, where's the nieces??

I got tired of the same old stand there and be pretty pics,

so I mixed things up.  Now that's a picture to remember!!

Way to go Paulette !!

Space Shuttle Atlantis

Wow, Florida has it all, Mickey Mouse, the warm sunshine, oranges and great beaches. Today we witnessed another of Florida’s wonders, the lifting off of the space shuttle. When we moved to Florida seeing the space shuttle was on our ‘To See’ list. Today was our lucky day.

Due to government cut backs of the space program, we defiantly wanted to see this last launch of the space shuttle Atlantis. Johnny’s Nursing Recruiter, who lives here in Florida, suggested a wonderful place for us to watch the launch. We had already read and heard that this would be a crowed event so we started our day very early. And good thing we did, we arrived at Jetty Park so early that we were able to park right near the beach. We had packed for a full day of beach fun.

Right at 2:15pm we called up our family back home on Skype. Our little nephew, Connor, was watching the launch on the News at the same time he could see it on his computer over Skype. Connor and his family helped us count down till the big moment. At 2:20pm out of what seemed like no where a huge fire ball was shoot up from the ground followed by a cloud of smoke.

Atlantis shot through a clear afternoon Florida sky. We read that more than 40,000 guests — the biggest launch-day crowd in years — packed the Kennedy Space Center

The shuttle's destination is the International Space Station. It should catch up with the Space Station on Sunday morning.

This 12-day mission is the last one planned for Atlantis. It returns to earth on May 26.

Atlantis — which rocketed into orbit for the first time in 1985 — is loaded with fresh batteries and a Russian-built compartment for the space station. The 20-foot-long module is crammed with food, laptop computers and other U.S. supplies.

This historic day will be in our memories for a long time. Johnny thinks its very ironic that this was our first space shuttle launch but Atlantis' last.
 

 

 

Magic Kingdom & Epcot

                                                                  Magic Kingdom




We spent Mother’s Day at Magic Kingdom. It was a very special day. Each cast member tried to make the day great by greeting Mothers with welcome wishes. We arrived one hour before the park opened which gave us a head start on the day. We were the first to ride the Buzz Light-year ride and in doing so they gave us a free picture. I just love free stuff! Since we were Disney hotel guest we received extra magic hours which allows guest to get more ride time in. We stayed in the park until 1 am, yes I said A.M.! It was a great day to visit Magic Kingdom. We just about walked onto any ride we wanted any time. Our longest wait of the day was 30 minutes. We rode several rides, several times that day due to the short lines.

A Disney cast member gave us buttons that said I was celebrating Mother’s Day, each boy got one that said that they were celebrating their mother and Johnny got one that said he was celebrating his wife. My boys honored me all day long. I felt like a princess, and what better place for a princess than at Disney’s Magic Kingdom Castle. I had a Magical Mother’s Day!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Epcot

Epcot is one of our family’s favorite Disney Parks. I’m not quite sure why this is, but we all can’t wait to go back. Epcot is one of the biggest Disney Parks. It contains the World Showcase which a person could spend the whole day touring. Our favorite country inside the World Showcase would have to be Mexico. Mexico has great food and an awesome ride.

Epcot is also full of beautiful gardens. Their topiaries are just amazing. They have topiaries in all kinda shapes and sizes. This in itself is amazing.

The favorite ride seems to be Test Track. I think we ended up riding it 4 times. A close tie to Test Track would be Soarin. This ride is a high flying adventure!!! You sit in a seat that rises up in front of a huge screen. On the screen is projected different landscapes. Wind is blown in your face and it is as if you are soarin through the air. Great ride!!

On our trip to Epcot we like to try different places to eat. So on this trip we chose to eat in an underwater adventure. We ate at the Coral Reef. This is a restaurant that is surrounded by an aquarium. We enjoyed seeing the sharks and sting rays swim by to watch us eat.

We had a fabulous day !!

Magical Moments at Disney

Magical days at Disney

It’s no doubt that Disney is known for their Magical Adventures. And no matter how many times we visit the Disney Parks we always end up finding something anew and magical about each experience. Disney is always coming up with fun and engaging activities to make a kids(and adults) visit all the more special and of course MAGICAL!
 

Pin Trading

One of our new favorite activities that made this trip magical was Pin Trading. We have always noticed people wearing lanyards around their necks with Disney pins. But it was not until this trip we learned all about this fun activity called Pin Trading. You purchase Disney tradable pins which can be traded with other pin traders or with Disney Cast Members. Cast Members will always trade with you. The object is to collect the pins you like best or collect a set. There are certain pins that only Cast members have and can not be bought in stores. These are called Hidden Mickey pins. These are more valuable than pins that can be purchased. There is a large number of sets of Hidden Mickey pins. Collect the whole set and you have a prize on your hands.

The boys found this to be bunches of fun. When standing in lines they would try to trade with other Disney Guest. Sometimes they would find someone to trade with and sometimes they would not. One of the pins that they really wanted to find was a Wall-e pin for their cousin, Connor. Come to find out Wall-e is a very hard pin to find. After 3 days of trading the boys finally found a guest that had a Wall-e pin that was willing to trade. Mission accomplished! We were also on a mission to find a set of star burst pins, which we found all seven. Yea, for us!!

Spy Missions

While visiting Epcot, the boys were able to participate in a special magical spy mission. Disney had set up special places hidden in the World Showcase. The boys had to use their spy sense and find clues to solve the case. They were given a spy communicator which looked like a cell phone. Uploaded on the communicator was special instructions on where to find clues to solve the mystery. At each stop the communicator would activate a hidden clue.

The boys love being spies. This special activity added a whole new adventure to the World Showcase making this Disney visit a little more magical than last time.
 

Pirate Adventure

Heston and Bryson participated in a pirate adventure where they magically turned into pirates aboard a ship to find buried treasure. To help with their transformation they were given pirate garb. This made them look like official Disney pirates. Then they boarded a pirate vessel bound for hidden treasure. No parents were allowed on this trip only official pirates. So what happened aboard and abroad on this adventure, only pirates can tell., and all my little pirates can say when asked where this buried treasure is hidden is, Arrrrrgh! They did bring some treasure back with them , not enough to pay for a Disney vacation, but enough to remember a very magical pirate adventure.