We Made It!

we didn't let the snow stop us (or the blizzard!)

or the deer in the road...

or any of his friends......



or the small tunnels and expensive toll roads. We got here honking our loud horn at all the crazy city drivers...
But we're here in NYC for Christmas!

Our very 1st white Christmas!

It's pretty cold, but so pretty this time of year!

We may be in the busiest city but I still feel like we are escaping and missing all the hustle and bustle. We sure miss our family, especially at Christmas. I miss my Grandma's cookies:( I miss all the traditions we usually do. Frost cookies with Grandma and all the other things we do every year. But there is something different about this year. Usually I am running around like a mad mama trying to get everyone something cute to wear for Christmas. Matching Christmas PJ's (all the other crazy stuff on my tradition to do list) All the shopping, baking, decorating and entertaining etc...It all seems like a blur and before I know it it's over. And I had no time to focus on what really matters. This year because we aren't doing the normal Christmas craziness, our family has had time to really enjoy this time of year. Really focus on Jesus. With all the driving, I've been able to invest time that has given this holiday new meaning and a true sense of joy! I know that blessings come from being with family and friends and reaching out to others but I think that we get so busy we end up missing out on the personal blessing that comes from spending time quietly resting alone in the Christ child's presence.
I'm glad God took me out of the crazy hustle and bustle and slowed me down a bit (even if we ended up NYCha!)
not sure if all that made sense,but it did to me.. ha!
I'm just usually really stressed this time of year and I feel so at peace:)




Merry Christmas from our family to yours

The Ryan's of the Road:)

I Sure Hope So......

We couldn't stop and get out to take our North Carolina picture:( We were too busy looking for a hospital to take Landen to. So I just snapped it as we drove by.

I pray this is the last ER visit we will have on this trip!

He woke up like nothing ever happened and started making Christmas ornaments...

Then we stopped to get some work done on the motor home. The kids found red clay and painted their faces......


Ate breakfast and yelled Merry Christmas on our way out to a bunch of the truckers:)
Then after I was just checking my email from a friend suggesting we go to Biltmore. At the same time Justin walked in and said that a trucker he was talking to said we should make the trip to Biltmore. So we decided to check it out......
4 hours out of the way. We ended up staying at a private Christian camp.
The kids got some work done on our way....

The kids heard that gold was found there.
So they took my frying pan down to the steam.....
and were determined to find some.....




So we have "gold" in an empty water bottle. The kids think they have struck it rich. I sure hope so! ha!

Guess???

where we are now??? (well actually we are in NYC spending Christmas here!)

But when this was taken we were in ...........

We stayed at a Cracker Barrel. Not only do they have good food and cool gifts they let you stay the night and park there!
We jumped in our car and headed to Fort Sumter.



The kids worked on their Jr. Ranger program......

Earning these badges aren't easy! I love how these Ranger's take the Jr.Ranger program so serious. Most of them are retired teachers or just love their job and are excited about nature and history.
The kids getting their papers graded.

They have earned 9 badges so far! They are hoping to get "road jackets" for Christmas and sew them all on.

While the older one's were studying the little ones were running around playing....

Liberty Square......









I love taking pictures of all my kids but Farrah just loves the camera and begs me to take her picture all the time.
I think the camera likes her too:)


It's hard to believe she's only 2! She is growing up so fast! Her vocabulary is growing by the day. She is always surprising us with saying new things. I just love her little personality.

Georgia

We arrived in Coffee County, Georgia on Dec. 11.

I'm having the hardest time deciding which house we should buy.....

this one???

or this one???
or maybe this one???
I'm kidding! Georgia was beautiful and I love the lake houses!!!
I'm loving this road schooling! We read about Eli Whitney and stopped by the side of the road (bed head and all) and picked cotton in our PJ's.


Landen thought it was cotton candy!


We stayed at Coffee state park. It was beautiful with all the green and fall colors.

Georgia looks a lot like Oregon to me. We were going to go out on the lake but.......

I wanted to live to see my cousins. These are my first cousins on my dad's side. I haven't seen them in 15 or more years!!!! We found each other on myspace and started talking. If it wasn't for this trip, I'm not sure when I would of seen them.


Larry, Matt, Jenny (who are Georgia Bulldog Fans) and yes, that's me in a Florida Gator sweat shirt.

Let's just say, I didn't make a good first impression. LOL

This is the family. My Aunt Carla (my dad's sis)is holding Finley. She calls everyone "Sugar." I'm holding my cousin Jenny's baby, Taylor. That's Brandon(standing in front of Finley) but they all call him Pooty. Then next to Pooty is Willie (he's in 6th grade and about 6ft tall!When I was at Gran's she showed me this picture. This was taken when we were all about 5 or 6??? We were in Texas for a family reunion. This is all the oldest girls in the family. Jenny is 2nd and I am the only brunette on the end. We are all with in a year of each other.

Jenny had to remind me that I am older than her(6 months) and will be 30 before her.

She is so sweet and has the cutest southern accent. We had a lot to catch up on and it was so nice to meet her husband and beautiful kids.(finally!)

After hanging out at My Aunt's house we went back to our campsite and let the kids finish up on school and their Jr. Ranger program.

The park was holding a Christmas night. We went and listened to Christmas stories by a fire inside a log cabin.


Santa was there. Finley was fine as long as Daddy was holding her, she would scream if we dare try and sit her on his lap.
Faith is just in love with Santa. I don't have the heart to tell her he's not real. (That's another post) She is telling him here that she wants this special book (that has been impossible to find) We finally found it at a Cracker Barrel(which by the way,us California people are missing out. Lovin' these Cracker Barrel's) in Virginia (but the road was closed to drive to it) I was really wishing there was a Santa. We did end up getting the book in Maryland at another Cracker Barrel:) I'm just praying it's the right one haha!


Landen trying to explain..........
Then we all went on a hay ride. I led everyone in Christmas carols (I won't see these people again) haha! We had a lot of fun until it started raining on us. It was freezing!
We went back inside and sat by the fire and warmed up with some hot chocolate.

In the morning we headed to Jenny's house.......(she lives in a very pretty area by a lake)
They treated us to some good Southern Food.......

I never ate so much in my life. We had grits (never had before) and a bunch of other fried food haha! And you can't visit Georgia without trying some peach cobbler now can you?


Then we all went back and sat our lil self's down and visited.......
Austin and Willie playing football in the front yard....
I love the property!

Our babies......
Jenny has Willie who is 12 and Taylor who is 7 months. She was so excited to finally have a little girl that she went all out. I don't blame her! She is such a good mommy. Finley even got to use Taylor's "warm" wipes LOL...she is spoiled!
Miss Taylor's room.........

We all piled on their "General Lee" golf cart and drove around the lake....
We had such a wonderful visit. I am so glad I got to see all of them. We promised not to let another 15 years go by!

Landen and Pooty by the lake:)

Mermaids don't really exist...Or do they?

We heard that there were some real mermaids that lived in one of the springs that manatees lived in and these springs were not too far from where we were staying! We had to see this for ourselves! We jumped in the car and headed to Weeki Wachee Springs. We got to the springs and guess what? We really did see real mermaids!

These girls are trained to wear a tail and swim underwater. They have been trained by a former Navy man who trained SEALS to swim underwater in World War II. His name is Newton Perry. Newton then had a vision for a new business. He had experimented with a free-flowing air hose for underwater breathing.


He built an 18-seat theatre into the limestone at the edge of a spring and recruited pretty young girls to swim underwater. He taught them to smile and breathe with his new air hose — while underwater.

They are amazing! One mermaid held her breath for 2min and 47 seconds! They do ballet under water. We got to meet them and learn about how they do their "mermaid" job. They told us that during cold winter days manatees will sometimes swim into their springs and play with them. (I wonder what manatees think of these strange underwater creatures. Do the manatees think they are "manmaids", half manatee and half human?)


The Seminole Indians named the spring "Weeki Wachee," which means "little spring" or "winding river." The spring is so deep that the bottom has never been found. Each day, more than 117 million gallons of clear, fresh 72-degree (all the time) water bubbles up out of subterranean caverns. Deep in the spring, the surge of the current is so strong that it can knock a scuba divers mask off. The basin of the spring is 100 feet wide with limestone sides and there, where the mermaids swim, 16 to 20 feet below the surface, the current runs a strong five miles per hour. It's quite a feat for a mermaid to stay in one place in such a current.

We went on a nature tour (private because no one was there) and went searching for manatee's. We didn't see any but saw a lot of other beautiful nature and learned about the springs.



Imagine seeing "The Little Mermaid" performed underwater by "real" mermaids!


In the summer you can even swim with the mermaids. They also have a mermaid camp. They just became a state park about a year ago so the prices are very reasonable. I think we paid $5.00 for adults and kids are free!

Jerusalem in Orlando

I wish we could leave our RV parked at Walmart and jump on a plane to Israel. I would LOVE to go and see the bible come alive.
Since that is not possible (someday, we hope to fly the kids there) we thought we would visit Jerusalem in Orlando instead.

We got to experience some of the sights and sounds of the world of the Bible in a unique and interactive way that took us 7000 miles away and 2000 years back in time to the land of the Bible.

We went to a play on the real story of St. Nick. Even though this place made it seem like the bible stories were just fairy tales rather than real history facts. The little ones still had fun!

worship...

the kids listening to stories told by "jesus." (that was his real hair and beard)
(I think Aut knew more than this jesus did) That's maybe why he got called up to finish the story. haha!




Austin walking on water.. (keep your eyes on Him)

learning about the Jesus boat.


Inside the belly of the whale with Jonah... (can you imagine?)

Aut pretending to be Samson...

they moved! (must of been Landen's long hair)






Then we went and looked in the tomb.... (professional posers)
and.........





He has risen! whoo hoo! haha!
I love this picture. If it was Easter time, this would so be the card to send out to everyone:)
Farrah and Finley don't even know why they are excited but they just kept jumping up and down. Farrah kept yelling, "he has risen!" haha!

Yes, we get many looks while being out. Not sure if it's for the number of children we have or the way we act. Ha!

What can I say we are tourists! In Virginia I screamed California! I was so excited to see snow falling that I had may camera out taking pictures. The kids were walking around with their mouths open trying to catch snow flakes. I was also wearing flats with no socks. My feet cramped up.

Most of the time we are driving around trying to find our way and my husband and I just say, "look at the plate, look at the plate!"

Texas people are the nicest drivers! They wave and let you over and sorry to say but Virginia drivers are horrible and rude. Why is that? Wierd!

Disney World

(updated) we are on our way to NYC.

Jesus take the wheel:)

My husband got my verizon mifi up and working again:)
Now I can try and bust out some of these past posts.
We arrived at Disney World on Dec 5th and now we are in Virginia. We went from hot to freezing cold.
It snowing!!!!!!
Our 1st white Christmas.

We are parked at our friends house (the roads are kinda scary!)

So we're staying put for awhile...

I can't believe we have been on the road for almost a month!

I never thought we would be able to take our kids to Disney World. But dreams really do come true...here we are!




We stayed at the Fort Wilderness. (very reasonable and tons of fun!) I highly recommend it!

It's Disney's RV resort.


Very nice and so much to do there!

the kids went swimming (the weather was perfect)



explored the wilderness......



played at the park......


and the dog park......

decorated camp sites up for Christmas.




enjoyed a campfire with Chip and Dale...

made smores YUM!


(me trying to explain to a stranger how to work my camera) ok, nevermind!


watched the fireworks and light show from the beach....

saw Minnie and Mickey Mouse...


We took the ferry boat to Magic Kingdom....




The boys headed straight for the cars.....



The girls headed straight for the chocolate...

so lady like in a princess dress and all....



We spent 4 days at Disney World and didn't even see half of it. It's huge!



said, "yes, they're all ours!" a million times:)

We had a wonderful time....

best way to make sure everyone could see Tinker Bell fly!


Downtown Disney....



Mommy and her princesses....


We even saw Santa....(nice shot of me haha!) What can I say, this was our last day and I was tired! ha!

ate at the T-Rex restaurant....


AND.....
Look I made him shave and wear this goofy shirt! LOL......
The things he will do for his family:)

They lived happily ever after.....