The Howerter Family Homepage

My nephew Brad graduated from U of I in May and just got a job in Washington DC.  He left Saturday morning, and his first day at work was yesterday.  He has a good friend that works at the same place, so he will be staying with him until he finds his own place.  Everyone is excited for him, but we will miss him.  My brother Bart will miss him most of all.  I know that it is almost killing him to have his son move so far away.  The good news is that Bart makes quite a few business trips to DC.  I am sure that these meetings will become more frequent!  Good luck Brad.  We love you and will be praying for you!

It seems like it has been raining now for a month.  I am so tired of these dark and dreary days.  I know that Jerry, my old boss, would hate to hear me say this, but if it is going to be wet, I would much rather have snow!  Anybody with me on this?

I cannot believe that we have been back from Disney World for 3 weeks!  I am sorry that I did not post sooner, but it has been very busy since we got back. 

We had a wonderful time.  It was so good to get away and to have time with the family.  It was so much fun watching the boys and Lily get more and more comfortable with Jay and Katherine as we spent every day together.  The boys always wanted to sit by Katherine because she let them play games on her Iphone!  She is the perfect aunt!

We visited all the parks, and we enjoyed each one.  The boys were able to ride some of the bigger roller coasters which surprised us all.  They loved Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom, and they were able to ride it 3 times!   This roller coaster goes very fast, and even goes upside down.  The second half of the ride takes you backwards too.  They also really liked Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at the Magic Kingdom which is a milder roller coaster.  We were able to see the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom twice which thrilled me.  The second time we were sitting directly in front of Cinderella’s castle, and the lights on the castle were gorgeous.  Sara and I both cried because we were so happy to be there.

Lily did not get to ride too many rides, but I think she still had fun.  Ryan and Sara bought her a package of 6 plastic princess figurines, and she played with them in her stroller each day.  She is such an easy going kid.  She did get to ride the Aladdin Magic Carpet ride, the Carousel, Nemo and the Pirates of the Carribean. 

Ryan and family went to the beach one day, and John, Jay, Kat and I went to Blizzard Beach.  I am not much of an ocean and sand lover, so the concrete and chlorine water at this “beach” were perfect.  We all enjoyed ourselves and were very tired that evening. 

We also went to a character breakfast which we had never done before.  It was fantastic.  The food was great, and Minnie, Goofy and Donald walked from table to table.  They focused on the kids at each table, and it was wonderful.  Lily’s eyes lit up each time she saw one coming.  Grandpa John really enjoyed that, and it may have been his favorite part of the trip.  The boys enjoyed getting to see them too.  The picture of the boys is from that breakfast.  The picture of Lily is in a gift shop where she climbed up and snuggled in with the stuffed animals.

I believe that history was made on this trip.  Jay and I love to ride roller coasters, and we rode one at Animal Kingdom that we did not like.  It is the Dinosaur ride.   You rode in a car that took you along a track, and the car bounced up and down.  Dinosaurs would “attack” the car.  It was dark and the sound was extremely loud.  When the dinosaurs would roar, it sounded like the dinosaur from Jurrasic Park.  It was just too over-stimulating.  The first thing that we said when we got off was, “Let’s find the kids, so that they do not take the boys on this ride!”   Jay and I both said that we did not like it, and we would not go on it again.  I had my eyes closed for most of it because it was too much. 

Thank you John for taking us all.  We had a fantastic time.  We love you!