Twas the night before Christmas.....An Update

As usual, good intentions of posting frequently and staying in touch with family and friends have been met with the point to ponder, where does the time go? As we wrap up another year we look forward to what 2008 brings.

2007 was indeed a very busy year for us. We started our year off by becoming annual passholders for Walt Disney World. We took two trips, one in January and the other in March for the ESPN weekend. We had intentions of making at least one other trip in 2007, but there was so many other events and needs going on we decided to postpone. In late april we made the trip to Alabama to see Michael's sister graduate with her masters degree. We then traveled across the state to visit Katharine's father and grandparents. It was a very nice trip. May took us to Virginia for another graduation in the family, Katharine's sister Kim also graduated with her masters degree. August brought us back to Virginia for Kimberlee's bridal shower. Everyone had a good time and the home stretch to the wedding day began. November was the big day for Kimberlee & Rick. While the morning weather was slighly miserable, by the time the wedding started it turned into a beautiful day. It was a wonderful gathering of family & friends. Perhaps the most profound news for us in 2007 was the announcment that we were having a baby! This is something we had been trying for over a year. We feel very fortunate and blessed. We are so excited about becoming parents. Katharine is just starting to show and our dog Rusty knows something is going on. We recently purchased a new camera gearing up for baby's arrival. We decided on the Sony Alpha 100 Digital SLR camera. It has certainly been much more of an undertaking than we imagined. So much to learn about the camera & photography in general (thank god we have uncle Brent), but we know it will pay off capturing baby's memories for us to share with all of you. As for our christmas day we will be spending it with Katharine's Uncle Bob, Aunt Kathy, & Cody. We will be thinking about each of you and know that we love you all very much and miss you a great deal.

As busy a year 2007 has turned out to be it certainly looks as though 2008 will be no different. We will be starting the year off with a bang. We have our ultra-sound on January 3, 2008. We should know that day what we are having.....that is if Katharine decides to find out :D Then as our chritmas gift to each other this year we will be at WDW for one final trip without kids!! Although, we are certainly looking forward to sharing the magic of Disney with our children, it will obvioulsy be a few years before that happens. We look forward to keeping you all updated as the baby's birth draws near. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful 2008. This is going to be the best year ever!!

Warmest Wishes,
Michael & Katharine

Baby on the Way

We are happy to announce that Katharine & I have a baby on the way!! it is due May 9, 2008. We will be sharing more about this wonderful news soon!!

Snow Snow & more Snow

Here are a few of the scences from around the house this past Sunday...The last few weeks have been horrible winter weather.











We are certainly glad to be gearing up for our quick weekend to Disney. It is going to be 86 in Orlando Friday!! Look for us on ESPN we are going to try and catch some of the tapings while we are there. Until we return.....

See ya real soon!

Congratulations are in order

Katharine's sister Kim and her b/f Rick were engaged on Saturday February 17, 2007!!

We know they are flying high with emotion right now and we wish them all the best in their life together.

Brand New Look & Catching Up

Well we have revamped the blog page and are making a point to update more regularly. Let us know what you think of the new layout by leaving a comment so that we know you have stopped by and read about us.

So what have you guys been up to lately?

on Jan 25-29 we made the trek down to our beloved WDW again. The trip was great! As we told you in our last post, we decided to give the Animal Kingdom Lodge a try. This resort was amazing!! We had a wonderful view from our fifth floor balcony. We could be giraffe, bongos, Tommie's and other assorted African animals. They are free roaming so you never know what you are going to see. There were also some spoonbill birds that had a nest with eggs. It was interesting to watch them maintain and guard the nest as a family. The resort itself is beautiful. Dark rich woods and earthy smells fill the resorts lobby and that peaceful ambiance follows into the rooms as well. We really enjoyed our stay here and will definitely make another reservation here in the future. Other than the resort we had some incredible fun and great meals as always. We actually tried all new restaurants with the exception of two. The weather was interesting, it was in the 50's for highs with the exception of one day when it got to 68. Night time was rather chilly ( or down right cold for the Floridians) upper 30-mid 40 lows. It was kind of weird to be walking around Disney with a jacket or coat on. but it certainly did not take away from our fun.

What's next for a Cplofdisneynutz??

For this past trip we decided to look into the investment of getting annual passes rather than just park tickets. With the passes you get all kinds of discounts and perks and we did the math and saw that we would actually save money for the year this way. Tickets can be a pricey addition to the cost of the trip. So with the tickets no longer a concern and coupled with the room discounts we get it is now even easier to save up for the trips. Airfare, hotel & food are now the only concerns. With credit card and frequent flyer rewards airfare is much cheaper. So the motto any excuse to go to Disney is a good enough reason for us now has a new meaning :D

To make things even more tempting Michael was recently contacted by someone he knew from college. Come to find out they work for Disney and if that isn't good enough she offered her hotel discount she gets for friends & family.....Oh NO!! Well, that said we were given a H E double hockey sticks of a deal on a room and airfare for ESPN weekend. Katharine has always want to attend this event and even with the recent trip fresh on the mind.....Back we go. March 2-5!!!

This is heaven for Disney World fanatics like us. We will tell you all about it when we get back.

12 days til Disney!! Whoo hoo!!

See you real soon gang!!

Yes Yes Another trip to Disney

On New Years Eve 2006 we decided to make a new years resolution we knew we could keep, GO TO DISNEY!! So we booked our latest trip to Disney for the end of January. This trip will have us staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. This has been one of Katharine's dream resorts ever since we have been going to Disney together. So this is the trip that we decided to make it reality.

We are very excited to be stayng here. We had the opportunity to visit this resort on our honeymoon when we ate at Jiko's. It is a beautiful African theme hotel. This is will be a quick 5 day trip for us with meal plans for a repeat at Jiko, and new restaurants Bistro de France, Yachtsman Steakhouse, and Spoodles to name a few. Of course we will have our traditional 1st breakfast at the Grand Floridian Cafe followed by our familiar trip down Main Street USA towards our Favorite Icon, and significant location in our lives, Cinderella's Castle. As always plenty of photos will be taken. We average about 1200 per trip right now. We will be sure to share our memories from this latest trip upon our return. So until then be safe and happy.