We enjoyed a fantastic holiday feast with all the trimmings. Their friend who normally decorates the table was in the Macey's parade in NYC, so that was my job. I even folded the napkins into tulips. The turkey got to me early, though, and I fell asleep right after dinner... even before the pie. I had such a nice relaxing weekend. We watched plenty of movies, played the piano and sang, did a little shopping, lots of eating. Thanks so much, Aamodts!On Saturday, Kristie and I went to Charlottesville to visit Monticello, Jefferson's homestead... you know, the one on the back of the nickel? Does it look familiar (even though it's not silver)?
Jefferson designed the house so that the living quarters were together and all of the support work (kitchen, laundry, storage) was done in a completely separate area below and out of the way. The main house held the bedrooms, parlor, library, dining room, and greenhouse. 
This was Mulberry Row where the workshops (carpenter, smokehouse/dairy, blacksmith, etc.) were, and behind which were the gardens, vineyard and orchard.
He was quite inventive and had all sorts of gadgets. My favorite was a grandfather clock in the hall that had long, long chains down the wall (and even into the basement) that marked what day of the week it was. This compass is attached to the weather vane on the roof, so that Jefferson wouldn't have to go all the way out the door to see where the wind was blowing from, but just look out the window.
Jefferson designed the house so that the living quarters were together and all of the support work (kitchen, laundry, storage) was done in a completely separate area below and out of the way. The main house held the bedrooms, parlor, library, dining room, and greenhouse. This was Mulberry Row where the workshops (carpenter, smokehouse/dairy, blacksmith, etc.) were, and behind which were the gardens, vineyard and orchard.
He was quite inventive and had all sorts of gadgets. My favorite was a grandfather clock in the hall that had long, long chains down the wall (and even into the basement) that marked what day of the week it was. This compass is attached to the weather vane on the roof, so that Jefferson wouldn't have to go all the way out the door to see where the wind was blowing from, but just look out the window. Jefferson's grave and memorial.
This is me steering the ship. That stick controls the rudder from inside, near the captain's quarters. There is a hole above so he could communicate with the navigator and lookout.
Katie was all bundled up.... brrrrr!
We had intended on watching the Thanksgiving parade that day, but after waiting (and shivering) in the cold for it to arrive... we found somewhere warm to eat instead. We did manage to see some of the parade walking by the windows...
...and catch the tail-end... and see some of the floats after it was over.
I was all about the turkey love that day. :).JPG)
...a yummy stew of pumpkin and cranberries with honeyish syrup. Yummy fall foods..JPG)
Next, we wandered past the Eel River Pond to the 1627 English Village. The people there took on a specific role and would tell us about their life/story... even knew who their next-door neighbors were. When we asked one woman what she missed about England, her answer was, surprisingly, hearing bells ring. 
Afterwards we hurried home so I could make an apple pie for our ward Thanksgiving feast. My roommate Katie was gracious enough to share her easy recipe with me. It was my first pie ever and I must say turned out quite scrumptious. Of course, I would never presume to say so... I just know that my friends said it was quite delicious. ;) They made me go steal it from the kitchen so that everyone at our table got a piece before the rest of the tables attacked it. 
The first night was on our own dime, so we stayed in Disney's All-Star Resort...
...then moved to Disney's Contemporary Resort where our conference was being held. Do you like the room, Jess? The second picture is the view from my window.
My family has gone to Disneyland in November the last few times, so It's a Small World the and Haunted Mansion had Christmas decorations. It was nice to see the original versions again. A couple things that were different... they added Jack Sparrow to Pirates of the Caribbean and the Tiki Room was under new management, so Iago and Zazu were involved. I miss the old Tiki Room. A new thing that I liked was Mickey's Philharmagic, a 3-D interactive show. I also had my joke chosen for Mike's Laugh Floor, so they said my name!
Bethany and I had dinner in the Crystal Palace and met Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and Eeyore.
That evening I was able to go to the Orlando Temple with dear Christie Peo Lambert. It was so nice to get to spend time with her and reminisce about old times. We were in the last session of the evening and the last ones to leave the Celestial room. The temple worker let us watch him turn the lights off. As the lights are dimming, the chandelier caught different colors in the room and sparkled brilliantly. 
On Thursday, we had a conference meeting most of the day... but Michelle and I managed to go to EPCOT that evening. This was my first time ever at EPCOT. 
We managed to go on most of the rides. There is a ride that you are in a Space Simulator and it feels so real... it almost really made me sick. We didn't have a lot of time to spend in the different countries, but I did make a friend in Norway.
On Friday, conference again most of the day, but we did have a fantastic party that evening. We went to China in the EPCOT center for dinner. There was a dragon dance as we came in, Mickey and Minnie joined us, and we also had a private Chinese acrobat show.
Next we headed over to Italy for a yummy dessert bar and front row seats for the firework show over the water. It was also great to see the Peo's.
On Saturday, we had just a half-day of conference and then Michelle and I headed to Hollywood Studios. I was able to go on Aerosmith Rockin' Rollercoaster... it was closed last year... and it was awesome!
There was an awesome new ride that is like an interactive video game and 3-D. You come up to different screens and get to shoot things with a slingshot. Way fun, but the line was always so long! 
My last day in Orlando, I went to Animal Kingdom... another first for me. There is an amazing tree in the center, with carved animals all over it.
My favorite ride was the Mt. Everest roller coaster. You come to the end of the track, which was torn up by the Yeti, and roll backwards to escape! One ride that scared me a little was the Dinosaur ride... I can't believe people take their kids on it. 
