Hello family and friends!

Melissa and I are home from the Sunshine State and are freezing to death :) We had such a wonderful time together! I don't care how old your kids get you still need one-on-one time with each of them. Mine are now no longer just my 'kids' but they are my friends as well! This is a gift from God for having survived the growing up years and it's wonderful!! I look at my children and am amazed at how well they turned out and how loving, kind, generous, family-oriented, and faithful they are in spite of all the mistakes Brian and I made with them over the years. I love the individuals they have become.

Our trip was wonderful-got to spend time with Mom and Richard, Aunt Dottie, Aunt Linda, Aunt Barbara, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy!!

I wish I knew how to put that fancy newspaper headline on my blog like Angela has on hers because it would read:
MELISSA LYNN RISK SURVIVED SPACE MOUNTAIN!!
And for those of you that know her, this is quite the accomplishment :) She is quite the overcomer-always looking for challenges in her life to stretch herself.

We got to the beach on Friday for a while, did some shopping, went to the Homosassa Manatee Park and saw the manatee, gators, hippo, birds, Fla panther, wolves, and i can't remember what else. What was so cool was the gators-they lifted their heads and their necks swelled out and they were growling just like in a movie! It was awesome!! One of the park people said it was mating time and they were staking out their territory. Very cool as most of the time gators just lay there.

A couple of shout outs to some folks:
Mom and Richard for the use of their cars
My cousin Ruthie for the coffee soap
My aunts for coming up to see us and the yummy cubans, devil crabs, guava turnovers, cannolis, and cuban bread
Jean for feeding Brian b/c he literally just opens a can of soup when I'm not here. He LOVED dinner and especially the company!! He gets very lonely when I'm gone :(

Well, that's all for now-I now have to get back to reality! That means laundry, housework, etc. and my brand new workout/sorta diet regime as I am so totally inspired by my sister who has lost almost 50 pounds!!!!!!!!! YOU GO GIRL!
I'm starting small and hope to lose 10 pounds by the time I go back in July for my Mom's 70th birthday party. I say 10 because I leave again in 16 days, this time for Japan and I'm not sure how eating noodles for two weeks will work for me.

Praise God from whom ALL blessing flow,
Terri

I'll try to put up some pics later this week-i'm just too busy today:)