Sea World

The first stop we had after Martin and Nicky's wedding was Sea World outside Orlando. What a treat! I had never been to Sea World, and it was amazing. We saw SHAMU up close and personal, saw dolphins soaring through the air like birds, paddled our hearts out in Pink Flamingo boats, and whatever else we could get our hands into. IT WAS AWESOME!

Here's a cool slideshow for you -

Ahoy Mateys!

Shortly after the new year (yes, I'm that far behind on my blogging), we were blessed with some free tickets to the Autozone Liberty Bowl. Bowl Games of America (BGA) officials contacted me back in September about hosting a concert & jazz band festival on campus with groups coming for the Liberty Bowl. We were able to get everything worked out, and held the festival on New Year's Day. Fun times!

As one of my "thank yous" for serving as host, BGA gave us 9 free tickets to the game, which featured my alma mater, the East Carolina University Pirates! I haven't been to an ECU game since 1995 (which was also in the Liberty Bowl, but I lived in NC at the time). Nicholas had a play date with one of his buddies, so Karen, Caroline, Becca & Aaron, Lindsey & Daniel, and Carol & Curtis Parker went to the Liberty Bowl to enjoy the game. Aaron was cheering for his long-time favorite Kentucky, which ended up winning dramatically on a fumble return for a touchdown late in the 4th quarter. Still, the ECU Marching Pirates CRUSHED the UK band. They were quite stiff, but played well, and represented Pirate Nation beautifully! Here's a cute shot of us, with me pretending to be a frat-boy, and Caroline donning the pirate dreds!

Love this new background!!!

I just LOVE our updates to the blog! A friend of ours from church sent me the link to her blog and then to the website "the cutest blog on the block" where they have all of these super fun backgrounds!! So fun. So thanks to Christi Shaw for the hook-up!! and-- Thanks Lovey for working on this when you should have been working on your worship set!!

Tarheels, Born and Bred!

Yes, we're Tarheels born and Tarheels bred, and when I die we'll be Tarheels dead, so Rah Rah! Carolina-lina, Rah Rah! Carolina-lina, Rah Rah! Carolina-lina, (you fill in the rest...Holla if you know it!)

Nicholas and I had the awesome privilege of seeing the Tar Heels play in Memphis in the South Region of the NCAA tournament. I had picked up an unexpected judging gig, so we had a little extra money. Our good friend and former band student Josh had taken Nicholas to see Carolina's open practice, but they missed it. Not to be deterred (you have to know Josh!), they found out where Carolina was staying - in the historic Peabody Hotel downtown. Off they go, only to find Mark Few, Gonzaga's head coach, Jim Nance, (CBS - the voice of the Final Four), Heel's Coach Roy Williams, along with Tyler Hansbrough, Danny Green, and Ty Lawson! JACKPOT!

We enjoyed sitting in the nose-bleeds Friday night, thrilled with Nicholas' first game seeing the Heels play live. We had no plans to see the region final on Sunday-we couldn't afford it! At about 1:00 PM on Sunday, two former band students called. One of them is in management at the Holiday Inn Select, the hotel downtown were the Gonzaga team was staying. They had 2 tickets for us, for free, 10 rows from the court, right across from the OU bench. OH MY GOODNESS!

So back downtown Nicholas and I go, and watch the Tar Heels beat OU, and punch their ticket to Detroit for the Final Four...where then went on to become the 2009 NCAA National Champs! Incredible!

I must confess, it was awesome watching the Heels Monday night in the Championship, until I saw the streamers coming down...This time last year, I was on the losing end (first hand) of those streamers, and that was a flashback to a painful memory! Oh well...I need a new streamer memory. GO HEELS!

Hannah Mon-Caroline!

Caroline made her solo-singing debut this past Sunday, and sang a verse of Chris Tomlin's How Great is Our God at Forest Hill Community Church. We got a call Friday night from the Children's Director in a panic; the girl orginially slated to sing the solo couldn't, and she called the only folks who she thought could actually pull it off...Us! (How foolish she is!)

Caroline had been selected to say Joshua 1:9 during the worship service, but knew the chorus to How Great very well, and off she went. Nicholas, who had been helping her memorize her verse, ended up saying it for her, and she sang her solo incredibly well. Sure, I'm a totally-biased, proud parent, but she really was good. She sang in the right key with only a few shaded notes, and sang directly into her microphone. She was so good that Karen instantly dubbed her "Hannah MonCaroline"!

The Reason for Going...

Like you ever REALLY need a reason to do Disney World, but our reason for being in Florida in the first place was to celebrate the marriage of my brother Martin Holland and my new sister-in-law Nicky Manson! They were married several weeks ago in St. Vincent (hard life, I know), and then had a reception back home after several days aboard a large sail in the SouthWest Carribbean...

It was a wonderful time with the family; all but our baby sister Ginny and her family made the trip. We had some great time with my dad Nick and his wife Sally, along with the Paynes from South Carolina (my sister Lorri and her family). Punta Gorda, FL is a sleepy little beach town on the West coast of Florida, and we spent Friday and Saturday there. On Sunday morning we were up early and headed to play with Shamu.


Here are some snapshots of Punta Gorda, and the wedding reception.

DISNEY 2009 - Breakfast at Tusker House

Not to be outdone, Nicholas' special surprise was breakfast with Donald Duck (his favorite) at Tusker House in Animal Kingdom...may I say WOW!!!???

It was simply breathtaking, and breakfast was incredible. Here are some snapshots of Donald and friends, along with a Conga line with Goofy!