Tuesday, June 25

MY SWEET BOYS

GOTTA LOVE THE SUMMERTIME

Sunday, June 16

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

We love our Daddy so much!
He is such a strong and virtuous leader for our family!  He is truly leading us home to our Lord!
(he loves taking pictures like this...) 
He is also super fun to be around!! He is always joking and making us laugh!!

(everyone with Daddy)
He is also super gentle and snuggly....this pic is hard to determine but it is a pic of all 3 kids, Jer, and Max!! All of the loves of my life!!

 We made him breakfast in bed on Father's Day morning before heading to Mass
 Scrambled eggs with salsa mixed in, paired with a steaming cup of strong coffee (a definite must!!)
And a side of whole wheat toast topped with his most favorite "huckleberry jam"

We showered him with cards, hugs, kisses, and blessings on his special day!

Along with being such a great daddy, he is also a great hubby too!  I am such a lucky girl and I just  love him SO SO much!!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY TO OUR WONDERFUL DADDY!!

Saturday, June 15

NICK AND LUKE

Every summer we meet up with our friends from Jeremy's orthodontic residency at Baylor for a family Weekend!  Here is a picture of Nicholas and his friend Luke.  They have known each other since they were babies and look forward to playing together each summer!  They are just so precious.  I snapped a few photos of them playing this weekend
 They played all day at the water park all day long.....they especially enjoyed swimming in the lazy river!
 Later that evening, a balloon artist made them swords and they were so cute that when I asked to take their picture, they requested a few action shot first!  Intense for sure!!!
Here they are with their balloon swords!  Those sweet little warriors!


Monday, June 10

ALASKA

We were so blessed to be able to spend an entire week of uninterrupted time with my mom and dad on an Alaskan cruise!!  
(One of those photo ops right as you get onto the Cruise Ship)

We really got to just hang out without all of the busyness of life.  Cruises are so enjoyable because all of the thinking is done for you.   We did not have to worry about restaurants, taxi's, hotels, and car rentals.  Dinner was already arranged each evening, of course our hotel was the boat so even when we laid around or slept at night, we were moving to our next location.....that takes care of the taxi's, hotels, and rental cars!  We just talked, laughed (a lot), relaxed, all while savoring each minute together
 Here is my mom and I sitting on our balcony enjoying the view of Alaska....it was truly breath-taking


 My daddy with Jeremy enjoying the view as we sailed.  We were awed by our Lord's wonderful artistry
Little Noodles

 we could see seals laying on the icebergs in the distance

 
Madison came out to see all of the scenery...Where is our little Savannah
 There she is enjoying a bubble bath in our cabin....it was such a beautiful suite! I took a hot bath almost every night (Alaska is so gorgeous but at the same time, it was proven just  too cold for me)!

MEMORIES MADE

Skagway AK

 My daddy LOVES trains.  We took he and my mom on a train ride on the famous Alaskan White Pass Railway.  This train along with it's track was built in the 1800's during the Gold Rush  What an amazing ride!  My daddy was so cute...He loved every minute!!
 This is a pic taking from our car looking at the front of the train....it was a LONG train
The conductor with the kids
 The railroad traveled from Alaska to Canada and back to Alaska.....here we are entering Alaska

Of course we HAD to pan for gold on our trip!  We got a pan filled with "pay dirt"  There was gold in each pan...they were just not sure how much.  We got to keep what we panned.  Wow panning for gold was hard!!! You had to go through a lot of dirt for so little gold.  We learned the correct procedure to panning....there were specific steps to doing it correctly. We each made between $10-$15 in gold......not sure what I will be able to do with my share of $12 worth of pure gold shavings.  At that point in the day, I wanted to trade it for a cup of hot cocoa!!
(Nick and Savannah panning for Gold)
 (mom and dad)
( Madison)
The kids and us adults really learned a lot that day!!

 The children found this funny hardboard cutout to take their picture in......they are so cute!!

THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF EVERY TRIP

 The Catholic church in Skagway.....we always make it a point to find the local Catholic church to celebrate Mass and make a visit for some Adoration and prayer time
 It was such a delightful and humble little church
Look at the beautiful mural behind the Altar.  There was a lot of cultural influence in this church
 Back to the boat for an evening of food and family time

Juneau AK

 Here is our family, about to take a helicopter ride onto the glacier that was about to be canceled 5 MINUTES after we took this pic!!  The weather was really bad that day! See how we are all smiling with anticipation and excitement.....not even expecting the disappointing news that we were about to receive.  It was okay though.....God has a plan in all of this.  We had such a blessed day already!

We headed back to the ship and invited my parents on a gondola ride to the top of one of the mountains to enjoy the view of Juneau
It was HIGH up in the air.....Even looking back on the pictures makes me a little nervous!!
 Wow!!! Just look at our view as we ascended to the tippy top!!
 Mom and dad at the top inside the "lookout" center......we stopped for hot chocolate and watched a video about the native americans (eskimos) that founded this area
 Look at our teeny tiny ship way below
More pics of our Lord's work....this doesn't even look real, but it is!  There is a reason why they refer to Alaska as "God's Country"

LATER, AFTER THE GONDOLA RIDE

We enjoyed a tasty little treat!
Each day, our steward would deliver a little plate of yummies!  I truly felt like a princess!  We were so spoiled
Look at how pretty these tiny sweet cupcakes are...isn't everything way cuter in a miniature size
 The kids with Minnie Mouse
 We were constantly eating.  By the end of the week, we were hungry every 45 minutes
Me and mom and dad at dinner
They celebrated my mom and dad's 45th wedding anniversary that evening after dinner.  It was such a nice surprise
Aren't they precious!  The Maitre d and all of the waiters sang to my parents
They fed each other bites of their decadent chocolate mousse cake....just like they had 45 years ago


OUR LAST EXCURSION IN ALASKA

Ketchikan AK

JEREMY'S ABSOLUTE FAV....THE BERING SEA CRAB BOAT ADVENTURE
See the crab fisherman in the red jacket......that is Derek Ray, from the show Deadliest Catch
Here is Jeremy standing next to Derek Ray before our Crab boat tour.....yeah!!! Derek from the show was going to be our captain for this excursion!!  What a once in a lifetime experience!!
LOOK!!! It is my true love one of the crab boats from the reality TV show!! Wow, we get to ride on it today!!

First activity on the tour.....let's feed the bald eagles!!!
I had not ever seen a bald eagle before....well, not up close anyway.....The fisherman threw out fish to feed the bald eagles.  There were about 15-20 bald eagles surrounding the boat in the air!  I cannot describe how powerful it was to be so close to such a truly stunning and absolutely enormous creature!! It was really an incredible experience
Very powerful.....almost overwhelming
After we fed the eagles, the fisherman brought in the crab pots for us to see.  They were full of crab...just like on the TV show "Deadliest catch"  We actually went out on one of the boats that was featured in the show!!  Jeremy was like a little boy at Disney world....that is his absolute FAVORITE show on TV
The pot was huge
so were the crabs!! They are pretty ugly, but so tasty with drawn butter!
 Look how huge that crab is compared to our little Nicholas!
My mom did not want to get too close to it.....I had to take this pic fast!
 Look at Madi's face....she may NEVER want to eat crab again!
 Nicholas wanted to hold every piece of sea life!
of course so did Jeremy!!
 Savannah did not want to hold anything....she was just looking so super cute all bundled up on the boat
Here we are with the fishermen
 Mom and dad with the fishermen
 Captain Derek Ray was in the wheel house navigating the boat while we learned all about the dangerous trade of crab fishing.  Jeremy got to go into the wheel house and hang out with Capt. Derek for a while!  He even heard some firsthand Deadliest Catch gossip
Look......just like on the show!! Jeremy had a total smile the ENTIRE tour!  What a cool experience we were blessed to enjoy

We ended that day walking in the cold rain back to our ship.....where I promptly took a hot bubble bath.  I thought that I might NEVER warm up after that (you know how much colder it feels when it is raining)

This was such an amazing trip filled with many blessings all along the way.  We just enjoyed every minute......breathtaking does not even begin to describe the beauty that we experienced in Alaska.

Thank you Jesus, so much, for my family and for the time that I get to relish their presents in my life.....and for blessing our earth with things that we are completely awed at......If our hearts are so taken with this riveting scenery, Lord, then how much more radiant and dazzling Heaven must be....it has been told to me that my heart will actually stand still as my eyes admire it

So glad to have such amazing parents who loved me enough to raise me as a child of God