Thankful

I am reminded this month to recognize those things we are most thankful for.

I am forever thankful for my children, and everyday that I have to tell them how much I love them. Everyday that I get to hug them, speak with them, spend every moment of time I can with them. I am thankful for all those hours I spend at their practices being able to watch them move, and be, to see them live their lives.

This has been a rough week in our community. My oldest son had some friends that were killed in a car accident, two died and two were seriously hurt. It has been a huge reminder to me of what is truly important in life, the people you love. It is amazing how many lives are affected by this, it is like a spider web that spreads through out the community. It has touched so many different people.

Losing a child is tragic, heartbreaking. The hardest funerals I have ever attended involved those under 20 years old. It just is not natural. And so wrenching to the heart of every parent. My heart is crying for those parents that lost their sons. They were good boys, and the light of their parents lives. I can only imagine what I would feel if my son had been in that car. It is a horrible feeling to feel relief that your child is okay, when someone else has lost their precious child. I long for their children to be okay also.

It is painful to understand, let alone explain these deaths to my younger children. Hard to let your kids walk out the door out of your sight. I feel like I have to call Anthony everyday just to hear his voice and know that he is Okay. I am sad that his life will be forever changed by these events. This is the first death of a friend that he has experienced. It is always that first tragic event that changes your whole being. He will never be that young carefree kid that doesn't know this pain. It makes me cry for his group of friends that will feel this loss for so long.

It was a huge wake up call for me. I question the things I find myself focusing on. Does it really matter if Coltons soccer team sucks this year. Will it change things if they don't do the dishes the way I would like them done. Does it really matter that they forgot for TWO weeks to put out the garbage can (BUT MAN WAS I MAD BEFORE THIS!). Or when they ate the last jar of canned peaches that I really, really wanted. I realized that these are such minor things and really will be lost in the big picture of this thing we call life.

So here I sit praying that these families have the strength to make it through their tragedy. Hope that they will have the support they need. Hope that they find a way to make it through all of this with their sanity intact, because that is what I feel I would lose if it was me. And forever and ever thankful for every single minute (even the arguments where I want to duct tape their mouths shut) that I have with my children.

My moto this month is: Hug your children and tell them you love them every single day, you don't know how long you have them for.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, I know mine will be spent reflecting on the important things in my life. I hope yours is a happy one also!

SOCCER, SOCCER, SOCCER

Mariah said she feels like she lives at the soccer field in this picture.

Colton wishes he lived on a soccer field!

So this soccer season has been a real challenge for me. First off, I have discovered that I am more competitive than I would like my siblings to know.... SHHHH! Both my younger kids are in a select soccer program. Colton has been obsessed with soccer since he was a baby. All those years of being on the sideline for his brothers soccer games gave him a true love of the game. There is rarely a time that boy does not have a ball at his feet. He would dribble the ball up and down the sideline while his brother was on the field. He kicks it through my house (even though the rule is no balls in the house!!) annoying his sister at every turn/kick. Mariah loves soccer, sometimes I think only because her brothers do, but still it is the only sport she wants to play.

In my house the kids are required to be involved in some sport or physical activity. Each of them has chosen soccer as their activity, after trying multiple other sports, and dancing for Mariah. For all of you with kids in sports or any activity you know about the politics involved. The higher the competition the more politics it seems to involve. It is horrible being the parent and trying to navigate through this mess we adults create, there should really be some guide to help us out. Colton is my first child involved in select so it has been a true learning experience these past few years. This is Mariah's first year in the program and she is loving it, especially her coach.

The only club Colton has wanted to play for since starting select is the one he is at. He is on the B team, but striving for the A team. We have had a lot of problems on his team this year. It is like the A team is the all important team and the B team is the forgotten kids. There was a high turn over rate, players not really meshing together and the other usual team problems. As in every club (I am discovering) promises were made at the beginning of the season and not followed through on. Promises that they would move players between teams, and practice both squads together to help the B team prepare to move up. The usual things these clubs promise, others are just better at following through on them.

Those of you who know me, know that I am a bit of an ostrich when it comes to confronting issues. I really don't like to complain, it makes me uneasy. I like to bury my head, and hope upon all hope, it will fix itself. That will last for only so long, and then it is like an explosion, and my head pops off and starts spinning around....I am sure that is what my family sees. Especially if you are messing with my kids. So after listening to all the Dads on the team bitch and moan about the issues, I couldn't take it any more. I did the last thing I really like to do. I confronted the issues with our coach and the Directors of our club.

Thanks to a little motivation from my husband, my Mom and my sister Kim. I forced myself to compose a letter. Kim helped me revise it and I got the courage (that was probably more the anger) up and emailed the letter off. I addressed the issues I saw happening and some specific ones that involved Colton, and the position he plays. I am always hesitant to do this just because I worry that it will be Colton that is punished in the end. I was very skeptical that it would even make a difference. My experience so far had been that they just blow you off and tell you they are the coaches and they make the decisions, even though I am the person paying their salary!

I would like to say I am very happy with the results, thus far. A few other parents spoke up (but not the most vocal complainers!) and voiced their opinions, and backed up what I had to say. Our coach actually answered back and said sorry that he was unapproachable. He told me that Colton is a real trouper and willing to play whatever position he is asked. He acknowledged that Colton has been asking to play a different position, which is huge. I tried to address him last year and got the response listed above. The players Director and the A team coach actually contacted me and the other parents. It actually looks like they will be following through on some of their promises to these boys. That is MY biggest complaint, don't make promises or suggestions and then not follow through with kids. They take this to heart and get so disappointed and less trusting when that happens.

I can't express enough how much happier I am now. For me it is a huge deal that I actually stood up and said my peace. The older I get the better I am getting at doing this. I am a people pleaser and I don't like to make waves. I want everyone to be happy, but I have discovered that if I am not happy than it really doesn't matter if the others are happy or not. I feel like now I can face this losing soccer season and be happy with the progress each of my children are making in their sport.

Ahhhh so much better than being angry every time I leave the soccer field. Especially seems that I am spending 5 out of the 7 days of my week at the fields. Makes everyone in my house a little happier too, just ask my husband!

CAMPING

Well our annual family camping trip went great! Never mind the 5 hours we were stuck at Vantage rest area on the hottest day, it was over 100 degrees. Our old motor home does NOT like that kind of heat, who can blame it, we were not loving it ourselves! We kept getting vapor locking, but that was our only problem on the 6 hour drive that took 12 hours. It was great people watching time at the rest area, we played Yahtzee and watched a movie and all the other people overheating from the heat. There was a little Mexican couple selling watermelons for $5 a piece. The watermelon looked yummy, but way to hot and sticky for that. They sold quite a few while we were there. We got quite a laugh when they pulled out their umbrella. We thought they were finally going to need some shade to sit in, but instead they covered their watermelon to shield them from the sun. The important things in life you know.



A whole week spent with all of my immediate family, cousins and more than a few of our friends. No major arguments. Instead we all passed around the Norovirus (for all that don't know it is the stomach flu, it comes out both ends!). That was awesome.....NOT!!! Even that could not ruin our good times, we made it through. I have never spent so much time discussing our bodily functions as an adult....actually I don't remember discussing it that much as a kid either. It was rather funny, after I started feeling better. It is quite amazing how quickly and randomly it makes its way through a group of people.



It was very strange being at the lake this year without my oldest son. It is the first time in 20 years that he was not with me at Curlew. It was a different vacation all around for me. Both my younger two are old enough to do so much by themselves. Strange not to have a little one to hang on me or to chase after. It was nice but a little sad also.



The kids all had a great time as usual. The four boy cousins had a great time. Lots of fishing, wake boarding, surfing and of course inner-tubing! Mariah lucked out and one of our friends with twin girls her age were there. It was a nice surprise for her, usually she is the lone older girl.



Mariah learned to surf this year, she is amazing. She made wake boarding look so easy, up and out of the water like she has been doing it for years! She is going to keep up with those boys if it kills her. This year she loved inner-tubing, she even wanted to go fast and furious, so different from last year.



Colton was amazing as usual. He is so hard on himself, never thinking he is as good as the older boys. I remind him (and his Aunt Kim does also) that he is almost two years younger than the other boys. He did a butter slide on the wake board, he is very excited about that. He looked awesome when he surfed and had so much fun riding the tube. One of our friends Aaron brought his stand up jet ski for the boys to ride. I was leery about letting Colton ride it, but his Aunt Kim said go ahead. All the other boys were taking turns. Next year Colton and Joe and hopefully Austin and Alex will all have their boating permits so I won't have to worry as much about them riding the ski's or driving the boats.



The water was amazing, so warm. We swam almost every day. Darrel, Dad, Troy and the boys did awesome fishing. Spent lots time playing Yahtzee. Mom and Rob had a little water fight during our late night Yahtzee, it was hilarious and everyone ended up with either water or someones drink on them. Our poor neighbors, we laughed forever.



Thankfully the trip home was uneventful. I hate to say it but it was nice to come home to the cooler weather for a few days, I missed the rain this summer, happy to see some of it. My lawn and plants are especially happy too.



Vacation is awesome but it is amazing how nice it feels to be home. Our kitty Ms Olivia missed us and has been on her best behavior since we came back. Amazing for her.

Happy Birthday Mariah

Today is my baby girls birthday, she is 10. She shares her birthday with her cousin Joe who is turning 15 today. Today my last child is leaving the single digit numbers, I feel very sad! I am not ready for her to grow up.....

I am thankful to have such a beautiful girl in my life. She brings such joy and love to us all. Funny how each day they can find every which way to drive you crazy, but in the end melt your heart with their smiles and laughter.

Mariah... so many things to be said about her. She is a very strong willed child (some days the battle of wills about does me in!!). She is so determined to do her best, a perfectionist in so many ways. She is loving, caring and thoughtful. So super smart it scares me. She is an artist beyond anything I ever imagined I could be. She is such a good reader, reading at above a 6th grade level in 3rd grade. She is a good daughter, sister, cousin and friend. She brings light into each day with her sense of humor, smile and hugs and kisses.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY my gorgeous 10 year old girl!!

Happy Birthday my nephew Joe!! He is Mariah's other brother in all senses of the word. He spent much of his growing up years at our house. Darrel and I consider ourselves his second parents. And believe me if you have ever been at my house they all fight just like siblings do!!

Joe has overcome a lot in life. He started school with a learning disability and taking medication. He has overcome that and no longer needs the medication or extra help. He is thriving in high school. You can see him becoming such a grown up young man. I can't believe he is 15 yrs old. His mom has done a great job with him. We are so proud of all of his accomplishments. He is very smart, and determined to do the very best. He made his high school soccer team, out of 70+ kids that tried out, no small feat!!

Happy Birthday Joe!!!

THE BIRTHDAY KIDS!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!!

Northwest Weather

You just have to love the weather around here lately. You never know what you will get! A few Sundays ago we did our annual family snow picnic and sledding up on the pass. I myself could totally of passed on it this year with as much snow as we had at our house. But nooooooo, my cute cousin Matthew could not live without it, nor could my children, so up we went! As you can see by the pictures some of us felt like popsicles, while others of us were having a blast!

The nice thing was not allot of people at the hill because the forecast was for 2 feet of snow that weekend. Needless to say, we went, some sledded, some watched, we ate, and we left.

Colton had another soccer game, we are in state cup qualification time right now. And I just want to say Colton scored his first goal of the season at the our first qualification game. Against a team ranked 7th in state. He was so excited!

We left the mountain and went to Colton's next soccer game and here is what our weather looked like there. Needless to say we did not have on any sunscreen and Darrel got sunburned, oops!!

You have to love the Great Northwest Weather!!!! You can go from city to city and never know what to expect!!!

Government Bailout

Here is my open letter I am sending off to as many Government emails as I can. I am so discouraged each day I turn on the news and hear of another mismangment of our TAXPAYER Money. That is my childrens childrens children that will be paying for this. How can we saddle future generations with this kind of debt and let it be mismanged so badly!!! I know I said that I was going to be positive for Lent, but this is eating away at me everyday that I have to hear about it, the latest being AIG. If I get any sort of response from anyone I will post it here for you all to read what they say. Sorry if you disagree with my opinion.

If you do disagree with me, please remember my favorite saying :
"An opinion is just an opinion, it is neither right nor wrong, but just my opinion."

I as a taxpayer would like to know what you in the (insert whichever government personel, this one happened to be to our Senator Patty Murray) are doing to protect my families interest! I am so disgusted by this whole bailout of these companies that are using OUR TAXPAYER MONEY to make themselves RICHER, while my family struggles from paycheck to paycheck.

This is ridiculous, these companies have no MORALS, and you in the Senate keep bailing them out. Please tell me how this is helping us? The banks are keeping our money, not lending to regular people, AND giving big bonuses to the people who have caused the issues to begin with. Where is this helping us the everyday American.

We the American people look like IDIOTS around the world. We give our money to companies that are poorly managed and let the same management stay in power.

Please tell me how the Government is going to fix this. I do not want to hear about bailing out any more poorly managed companies. The government does not bail me out if I miss manage my finances, so why are you doing this for the Multi Millionaires. Is the Government getting something more out of this than we the people can see? Is the Government going to manage my other money in the same way?

Please let us everyday Americans know why we should continue to trust in you and the Government. I am waiting for something that will strike me as honest and in my best interest. I am having a hard time teaching my children that the Government is there for us the People, and not just for the Multi Millionaire People. I am more and more discouraged by the whole fiasco we call The United States Government and those that are in charge of this never ending bailout of irresponsible companies.

I will be sending this letter out to as many emails in the Government that I can, and I am anxious to hear what you have to say. I will be posting your response on my blog for all to read your answers.

A Sincere US Citizen

Thankful

From now until Easter I have decided to write things I am thankful for. I am done complaining about others and their actions. I am going to focus on the positive things in my life.

I was reminded when reading Texan Mama how much I have to be thankful for my husband. He really is a great guy. He is a huge redneck, and a big male chauvinist neither of which is charming on its own, but his personality more than makes up for those other traits. He is awesome in so many ways. This week he is researching a SLR Camera for me, just because I mentioned I want one and to take a photo class. That is one of the thoughtful things he will do just because.

We have been married for 21 years in June. It has been an up and down ride, but finally we have smoothed out to an even flow. Looking back on all those years, it is nice to be in such a great place now. Nice to see that we grew up together, we still share the same hopes and dreams (some of us more elaborate than others!). The best part is being able to say I still love him and I still like him most of the time.

One of the most important thing I have learned over these years of wedded bliss and not so bliss is this:

You cannot live with people 24 hrs a day, 365 days a year and like them all the time. At least I myself cannot. Just because you don't like them does not mean you do not love them. And yes it really can be days, weeks, months (shhh, maybe even a year).

I am so happy to be able to say I love my husband!! And to know that he still feels the same way about me.

No Manners!

OK, I have expressed this before, but I am kind of socially awkward in some situations. I have found that I can fool allot of people into thinking I am super outgoing, I am not! That is my other siblings, I am the observer, sit on the side and not collect allot of attention. I grew up in a huuuuge extended Catholic family so I have learned to put myself outside of my comfort level in many different situations. I also am a super sensitive person. I totally recognize this about myself and try to always put things into somewhat more normal proportions. My sounding board to do this with is usually my sister Kim who is not on the over sensitive side. She will be the most honest and tell me to just let go of it. I love that about her!!




So being overly sensitive, and socially awkward I am not one to join a bunch of school groups (PTA) and so forth. Or I should say I join but do not participate in the meeting portions of the group . I do volunteer and will do any project that they need help on, but I just cannot force myself to go sit in a meeting with a Cliquey bunch of women. It makes me feel like a child again, sitting on the outside and never quite in there. The funny part is that I know a lot of these women and speak to them on a regular basis at school, but that Clique factor is still there no matter how many times they publish a letter saying THEY are not like that! HMMMMM


So it all comes down to making me uncomfortable enough that I am going to write this post. I am like an ostrich and would rather bury my head in the sand than deal with uncomfortable situations. I will actually let people make me feel bad rather than confront them, but only for so long. I see now where Colton gets his temper while playing soccer. You can push him a couple times, but just know when he has had enough, you are going to be the one who is on the ground when he is done. I am a little the same way, I will take things for quite awhile, but after so long I will not take it anymore.


Here is the issue. Apparently our school has a group of moms that meet for coffee on a regular basis. A lot of them are the PTA moms, it seems. I volunteer with two of the moms Monday through Wednesday for about a half hour each day. One of the moms brought up inviting me to the group while we were all working together (talk about uncomfortable, insert here!!) the other mom just did not reply at all (the exact conversations was "( So and so tell Tami about our coffee group!" and then dead silence, no acknowledgment at all) . Okay, if that isn't a crunchy feeling! The subject was quickly changed to something else.


If they knew me, they would know I don't really like to do those social things anyways, and I would not have taken them up on the offer. Just in case you think I am a total loser, I do have a large social group that I am friends with, so I am not totally socially incompetent, wink, wink!

So after that uncomfortable encounter about not being invited to the COFFEE GROUP, I let it go, no big deal. Then in three more situations, with the same ladies and another mom, the Coffee Group is brought up and discussed in front of me among these 2 or 3 ladies and just me, no one else is there. They talk about how much fun it is, are you going, lets meet up.........and yada yada yada, all while we are standing together. Now I am to the point I just think it is downright FLIPPING RUDE! (Notice Mom I did not use that word you hate, but I might be thinking it :)

Isn't one of the first things you learn as a kid that if you are not going to include someone in something than DON'T TALK ABOUT IT IN FRONT OF THEM! It is certainly one of the things I have taught MY children. Maybe some adults need to revisit this lesson... just saying!

The funny/not so funny part about this whole thing is, that our membership for PTA is dropping like a rock, at a school that used to have a very large membership. So at the beginning of the year the PTA president (who may or may not be one of these women) wrote a letter saying how they encourage others to join and participate in the PTA, and they are not a Clique. I think this is one of those exact moments if you could take a picture and send it to back to that group so they could see their REAL PICTURE, they might be surprised how they look to us on the outside looking in.

I know everybody has things they are good at, and things that they are not so great at. I totally embrace these things about myself, hence telling everyone in the world that I am socially awkward. BUT if you are in charge of a group, or really, even a member of the group, even if you also feel socially inadequate, it is YOUR DUTY!! to help others feel invited and comfortable when joining your group (especially if you are begging for people to be involved in said GROUP)!!

Sigh, I am brushing it off again. The dumb part about all of this is, that I let it hurt my feelings EVEN THOUGH I really (and I am honestly not just saying this) really don't want to, and never would go to this type of thing. I would just like people to have some common MANNERS!

How about THIS people, you EXERCISE your right to not say anything at all.

Okay, I feel much better now that I have gotten this off my chest. I can avoid being a Bitch to these ladies. I can chalk it up to either they are RUDE, INCONSIDERATE, or just plain..... so many things I could say, just insert your own thought here. In which case none of the above is a reflection on me.

Mexican Cruise 2009!!!!

We finally made it on our cruise! I can now face writing about it without feeling the desire to sell all my belongings and cruise around the world, sigh. It was really such a great experience. Amazing to go with 46 family and friends on such a trip. My sister Kim is AWESOME!! She is the one who put this together. She contacted the travel agent and motivated us all to book our trip.

This is a trip that my children will remember for a lifetime. Our first visit to Mexico and they get to experience it with their Granparents, Aunts, Uncles, sibilings and cousins. I know I will not ever forget it. We are thinking that in 4+ years or so we are going to try and do it again.

Some of the highlights of our trip were:

In Puerta Vallarta Mariah and I got in the water and swam with the dolphins. WOW! about sums up how that felt. Weird and cool, the dolphin was amazing. So intense to be in the water and interact with this amazing creature. Mariah was so extremely happy about getting to do this. She was in heaven.

The boys and Melaina with about 20 others from our group did a zipline tour. They took a bus for about an hour ride out into the country side and had a blast. The video we got is amazing! On their way home they got to do a tour of a Tequila factory. All you ever wanted to know. Actually it sounded pretty interesting the facts they could tell us when they got back. You can tell I was not on the tour because someone (DAD!) let Colton try a shot of tequila. The good news is he was disgusted by it and sadly (not really sad at all!) he puked it back up. Hopefully that will deter him from trying alcohol until he is at least 30 (wink!). (Here is the zipline group.)

Mazatlan was fun, Darrel, Colton and Mariah decided to stay on the boat, they were having a good time! So Anthony, Melaina and I went shopping with a bunch of our group. It was interesting. I was really disturbed by the way the poor were just lined down their sidewalks by the market. It was so hard not to give everyone of them my money. Our driver was amazing and took us all over the city. I mentioned in an earlier post about seeing the poorer districts, and how it made me appreciate all that I have. Of course it would not be a George family vacation without somebody being injured and a hospital trip at least discussed! This time it was Steve, he stepped on something on the beach and sliced the callus off the front ball of his foot. It was just disgusting! On top of that there was talk of cutting the bleeding flap of skin off. GROSS, and STOP!!!! Luckily we didn't have to body tackle anyone and they all stepped back and decided to leave it and let it heal itself. The trip to the hospital in a foreign country was avoided. THANK YOU GOD!!!

Our last stop was Cabo and I am in loooooove with it!! It was beautiful the small amount of time we got to spend there. Kim, Jessica, Mrs Cho, Jackson, Mariah and I did a glass bottom boat tour. It was very cool. The beaches are gorgeous. I want to go back here!

The boat was amazing. The food outrageous! The formal dinner was very cool. The kids tried all kinds of foods they would never really get a chance at. They all tried the escargot. Colton actually liked it allot. Mariah, Darrel and Anthony not so much. The kids each got to have lobster for dinner and Mariah tried the veal (neither of us enjoyed it, but Aaron thought it was great! Our waiters were awesome! Here is Colton and Mariah dancing with them, so cute!!!

I have added my pictures to my digital picture frame in my office so I can look at them everyday. I loved the cruise, but a little disappointed not to spend more time in each city. I can't wait for 4 years to go by so we can all do it again!!!!!!!

Memorial to Uncle Steve

Today my parents, siblings and I are having a small memorial service to place my Uncle into my Grandma's grave. He passed away over a year ago, but my parents had to pay to have the grave opened so it has taken awhile to place him with his mother. My hubby is working, and I decided not to take the kids out of school. The two younger ones don't ever remember meeting him, and my oldest only met him twice as a young child.

Kids are so funny, when I told them about the service (just in case they really!!! wanted to come), Mariah surprised me and said "I want to go!!" I asked her really, it is going to be outside and Father Rengilli is just going to say a few prayers and we will put him in the grave. She said "Well I have never seen a dead body before, I really want to see the dead body!" Sorry to disappoint you on this one child, but he has been cremated, no dead body only ashes. You see those every time you go to Grandma's in the box on the piano. She was severely disappointed about that.

My Uncle Steve was extremely smart (his IQ was very high), and a brilliantly talented artist that was from the Hippie age. He rolled his own cigarettes (not just tobacco ones either ;) drank Near Beer, and did all the drugs you could think of. The reason I know about the drugs is that we discovered allot of his paraphernalia when he moved one time. Also when I was a teenager he dropped Acid and then read the Book of Revelations. Wow! Let me just say from my second hand experience that this is NEVER!!! a good plan, just in case you were considering it! He spent a week or two in the Psych ward after that episode. Sadly as life went on he drowned himself in alcohol and never could recover from it.

Sad when someone that is so talented spirals out of control and can never be brought back. He swore to us later in life that he had lead poisoning from the soldering of the stained glass, which might be partially true. The rest was the alcohol that poisoned him.

He amazed me in his artistic talent. His stained glass work was beautiful as you can see by the picture I have enclosed of my lamp he made me. It is one of my most beloved possessions. It is sad to say goodbye to anyone. Easier for some than others. I am sorry to say that we did not get a chance to spend a lot of time with Uncle Steve, but the time spent left a deep impression on me and the things I love in life.

I have a deep love of anything glass related in the art world. I did glass painting for a while and am saving up and getting ready to take some stained glass classes in memory of Uncle Steve. I tend to gravitate towards beautiful colored glass in all shapes and believe this is from his influence on me. Being the oldest of us all, I am the one that probably remembers him most. He gave me many art books and taught me the value of the different colors of glass. Red in stained glass is super expensive. Blue glass is highly desirable by artist. I am thankful for the love that he passed on to me of glass art.

Goodbye Uncle Steve, I will hold on and pass down to my children the love of art. I will also teach the value of knowing what addiction is and that it truly runs in our family. Rest in peace with my beloved Grandma Louise. She will be happy to have her baby with her. We love you Uncle Steve!

GREEBLEPIX ENTRY - INSPIRED

This month greeblepix contest is Inspired. I love this picture. This is from Mazatlan on our trip. Our driver Francisco took us on a tour of the city. We asked that he show the kids some of true Mexico. He took us to the poor area and showed us the places that many people live, with 10 or more people to a room with no power or running water. It was a learning experience for us all. Especially to see the children in this area. It made our children really look at their lives and apprectiate the things they had. It inspired many different questions and concerns from the kids.

Adventures Begin

We leave for our cruise to Mexico tomorrow. We are so excited at our house that sleep has been hard to come by. Our total group will be 46 friends and family. This will be the first time out of the country (besides Canada) for our kids, wonderful husband and myself.

We are so excited for some sunshine and a trip of a lifetime. I am so happy that Anthony and his girlfriend Melaina are going with us so we can experience it all together. Hopefully sleep will come easier tonight! Off to new adventures!!