Family Cruise 2011 - part 1

Josh and Joe at dinner the first night on the ship.

Tony's mom and dad. First cruise ever!
(for all of us except my mom.)

There's my mom with Joseph and Makala.

Sweet Samantha and "Pa Pa"

I have such beautiful girls! (Yes, I'm proud.)

Another beautiful girl....

And two handsome (and totally crazy) boys

They just had to have a picture with the motorcycle.

This was formal night on the ship.

The girls looked so pretty that night!

The two waiters in the background were ours, and they all sang and danced for us every night. This table was right behind ours. They had some really cute kids!

One of the towel animals that we got in our room every night.

Kathleen wanted some pix of her in her prom dress.
It was fun to see everyone dressed up on formal night.

Smile, Tony!!

Family Cruise 2011 - part 2

Joseph and Joshua on deck waiting for the sunrise

Sam wasn't a morning person that day.

The sunrise was worth the wait. It was beautiful.

Which is more than we can say for Kathleen, who didn't want to wake up!

But here she is with some of the "natives" in Cozumel.

And mom and dad got in on the action.

Makala got to hold a beautiful parrot.

And Tony got some pretty shots of the ocean.

The two moms enjoying the beach while Tony and I and the kids tried snorkeling. (Read: tried not to kill ourselves swallowing seawater.)

The boys in front of the two Carnival Ships.
We had such a fantastic time. I highly recommend it. Only next time, it's just me and Tony and no kids or parents!
(Love you mom and dad, and mom!!)

Christmas Eve aka Marina's Birthday!

This is Marina. She and Kathleen are best friends, and we love her. Her birthday happens to be on Christmas Eve, and her mother was in Fort Worth with her sister who just had her first baby, so we had Marina to our house for a birthday party.

Kathleen baked the cake.

And fixed her up with lots of cool dinosaur stuff. She really likes dinosaurs.

We love you, Marina!

Christmas Eve 2010

Okay. These pictures are out of order, of course. But I'm not redoing them. So just pretend They're in the reverse order.

This is our Christmas Eve tradition of opening one gift, usually pajamas. Okay, Okay. Always pajamas.

During the day Christmas Eve, I put the kids to work making cute little Christmas crafts. These are the finished products.

Even Tony got in on it.

As they were doing this, I was doing prep work for Christmas dinner.
It was a great day.

Blue Angels

We live very close to an airport and to the Fort Worth Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base, and each year, one or both will host an air show. We can sit on our roof and watch the finale, which has been the Blue Angels a few times. The kids and I all get up there, (except Sam, of course) and watch them flying around and over our neighborhood. It's so fun! I love the sound of those jets flying over.

Christmas 2010 - Band concert

This was Makala's Christmas Band concert. She is playing one of those french horns. I just love the french horn. I love the way it looks and sounds, and she is so good at it! She's decided to go on and be in marching band in high school next year. I'm so excited! Can't wait to go to games and concerts to see her.

The concert was held in the gym and was packed to capacity. We ended up sitting behind the band, which turned out okay since we got to see and hear her better. She turned around really quick for a picture. So cute!

A Grateful Heart

It's Christmas night. The last two days have been hectic, but among the best I can remember. I have been blessed with an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for the blessings in my life.

Yesterday was fairly quiet, with the weather as it was, there was no going outside or getting out of the house, so we stayed in, made eggnog, and other preparations for Christmas dinner. The kids sat at the kitchen table and made these cute little Christmas crafts from kits I'd picked up a couple of weeks ago. We watched a movie. They got along. I kept finding myself just watching them and feeling grateful.

Even Tony got in on the action and made an ornament. He played with the kids. We had an impromptu birthday party for Kathleen's friend Marina who turned 18 yesterday. She's another one of our "adopted" kids. We love her.

This morning, of course, we woke to the pitter patter of little feet....pounding up and down the stairs as they ran back and forth reporting to each other that it wasn't time to get up yet, and no, dad was not giving in and getting up. We made hot chocolate and had family prayer before opening presents, and once again I was overcome with gratitude for my life.

The blessing of Christmas, the chance to focus on the birth of the Savior and our gratitude for his life and example for us, even when everything isn't done perfectly, is something I am so grateful for. I find myself wanting to somehow capture this feeling so that I can pull it back out for future use when the stress of "daily life" begins to take over again, and I start to forget....