Thanksgiving, Ryan's first visit, and Johnny turns "5"...

Wow it has been a while since I have posted. The past week went by so fast and was super busy. I enjoyed it all. The week started with John's 5th birthday. We got Batman cupcakes which we took to his preschool so he could share with his friends.

Wednesday Ryan came home. That was awesome. We all went to the train station to get him. He has not been home since he went to school in August. We have missed him very much. There were tears of joy!! One of the first things that I had him do was go see Melissa to get his hair cut...it was long!! I was so thankful he could get it cut. Then on Thanksgiving we had dinner at Grandma and Pop-pop's. It was a lovely meal. There was 16 of us. After dinner we had the rest of John's cupcakes.

He wanted to celebrate his birthday when Pip, Ryan and grandapretns could all be together.

He got to open his big gift from mom and dad. He was so excited!

After dinner I headed to Sea Isle City to see my dad and family. I was able to have Thanksgiving dinner with them since they have dinner later. It was a great holiday. It is now Sunday and I am decorating for Christmas to help brighten my spirts. Ryan is back at school and it was very hard seeing him leave again. We all enjoyed having him home.

It was not long before he was wrestling with his little brothers. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.

Ryan Graduates!!!!!

I can't believe it but my son has graduated high school. It was a lovely weekend. On Friday night the juniors marched and then the Seniors in their cap and gowns. When I saw Ryan in his cap and gown I cried. I can't believe he is graduating. He looks so grown up but yet he still has to be told to clean up his dirty clothes!! The speaker Friday night was Elder Manente. He spoke about profit and not comprising your self, family or values for a profit. It was excellent. Then on Saturday the seniors marched before church. We did not see Ryan march since we were at home getting ready to go up later that day and spend the night. My mother in law went up and was there for Ryan and Kara. They enjoyed having lunch and spending time with her after church on Sabbath. Then we went up Saturday evening for dinner and the parent tribute program. The seniors gave a short testimony how they appreciate their parents. It was very touching and I cried. I started crying Friday night and didn't stop til Sunday night after everything was over.

Then after the parent tribute the seniors pass a candle to each one of the juniors to symbolize the juniors becoming seniors. It was very nice.

Then Sunday morning Pip and Cody were so sweet and stood outside the gym doors until they opened to make sure we good seats to see and so I would get a good picture of Ryan during graduation. Early Sunday morning Ryan was out on the field playing soccer with some friends until we made him come pack up his dorm room. Then at 9:15am all the seniors were to meet to get ready to line up for graduation. Ryan of course was still dressing....and running late.

When I saw Kara and Ryan march in for graduation it was so touching. They are so grown up and looked so wonderful.... this was the Principal's last year at Blue Mountain Academy. The commencement speaker was the principal. He has been there 23 years and this was the first time he was asked to be the graduation speaker. He was very touched that he was asked to be their speaker. Then it was time to watch Ryan and Kara get their diplomas it was awesome.

I can't explain how moving it is was to hear his name called and watch him receive his diploma. I just broke down. We are very proud of Ryan. He graduated with honors and the presidents award.

Then when it was over we had a party back home in Hershey.

For Ryan and Kara's gift I put together a frame with their baby picture and senior picture. It had a matte so everyone could sign it for them to wish them luck. It was a great day.

I have 3 cousins and two nephews that will be graduating the next few weeks. This weekend was the first of many graduation parties....

Katie's Formal Dinner

Okay first let me say I barely survived preparing for this formal dinner I will never survive when it comes to her wedding. Katie did not want to go the formal but her friends insisted so she gave in. I am glad she did. Well with only 4 weeks to get ready she needed a dress, shoes, her hair done and someone to go with her. She went with her friend Tylar to the dinner. She went shopping and found a dress it was a nice dress and looked great on her. She brought it home and a week later changed her mind. So she returned it and the shaw. So then she went shopping and could not find anything she liked or the dress did not fit her well.

Well after searching many stores she found one. It was very pretty better than the first one. Well then she needed new shoes because the other pair matched the first dress not this one. Then that became the challenge finding shoes she liked that worked with the dress. Finally two nights before the dance she found a pair. Oh wait did I mention both pairs of shoes were black.... So the big day was here and I had to work. So I asked Katie to take a camera so her cousin Melissa could take a pic after she did her hair. After school Katie came home and painted her nails to match her dress. Then she went to Melissa's to have her hair done. She called me at work to tell me she was coming by work to show me her hair. She liked it so much!! Here are the pictures that I took before the dinner, of her flowers from Tylar, he is so nice, and then the pictures taken at her dinner. It was a very nice evening. Katie had a great time. I have not seen Tylar to ask him but I think he did too.

Today is my 40th Birthday......

My 40th birthday has been very special. It started with my wonderful husband was planning a surprise party for me. I stopped him when I found out since we were going on a cruise and our son's graduation is around the corner. We went on a family cruise last month to Nassau. We all had a wonderful time. For my birthday my mother in law took me out to breakfast yesterday at Martin's Kitchen.I love their homefries. It was very nice. I love to eat especially when someone else is cooking and cleaning up. Today I went to mother's group and my sister in law said a prayer of praise for me and they sang Happy Birthday to me. It made me teary.
Then this afternoon I got fresh roses from my children. My sweet daughter organized with her brothers and they paid for them. Don't they look awesome. My mom and step dad are taking us out to eat tonight at Friendly's. Then on Friday I am having lunch with my best friend at TGI Fridays. I got cards from friends and family. I am a card person. I really like cards and think cards are thoughtful. Somone had to take time to find the right card for your special day. Then tonight I will watch one of my favorite shows Law N Order SVU. I will probably scrapbook too. The only way today could be better is if I won the lottery, (cash or chocolate). It has been so special! Turning 40 is not so bad! Now 50 that maybe harder....

My 40th Bday.......

We just returned from a 7 day cruise with my mom and step dad. We were celebrating my 40th birthday and Glen's 65th Bday. We all were so excited!! We left March 22nd and got home March 29th. We had a wonderful time.

All of us and we all got along!!

I wanted to write a little bit about the trip and I edited some of the 711 pictures I took. We left from New York. When we got there we got through check in rather quickly . When you check in you have to supply a credit card because there is no cash used on board the ship. Everyone gets their pic taken to be electronically attached to your room card. Each person has a room card. After we went through check in we sat in the terminal for a little while. They had light drinks and snacks waiting for us. All of us were so excited when we finally boarded. When we got up to the gate our room card is swiped showing we boarded the ship. There are many smiling staff welcoming us. Adults are given a glass of champagne. We went to eat in the buffet. Then at 2 we were allowed to go to the rooms. Then before the ship leaves port we have to have a mandatory safety drill. Everyone has to participate and wear their life vest. Then we went to the cabins to unpack. John locked himself in the cabin bathroom within minutes of us getting into the cabin. There was a captain walking down the hall that I stopped and asked him to let John out of the bathroom.

Pip, Cody, John and I watched our departure from NY on the top deck relaxing on a big lounge chair.

They have groups for the kids with lots of activities. John did go for two days but then he didn't want to miss out on anything so he stayed with us. Some of the activities we enjoyed were bowling, bingo, rock wall climbing, shuffle board, Nintendo WII on the big screen TV and the kids loved playing sports with the other kids. On Sunday Johnny participated in a Easter Egg hunt.

We were always eating. Why not there was so many choices of food. Food always tastes better when someone else is cooking it and cleaning up for me. You had to sanitize your hands every time you board the ship or went to eat in any of the restaurants. Mom and Glen ate in the dinning room but I often choose the buffet so Johnny would not have to wait for the food. The buffet also had a kids section with little chairs and everything was at their level. I really enjoyed eating my meals while looking out at the ocean.

It did not take long for Katie and Ryan to make friends so they were not around us often. I did make sure they hung out a little bit with us. We all liked the hot tub.

Johnny liked the water slide. Ryan tried karaoke. Pip and Katie tried rock climbing.

The first port on Monday was Florida. We did not get off since we have been there. We hung out on board and had a blast. Tuesday was Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas, the cruise company's private island. We were looking forward to this stop. It is a private beach, free food and fun. We would be the only ship there. I was excited because we were going to do para sailing and had to ride a tender to get to the island. It is a smaller ship that only holds about 400 people. There were about 2600 guests on the ship. It pulls up on the beach and opens then we walk right onto the beach. Tuesday was Glen's birthday so mom and Glen spent the day doing what the birthday boy wanted to do. He turned 65!Tuesday morning I made the kids get up early 8am and get ready for the beach. We were to arrive about 9am about 8:45am we were told that the tender company said the water was too rough for them to come out to get us so we could not stop. We continued onto Nassau. We arrived about 1:30pm. Since we were a day early we decided to try to find a public beach.

We got off and walked through the straw market to the beach.

Mom and Glen walked around Nassau a bit but did not come to the beach.Once we got to the beach while we were setting up Johnny ran into the water so excited to be there. Within 5 minutes he came screaming out, I mean screaming that it burns and started ripping off his bathing suit. The only thing we could think of is a jelly fish. He kept screaming so we ran to find a shower but it was broke so lady gave us a bucket of water to pour on him. It helped a little so we decided to head back to the ship. Ryan carried Johnny in a towel on his shoulders. When we got back to the boat and looked at his legs they were still red on the inside thighs so we think something swam between his legs and he got stung. He started feeling better and Ryan took him to the water slide on the boat. Every night there was a show each night was something different, comedy, magic show and musical.

On Tuesday Pip got a stomach virus. So he slept most of the day after we got back from the beach. Then on Wed Cody, Johnny and I went into Nassau to get some gifts at the straw market.

Then we went back to the ship to eat and get ready for our tour of the Atlantis. There is a large casino with a beach water park and aquarium. There is a room that connects the two hotel buildings that is called the Michael Jackson suite. It is named after him because he is the first person to stay in it.

The room cost $25,000 a night with a 4 night minimum.

We rode a water ferry over to paradise island and had a wonderful tour. One of the things I really enjoyed was the four hand blown glass sculptures. They are stunning and valued at a million each. Mom and Glen walked around the island a bit and found us on our tour.

After we were finished we went back to the ship for dinner and to rest. Ryan and Katie did not go to bed before 2am often so we didn't see them til at least lunch time.Then on Thursday we arrived in Free Port, Bahamas. There is excursions in every port but we decided to walk around a little bit. Then we got back on board. Katie stayed on board she felt sick. The staff takes many many pics and then displays them for you to buy. For a few nights they were doing portraits in the main reception area so on Thursday I told the kids and my dear husband I wanted to try to get one done. We did and it looks awesome. I choose the sunset background because I love the ocean and sun sets. Before we got our pic taken Johnny said his belly hurt. I figured he was tired and ate too much. We went down for pics and got about four taken then they wanted to take some on the stairs. We got one taken then John looked at me and said" my belly hurts." I told the guy we should stop and was going to take John to the room but that fast John threw up all over me and the floor. So then we took Johnny to the room and cleaned him up and he went to bed. The chocolate buffet was tonight so Pip went to the comedy show with everyone. When he returned I ran to the chocolate buffet. Johnny was sick through the night. He laid in bed on Friday so Pip and I took turns being in the room with Johnny. It still wasn't a bad trip because while we were in the cabin with Johnny we napped. So we still were having a good time. Then on Friday everyone was exhausted and sad to be going home. We spent the day at sea. It was a little rough. I loved feeling the movement. I truly love the ocean. In the Bahamas the color of the ocean was so beautiful. I ate often and alot. It was so nice having someone do all my cooking and cleaning for me. Eveyrday our room was cleaned for us. Every night our bed was turned down for us. They would leave chocolate on our pillows and a a towel folded like an animal with a newsletter on our bed. There are

1100 staff on the ship from various countries. Their name tag had listed below their name what country they were from. Pip enjoyed talking to them and seeing where they were from. The staff works 10 months 7 days a week. Then they get 2 months off.

We docked in NY about 9am on saturday and I cried. I really enjoyed being away on the ocean.

I have posted different pics I tried to put them in order of my description.

Thanks for looking.