Whirlwind trip

Using Grammie's magnifying glass

Last night we left on a whirlwind trip from Mass. to Virginia to see my wonderful grandmother. The kids, my mom and I left last night at 10:30 and drove through the night and got here this morning at 9am. The kids slept all but about fifteen minutes of the drive, over five hundred miles!!! They did so amazing.
We drove down to Williamsburg where my gram lives with my aunt Leslie and Uncle Bruce. They were kind enough to host us while we are here. I am incredibly exhausted but so thankful that we made it here safe and sound. And even more thankful that we have this time to spend with my gram as she has congestive heart failure and is not doing well:-(
My grandmother is such an amazing woman, she had eight kids, six boys and two girls. She sent all of her sons to Vietnam, and she prayed each of their safe returns home. She was a labor and delivery nurse (my mom is a nurse, and now me:-)). She has always been selfless, and would give the shirt off her back to anyone. My childhood is filled with so many wonderful memories of her, making pies, walks, her singing and rocking us, saying our prayers with us and tucking us in, watching wheel and fortune and jeopardy. Playing cards, and Rummikub. Footrubs, and stories of when she was a child. Her pinning me at my nursing pinning ceremony. Her holding Sophia at her dedication, in the gown that she also wore when she was christened. She is an amazing woman and a true inspiration to me. I love her so so much!!!:-)

Florida Vacation- The Wedding

Meme' and Sam. As you can see he was looking a little pasty. He was due for his IVIG the next day. Now that we are back to doing it again, I can certainly tell the difference of his energy level and his actual coloring/complextion.

Sophia and Grandpa

My handsome little boy and I

Sam and Deanna

Denise and Davion, can't believe how much this little boy is growing up

My beautiful mom and I

My mom and dad- don't they look fantastic?

Dasanee getting her groove on

DJ and Lyndsea's first dance:-)

Lyndsea and her grandfather



The whole reason for this trip to Florida was to celebrate the marriage of my brother DJ to his beautiful bride Lyndsea! We are so happy for them and we just love Lyndsea. Sam was the ring bearer and Dasanee and two of Lyndsea's other neices were the flower girls. The kids looked fantastic, as did the entire wedding party. The wedding was in this gorgeous courtyard, and just seemed like a fairy tale setting. We all had a wonderful time. The pictures unfortunately are lacking as it was dark, and my camera doesn't do well with the dark. I will post more as I get them from others. But for now this is what I have...

Naples Florida

We made it! Safe and sound! The kids did phenomenal in the airport and on the plane. I however got several looks from many people when they learned that I was traveling with two small kids alone. But it was great. There was an empty seat on the plane so we had an extra seat to spread all of our stuff to. I brought THREE carry ons on the plane and they were filled with all kinds of stuff to keep them occupied. Sophia's new favorite thing is stickers, and she piled like 20 stickers in one place. It kept her busy for about an hour and a half. I guess I will be buying some more before we go home. Sam enjoyed his little preschool workbook and loved using the headphones to listen to the television. All in all a great flight and now we are hear and the kids are having a blast.

Our weekend away!!!

First a special thank you to Grandma, Meme, Nana, Auntie Doreen and Auntie Coleen for all of you taking care of the kiddos. I was so anxious leaving them (I know they were totally in good hands but I haven't had the healthiest kids, and they were already sick when I left)
Matt and I went away for the weekend to a marriage conference put on by FamilyLife. It was called A Weekend to Remember. It was a life changing experience for us. I am so thankful that Matt wanted to do this. We both feel refreshed and have a clearer direction for our marriage/lives. I am thankful to God for allowing this to all come together for us. I highly recommend it for any married couple that could use a little encouragement in their marriage, or that just needs a weekend away to get to know each other better. Whether just starting out (there were engaged couples) to people who have been married for years (their were a few couples that had been married for fifty plus years!

Trip to Florida

We haven't written in a while. Sam and I flew to Naples Florida for a week to visit my cousin Kerry and her family. Kerry has two boys and is expecting a third child in another month or so. It was nice to get away. The weather was beautiful, and we just basically did nothing. It was nice to not have any responsibilities except for taking care of Sam. I put him in a swing for the first time and he loved it. It was a little crazy at the airport though. Because of security issues or whatever, they made me dump out Sam's breast milk that he was actually drinking in the airport!!! I was quite annoyed but I guess if that keeps us safe it is worth it.