{Bon Voyage!}

For a combination Christmas present and birthday present, Mike and I are going on a cruise to Catalina & Enseñada tomorrow! Wow...a getaway vacation for just the 2 of us! We haven't done one of those in a long time, as we really enjoy doing things with our Meghann and Lani-poo as a whole family. This will be a nice change of pace for us!

Mike has never been to Catalina, even though he grew up in Lakewood. Kinda weird...but whatever! At least I've been quite a few times and have friends that work over there, so we didn't have to book any tours through the cruise ship, we've got free tickets to do whatever we want to AND a friend is lending us his golf cart to run around in while we're there! How awesome is THAT? We have such a wonderful group of friends...we're truly blessed! So we'll be doing the Undersea Tour with our friend, Capt. Mike, and the Casino Tour with ???, we'll see if it's someone I know when we get there!

Then off to Mexico! Nothing all that exciting there, we don't need any "tourist crap" souvenirs, so we'll probably just head over to Señor Frogs or Papas & Beer for lunch while we're there. Then a nice "day @ sea" where we can just relax. It'll be fun! We'll both miss our Meggie and Lani, but it's only for a few days and I'll bring my laptop to send emails to them both! (Hee, hee!)

So...Bon Voyage and we'll see you soon!

{Happy 39th to my Sweet Husband!}

Happy 39th Birthday!!

39 years ago my beloved husband was born. Of course, I didn't meet him until 21 years after that, but thank goodness I did! I've been lucky enough to have spent 17½ of those 39 years with him! Have a wonderful day, sweet Mikey-Poo! And for a few months, I'm TWO years younger than you! :-D

{Once a Marine Musician...ALWAYS a Marine Musician!}

Well...I totally forgot to put this info on the blog! This summer, I have been afforded an AMAZING opportunity! My good friend, Shannon, called me up and asked me if I wanted to be a part of the "Band of America's Few". This is a band comprised completely of former Marine musicians. The main goal of the group is to go and participate in the Nova Scotia International Tattoo in Halifax that takes place every year. The Marine Corps bands used to participate in it, but haven't for many years due to the cost factor. We have a sponsor that wanted us SOOOO badly to participate, he started talking with a few people to see if they could get together a band of former Marines to do it. We're having uniforms custom made, the Headquarters of the Marine Corps is fully aware of it and has signed off on our logo (see above) and we're all getting our musical chops back up and running! So...for 2 weeks this summer I will be in Canada, eh! Participating in a crazy venture that is bringing me back together with Marines I've served with in my fleet band, Marines I was @ the School of Music with, and a whole host of Marines that I'm honored to enter into this with! I can't wait to post photos FROM Canada this summer! The Queen of England will be in attendance for the opening ceremonies this year! How crazy cool is THAT?

{Annual Puerto Rican Christmas Play}

On Christmas Eve, we usually go and party with our "other" family! The Hernandez clan is a VERY large, rowdy bunch of WONDERFUL Puerto Ricans! And even though the Walkers are white as all get out...they have made us honorary "cousins" and we are invited to all family functions! This year...Mike was working and I was tired, so Meghann went without us. She had a BLAST! This year, she was Mary in the Christmas play. She's been an angel before. But as Mary, she got to hold "the CUTEST BABY, Mom!", and had a lot of fun! Here are some pictures!

{Playdate @ the Walker House}

Well, yesterday was another day of "no school" since it was the end of the semester and they had finals this week. We invited David over to the house so he and Megs could "hang out". But FIRST..."the boy" had NEVER been to Del Taco! What? {SHOCK!}

-Was he raised on the East Coast? No...right here in So Cal.
-Do they NEVER go out to eat? No...they do.
-Do they live under a ROCK? No...a nice house in Anaheim.

Weird...so we HAD to rectify the situation! We picked him up @ 11am and took him out to lunch @.....DEL TACO! He has now been inducted into the Del Taco world of wonderful crinkle-cut french fries! He LOVES 'em! And he enjoyed his chicken soft tacos as well. PHEW! I feel MUCH better now that he's had Del Taco! I used to LOVE "Taco Tuesday" when I was a kid! :-D

The kids had a nice time; playing video games, taking Lani for a walk, hanging out watching TV...a nice time to spend with each other. Awwwww....1st ♥!

{Meghann's Freshman Picture}

Well...after a LONG time of waiting for the disk to arrive, I decided that maybe the P.O. didn't forward it. And sure enough, I called the photography studio and they had mailed it to the Westminster house. So I gave them the new address and I just got the disk today! WooHoo! I like the idea of just buying the disk for $25 because you can edit the pictures and then just print out whatever you like! HOW convenient is that? So I did a bunch of edits and will post them all here now!

{Original}

{Edges Burned}

{Black & White Beauty}

{Heartland}

{Sepia}

{Vintage}

Ahhhh...our beautiful young lady! Wow how time does fly...I STILL can't believe she's a FRESHMAN in High School!

{First ♥!}

{Meghann & David}

{David & Meghann @ Dave & Buster's}

{Megs & David @ Dave & Buster's}

{Curtis co-chaperoned 'cause Mike had to work that night}

On Monday the 18th the kids didn't have school. So I told them that I would take them out to Dave & Buster's for lunch and games after I got off of work. Since Mike was working that night, I roped Curtis into going with me so I didn't have to be alone with the ♥birds! They had a wonderful time!

David is a very nice, respectful boy and we're happy to have him as part of Meghann's life. He really makes her happy! His parents are on the same page that we are as far as "dating". Groups or parent chaperoned outings...the kids are VERY respectful of our rules because at least they are able to be together. It's great when your kids respect you...but respect is something that has to be earned by both parents AND kids. We've worked hard to earn Meghann's respect as she has to earn ours. We're so proud of our wonderful daughter and how she's maturing. She's chosen a Godly boyfriend who is a great match for her. ♥

{Mike's New Landscaping Project}

{This is what was @ the house when we moved in...of course it doesn't look good for long, it was done just to sell the house. So the bark all dissipates and then just looks bad after time.}

{Mike knows that I love the little multiple palms and the sago palms, so he made a better border and planted all the pretty stuff I like! Meghann helped him a lot during this project...they were both VERY muddy!}

{Meghann planted all the blue fescue grasses...}

{She did a great job...the grass will eventually re-grow nicely up against the bender board border.}

Mom & Dad gave us some $$$ for Christmas, so Mike and I decided to use it to buy plants and improve the beauty of our house! He did a REALLY good job and Meghann did a great job helping! I'm THRILLED with the way it turned out! Good job, Mike & Megs!

{God's Beautiful Artwork}

{I took this one first...}

{About 5 minutes later the whole backyard was awash in a pink light, so I ran back to the front yard to catch this shot!}

{And this one...}

{And THIS one....ahhh!}

I LOVE the early morning...God has a paintbrush that makes me SWOON! Our house is situated perfectly to see the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets, I want to take pictures almost EVERY morning/evening! Thank you Lord for sharing with us Your beautiful artwork!

{Happy 2010!}

Happy New Year!

We hope you have a wonderful 2010! 2009 was very good to us and we hope it continues on into the new year. Wow...a decade into the 21st century already, how strange. How fast time flies! If we didn't see you in '09 we hope to see you in '10! Everyone gets busy, but it's nice to have some "face time" with our family and friends!

♥ to you all!
M, M, M