{Home Sweet Home from the High Seas!}

{Mike on the gangplank to the Carnival Paradise!}

{The view up into the Atrium Plaza from the 7th deck}

{The Long Beach Cruise Terminal}

{View back towards our lovely Long Beach with the Queen Mary in the foreground}

{Night 1's turndown service and rabbit? towel animal...Mike's favorite part? The chocolate mints on the bed every night!}

{The view out of our cabin window of Avalon, Catalina Island}

{Mike on the tender over to Catalina}

{Hamilton Cove...friends of Janet's had her and I over to their place last summer that is right under the Wrigley's penthouse and has a BEAUTIFUL view back towards Avalon!}

{The view of the ship as we were tendered over to Avalon}

{My friend, Capt. Jim, lives in Avalon and does the Glass Bottom Boat tours for the Catalina Island Company. He was over on the mainland when we were there and let us borrow his golf cart to get all around the island! How nice to not have to rent one for $40 an hour! We have GENEROUS friends!}

{What a beautiful view of Avalon from the back side!}

{Another view of just mainly the harbor and the green pier}

{Look! It's our home!}

{Mike is SUCH a stud! That's a big ship you're lifting, babe!}

{Descanso Beach where Lesley and I took our Girl Scouts a few years back to kayak and play!}

{We saw a TON of woodpeckers on our way to the Wrigley Memorial!}

{William Wrigley Jr. Memorial}

{Mike and I at the top of the memorial...lots of stairs!}

{A beautiful tree in bloom}

{Mike and I in the famous bathroom doors @ the Marlin Club where Janet and I have closed the bar down and done dishes a few nights! (Oh wait...I think Janet was playing POOL while I did dishes!)}

{Mike on the deck of the Emerald, the UnderSea Tour that our friend, Capt. Mike, does in Catalina! We got to do all of our tours for free...once again, we have VERY nice friends!}

{Shot of the beautiful artwork and lighting in the Casino's theater}

{Me @ the top of the Casino building with the ship in the background}

{Towel animal and turndown for night 2}

{Looking over the bow towards Ensenada, Mexico. Mike and I didn't get off the ship because we've been to Mexico before and didn't need a bunch of touristy stuff and there really wasn't anything we were excited about seeing...so we just relaxed!}

{Mike and Ensenada}

{That's ONE BIG flag! Look how small the people are @ the base of the pole! NUTS!}

{Mike and I played a round of mini-golf on the top deck of the ship. He won...poop!}

{Towel animal and turndown for night 3}

{Towel animal and turndown for night 4}

We really enjoyed our time reconnecting with each other on this relaxing vacation! We are SO blessed to have such wonderful friends that took care of Meghann and Lani while we were gone. And a wonderfully grown-up daughter that came to the house each morning to get ready and brought in the mail, made sure everything was okay, etc. What a young lady we've raised...so responsible and loving! We look forward to taking another cruise with some friends sometime soon...that would be REALLY fun to do! But like always...there's NO PLACE LIKE HOME! ♥♥

{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!