~Maureen~

Kellyn, in review :)

Since it's been so long, I thought I'd do an update of each of the kids; who they are today, likes/dislikes, what they've been up to for the past few months....etc...starting with Kellyn.

• just got her driver's license YESTERDAY!!
• is closer to 17 than I care to think about :(
• is a junior in high school!
• loves photography and is really good at it!  She won 2nd place in her age bracket last weekend at the local state fair for a photo she took.
• she does some pretty cool stuff with photos and adds scripture and effects....it's very cool!
• is working really hard in school and it shows!
• thinking about college
• I said college
• COLLEGE?!!
• Yikes!
• will be taking PSAT's next weekend!
• was nominated for the National Honor Society (see my pride?)
• is a beautiful young woman!
• is tri-captain of the JV volleyball team.  She is a little sad to be on jv and not varsity but being captain helped make up for that.
• is a mentor for this year's confirmation class at church.
• enjoys Jodi Picoult books, tv shows "House" and "24" among others. 
• doesn't let me take enough photos of her :(
• doesn't feel good about herself most of the time and that breaks my heart.
• needs to find a job.....
• grew closer to her cousins on our Alaska trip and that was a really great thing!
• went on a huge trip with our church youth to Tennessee for CHIC (covenant high in christ) in July. She had an amazing time!
• still has personal space issues....we are a huggy family and I'm not sure what this is all about, although Katie is beginning to get the same way so maybe it's a phase?

Okay....that about does it for now.  She is such a great girl and I pray for her to be happy and to know that I am here for her always.  I pray that God blesses her and that she lives a full and wonderful life.  She is so full of love, life and talent. 

 

My friend Melissa's Giveaway!

My talented friend, Melissa Caligiuri, is having a giveaway on her blog!  Go check it out!

Alaskan Adventure~09

Okay, so I said I'd be back....a month ago?!  I'm hoping to do some posts to catch up, and decided to begin with this one :)

My whole family (22 in all) was lucky enough to all go on a vacation together this past summer.  It was the trip of a lifetime and we had an amazing trip!  We flew to Seattle....which is a beautiful city that I'd love to go to again!  We spent a full day there and then headed by bus (chartered for just us) to Vancouver, where we boarded the Celebrity Mercury.  We sailed the inside passage, where we made stops in Sitka, Juneau, and Ketchikan.  We had excursions on each stop.  We also made out way into Hubbard Glacier and were lucky enough to get about as close to it as they can. 

Of course, the best part of the trip was that we all got together.  Cousins really bonded!  We are so blessed to have this amazing family, who love each other, despite our differences in lifestyle, raising children, religious and political beliefs, and opinions on anything.  We can see (or even talk or email) each other for days at a time or not for months and months and it's okay.....we are all busy and we are all accepting of that. 

Between Johnny and I, we took 2000 pictures of our trip!  The girls also had cameras and I forget the number that my entire family took but my sister and brother in law took them all, and weeded through, making a wonderful cd for us, to music and with videos too :)  If these aren't enough, you can go to My Alaska Adventure Facebook Album (which I highly recommend) to check them out (if the link works?) I have some amazing pictures there of the glaciers, our excursions, our family.....great shots of them, whales and much more!

 

  
(all thanks to these 2 people....my parents, mom and stepfather).