Monday, June 16, 2014

Cradle of Liberty

So we took our ten year anniversary trip at the eleventh year of our marriage.  :)  We were very blessed to have most of the trip paid for.  I have always wanted to go to Boston....ever since I was a teenager.  And so that is where we got to go!  I still can't believe we were there! Here are just a few (very small portion of all the ones I took!) pictures of the amazing time we had....

...when we got there it was beautiful weather - really the only sunny day.  So we drove up to Marblehead and drove around the cute little town and saw a real New England lighthouse!  Be still, my heart!

Later we ate at "No Name Seafood" that overlooked Boston Harbor.

We took a cab to Fenway.  The game was sold out, but we were able to walk around the outside and get the 'game day' vibe.
We were so blessed to have a friend in Ft Worth who used to live in Boston.  So he and his wife had us over for dinner and told us all the fun places to go and all the good restaurants to be sure and try.  Our trip was very smooth and full of all the good stuff! Thank you, Mark!

We walked the Freedom Trail and saw Old North Church, where the lanterns were hung, and the statue of Paul Revere.


We ate some amazing pastries....
and even rode the subway!  A first for me....it was quite the adventure.  :)
We took a cab to see the monument at Bunker Hill....
...and walked around Boston in the twilight.  The weather was cool and it was such a relaxing walk.
We got to see "Old Iron Sides". She was closed the first time we went....but we went back.  Keep scrolling...
We took a Duck Tour!  Woohooo!  Very cool way to see the city and hear the history.  When we plunged into the Charles River he let volunteers drive the Duck!  There I am!
We took a pretty walk through Boston Common..the park in the heart of the city.
The subways were a challenge at first....to find the right line and to get off a the right stop.  But the local Bostonians were very kind to the tourist Texans and we got it all figured out in the end.
We got caught in a rain storm for a few hours.  We bought matching hoodies and kept walking.

We walked through the Holocaust Memorial.  Very sad and somewhat hard to do.

We made it to Lexington and Concord.  They had a very beautiful museum.  We got to see one of the actual lanterns!  Wow!
Then we drove up to North Bridge and saw where the 'shot heard round the world' was fired.  It was such a serene and beautiful place.  I could have stayed all day.
Near there we also saw Emmerson's house, Walden pond, and the house that inspired the setting for Little Women.


Here is our Noble Steed!  The rental car that got us around.  :)
Our friend Mark also told us about Kimball Farms....some of the yummiest ice cream ever!  And such a pretty, winding, lush drive to get there.

One of my favorite things was the reenactment of the Boston Tea Party.  Everyone was in costume and it was an interactive play about what happened the night the colonist dumped the tea in the Boston Harbor.  So fun!  There I am with my Indian feather about to throw the tea overboard!
We went back to Old Iron Sides and got the real tour.  She was magnificent!

Back at the airport on Texas soil.  My sweet hubby pulling both suitcases so I could take pictures.
We praise the Lord for allowing such a wonderful vacation!  Thank you to the grandparents for loving on the kids and to all those who prayed for us while we were away.  God is so good!

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Mother's Day


Ok, so I'm really late in posting this.  Oops.  But I really wanted to share what my super-sweet family did for me.  Saturday when I got home from the book fair, this beautiful picnic table was waiting for me.  Gasp!  I have always wanted one of these for the back yard!
After church the next day,  Brent told me that I could go out and do anything I wanted and he and the kids would clean the WHOLE house!  Woohoo! So I went for a jog and laid by the river. Aaah. (Pardon the workout clothes...)


 Part of the present was that we got to sand and stain it ourselves.  Yes I was so excited!  My hubby knows how much I love a good DIY!  :)  So over the next few days we worked on the table together.....until
 it was done!  Oh I just love it!
 Brent carved each of the kids names into in at the place of their choice.  So special!



To christen the table we had our friends, the Thoms, over for dinner.  What a lovely evening of fellowship.

A few mornings later they took to me one of our favorite breakfast spots, Ginger Browns, for a yummy meal together.  It was perfect!

 I am so blessed to have such a godly husband and sweet kids.  I pray that God uses me in their lives to show His glorious grace!

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Osterberg Drive-in

We were supposed to go to the drive in movie theater with some friends...but Justin got sick the night before.  Although he was better the next day we still decided not to risk it and stayed home.  To make up for it I decided to do a craft I had found on Pinterest and was waiting to try.  We turned our living room into a drive in!

 We started out by painting our boxes...er...cars.
 Painting with paint brushes first...
then fingers...
 then forget the boxes, let's paint our BODIES!  Lol, they had a blast.  And an even more fun time running through the sprinklers to wash off!

 We added head lights to our cars and Daddy pushed them around the house to arrive at the 'drive-in'.
 Pull into your parking spaces!  Movie's about to start!
 We rented Honey, I Shrunk the Kids for our movie!  So much fun to watch them watch it.  I loved that movie as a kid.  :)
 During intermission we allowed them to pay for parking and to buy snacks.  Nothing like sneaking in a little bit of school, bwhahaha.  :)


Osterberg Drive In was a success!  We are blessed, even when original plans do not come to pass.  May we trust the Lord even more with our days.