Fayetteville Academy Prom

Nick went to the Fayetteville Academy Prom with a friend from school. He is growing up to be such a handsome young man! The theme was a Masquerade Ball...

Aruba Hilights

We had a great time in windy Aruba! In addition to renewing our vows, we had fun in the sun, playing in the sand, swimming, windsurfing, kite surfing, jeep ride, sight seeing, island fun, banana boat ride, volleyball, a little shopping, and a few casino visits too. On our jeep ride we visited ostrich farm and baby beach. Here are a few photos from our trip.

Tori had her first strawberry daiquiri.


We went to an ostrich farm and fed an ostrich. Did you know that an ostrich egg is the equivalent to 24 chicken eggs? Tori was the bravest...she took the bowl right out of Mike's hand so she could feed the ostrich. Nick went first...

We saw lots of lizards and geckos. We named them so Tori would not be afraid of them. This is Gary the gecko.


Dancing...Nick dragged me on the dance floor...Tori loved dancing to the music. Chickie had her dancing too.


Tori decided to do a summersault in the sand...Ms. Jane, her gymnastics teacher, would be proud.

De Palm Island: Ashley took Tori on the water slides. She was hesitant at first, but loved it!


Nick took Tori to get her hand painted...he got one too...Tori picked out his horse.


Playing in the sand with dad...not sure who is having more fun.


Nick being Nick!
One of our last nights...sorry to see the trip end. Good times were had by all!

Renewing our Wedding Vows...25 Years Later

Our Family vacation this year took us to Aruba. We stayed at the Marriott Aruba Surf where we also renewed our wedding vows to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. It was so nice to have the ceremony with our children and my cousin (who is like a sister to me) and her husband.


The ceremony was beautiful and I cried as soon as I faced Mike to repeat our vows, he joked with me that the next 25 years won't be that bad. The funny part of the ceremony was the crowd of beach goers in bathing suits watching our ceremony and clapping and cheering for us when it ended. The tricky part of the event was the wind...it whirled our hair around so that by the end of the wedding we looked a little rough and wind blow.


All in all, it was a wonderful night...The night I married my best friend all over again. I always joke with Mike that I would marry you all over again...and tonight I did!

Tori & Baseball Games

What Tori likes to do at Baseball games...cheer for "My Nicky", lick her ring pop...one of her highlights of watching baseball... along with eating Sun Chips.

Fayetteville Academy Baseball

Nick has made a good transition on the Fayetteville Academy baseball team. He has worked hard over the off season to strengthen his back and his hard work is paying off. His pitching keeps getting stronger as the season progresses. He is also hitting well for the team, hitting in the second slot.

Playing Dress Up

One day, Tori decided to play with her dress up clothes. First she dressed up as Belle...which I'm sure Ashley will be excited to see.

Then she was a chicken for most of the day.

Coloring Easter Eggs

We colored Easter Eggs after dinner on Sunday...notice the spaghetti sauce still on Miss Tori's cute little face. She really liked coloring Easter eggs. Nick helped her too. She liked the blue the best and kept trying to put the eggs in it even if there was already an egg in it. It felt strange to not have Ashley here to do eggs. Ashley always loved coloring Easter eggs. We are going to bring the stuff to color some in Aruba next week with her.