Christmas Photos

Thought we'd share our Christmas photos.

This first one has a bit of history. We went to JC Penney's photo center. BIG MISTAKE. The photo shoot couldn't have been worse (Ryan would not smile at all, the boys we're antsy, etc). JC Penney doesn't have digital photos (they're still stuck in the 1970's) so we basically paid $150 for a set of photos we literally threw out (they were THAT bad). So we went to Kiddie Kandids at the local Babies R' Us. We got some great pictures. Here is our family photo.

Next we wanted the annual trip to the Broward Mall to pay hommage to the Jolly one himself. This couldn't be a more wonderful experience. We got up early on Christmas eve to go to the mall by 9am (when they opened). Santa has been the same guy for the last 5 years (for the little eyes reading - he works for Santa since Sant can't be at every mall at once). We love this one - he remembers us each year and spent extra time with us talking about his grandchildren.,

Snow in Florida!

We went to a Panther's game on Saturday night and the boys got to see snow! Mind you, it was shipped in from Gainesville, FL (apparently the home of snow).

We started the evening with a visit from Santa Stanley and Mini-Stanley!

A toboggan slide was set up. Colin and Ryan went first.

Colin loved it. Ryan wasn't so sure...

Nicholas was thrilled to ride the toboggan.

Ryan thought the ice was one big snow cone.

Maggie was interested in the "that cold stuff down there"

The boys couldn't help but be boys and had an impromptu snowball fight (you can see the blurred snowball hurling away from Colin...)

The boys had a blast in the snow, even if it was artificial!

Ministering During Christmas

J and I have come to know a family that struggles financially. We found out their son, Clivens didn't even have a bed (with only one bed, someone always slept on the floor). So we solicited the help of some friends and J's mom's bible study group to collect enough money to purchase a Twin bed, a dresser and a nightstand.

Clivens was thrilled to have his own bed!

Here is a better picture of the bed and nightstand.

The dresser.

The Boys Ring the Bell

Bob belongs to the Pompano Beach Rotary so every year, the boys help their grandfather to ring the Salvation Army bell to collect money to help those less fortunate.

Nicholas doesn't look that thrilled to be ringing the bell...

The Boys Get a Job

For their grandfather, that is. Their Papa owns a UPS Store and the boys got to be put to work for a day.

The boys really enjoy spending time with their Papa.

Nicholas got his own nametag and an official apron.

The boys helped pack and ship boxes for customers caught in the Christmas rush.

The Annual Christmas Cookie Baking

J and her mom have a tradition of making Christmas cookies. This year, the boys helped.

Colin was in it for the free cookie dough...

Nicholas was in it for the baking (he's our family chef )

Ryan just thought it was so cool ("Hey, just like Play-Doh!!!")

The cookies turned out very nicely.

Yet another great memory for the boys.

Thanksgiving 2007

This year, we chose to host Thanksgiving (it's far easier to have everyone bring food to our house than take all 6 of us somewhere else...).

J did an awesome job dressing up the patio - the weather was so nice, we were actually able to eat outside without breaking a sweat.


We deep fried the turkey (we've been skipping the oven since 2001). If you've never used a deep fryer for Thanksgiving turkey, I highly recommend you get one.

We had everything from stuffing to greenbeans to different breads, and more.

There were 18 of us there - what a motley bunch!

I was able to snap a great picture of Maggie with her namesake - my mom.

It was nice to spend time with the family and enjoy a hearty meal together.

Taking the boys to Wayfest

I took the boys to "Wayfest" - a concert of about 10 bands put on by Way FM. The boys really enjoyed our 6th row tickets. We enjoyed the band StorySide B.

We originally went to see one of my favorite bands, Starfield.

The boys even got to get signed CD's from the band Everyday Sunday. They had a blast!

Our Disney Cruise

We took a much needed family vacation and decided to take the kids on a Disney Cruise. It was a 3-day cruise to Nassau and Disney's private island, Castaway Cay. Here is some of our cruise memories.

We walked the ship before it set sail and spent some time together.

There were three huge blowholes on the ship... and those yellow ports as well.

J looked awesome all dressed up for our first dinner on the ship. Hot Stuff!

The first night's entertainment was "Hercules: the MUSE-ical" and was an absolute blast!

There were Disney characters all over the ship throughout the cruise.

The second day of the cruise took use to Nassau, Bahamas. We decided to go visit Atlantis (despite the fact that I spent 10 weeks there working back when I had my consulting business). I cashed in a favor with a buddy from Kerzner (they own Atlantis) and we were able to score day passes to the property (which would have cost $585 for the day if we had to pay for them!!!).

We visited Royal Towers and saw the fish just before entering "The Dig"

The fish (while magnified becuase of the thick glass) are still impressively huge.

"The Dig" is a walk through the Atlantis acquarium that shows what Atlantis might have looked like.

Here, the boys are standing next to an Atlantean diver's outfit.

We spent much of the day near a large pool with a wading area.

Colin rode a tube water ride that dumps you out into a clear plexiglass tube that flows through the middle of a shark-infested tank!

On the way back from Nassau, we got a good view of the entire ship.

It is HUGE, housing 2700 guests plus staff.

We had the same servers, Vishal and Rockesh, throughout the cruise. They made our dining experience wonderful. Here are the boys with Vishal.

The cabin steward, Grace, would make a creative towel fold each night. The seond night was a hanging Monkey. The funny part was there were chocolates stashed where the monkey's "butt" would normally be.

The second night's entertainment was "The Golden Mickeys", a mock awards event where the best of Disney's movies were presented in song and dance.

The third day was spent at Castaway Cay (pronounced "Key"), Disney's private island. We started our adventure seeing Captain Hook.

"Pirates of the Caribbean" was a big theme on the cruise. This is the ghost ship "The Flying Dutchman" from the movie. It was sitting in the middle of the bay.

The boys went snorkeling - the Snorkel area is roped off to ensure there is much to see.

Maggs had a great time playing with Mom.

Our last dinner was in the restaraunt Parrot Cay. It was dress up night so J looked especially beautiful in het hot little cocktail dress.


It was alot of work to manage 4 kids on the cruise, but was alot of fun and will give the kids many memories for years to come.