Weekend Fun!

Our family was invited to help celebrate our little friend's 4th birthday on Saturday. It was a super cute party. The kids had fun jumping in the bounce house and playing on the playground. Everyone made dump trucks out of twinkies, mini oreos, frosting, and crushed gram crackers. Happy Birthday, Jackson!

Sunday evening Philip and I took Moriah to one of the many parks in our neighborhood. Allison came along (Joslyn was out playing with her friends).

Wonderful & Amazing Summer Vacation of 2010!

We just returned from a wonderful vacation aboard the Costa Fortuna Cruise ship! Our summer vacation began on Saturday June 26th when we left our home and drove to Frankfurt Hahn. We spent the night at a nice hotel in Frankfurt Hahn. Sunday morning (June 27th) we boarded our plane on Ryan Air (a European airline) and flew to Treviso Airport. Once we landed in Treviso, we collected our luggage and boarded a shuttle bus to Venice, Italy. Once in Venice we found the Bread and Breakfast where we would spend the night. Joslyn, Philip and Allison changed into fancy clothes and took a water taxi to the opera house, Teatro La Fenice to see Giro Di Vite in Italian. Moriah and I sat down at a restaurant along side one of the canals and shared a pizza. Once Philip, and the girls returned from the opera and shared their experience with me, we all went to have dinner, explore some of Venice and had ice cream. We had a nice night in our hotel and we all slept well.
Monday afternoon (June 28) we all went to a resturant in Venice to have lunch before we boarded the Costa Fortuna Cruise ship.

We were so excited to board the Costa Fortuna Cruise ship and make it our home for the next 7 days!

After Philip, the girls and I settled into our room we went to explore a bit of the ship. We went out onto the deck and saw Venice from the ship. We took the girls swimming for a bit. Our Cabin Stewart gave us an itinerary of the evening events aboard the ship. We were also given information about the restaurant that we would eat at every night while on the ship. The restaurant we ate dinner at every night was The Michelangelo Restaurant. (The ceiling in the restaurant was a replica painting of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel)We would have the same waiter every night. We would also have the same assistant waiter every night. Our assistant waiter would bring our drinks to us.
Every night at around 10pm our Cabin Stewart would deliver a daily paper titled Today to our room. The Today paper was an itinerary of the daily events, hour by hour, that would happen on the ship the next day. The Today paper also gave us the weather and time expected to be at our next days' destination. We were also given the time that the ship would leave the port of the city we were to visit. I carried our daily Today paper every where.
Tuesday morning we woke up in Bari, Italy (June 29th). Our ship took us from Venice, Italy to the bottom of the "boot". We had breakfast in our room before we headed out to explore Bari. (every evening we also received a menu with breakfast items for the next morning. We checked the items we wanted and how many of that item we wanted and hung the order/ menu form on the outside of our cabin door.)
Wednesday (June 30th) we went to Olympia, Greece however Philip was not feeling well at all so we stayed on the ship. The girls and I spent most of the day at the pool.
Thursday (July 1st) we arrived in the bay of Santorini, Greece!

Santorini, Greece is so beautiful! I absolutely love Santorini. The people are so sweet and the food is delicious! After visiting Santorini I know my 3rd favorite place in the world! #1 is San Antonio of course. My family is there and that will ALWAYS be my home! California is #2. I love CA. I love the weather, the beaches, the cold lakes, rivers, (unlike TX the bodies of water are actually cold and will cool you off on a hot day) mountains and of course most of my extended family lives there! Now #3 is Santorini, Greece!
After we did some sight seeing in Santorini we had to be on the ship before 12pm. The ship was leaving Santorini at 12pm. We only had about 2 hours on the ship before our ship docked in Mykonos, Greece. Mykonos, Greece is a very beautiful city too. I think Mykonos is a more modern city than Santorini. We saw windmills and the beautiful beach in Mykonos! We also witnessed an amazing sunset while we were in Mykonos!

On Friday (July 2nd) we stopped in Rhodes, Greece. We walked to the "New City" of Rhodes and saw the place where it is believed that The Colossus of Rhodes stood (at the entrance of the harbor) It is one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

We also had a fun and educational experience as we walked through the Archaeological Museum of Rhodes which is in the medieval building of the Hospital of the Knights.

It was a great experience for the whole family!
Saturday (July 3rd) was our last stop. Our cruise ship took us took the country of Croatia. We visited a city called Dubrovnik. It was beautiful. We walked along the city wall of Dubrovnik. The view from the high city walls was amazing! The sea is so blue and so pretty!

Sunday (July 4th) we spent the entire day at sea which for our family meant an entire day at the pool! We had lunch poolside and Moriah had a nice long nap in the shade close to the pool. Our family was invited by some of the Costa Cruise staff to one of the party rooms on the ship. We celebrated the 4th of July with about 10 other American families on the ship. We were served glasses of champagne and the kids were served glasses of punch. We were also served delicious hors d'oeuvres. There was a cake as well!

Bright and early Monday (July 5th) morning we woke up back in the port of Venice, Italy! Our family along with the other guests disembarked the ship. Our vacation however was not over yet! We said good bye to what was our home for the last week and made our way to a beautiful in Venice!

We did a lot more exploring in Venice. We went to San Marco Square, Rialto Bridge,  and of course rode a Gondola down the canals of Venice and through the Grand Canal of Venice! We had delicious Italian pizza, and did a lot of souvenir shopping as well!

Tuesday night at 10pm (July 6) we flew out of Treviso Airport and said good bye to Venice, Italy. We arrived in Frankfurt Hahn aound midnight and drove to a small town a few miles from Hahn. We were exhausted! Early Wednesday morning (July 7th) we ate breakfast at the hotel and then drove back to our home in Schweinfurt! We all had a WONDERFUL summer vacation!!!

Marriage Monday- Appreciating Blessings in my Marriage

Today is Marriage Monday. A great time to reflect on my marriage- its strengths and weaknesses.
I just finished reading Mrs. Julie's blog Come Have A Peace. The post today is titled Facebook & Faithfulness
As I read this post I was reminded about the social network site, Myspace.(It is very similar to facebook.) My husband and I had 2 different accounts on Myspace. In 2008 I found messages to my husband from other women in his inbox. I immediately became insecure. At the time that I found the messages Philip was having real struggles within himself, work and our marriage. This began a string of bad decisions Philip was making through out the summer of 2008. (My stomach gets all knotted up just thinking about that summer, and all the bad, irresponsible decisions Philip made) Now I can appreciate that time of struggle in my marriage. The summer of 2008 brought me so, so much closer to God and my relationship with Christ was so strong! I prayed AT LEAST twice a day for my marriage and my husband. I prayed more for Philip than I prayed for my kids, myself or parents!
I have recently deleted the Myspace account I had for a few years. I am now on facebook and have been for a while. Philip still has his account with Myspace, but very rarely signs into his account. I always pray that Philip will not open an account with facebook for the exact reasons stated in Facebook and Faithfulness.
I have experienced a lot while Philip was an active user on Myspace. I now see how many people that Philip and I both know from school or past encounters. I think I would become very insecure if Philip had a facebook account (still praying about my insecurities). I praise God that Philip does not show any interest in signing up for facebook. I pray he will never have interest in any other social network sites again! I trust Philip, I just don't trust the intentions of all women out there.
Well I am going to thank God for the many blessing he has blessed my marriage with. During the summer of 2008 I honestly thought my prayers were going unheard. I would have never imagined the tremendous changes in Philip were possible. How crazy was I! It was very, very hard for me to see anything during the "storm" in my marriage. The storm has since past (it was about a 4 month long "storm")and I can see how AWESOME God was, is and always will be! I know I have blogged about the many positive changes in Philip and in his personality.
Now every time it begins to even slightly drizzle on our marriage- little arguments here and there, I go STRAIGHT to God in prayer! I know everything and anything is possible for God and I am a witness to his amazing, awesome, mighty power! I encourage you to pray for your husband daily! Never give up on praying for him. It may take a few weeks before you see how God answers your prayer, maybe 4 months, maybe longer. Just be fervent, persistent, and faithful as you cover your husband in prayer. Recruit all your "Prayer Warriors" to help you lift your husband up in prayer! Your prayers will be answered. I need to remind myself of this too!
A good book to help you through storms in your marriage is The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian. I took this book everywhere I went! I still take this book with me where ever I go (when I travel)
Have a wonderful day as you reflect on your Marriage this Monday!

What a Wonderful Week!

Monday was the girls last day of school. Joslyn graduated from elementary school. Joslyn made all A's on every single report card while in elementary school! How awesome is that! Joslyn received the President's Award for Academic Excellence! She earned this award by maintaining a GPA of 90 or above for the entire school year! We are extremely proud of her!!

Joslyn and the school principle, Ms Holt

As I have mentioned in previous posts, Allison did not receive numeric grades in 3rd grade. She will receive numeric grades in 4th grade. Allison did very well this school year too! We went to a local German restaurant to celebrate the girl's hard work and wonderful success.(I forgot to take my camera to the restaurant) We actually walked to the restaurant. It was a very nice evening and we enjoyed dinner outside!
So we really don't have many plans for this summer. We are leaving in a few days (notice my countdown in the sidebar) on a cruise. We will also spend a few days in Venice, Italy! We are all very excited! I would like to make a trip to Berlin, Germany sometime this summer and I would also like to visit the Black Forest! Hope you all have had a wonderful weekend!

Not Passing up the Small, Precious Moments!

Philip and I went to the middle school to register Joslyn for 6th grade. When I came home I felt sick to my stomach. I didn't feel good at all. I remember having a similar feeling the summer before Joslyn began kindergarten. I was so nervous about Joslyn starting school. I worried about who, if any one, would tie her shoe laces when they came undone. How would Joslyn be able to carry her very own lunch tray with out dropping it....!
As Philip and I walked into the middle school the kids were changing classes so the halls were crowed with students. All the kids looked so tall, the lockers looked big...! I'm just not ready for Joslyn to go to middle school! When I came home I could not wait to see Joslyn. I missed her so much! Joslyn came home, dropped off her backpack, put on cooler clothes (it was hot today) and said to me, "I don't have any homework. I'm going to go play outside with Mia. I will be back home before 6pm"  (the girl's have to be inside every evening before 6pm. I try to have dinner on the table by 6 or no later than 6:30) and out the door she went!
Well at 9pm Joslyn and Allison went to their beds. I went to lay down with Joslyn in her bed first and planned to lay in Allisons' bed there after. Joslyn told me ALL about her day at school and what she did outside after school. I really enjoyed spending that one on one time with her. It was special. I plan to keep it up every night until she doesn't want me to anymore (I pray she always wants to spend that special time with me).
Joslyn sounds like she is really looking forward to middle school. She is excited about having the freedom to sit wherever and with whomever she wants at lunch time. Tomorrow Joslyn and the rest of the 5th graders will walk to the middle school for a orientation and walk through of the school.  I can't wait for tomorrow night- to lay with Joslyn in her bed and hear all about it!

The girls last day of school is Tuesday June 15. Allison has asked a few times if we could have a picnic outside. I am thinking about having Allison make a few invitations and invite a few of her girl friends over. We can have a picnic by the BBQ pit area behind our house one day next week after school is out for the summer. I will let Allison do most of the planning and all the inviting. Of course I will limit the number of invites to 5 girls! So I will post pictures next week!
My girls are growing so fast! I can't allow these precious moments pass me by!

Marriage Monday ~ Still Working on Lower my Expectations!

I participate in Marriage Mondays every week (or at least try). I found Marriage Monday on Come Have a Peace! I encourage all my blog friends to do the same!

This past weekend did not have a great start. During the middle of last week Philip told me it was mandatory that all the soldiers in his company attend the FRG (Family Readiness Group) meeting on Friday. I don't attend FRG meetings anymore since Philip is home and not deployed. On Friday the FRG meeting was held at the bowling alley. One of the perks to attending the FRG meeting was one free game of bowling. The girls, Philip and I went. I was a little upset while we where there. Philip was off handling business with soldiers and the girls and I were off bowling by ourselves. I felt like Philip was totally ignoring me. I was upset. I really didn't want to be there in the first place. I had to be home by 5pm because we planned a Going Away Party at our house for Joslyns good friend (the party started at 5:30). So Philip and I left the bowling alley upset at one another. I didn't talk to Philip the rest of the night. I woke up Saturday morning and after getting breakfast to all the girls I checked facebook. I remembered that I had RSVPed to a friends baby shower that had already started about 1 hour ago, and I didn't even have a present yet! I woke Philip up and told him he would have to watch Moriah because I had to go to this baby shower for about 1 hour. I quickly got dressed, went to the PX, bought the gift and went to the shower. I was late, but I'm glad I was able to visit with some ladies from the chapel and give Keeley her gift. (While I was at the shower I received another invite to a birthday party on Thursday.) I came back home and I was still a little upset with Philip from the evening before. The Volksfest (carnival) is in town and it's right across the street from our neighborhood. I began getting the girls ready to go to the Volksfest and Philip asked if he could go with us. I told him yes, but I was still upset with him about the bowling alley. He told me he was sorry. He just had to take care of somethings since he is the acting platoon sergeant right now. I really do need to work on lowering my expectations so I won't set myself up for disappointment. If my expectations are lowered then when Philip does show lots of attention to me I will be pleasantly surprised!
We enjoyed the Volksfest so much on Saturday! Joslyn had 2 friends come to the carnival with us. Her best friend Milla was leaving Sunday and moving back to the states. This was a great way for Joslyn and Milla to spend their last day together! I'm so glad we all went and had such a blast!

Sunday we went to the Wildlife Park here in Schweinfurt. It is similar to a zoo, but on a much, much smaller scale and it's free. There is a little water park there too. We packed a cooler and some snacks and spent Sunday afternoon at the Wildlife Park. We ended up having a really REALLY great, AWESOME weekend!

Marriage Monday ~ Patience

I know today is not Monday. I  really like sharing with Come Have a Peace on Marriage Mondays and I can ALWAYS use all my Prayer Warriors as well as all the prayers you pray for me and my marriage! So today is Wednesday, but this is my Marriage Monday...

Our car is a 2002. It's an old car and showing its age. Last year I had to have a few senors replaced. The total bill came to about $900. We have not had any other major problems with our car since last year. For about a month now our car (in Philip's mind) is falling apart. There are a lot of problems with our car, but I don't think they are major problems. We need an oil change (regular maintance on any car, new or old) and new tires (something every car needs every few years or so) Our car does have some minor problems. I don't think its necessary to fix these minor problems all at once.
We are down to only 1 car. Last summer I went home to San Antonio. While I was visiting I was using Philip's (1997) Suburban. It was stolen from my parents driveway. We were trying to sell the Suburban anyway, so I wasn't sad that it was gone. I was more upset that someone stole something of ours! I always knew in the back of my mind that eventually we would get a 2nd vehicle.
Philip has shown a significant amount of intrest in buying a 2nd vehicle just within the past few days. We only have about 1 more year to pay off our Explorer. In my own thoughts I was thinking that we would pay off the Explorer and just continue to have 1 vehicle for a while, save some money, or travel, or both. I am convinced that we do not need 2 vehicles over here. I am asking for prayers that Philip won't jump head first into a big purchase like this.
Philip is also peddling with the idea of using the Explorer we have now as a trade-in and buying 2 BRAND NEW cars! That is just a absolute crazy idea. I just don't understand how he thinks we could possibly afford 2 car payments. It reminds me of a toy. Kids will say, " If you buy me this toy I won't want ask for anything else". Philip says, "This car is causing me too much stress. If we buy a new car I won't have that stress anymore". We will ALWAYS have stress, especially with 3 kids and they are all girl's on top of that! If a kids shoe lace tears do we go out and buy another expensive pair or just buy new shoe laces (I would buy new shoe laces)? When the subject comes up I get very anxious and both Philip and I begin to raise our voices. I need patience. I pray for patience. Please pray for us. Of course I am praying too. I am going to give God my anxeity and all my concerns! Thank you so much for your prayers (and I'm calling you mom, to talk to you about this)