On day 2 of the road trip we finished up a 26 hour drive from Houston to Orlando. Normally what would be a 19 hour drive took us a little longer be cause we made many stops along the way for food, gasoline, rest, and of course potty breaks. We did discover two very interesting facts about road trips. One, contrary to all the advice we received..NO, we did not ‘need’ a DVD player to keep the kids occupied and stimulated. It’s amazing that simple family conversation still works. Two, pancakes are a sedative! On two occasions we ate at The Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Both times the twins ate a pancake each and 30 minutes later after getting back on the road they were both asleep for the next 4-5 hours.

I clearly remember the moment when Sadee and Joshua saw the Disney World entrance sign they both let out a huge scream of excitement. To tell you the truth, I did too.

I took the opportunity to re-process these in LR3/PS and play around with some dramatic post processing.

Michael did a great job pitching for his first year as a starting pitcher. Matthew taught him well. Pump fastballs and changes speeds, but under no circumstances was he allowed to throw “junk”. I am very proud of you, Michael! Not only are you a good little ball player, but more importantly, you are a great student in school and a wonderful person. I am proud to call you my nephew.

Because Michael is all those things, I wanted to create him a special surprise. He just assumes I was there to “take pictures”. This is the poster I created from a series of photos. Surprise! We hope you like it, Michael. We love you!

Being a parent is a gift and honor. You are a provider, supporter, teacher, disciplinary, leader, and just as important to your children, a hugger, boo-boo healer, and best friend. I’m close to tears every time I see our kids hug and kiss you. THANK YOU a zillion times over…. as if that could ever be enough!

Happy Father’s Day, “Daddy Daddy!!!”
(Hope you don’t mind the amateur photos. lol)

Lunch at school with the twins for their birthday in May.

Morgan visiting Daddy at work in January. (Her hair has a little static. lol)

Daddy helping Sadee get through her first haircut in Nov 08. Not current, but still makes me smile. This was a big day for him, too.

This photo is just too cute to pass up from Father’s Day last year!

In honor of the other two most important fathers in our lives, here are some photos of Grandpa Earl and Popo Merced. We love you!

Because I was juggling many different duties at once like a clown in the circus, I waited til the last minute to move our family’s WordPress blog. I’m not a web guy. I don’t know what it takes to change web hosting services. I thought it was as simple as filling out an online form, paying the bill, and the company fliping some electronic switch and BAM! Your website is now moved. Boy was I wrong. I won’t bore you with the details, but there is so much you have to prepare before making the move. Did I do any of this? Nope, because I did not take the time to educate myself about the entire process. Lesson learned.

June 5 was here and I had to get moving fast before my old hosting company automatically renewed the contract for another year. That evening I signed up with Eleven2. After a couple of days the new web hosting account was completed. Yippie, so I thought. After you sign up, it takes 24-48 hours for the domain to propagate. By this time the old hosting company had closed my account which meant I could no longer gain access to our files. Because I waited til the last minute, Eleven2 could not migrate our website. Which meant we just lost two years of posts, stories, and photos! NOOOOOOOOOOO! What have I done? I felt nauseous and dreaded breaking the news to Michelle.

Long story short, after begging and pleading with the old hosting company they granted me temporary access to download all the files for our family blog. Then Eleven2 stepped right in and immediately restored the blog. THANK YOU Eleven2!

• Each student is ONLY allowed to find four eggs.
• Each student MUST hop like a bunny while finding eggs.

On your marks; get set; GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I believe everybody had a smile on their face or was laughing except Morgan. She was mad because she could not hop like a bunny and find eggs. Don’t worry. She was fine a few minutes later. Sadee came over and let Morgan open two of her eggs and share the prizes inside.