Monday, July 7, 2008

My Favorite Holiday


There are many reasons the 4th of July is my favorite holiday. Not only does the holiday include my birthday but it lasts for 3 to 5 days minimum. This year was extra special because Collin is here. I remember this time last year I was really bummed because I had hoped that Collin would be home by my birthday-he would be my best birthday present ever-but no such luck. Instead, Wyatt and I worked for 2 days straight to save money for our next trip to Guatemala.

This year was a different story. My best present ever is here and he started walking! We had a great first Fourth of July together! Thursday we went downtown to Red, White and Boom! I thought the rain might ruin our day but it stopped just in time. We had a prime piece of fireworks watching real estate! We went to a party on top of a parking garage so we didn't have to mix with the "crowd" or fight for parking. The kids had a blast because they could run free and the party was very nice. We took our friends Amy and Em for their first RW&B experience. I think they had a great time. We also took Nana, Uncle B, Brylie,Kahlen, Alexis, Peyton, Greg(Alexis' boyfriend),Niki, Kaitlyn and Austin. Wyatt aka Daddy was able to join us for a while too. We watched the parade and then had dinner and waited for the fireworks. Collin didn't mind the fireworks at all. The kids had a few late nights so we could pay for that for a while. We also made a joint decision to eliminate all pacifiers "cold turkey" last week but all in all everyone did pretty well.

On the 4th we decided to check out the DooDah Parade in the Short North. All the kids spent the night so it was easier to get to a parade that started at 1pm instead of 10am. None of us had ever gone to this parade-it is a parade that anyone who wants to make a statement can join in. As you can imagine there were some very creative entries! It is a humorous parade spoofing current events. It inspired us to think of something to do to be IN the parade next year instead of watching it or at least to make it an annual event-a new tradition! It rained that day as well but it stopped or at lest slowed long enough for us to enjoy the parade. The kids looked so cute in their rain ponchos and Brylie loved catching candy!

The weather cleared up enough for us to enjoy the day. We cooked out with the family and a few friends and then went to the Hilliard Fireworks. We have a secret spot that we sit in every year. It is very close to where the fireworks are set off and the view is spectacular! Hilliard's fireworks rival RW&B every year, they are great! After the fireworks we went back home and had our own fireworks display-very impressive!

Saturday was my birthday. Brylie was very excited because she made me a beautiful pink cake(see above)so I went to my mom and dads and we sang Happy Birthday (at least 6 times, we had to sing to everyone) and dug in. She was very proud of her creation.

Later in the evening we went to Hooter's to watch the UFC fight. Don't laugh-that was Wyatt's idea of the perfect way to spend my birthday!?!?!? What woman wouldn't love to go to Hooter's on her birthday??? ME!!! It was fine but I would have rather just stayed home-oh well! That will teach me to have a birthday on the same day as a UFC fight. Now a trip to Vegas to see the fight might be a different story!

The party was not over yet!! Today we took the Jet Ski and all the kids to Alum Creek Beach. We had a fun day playing in the water and having a picnic! Then we went home and had a cookout and MORE BIRTHDAY CAKE!! This year I scored a total of 3 birthday cakes!! It was a nice, relaxing and fun family day.

What a weekend!! I love the Fourth of July!!!!
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Guatoberfest Cruise 2009

My soapbox about the Advent Conspiracy

I came across this video on another blog. I have to admit I only looked at it for entertainment value. I assumed with a title like that, it had to be some wacko conspiracy theory and who doesn't need a good laugh. Suprisingly enough it really touched me and made me think. It didn't grab my interest because of it's religious value, because that's not really my thing. I am not the type of person that flaunts religion or believes in pushing your beliefs onto others. It touched me because of it's human value and because it shows me how quickly I forget.

When we were in Guatemala it was truly a life changing experience for a myriad of reasons, only one of which was bringing home a baby! We saw poverty that we could never imagine in this country. I remember thinking when I was there that despite all of the stress of the situation, I was more at peace than I had ever felt in my life. Among other things, there was no pressure to have more...there was nothing to have. People just lived their lives. Families worked together, lived together in cramped housing-if they had a roof over their heads at all-and they were happy! We were forced to enjoy eachother without our "creature comforts" and I loved it. I now remember hoping that once we got home, I would never lose that idea that we don't really need much at all. I realized our society makes us think we need more but we really don't. And after watching the video it makes me realize that I have failed miserably.


I had made up my mind that in order to honor my new found attitude and our sons heritage, we would sponsor a Guatemalan family every year so that they could have food and heat and their children could go to school-things we take for granted on a daily basis. For some reason I can never seem to find the money to do that- BUT- I can find the money to buy coffee every day, sometimes several times a day, Collin will see a room full of gifts on Christmas morning, I can go out to eat, I can do whatever I want for the most part. My priorities have gone right back to where they were before I experienced Guatemala and it makes me sad. That is the reason that I am posting the video in a permenant spot on the blog, so that I am constantly reminded, not only during Christmas but all year to give PRESENCE to my friends and family not PRESENTS and to give back to something that I feel very strongly about. I don't write this to push Guatemalan charity or any charity but to encourage anyone reading this to slow down and take a look at your life and see what means the most to you and see where it takes you.

Advent Conspiracy