Nick's Confirmation

After a year of study, Nick was confirmed into the Catholic Church on Thursday night.  We are so happy that he has chosen to continue learning about catholicism and deepen his faith.  Nick chose his Grandpa Dan to be his sponsor.  Dan couldn't make it to the confirmation mass, I had the honor to stand in as his sponsor.  

 

LA for the weekend

Eric and I traveled to Los Angeles for a long weekend.  Eric had a meeting to attend, I tagged along and we turned it into a vacation!  We stayed on the beach at Shutters, a beautiful hotel right on the beach boardwalk.  We could see the Santa Monica Pier from our balcony.  

Eric and I rode bikes on the boardwalk, took walks on the beach, sat by the pool, enjoyed slow dinners and rides on the roller coaster on the pier after dinner!  What a fun getaway!

On our last night we met Jill and Greg for dinner.  Jill is Nick's godmother.  We haven't seen them in a quite a few years, it was so special to get to catch up and hear about their lives in LA.  We met Jill and Greg when we lived in Phoenix, Jill and I spent a lot of time together while our husbands were working.  We loved hearing about their kids who were babies when we lived near one another.

  

 

Spring time!

Ben and Ruby are showcasing our front terrace in bloom! These flowers are so pretty, but unfortunately only last about 2 weeks.

 

Spring Break on the beach at Alabama Shores

It's spring break and we are headed to the beach on the Alabama coast!  Ruby joined us on this fun adventure!  She liked staying at the hotel on the drive down and was perfectly behaved.  

We rented a house on the beach in the town of Fort Morgan, AL.

It was the ideal setting for a week of relaxation and fun in the sun and sand. 

At the end of the week our cousin Daniel and his wife Kennedy joined us for dinner.  They live nearby in Florida and drove over to have dinner with us. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures.  We were too busy talking, laughing and eating!

 

Besides the beach....

Eric and I are very content to sit on the beach all week long.  The boys, not so much.  They need some action mixed in!  

We chartered a fishing trip in the intercostal waters and caught dinner for the night, and the next night, too!  We all caught lots of fish, including a sting ray by Eric!  After we had caught all of the fish we could eat, we cruised around looking for dolphins, which we saw!  and we went looking for gators, which we did not find (thankfully!)  

We all loved our beach vacation.  This was our second time vacation on the Gulf Shores during spring break, and I'm sure won't be the last!  

There wasn't a shortage of mini golf courses to choose from on Gulf Shores!  

We took Ruby with us out to eat one night.  She was perfectly behaved and laid under our table patiently waiting for us to drop some food for her.  

We toured the Historical Fort Morgan also.  It was just down the coast from our house. We learned the Fort had been used in 4 wars, the Civil War, SpanishAmerican War, and World War I and II.  It was interesting to learn about the history of the Fort and walk around imaging what life might have been like during these time periods.