2023, January - March

Dearest Jackson & Colton,

The older y'all get, the less pictures I seem to have.  Either you shy away from the camera or you're off having fun on your own.  So here are the memories I could manage from the first quarter of 2023:

The year began with our "Lucky Meal" at the Vaughn's.

Jax, you very first season of high school soccer officially got underway!

Top row, kiddo!

Colt, you continued having fun with basketball.

One of the many reasons that I like working at your school is that I get to see your projects first hand!

You performed with your percussion group in a competition, Colton.

My gal pals celebrated at Steph's baby shower.

Jax, one of your teachers was nominated for Teacher of the Year (and later won!) so she appeared on a lot of district produced media.  Since you're in her class, your cute face showed up on some of it too!  I grabbed this screenshot from our district's website - and that's you standing next to our superintendent.

At the end of February, we celebrated the 5th of our 40th birthdays - Dougy Doug!

He picked a bourbon tour through Kentucky but we started with a night in Nashville first.

Our first bourbon tour ended up being a favorite for everyone - Bardstown.

The Haryckis treated us to a neat experience where we bottled our own at Angels Envy.

Our apartment was perfect - we posed out front.

Then we posed on the back patio - overlooking the Ohio River!

We were right down the block from the Louisville Slugger museum so we had to tour!

Despite its yucky taste, the bourbon lessons were fascinating!

One night we cleaned up and drove across the river to INDIANA for dinner!

And then to my favorite tour - Buffalo Trace!

It was like walking through a history book - swing by if you're ever near!

At the end of the trip, this was the loot the boys drove home while the girls hopped on a quick flight instead!

Thankfully, Grandma and Grandpa were staying with you while we were gone.  

We took them for BBQ to say thanks when we returned.

March involved more soccer - including a lot of hungry teammates around our table!

Us gals took Steph out for her last hoorah before motherhood!

We double dated to see Ben Rector perform.

And then you had a core memory trip, Jackson!  Your club soccer team got to go to Las Vegas to compete in a tournament!

You and Dad flew in a day early so you could hit the links.

When your teammates arrived, y'all took in a show.

I heard that you played really well!

This was a first for you!

Colt, you and I stayed behind since you a) don't enjoy Vegas and b) had baseball!

The first quarter wrapped up with a UIL Band competition - y'all rocked it and looked good doing it!

The Grand Finale

Dearest Jackson & Colton,

We had an amazing cruise planned for the summer of 2020...but those plans were unfortunately ruined.

We rescheduled for 2021 but hit another travel roadblock.

So we committed to making 2022 our year and got something booked on Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas.

The anticipation for this trip was more exciting than any other!!

The day after school got out for break, we drove down to Andy's house.  The Lakes let us stay with them for the night so we'd be closer to the port.  We drove the rest of the way the next morning and took our first picture about 30 seconds after walking on board!

We found the Vaughns, explored the ship for a bit, unpacked, and then got ready for dinner.  The "kids table" looked exceptionally cute that night!

My date cleaned up nicely too!  

It was COLD in Galveston so I stayed in a sweater that first night.

When we woke up the next day we were in the middle of the ocean.  We all met up for breakfast and made you kids promise you'd join us for dinner that night!

The adults camped out in the solarium at the front of the ship for most of the day.

At some point, the two of us ran into the two of y'all and that was exciting (for us!).

We were enjoying the ship's floating bar when you two strolled by.

Kate even joined us for a ride up!  (the bar was called High Tide and it rose up and down like the tides!)

That night was formal night and this was as dressy as we were getting!

I didn't even ask you boys to pack "formal" clothes.  I know better!

We loved that spot by the tree!

We waited in line for the professional photographer and captured my favorite pic from the trip!

You two had your own room.  It was connected to our room and we shared a balcony.  Colt, you loved seeing what towel animal was awaiting you each evening!

The next day we were in Costa Maya, Mexico.

We didn't have any excursions planned for this day so we just taxi'd to a restaurant on the beach.

We returned to the ship in time to take in some ice skating before dinner.

Dad & I accidentally rocked Christmas at dinner that night.

After dinner seemed to be when the shenanigans went down...

We watched an amazing diving show at the stern of the ship that night.

The next morning brought us Cozumel.

We were 1 of SEVEN ships in Cozumel this day and, although we made reservations for an excursion, everywhere was PACKED.  We did a lot of standing around and waiting and it made for some grumpiness.  But, when we weren't waiting, we were making friends with some captive dolphins.  I tried to find a way to help them escape, I promise!

We skipped dinner reservations that night and took advantage of the ship's entertainment instead.  On this night, there was an adults only game show called Crazy Quest.  Crazy it certainly was!

We had one more day at sea as we sailed home the next day.  Colt, you were the only one brave enough to get in the chilly pool.  

Not sure why I didn't get pictures from our karaoke bar event, Mamma Mia! show, or bar trivia activity.?.?.?.

One more fancy dinner to take advantage of the unlimited breads and desserts!!

We took in one more show (a comedian) and this was the final goodbye as we knew that the next morning we'd be back in freezing (literally) cold Galveston.

While it looks like I only took pictures at dinner time, I swear we all had a blast!  

Jax, you declared it your favorite vacation ever and are already asking if we can go again!  You met other teenagers on the first night and hung out with them more than you did us!  

Colt, you honestly struggled at first (heights, claustrophobia, thousands of people, oh my!) but ended up having fun.  You played on the sports court a ton, rode on the wave rider, and hung out with Zoltar on the boardwalk!

I would definitely go on another cruise with y'all!!  

We were all exhausted when we got home so we baked a cake for Jesus and crashed on the couch!!

The next morning was Jesus' birthday so we celebrated him with cake and presents!

Of course we celebrated at Grandpa and Grandma's house too!

What a great ending to a great year!