Alaska ~ Memories Of Home

This is about an hour after my first (on the left), and Gina's second tattoo. I had been wanting one for quite a while, and we have always wanted to get one together, so the time was finally right.

This is about 4 hours after they were done.
According to sailor's lore, a compass rose means always being able to find your way home. Getting the art done in Alaska was special to me because it will always be home!

Grammy Kat and precious little Ava....

My beautiful Trisha, who drove all the way down from Fairbanks to Wasilla, to spend a couple days with me and Gina. It was so great to see ya kiddo!

Due to a crazy coincidence, my oldest friend Lindy, her husband Brian and their 2 kids Danny and Sean happened to be in Anchorage the day I was flying out. They live in a small village called Galena about 275 miles west of Fairbanks. We were in the 9th grade together, and have always stayed good friends. It warmed my heart to be able to see them all, and play with their new Wii !!! In this picture, their daughter Danny is starting to look an awful lot like Lindy did when I met her. It is sometimes surreal how fast time flies by....

Sean, taking it all in stride, as usual!

Cleveland, Ohio September 4th ~ October 13th

I owe all my new found sports knowledge to my cousin Meredith and her husband Sam. Now I have a greater understanding of so many things! Like, the fact that football games are a great excuse to get together all your friends for fantastic chili, and drinking games :-) I just wish that I had a picture of "me" in a football jersey. It may have been a once in a lifetime event!

Blayde, Valin, Me holding Blake, Drake, and Breck. Blake and Breck are my cousin Michelle and her husband Colin's children. I was really thankful that they got to spend time playing together, and get to know one other.

Nana, Blake in the stroller, Breck, Drake, Blayde, and Valin ready for a day at the Cleveland Zoo. We had a wonderful time seeing all the animals, and had a great picnic while we were there too.



My incredibly hospitable, patient Aunt Pat and Uncle John (holding their grandson Blake). We spent almost all our time in Cleveland living with them. Thank you for everything!!!

Valin, Blayde (with his new haircut), Drake, Adam and Riley just hours before we left Cleveland. Adam, Riley and their sister Madeline lived with their parents Doug and Alexis a couple doors down from Aunt Pat's. The boys had a wonderful time playing with them, jumping on the trampoline, and listening to Doug's band practice.

My beautiful, 87 year old Gramma, Bernice who would probably be horrified to know that her picture was "on the internet"......

~ An interesting shot of downtown Cleveland ~

Camping at Findley State Park

The boys, enjoying some crafts with Nana (my adopted Mom) at the camp site.

Here is Blayde, Aunt Pat, Uncle John, Nana, Valin, and a next door camper. We had loads of fun staying in Great Grandmas pop-up. The weather was perfect, and the company was too.

Here is my brother Paul, and my nephew Paul Jr. cutting up firewood for the smores :-)

My sister-in-law Jackie, and niece Priyanka, watching the fire wood cutters.

The whole crew waiting in line to get dinner.... did you know that Domino's Pizza delivers to Findley State Park in Ohio??

Columbus, Ohio August 16th ~ 27th

We spend a lot of time visiting family and friends while we were in Ohio. Here is my Uncle Wade at the entrance to the horse barn. They took the boys and I out for an awesome lunch, then I got to see all my cousins in the afternoon. Big hugs to all of you!

Here is Aunt Carol (Uncle Wade's wife), getting treats for the boys to feed the horse.

We took a day to go with Grandma Kathy (my birth Mom) (pictured on the right), back to her home town about 60 miles northwest of Columbus. We had a fantastic lunch with her, Aunt Becki (on the left) and her Mom. I also spent some time at my Dad's, but we never got around to getting any pictures.

They had a great pond in the backyard for the boys to do some fishing and swimming off of the floating dock. Here is Blayde, getting ready for a great belly flop :-)

Drake, the "No Fear" spokesperson!

Watch Out Below!!!!!!!!!

Now, this was a big one... They threw it back of course, but still had a great time.

St-Faustin, Quebec July 21st ~ August 4th

When we left the boat yard in Florida on July 16th, we were all soooo happy to be heading North to a cooler climate! When we arrived in St-Faustin, about 90 miles Northwest of Montreal, we all felt really close to home. This is the house that we stayed in with Nathalie, Olivier, Felix, Alin and a few kids here and there.

The view of the back porch, looking towards the garden. I would walk out every few days and gather wild flowers for the vases all over the house. We were treated amazingly here, and I thank everyone for their hospitality.

I had never seen garlic at this stage of growth, it was quite beautiful...

The lake was about 30 feet from the front of the house, and I would say that the boys swam for about 4 hours every day we were there. The weather could not have been any more perfect, and the water was their playground :-)

Valin and Drake, near the little dock on the far side of the lake.

New friends and smiling faces!

Water balloon heaven!! The kids really enjoyed the companionship of Felix's nieces and nephews. It proved to me that you can have loads of fun, even with a language barrier. The boys picked up more French than I because they more often asked for an explanation of what was being said.

Drake, getting completely soaked :-) Not that he minded any!!

~ Nathalie and Blayde ~

One of the MANY marathon games of Monopoly...

The boys were super duper proud of the size of this frog they captured.

OOPS!

Posted one out of order...

Look down a few posts for the July 21st New York pics!