Lewey Lewey

I have often wondered how it was
going to feel to turn 40!
I can honestly say, for me,
it was HEAVEN!!!!

I can DREAM BIG!
But I never could have dreamed or imagined
what my birthday would bring
and the HEAVEN I would find.

It has been said
"A picture paints a thousand words."
However,
pictures can never capture the
PURE JOY and GRATITUDE
I feel for the pieces HEAVEN in my life.

My family has always been heaven to me
BUT I found heaven in them on my birthday,
for they gave me the gift of being
with my sisters in the Florida, Keys.

I am STILL overwhelmed that
my AMAZING husband would plan
such an amazing trip for ME and
that he knows how I would enjoy it best.
He IS MY HEAVEN!!

I found HEAVEN on my doorstep in Georgia
the night before I was to leave with my family,
Fred and the kids,
(what I had been told since Mother's Day)
to the Florida Keys.
It was my 3 SISTERS!!
THEY would be coming with me,
not Fred & the kids,
to the KEYS!!!
What a surprise! What a reunion! What HEAVEN!


And so it begins ...
I found HEAVEN IN ...

A trip to Charming Charlies to buy rings
to remember the trip.
The store was heaven for my sisters too.

Soaking in the SUN!!!
At the pool and on the beach.

We all found heaven in "toe-dulls"as
we visited the turtle hospital.

At Tranquility Bay in Marathon Key.

This BEAUTIFUL place to stay MADE the trip, for me.

The view from my bed as I woke in the morning.
(THIS is heaven.)

Finding this BEAUTIFUL branch on our beach.
A floral arrangement by nature.

DELICIOUS food and WONDERFUL conversation at dinner.

Morning "therapy" sessions.

SOOO relaxing!! SUCH Heaven.

Just BEING with my sisters.

SUNSETS!

Taking LOTS of pictures!

Boat docks are heaven.
Especially after a rough day at sea.

HEAVEN is TIME with the ones you love!
LAUGHING, LIVING and LOVING
That is HEAVEN - LOVE.
Not only LOVING others - sisters, husband, kids
BUT feeling LOVED - by sisters, husband and kids.

THANK YOU for the gift of HEAVEN!!
It was so much more than
I could have imagined.
The best part - it was so REAL!!

When we found out the kids had an entire week off
of school for Thanksgiving we made
plans to visit Illinois.

The purpose was two fold.
1 - Visit family.
Fred's brother, his wife and 3 kids live there.
2 - Experience Nauvoo.

Little did we know we would see and experience
SO MUCH MORE than we had planned!




Ammon's project for school.
was to research one
of the President's of the United States.
From that research he would need
to write a report and prepare a poster.

His choice -
Abraham Lincoln!

How exciting to be so 'hands on'
with the research!
He walked where Abraham Lincoln walked,
drank out of the spring where Abraham Lincoln drank,
AND followed the trail Abraham Lincoln took
many times through his amazing travels.

So excited to be here :).
Silly kids!!

--Louisville, Kentucky - 1st night's stay!--

Now that's a BAT!

We SAVORED a yummy Louisville style dinner
and enjoyed a relaxing evening at the hotel.


A morning visit to Churchill Downs.

--Time with FAMILY in Peoria, Illinois--
The main purpose for our trip.


A hike and a beautiful nature trail!

We saw deer and lots of squirrels.

Cousin "A's" 'form' while throwing rocks.
She takes rock throwing very seriously.

AAHHHH! --- Time with family!



--A day trip to Nauvoo!--

Truly a City Beautiful!

We performed baptisms for family names in the temple.
What a peaceful experience.

We visited several of the restored homes.
The Browning Gun Shop.
The Blacksmith Shop.

And of course, the Scovil Bakery where
Stephanie gave tours when she was
a missionary in Nauvoo.
Her favorite part of the tour -
the spice box.




--The morning we left--
Family dressed in their very best :)
for our departure.
Favorite part of the outfit -
the shoes.

--A stop in Springfield, Illinois--

to visit Lincoln's home and tomb.

The room where Lincoln was asked
to accept the Presidential nomination.

It amazes me that this is the mirror
Lincoln used to shave each morning.
Abraham Lincoln - one of the most influential
men to lead our country to greatness,
actually looked in this mirror!



--ST LOUIS - our last night's stay.--

Waiting in line to get in to the Museum and Arch.

The view from the top!

It was a GREAT trip
FILLED with many wonderful family memories.
GIVE THANKS for time with family!

Who knew bread could be so cute!

Great Harvest breads made this ADORABLE
bread bowl. It was perfect for my
appetizer assignment for a party.
BONUS - It was so YUMMY!!
Dare we say - Healthy - as well.

I love FALL!
The colors, the little chill in the air and
it seems like nature slows down.
The season rubs off on me -- slow down and
enjoy the season you're in.

Being BOO-ed is a FUN tradition in our friendly neighborhood.
Treats are left at the door with a note to pass it
on to 2 other neighbors.
The kids love it and look forward to being BOO-ed
and BOO-ing others.

Happy FALL Y'all!

On the fourth evening of our trip to Europe
Fred & I took a BEAUTIFUL train ride to Belgium

We rented a car so we could see the country
and were able to see more than half of Belgium in one day.

We stayed in Brussels and our drive took us to
Gent, Brugge & the coast.

When we arrived in Brugge we stopped to ask a passer-by
where we could see a medieval castle.
Her answer still makes us laugh
"The whole town is medieval! (Silly us)
Just keep driving until you see the medieval arch.
The city of Brugge is right beyond it."

The arch leading to the city of Brugge

Our two main goals in Belgium were
1 - To see a castle
and
2- To eat CHOCOLATE!

As we were coming up to the Brugge exit
Fred spotted a sign which gave
directions to local attractions.
One of the icons on the sign was a castle with a flag.
So we followed the signs.
Much to our dismay the signs never
led us to a castle.
We asked people on the street where the castle
of the town was and they would reply
"I didn't know there was a castle here!"
To which we would answer "Oh yes, we are following
the castle signs, BUT we can't find the castle!"

After looking for a good half-an-hour I took a closer
look at the 'castle' icon.
"That isn't a castle with a flag!
It's a factory with a smoke stack!!"

This is the closest we came to seeing our castle.

We achieved goal #2 in a BIG way.
We took a wrong turn on the way to the coast,
and THANK GOODNESS we did!
We came upon this little shack with at least three
big tourist buses parked outside it.
The sign out front said
"Chocolate Factory Store - Chocolates made fresh daily".
Eureka!!

Not only did they have every flavor of chocolate
you could image; banana, cherry, orange, raspberry, etc.
they also had gummi candies - 'made fresh daily'.
I also found my pickle flavored lays
potatoes chips there.

It was a BEAUTIFUL day on the coast.
We didn't lounge in the sun though.
Too of much of Belgium to see.
We ate lunch at a fun contemporary ice cream parlor.

Belgium was truly BEAUTIFUL!
Can we go again - tomorrow?!!