Textures from my yard. Wow

time with the Kids

nothing like excursions with kids!!!

July in the sun

more fun in the sun

Hey Daddy, I made you a cake!

Boli's Surprise Bday!

So we have been watching Cake Boss and Peter came up with the idea of making a cake that represents something that Boli likes... the original idea was to make a TV showing a baseball game. The final result was Peter's imagination and Shamira's amazing artistic touch!!

a little brown sugar and then some icing

some decorations

convince the birthday boy that he is going to go out for someone elses party

And then add a whole bunch of people so he can show off his birthday gifts!!

A time of Valor

Thank you ΣΦΓ (Sigma Phi Gamma)

As parents, my wife and I try hard to provide for our family: I have had two jobs to pay bills on multiple occasions; my wife has become a jewelry sales representative and home school teacher to our children to ensure they learn good morals and ethics; we take our children to the Dr, perhaps too much, with any reasonable sign of health abnormality – just to be safe; and we make an effort to spend quality time communicating with both children, and taking part in their life experiences.

Over the past year, my youngest son, Luke, has been diagnosed with a rare genetic disease called hereditary spastic paraplegia. This disease causes muscle tightness in his lower extremities, a reduction in nerve response in his legs, the need for ankle foot orthotics to stabilize his gate, the potential of a future in a wheel chair, and possibly continued further loss of motor functions throughout his body as he ages. With the care for this disease costing a great deal in physical therapy and medical testing, and with a grim future ahead, we have tried (and failed) to make timely payments on my precious little one’s rapidly growing medical expenses. My wife has run special jewelry sales, some friends have graciously coordinated a car wash, acquaintances have offered generous portions from their business dealings, other relatives and friends, anonymous and not, have given unrequested donations, and before we knew it, many of our costs were beginning to be met, our spirits were lifted, and our numerous and fervent prayers to God were being answered in ways that were far outside of our understanding and imagination.

Before all of the miraculous giving had begun, we had scheduled a test with the premier specialist on this disease knowing that it would be very expensive, and knowing that our family needed to have this happen. We began to prepare for the trip and soon realized the insurmountable odds against us being able to pay for all of the travel, let alone the extra medical tests. The selfless giving that people had provided was incredible, but there were still outstanding expenses that we knew we would incur from this trip that loomed in the near future. Then a group of young adults in Seminole State College decided to make our son, Luke, the object of their fund raising project for the year. The ΣΦΓ members used their imagination and ingenuity to raise money, and through selfless and joyful acts this group of college students spent devoted an entire semester to fund raising. Through their good work, our family has been able to make a big dent in our upcoming trip, our sprits have been lifted once again, and our faith in God to provide for our needs has been rekindled again. The work of this group has impressed us, not only for what they did for us, but by their character, and by their maturity in spirit and in deed.

Now, as we are on the eve of heading out to Michigan, we are resting securely with the knowledge that a good portion of our expenses from this trip, have been paid for. Thank you ΣΦΓ!

A hero is defined as a person who performs a selfless act or deed. Make no mistake, through taking on this fund raising effort, each member of this group have become heroes to our family.

Happy Birthday Marines!

November 10, 2010: The 235th Birthday of the United States Marine Corp

check out these blog pages

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=39783

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=39786

Peter's B day

What a perfect day at Sea World!

The Dog Days of Summer!!!

record lows in the winter and holy cow hot summers!

I love these expressions

Happy 4th!

Luke showing off his fake tattoo. The kids all got temporary tattoos, we went fishing, and swimming in MacArther Park.

We had a great time visiting Tio Louis and Becky in Palm Beach Gardens!! thanks Guys!

Luke says hi to all

Happy Father's day!

We had a nice relaxing father's day with the family.... eating our favorite - Mexican food!!

Our pastor had alot of wise words today about fatherhood - especially one point - one great thing a child can do for their father is to forgive him. Also honour, respect, and be grateful.

Spiderman

"Look at me Dad!!"

Okay, now I know what my parents thought when I would do things like this...

I think the lens is a bit dirty

Luke loves to run!

We were walking after an event at Peter's school and he just took off... a whole quarter mile without stopping!!!

Not sure why, but he sure was determined to get it done!

Luke's second swim class. He gets alot of excercise, and does very well with the teacher! Ahh, the stages of life.

cotton -

this is a few months old - in one of our travels we ran across this place that sold pecans and across the street was some cotton on a farm. Ahhhh, I guess they call that a cotton farm. :)

had to post this one too

my treasures