Mowak's

Yes, we really did give the boy's Mohawk's before we went on vacation! Matt did them at home and did a wonderful job. I tried it a while back but they didn't look so good. I think it's good to be a little crazy sometimes.

Church Ruins

On our way home from vacation we stopped to visit The Old Sheldon Church Ruins. It was amazing and well worth the stop. Here are some pictures I took and info I found on the web.

The Old Sheldon Church Ruins (Prince William Parish Church) embodies an intriguing history and a majestic appeal. The birth of this beautiful site was long in coming. Organization of the Prince William Parish Church, and much of its funding was provided by William Bull, whose plantation bordered the church grounds. In 1751, the Prince William Parish Church cornerstone was laid, and in 1757, the interior of this tabby and brick structure was complete and the first services were held. Scholars now know that the Prince William Parish Church represented the first temple-form neoclassical structure in America, and began the Greek Revival style in the South. Sadly, the man most accredited with the success of the Prince William Parish Church died before its completion. As a symbol of respect, William Bull was buried inside the church at the base of the alter. Remarkably, the stone marking his grave remains in place to this day.As wealthy families continued to relocate to the area surrounding the Prince William Parish Church, it was used on a regular basis. However, as the end of the 18th century approached, and the Revolutionary War beckoned, life in the Lowcountry began to change. In June of 1775, thousands of pounds of gunpowder were confiscated from the British ship, Little Carpenter, and were stored in the Prince William Parish Church. Soon, storing gun powder and weapons in the Prince William Parish Church became a common occurrence. Ultimately, this resulted in its demise. In May of 1779, Major DeVeaux, a leading Tory of the Beaufort region, burned not only the Prince William Parish Church, but also destroyed the Bull family estate, Sheldon Plantation. The loss of the Prince William Parish Church was not only a physical one, but a symbolic one as well, as the church stood as a testament to the wealth and prosperity of the region. Amazingly, the walls of the Prince William Parish Church did not crumble, and parishioners continued to worship there. Eventually, in 1826, indigo and rice brought renewed wealth to the area, and the church was restored. It was at this time that the church’s name was officially changed to Sheldon Church of Prince William’s Parish. Sadly, the church (and its parishioners) were going to face yet another calamity, the Civil War. On January 14, 1865, General William Tecumseh Sherman's troops, under the leadership of General John Logan, burned the Sheldon Church as part of the now famously fierce “March to the Sea” campaign. Although the walls once again refused to fall, this exceptional church was never to be built again.

Today, visitors to the Old Sheldon Church Ruins will discover colossal oaks that seem to emerge from the well worn earth in an effort to shelter the church’s seasoned brick columns and stately arched walls. Worn grave stones dot the foundation and a feeling of serenity fills the air. Old Sheldon Church Ruins offers visitors a truly exceptional experience. Simply pack a lunch, grab your camera and enjoy… Old Sheldon Church Ruins, a stunning example of Lowcountry beauty, is located less than 30 miles from Beaufort, South Carlina on Old Sheldon Church Road, just off Highway 17.

Taylor

This is a picture of Taylor Arrington at the "Fashion Funds The Cure" fashion show in March of 2007. Taylor is now cancer free and watching over her family from Heaven. Although I never met Taylor in person, I grew quite fond of her through her Caringbridge website. I was able to meet her amazing mom, Mary Kay at the fashion show. In a matter of months I saw Mary Kay again but this was at Taylor's Celebration of Life service.
I'm writing about Taylor today because I am just amazed at the strength of her family. They are completely devastated with the loss of their spunky Taylor, but they are even more determined than ever to see that a cure is found for Pediatric cancer. The cancer Taylor had was especially cruel and the effects of her treatment were very apparent. See Taylor has a identical twin sister, Jordan. I can't imagine watching one twin flourish and grow and watching the other battle for her life everyday.
I read this on Taylor's site today and I felt led to share it with you. Please visit her site to find out more about this family. http://www.caringbridge.org/fl/taylor/
DID YOU KNOW....
Cancer remains the number one killing disease of children age 20 and under, taking more young lives than AIDS, Asthma, Cystic Fibrosis and Diabetes combined.
Nearly 13,000 children are diagnosed with cancer in the US each year.
Approximately 2500 children lose their battle to the disease each year.
Currently in the US, there are nearly 40,000 children being treated for a form of cancer.
Of those children 20 will not survive their battle.
Only three percent of the budget from the National Cancer Institute goes toward pediatric cancer research.

USS Yorktown

Huge flag inside the ship

Julie looking cute Out front of the USS Yorktown
Da bomb!!
Getting ready to board the USS Yorktown

Luke & Matt on flight deck
Luke with weapons!!
Nana with weapons!!
Mr. Cool
Nana & Luke

Austin, Luke, Savannah, Me & Matt
Colin, Julie & John
USS Yorktown docked in Charleston S.C.
Wash up
Thank you servicemen & women!!

As you can see from the pictures, we had a blast on the ship. It was amazing and Luke's favorite part of the trip. We stopped in Charleston to see her before we headed back to Florida. I could have spent days just looking at everything. I have so much respect for all of our armed services and the men and women that fight for our freedoms. I had never toured a ship like this before and I'm so glad we stopped.

Our friend John that we went with grew up an Air Force brat. He and his son Colin are very good at naming all the aircraft so that made it even more fun. We were also treated to a fly over by a C-5 and a pair of F-18's while we were in Charleston. I LOVED it!!!

Putt-Putt

While we were on vacation we took the kids to play putt-putt golf at the "Molten Mountain" in Myrtle Beach. It was great because they have 18 holes inside and 18 outside. We of course chose the inside 18 with the cool a/c. It was just like being inside a volcano but without the hot lava. We decided to not even try to keep score and just play. Austin was the only one that got a hole-in-one. I told you he was the next Tiger. Here are some pictures from our adventure.

Please bear with me while I try to figure out my picture placement. I can't seem to get them where I want them? I'm sure I'll get it one of these days.

Day 1

Day 1

Saturday, July 14 2007

Left St.Pete @ 5 am and arrived in N. Myrtle Beach late that afternoon. Here are some pictures of the house we rented with the Pippin's. Well that's what Luke called them!! It was actually the Pappas' family. We drove our Caravan and they drove their Saturn with 5 surf boards on their roof. We had 4 sets of golf clubs with us. We were very pleased with our rental house, it was huge. We had two bedrooms, two half baths and a shower room on the bottom floor. Upstairs had two bedrooms, full bath, kitchen, dinning and living room. The best part was the front and back porch where we spent a great deal of time playing Scrabble.

Tiger

We have recently discovered that Austin loves the game of golf. He just got his first set of clubs this past week, an early birthday present. I took him to the driving range yesterday evening and he did pretty good. Matt has taken him a couple times too. We are so happy that he has found a sport he likes to play. He tried football a couple years ago but it wasn't for him.

NASCAR, surfing & Katia

Things have been really crazy lately in my little world. Matt and I went to the Pepsi 400 last weekend in Daytona Beach. There is nothing quite like a NASCAR race. It ended up being the closest finish and is now in the record books. The pre-race events were awesome too. The National Anthem was sang by Bianca Ryan (she won America's Got Talent last year) and boy did she sing her heart out. While she was singing, the National Guard brought out this huge American flag and of course there was a fly by (F-15's I think) and fireworks. In honor of Bill France Jr. the field was split by The King, Richard Petty in a special throwback Chevy. It was amazing to see!!

It was definitely a very long day and so hot. It looked like it was going to rain all day but thank God it didn't. I can't imagine how hot it would have been without the cloud cover. Most of you know that my favorite driver is Dale Jr. along with about 75% of all the fans. He was involved in a wreck very early in the race along with some other great drivers. The wrecks are always exciting to watch and the action in the pits. Our seats were at the entrance to pit row by the start finish line. They were perfect! The steps were definitely much easier to go up this race. I went a little overboard with eating and drinking, but I'm back to my plan now. I wanted to 'live a little' and I think I 'lived a lot'!! Sorry for getting crazy after the race guys.

I was so happy to get home Sunday afternoon. I was beat and I think ever inch of my body was sore Monday morning. I did get up yesterday morning and do my 4 mile walk with Savannah. It made me feel human again. Now were getting ready to go to Myrtle Beach for our family vacation. Were going with one of my favorite families and learning to surf. I've been running around trying to get everything we need. We are renting a house close to the beach for a week.

I would like to ask everyone to please pray for the Solomon family. They are really struggling with so much right now. Katia's on going medical issues are very complicated and are affecting her quality of life. It's been such a long hard fight for her and I just want her to get some relief. I can't imagine watching my child go through what she been through. I know that Myron and Tracy are so very grateful for everyday they have with their miracle. But it's got to be hard watching your baby suffer. Tracy is having some pretty serious health issues going on too. And and on top of that Myron was hurt at work not long ago. They believe he fractured his neck. They also have their oldest daughter preparing to go off to her freshman year of college 5 hours away.

I will try and get some new pictures up soon. I need to start packing and getting things together.

4th, NASCAR & hair.

I would like to thank those of you that are reading my new blog. I hope to post pretty regular updates. I love it that someone would actually take time to read something I wrote. I would like to write a book one day, so this is good practice.

I hope everyone had a great 4th, we spent time with family. It rained most of the day here but cleared up for fireworks. The kids love the fireworks, but the dogs totally freak out. It must seem like World War 3 to them.

Matt and I are off to the races this weekend!! We are leaving this afternoon to head over to Orlando where we will spend the night. The Pepsi 400 is tomorrow night at Daytona International Speedway. We love NASCAR racing. We've been to the Daytona 500 for the past few years and it really is quite addictive. Uncle Tony will be taking care of the kids and dogs for us. I'm sure he will get some help from his 3 boys. Aunt Kelly lucked out and has to work. LOL

I'll be sure to blog all about the race when we get home. Here is a picture of Savannah's new hair do. I didn't think it was possible for her to be any more cute!!

My Hero

My hero,

This is Katia Solomon, my hero and the strongest little girl I've ever met. Katia has inspired me to reach for the stars and believe in myself. I've learned that we are capable of so much more than I ever thought. I've learned to fight and never give up. I have experienced unbelieveable kindness from stranger around the World. She has also taught me that kids deserve to be kids.

I love you so much Miss Katia!!!

Welcome to my blog.

I decided that I should start a blog here on Blogger because it's much more user friendly than MySpace. I plan on using this blog to keep everyone updated on my fundraising and my family life. I hope to raise awareness and spirits. I feel like each one of us is born with a purpose in life and God will equip us to find it. My purpose is to help others, mainly children that are fighting cancer, and their families.