Lots of Blessings on my 5oth Birthday

I got the most beautiful bouquet of roses for my birthday from Jeff's brother Ken and his wife Shirlene. They smell luscious too. Along with lots of great gifts I got lots and lots of cards. I even have more at work in my office. Thanks everyone for making my 50th sooooo special. Love, Vickie

Happy 50th Birthday Vickie...SURPRISE

Happy 50th Birthday Vickie..,SURPRISE!

I had friends and family from Bradford, Toulon, Wyoming, Bartonville, Groveland, Chillicothe and Peoria help me celebrate my big day

Happy 50th Birthday Vickie...SURPRISE!

Jeff surprised me with a party at our house on Sunday. We had gone to church and then met Noah for lunch at Good Tequilas for Mexican food.
Great place to eat by the way. Anyway, we came home with Noah and Seth following behind in Noah's car, apparently alerting the guest of my arrival. Well three of them couldn't get to the basement fast enough and when I came in the door, I surprised them and they surprised me. They sent me to the basement where an entire room full of family and friends were waiting to yell "Surprise". And indeed I was. I had a great time. I got lots of wonderful gifts and had delicious cake, ice cream and dip and chips. My heart was full. My biggest blessing was to see the faces of my friends and family. Each one held a special smile that radiated love on to my soul. I thank you all. I especially want to thank my loving husband for planning this day for me. This was my first ever surprise birthday party. This is a day that will be stored in my heart and memory for all the days that I live. The truly love you all. Vickie

More Fun With Bridal Showers this Summer

We have had more fun with wedding planning and showers this summer. Aubrey and Nick have had 4 showers and will have 2 more this weekend and 1 more next month. It has been great. The shower tonight is a personal shower. I have never attended one before. It will be fun I'm sure. I don't think Aub will be as anxious to show Nick all the gifts she receives from this one.:)
The photos here are from her shower last weekend at our church. Since Aub is our Children's Pastor the ladies at the church wanted to be able to bless her too. This is one of the games we played where you have to create a wedding gown, veil, bouquet etc. with toilet paper. Didn't we do a great job? The gown she will wear on August 29 will be nothing like the one you see here. Her real gown is breathtaking. Both her mom and I cried when we saw it on her. It will truly be a day of celebration! That's all for now. I gotta go shopping for that personal shower tonight. Love to all, Vic

It's almost over. It was great. The trip of a lifetime...

Jeff poses with still more adorable towel art by Joe. One morning I walked in to see a guy on my bed, a towel guy. Joe was so nice he waited down the hall a bit to make sure it didn't scare me when I went in and found him. everyone on the cruise was so very nice. We had the time of our lives. Another picture of one of the MANY band on board. And last but not least and picture of me on Cocoa Beach Florida just after deboarding our ship. I found a live starfish. I picked him up and threw him back into the ocean. I couldn't bare the thought of the little guy lying there dying in the hot sun. I made a difference to ONE. God has made a difference to 4 of us on this trip. Many of you may remember the cruise that I won last year with Univera. The day we were to cruise was the day after my mom's lung surgery. she lost 1/2 her lung and I cancelled our trip to be with her. I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else. I really wanted to go on the cruise, it would have been our first. I knew though in my heart that God would give it back to me somehow. My mom died on Christmas day, and after all of her affairs were settled there was enough money for me, Jeff and Seth to go on this cruise. Like the one I won, this one too was to the Bahamas. She felt so bad about my canceling, it's just like a mom to see to it your kids are happy! Thank you God for giving me the desires of my heart.

The photos of Adam and Seth with the napkin ears were made by our wonderful waiter, Ferdi. Ferdi was from Turkey and he did a great job of taking good care of us each evening. He also did a great job of entertaining the boys. Along with napkin ears, he showed them fire tricks and much more. We really enjoyed getting to know Ferdi. The sign picture was taken at the port of Nassau, and the cute little doggie towel sculpture was made for us by our Stateroom manager, Joe.

Pictures taken at Atlantis

Pictures taken inside Atlantis. A picture of a public beach in Nassau and a picture taken inside the Straw Market in downtown Nassau.

Pictures taken at Atlantis

Jeff wearing the hat I bought for myself on Cocoa Cay. Seteh and Adam entered a Guitar Hero contest on Tuesday evening. Seth is on the left and Adam at the far right.
Shots of Nassau from the ship.

Back to the ship after a day at Cocoa Cay

Back at the church we quickly showered and dressed for dinner. Seth is watching one of the many talented bands on board. This string band was great. They went from table to table doing requests. At one table they sang all in Japanese, and the next it was a pop song and the next a Johnny Cash "Ring of Fire". These guys were great. Adam is tasting his first Escargot! He actually liked it. Back at our state room we found a cute towel bunny wearing glasses. We changed and went to the show.

The Guys, sand and a Volleyball= A Lot of Fun On Cocoa Cay