Joy In My Journey

A few years ago, I found this black sign that says "Joy in the Journey" and bought it thinking I would use it for a different project... but I decided to use it instead in our downstairs family room. I have been making shadow boxes of all our family trips and I am go to hang them all over downstairs... but I started on this wall. If I had to give one answer for my "favorite thing to do" it would be traveling with my family. I thought it would be fun to put some of these pictures on here... and I have many more to do that I will post later on. Today I will be working on a Disneyland trip, my birthday trip to Park City, and a snowmobiling trip we went on! I think this is my form of "scrapbooking"... and I love it! Our family can be constantly reminded of the "joy" we have in our many "journeys" near and far together....

In March of last year we went to San Diego... swimming with the dolphins at SeaWorld was a huge highlight for everyone... especially McKenna! We went to the Wild Animal Park and the Zoo as well... but we all loved SeaWorld.. and the BEACH!

We spent a lot of time at Coronado Island beach... it was gorgeous! Not warm enough to swim... but fun on the beach anyway! Courtney wanted a sand dollar so bad and kept asking us how to find one. We told her we didn't have any tricks or suggestions, but that she might get lucky and find one... a short time later one literally washed up on her foot! When she reached down and picked it up, she looked at us and said, "well that wasn't so hard!" Sometimes I can't believe the things that just seem to "happen" to my children... she is thrilled we put the sand dollar in this shadow box so she can show it to all of her friends and it won't get broken!

In July of 2007 we went to Helena, Montana on a fishing trip. It was such a fun trip... and it was great getting to see Uncle Marv, Aunt Cheri, and Jonathan. Courtney developed a huge crush on him... and he was so sweet to her! My girls will never get sick of fishing...we stayed out on the pontoon boat till midnight fishing for Walleye! As you can see they got me to hold one...

In August of 2007 we went on an unforgettable adventure to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico with Mark Bond and his kids. (He is the owner of Dan's company... and our friend!) We had so many incredible adventures there... it was a "lifestyles of the rich and famous" trip with our own private pool...maids...a chef...not to mention all the FUN we had. We went on a zipline, snorkeling, had a swim with a giant sea turtle, and we finished by going to church on Sunday morning in a local ward. It was a GREAT experience for the kids to see that the gospel is the same everywhere. We didn't understand a word of what they were saying, but the kids knew exactly what was going on! We will NEVER forget this trip!

And last, but certainly not least, was the adventure the girls and I took to Chicago in October to watch my mom run the Chicago marathon. I can't believe that I drove cross country all by myself... but it was awesome! We went to the American Girl store with my mom, my sister Cheryl, and my niece Abi. After "lunch" we shopped and they all got to pick a doll, a few fun outfits, and McKenna was able to purchase a lot of extras with babysitting money she had saved up. This was such a fun trip... the only thing missing was my sweetheart! We were going to come back through Nauvoo, and other church historical sites, but we just couldn't take any longer getting home... we all missed Dan too much! We will probably do a "church trip" next year or the year after...

Here are a few final photos of my family last night during family home evening! Enjoy!