all worth it

something as simple as this ...

makes all of the time and money

VERY well spent

what minnesota kids do for fun??

thirTEEN

as of yesterday we have a TEENAGER at our house!

YIKES!

not sure when (or how) he got so big

taller than BOTH of us now

when his feet grew so long

just bought him size THIRTEEN flip flops in hawaii

or when his voice got so deep

BUT ...

it's really happening

and as i look back through our pictures i realize it's happening just a little too quickly :( 

SO ... 

today i want to take the time

to give a birthday shout out

to my favorite THIRTEEN year old!

drew ...

you are growing up SO fast

TOO fast

but i love seeing who God is making you to be

you are polite

you are respectful

you are a great communicator

and you are doing a fabulous job at school

you should be proud of yourself -

i am.

whether it's church

or finding the perfect hamburger

you are so passionate about everything that you do -

don't ever change that.

you set a great example

and i love that ben and alex have you to look up to

i LOVE spending time with you

talking with you

and having fun with you

AND

i am SO thankful that we got to spend the past 10 days together

in a place that we both love

i hope you have fun looking back at these pictures

AND

i hope that this year is your best year yet

happy birthday TEENAGER!! ;)

i love you

celebrating in paradise

when the staff of the marriott got word that it was drew's birthday

they made sure that his day was extra special

they gave him a card

AND

a box of the best cookies ... EVER

THEN ...

when the rec staff got word

they also showered him with birthday love

just a few more reasons why we keep coming back!

quick friends

one thing the boys love about being at the marriott

is that they have a recreation team

that have a list of activities for every day

each day is different - 

but some of the activities that they oversee are

bocce ball, slide races, basketball shootout, and lei making

part of what makes these activities fun

is that they have a team of employees

that get involved in the activity

and do a GREAT job of getting the kids involved as well

this trip there were a few guys that stood out to us -

they recognized the boys

called them by name

and wherever they were

fun seemed to follow

our ben especially liked ben -

hawaii ben was constantly joking with our ben -

and he loved it

jaime was the other guy that our kids loved

he kept us laughing all week

he even brought his son to the resort to fish on the weekends

and invited our boys to join them

great guys ... great friends ... 

that will hopefully be there when we go back!

'the gun show'