a few months back i went to haiti for the first time.  one of the things that jumped out at me right away was just how much of an influence “disney” had there.  mickey was on pretty  much every street and corner and building.  now, i put disney in quotes because i don’t think i saw one official disney product while i was there.  they were all hand painted.  all of them used to attract kids to a school, church, or day care.  have a few disney loving kids back home i tried to snap as many images as i could as our buss flew down the roads.  here are a few that came out in focus.  enjoy.

some of the artist did better than others.  here was a less than stellar mickey.  along with a bit of looney toons cross promotion.

everyone know disney and jesus christ go hand in hand.

it’s heartbreaking to live in a world were there can be such extreme poverty in one city and be able to board a plane, fly 2 hours and be in disney world.  it’s something that our family wrestles with almost on a daily basis.

i don’t know how to end this post.

So school is in full swing around or house but it’s not too late to look back on the glory that was the summer of 2012.  Here is a little photo recap of our Summer Adventures.

Ft. Worth Zoo

Camping with friends, baseball game, movie night, and Disney at home. (That’s the kids posing next to the “Tree of Life” in our neighbor’s yard.)

Beach!

Blueberry picking.

Book-a-thon and art day.

Mystery Trip (Moody Gardens) and our lemonade stand.

And, even though it was not a Summer Adventure I figured you wanted to see a few pics from our trip to SeaWorld. (Tip: If you go to SeaWorld the day San Antonio public schools start their first day, you kinda have the whole place to yourself.)

Sara is having the time of her life.  Danielle is screaming on the inside.

And finally one from our 10 year vow renewal.

We didn’t get any pictures of Bubble Camp or Taco night, BUT  you will want to see our family’s entry in the Talent Show.

Thank you to all my awesome couples who pay me money to take pictures with my fancy camera at their fancy wedding.  You guys are the best.

so last week danielle and i had a little vow renewal ceremony at elmwood gardens.  (that place we were married 10 years ago.)  for the past 5-6 years we have held a little ceremony in our backyard with just our kids and it’s always been a blast so this year we decided to go all out. well, as all out as our budget would allow.  rule number one was pay cash.  after all it’s only 1 day. right. (more on that later.)

the main reason we wanted to do this was to give our kids a tangible memory/moment to look back on so they know that we are committed to each other till death do us part.  (that’s code for when danielle kills me.)  so, in keeping with that theme we really let them decide on most of details of the day.

HUGE HUGE props to elmwood for making the day run smooth, brandi burkett for all the wonderful images, and vanessa mckellar for a killer video that you’ll want to view at the end of this post.

on to the images.

this was danielle’s bouquet from our wedding day and it made for great potpourri flower girl basket toss dealy boppers

this is as dressy as jo gets.  (all our kids selected their own outfits)
luke and eli at almost 2 years apart but they look close enough to where people always ask them if they are twin.  lately they ave decided to start saying yes.  the latest part of this phase has involved matching outfits.

you can’t get married without a ring bear.

sara was totally into the vows.  including creeping on what i had to say before i said it.

we are not too big on jewelry over here.  i ditched my ring for a tattoo and danielle has only ever had a $300 band.  so far so good.

awesome tasting cookie/cake thing from edible art. (i may have eaten 6 pieces of leftover in one sitting later in the week.)

why get boring monogramed napkins when you can blow all your money on fancy plates?

we had 2 options for cool getaway photos.

1. give lots of little people fire stick to hold.
2. come up with something better.

we went with option 2.

i’m not gonna lie.  it was super fun to get married all over again.  need more proof?  watch this 3 minute trailer.

10 years ago i tricked danielle into becoming my wife.  i seriously doubt anyone on earth has had a better decade than i have.  there is no one else i would rather be on this wild ride with.  thank you for choosing me these past  3,653 days. i love you.

it’s been a little while since i filled you in on what my little family has been up to.  here is a little recap of the past few months.

we watched a meteor shower at 3:00am.

jo and sara played basketball. (jo typically dribbled down the court while sara felt compelled to skip.)

i have started taking strange photos of my kids.
here are the first 3. jedi | rapunzel | the jump
my kids are taking more photos of me.

have i mentioned my wife is super easy on the eyes.
eli likes the chill with iPhones and sara just got her ears pierced.
just another day at the breakfast table.
sara hurt her finger, luke likes to swing and danielle made a 54 scoop ice cream bowl.

that pretty much sums it up.