Vacation...

is the time of year I love most.
    Next to Christmas, that is.
It is a time when we all hurry around to clean, rush around to pack, seemingly getting nowhere! At least, until you see all the suitcases in the trunk, lovies in car seats, and a package of trail mix on Pa's seat.

Those that say you can't take it with you never saw a car packed for a vacation trip.  ~Author Unknown

Family trips have become second nature to us. We all know what to expect. Starting at 3AM, Pa will blast the AC as cold as it gets and munch on mixed nuts while singing along to the music he's just turned on (we always bring a sweatshirt).

A vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you've been taking.  ~Earl Wilson

Vacations. What would I do without them? Go mad. Oh, wait, "that was rhetorical." (if you can tell me where that's from, I'll give you 10 brownie points!).

A lot of people have told me how they can't take long car trips with their kids because they'd all kill each other by the time they'd reach their destination. I couldn't imagine what I'd do without our family trips. After Pa turns us into ice cubes ;}, we sing aloud to the CD, or our favorite hymns, or read, or eat lunch, or nap, or eat a snack (we do an awful lot of that around here), or tease Pa about how much he's eaten...  the list goes on, and on, and on, and on. It is very rare you'll hear a complaint, unless Emma's been reading in the car and now is feeling sick. : )

Tonight Early tomorrow morning we go to our favorite beach.

Looking forward to it with nostalgia...

A good vacation is over when you begin to yearn for your work.  ~Morris Fishbein

Until October,
KK

Vote for Mom!

for a kinder, gentler internet!!

Just kidding.
But you can vote for my mom!
Mom's blog was nominated to be the best blog written by Moms of Big Families, along with 25 others.
You can vote for her once, on any device that has an internet connection, every 24 hours! That means, if you have a smartphone and a laptop, and you vote for her once from each every day until the contest ends, she'll have gotten 42 votes from YOU ALONE!!!!!!!
(how cool is that?)

So please, Please, PLEASE....
VOTE, IT'S YOUR PATRIOTIC DUTY!!!!

Here's how it works.

1. go to this link: (click here to VOTE!!!!)
2. find Art's Chili Pepper in the list (look for a black & white picture of our family)
3. click on the button next to where it says VOTE
4. voila! you can check back any time to see how she's doing!

Thanks to all of you!

'Til next time,

KK

We Will Never Forget...

This post will be full of remembering, tears, peace, joy, and sorrow

Today marks 10 years.

10 years of...

horror, loss, tears, pain, recovery, insecurity, heartache, death and terror.

10 years ago today, Al Qaeda flew and wrecked 4 American airplanes.

1 hit the North World Trade Center Tower, in New York City

1 hit the South World Trade Center Tower also in NYC.

1 hit a wing of the Pentagon in Washington D.C. 

1 hit a empty, open field in Pennsylvania.

2,977 people died.

Lives lost.

Souls in eternity.

For some, this was the door into heaven.

But for others it was only the beginning of pain.

Of torture.

Of burning.

A taste of eternity.

A taste of Hell.

Yet in it all God gave hope and mercy.

You can read about the cross here.

This statement is under attack. A group called the American Atheists is suing to remove this monument to those that died there. 

sign the online petition to protect this testament of God's mercy and hope!!

Until Next Time,

KK