Belize family vacation!

DAY ONE ... travel day!

January 10, 2026.

 Belize is such a beautiful spot on our earth!  We love it here!!!!  Years ago, Mike went on an investors trip to this beautiful country and toured Coco Beach Resort!  He said that he someday wants to bring me back there!  Fast forward, Mike and I went to Coco Beach for an anniversary trip and loved it!!!  I said we have to bring the kids there!  Fast forward, we took the family to Ambergris Caye Island, stayed at the beautiful Coco Beach Resort and absolutely loved it!  Austin was only four years old.  Fast forward six years and here we are packing up our bags and taking the family again!  Same island!  Same resort!  Same beauty!

We decided to tell the kids a few month ago and said to pack only carry on bags.  We made the reservations and the other expense to them is food.  We really liked how that worked.  Jeremiah, Hadassah and Gunnar ... Matt and Daisy ... Ashlyn and Austin ... Mike and Lori!  Here we go!

We had a very early flight out of Philadelphia!  Jere and Das and baby slept at our house Monday night so we could be all ready to leave before they wake up baby dear to leave.  Mike Schatzmann drove us in a big van to the airport.  We were waiting for Matt and Daisy and after a few phone calls, they came ripping into the driveway.  Overslept.  We knew to have plenty of time and good thing we did!

We arrived at the airport at 4 AM and had to get Hadassah's ticket changed because her maiden name was still on her passport.  Things went well but just took time!  After a lift from an angel driving a mini bus, got us to our correct terminal and we got through to our gate.  I was sweating bullets because I for a second couldn't find my passport and boarding pass after going through security!  I was hoping I didn't leave it in a bin where we had to put all our things through security.  Found it safely in my backpack!  We raced off to our gate just in time to board and fly to Miami, our first layover. Baby napped on the plane and we grabbed breakfast on the run!

We boarded plane two flying to Belize City!  We arrived warm and ready for adventure!

Then we got through customs, got another boarding pass and all boarded plane three.  This small plane flew us to Ambergris Caye Island, Belize!  

Gunnar did so well the entire time!  Just taking in all the action and flights and happy to be along!

We landed in San Pedro by afternoon!  There we got our luggage together and all hopped in a van that took us to our resort!  It was warm and balmy and we couldn't wait to show the kids the resort once again!

Everyone LOVED IT!!!!!

We stayed on the top floor of the building you see behind us here.  We also had the two bedroom complex on the second floor.  Both with two bedrooms, two baths.  Perfect for Mike and I and the littles and then the married couples on floor two.  Both had porches looking out towards the ocean!  Gorgeous views!

 I absolutely love it here!  Time away to relax!  To see paradise!  To eat well!  To be together as a family!  To ride through town after getting local breakfast fry jacks!!!!  Just love, love it all!

We are so very blessed to do this trip!  Vacations are expensive.  They take a lot of planning!  So many flights and preparations were made!  Watching the sun set on the island had me thanking Jesus for all of this!  This vacation is a gift of God's goodness to us!

Super Bowl.

 Our tempts this winter have been brutal.  So much cold, freezing cold, wind, lots of wind and snow, so much snow!!!!  Watching the snow blow across the road looked like waterfalls.  The sun shines but nothing is melting because it's so cold!

We love basketball games in the winter months!  The games, the kids, the soft pretzels and school family really has been so fun to be a part of!!!!

We had a watercolor ladies night at church and I learned some techniques and this is gonna be fun to attempt.

One beautiful sunrise after the next!

Austin's basketball team is struggling.  Still no wins but maybe next time!

SO COLD!!!!

My thrifted heart mug, a new book from speakers I love and a card from Zayla as my bookmark is great!

Super Bowl was spent right here at home.  We are gearing up for an upcoming vacation and so keeping it very simple and here with the kids is just perfect!  Seahawks VS Patriots.  The game was not very active with barely any touchdowns and just field goals but we were entertained with the kids, Ridley the dog and winter Olympics.

My little buddy!!!!

I wanted to chase the robin away at my feeder the other day because it's so cold for robins yet.  Usually that means spring is coming but this poor bird is gonna have to wait awhile for all this snow to melt and things to warm up.

Stay warm!  Spread some love!  Cheer for your favorite football team.  I miss you Chiefs!  Come back!

February is here!

 February is here!!!  I love this month with all the reds and pinks and chocolates and the focus on Valentines!!!!  It makes the winter month be fun!

I don't ever remember not being able to see the park driveway for days!  It snowed two weeks ago and it's still not plowed!  And that means we are not walking.  I mean it's been in single digits and so cold outside but there's something like taking a brisk walk in the winter that does lift my spirit!  I've been reading more this winter and the puzzles are not being worked on very fast.  

Austin got another book report completed and it's a large postage stamp this time around!

OK .... I hear ya!

Ashlyn had her first volleyball tournament this past weekend.  I didn't take a chair along meaning I had to sit on bleachers the entire day!  Bleachers make my neck sore because it's hard for me to have good posture on a bleacher!  I feel like my neck falls into my shoulders!  And the only heat was from these heaters.  I was so glad I did remember a blanket that I kept wrapped around me!  Ashlyn had a good tournament but didn't make it to playoffs.  We came back home tired.  

This little guy is the sunshine in our lives!

The moon is so pretty this week!

We have candy hearts and crepes in the kitchen!  It must be February!

I love my heart shape thrifted new for me mug!!!

And the sunrises make me so happy!!!!  When I see the sun reflecting through our front door windows, I have to go peek outside!  This morning was so pretty with the sun shining on the snowy fields!  I see you God!!!!

We have some fun things coming up in February and I can't wait to spread some extra love to my husband and family!

Stay warm!

25th Wedding Anniversary!

25 years of loving!  25 years of marriage!  25 years of sticking together through all the tears, laughter and fun!  25 years of much learning about each other.  Learning how to respond when our buttons get pushed.  Learning how to deal with toddler tantrums and getting through all the baby years.  25 years together raising a family.  Remodeling the home we lived in ever since we said "I do!"  We grieved at a loss of one miscarriage and prayed for every single baby we brought into the world!  God has been so good to us!!!!

Mike and I really are best friends!  We love doing life side by side.  Not in the kitchen side by side.  I didn't say that now!  I like a clean house and when Mike goes into the kitchen to make something the burner is turned on high, the oil spritzes everywhere the smoke flies!  It makes my blood pressure rise.  So, side by side to live but not in the kitchen!  We have learned to laugh at our mistakes evidently!  We have deep talks about life and pray together every single day!  Life is hard sometimes and marriage is no exception.  Blending two different people and realizing that we think differently on many things ... it's up to us to get along.  To agree even if we may things differently than our spouse.

We've had many people speak life over us through the years.  At a church marriage retreat weekend, we were randomly picked to be a couple to pray for, ask questions too and it was such good advice and teaching that weekend!  Mike loves our teenagers.  I shy away from any drama.  We make a good balance.

Anniversary trips are high priority for us!  Taking some time with just the two of us is important!  We've traveled to different cities.  When we had little babies, we stayed local.  When we could, we scooted off to the tropics for a few days!  There are so many wonderful places to go see and we hope to go tour Italy in the Spring!

This was years ago in Philadelphia!!!!

 Mike had dealer day on our anniversary this year.  After I took Hadassah out for her birthday treat, I picked up Mike at work and we drove to Lititz!  We stayed at the Hilton in town and ate at the wonderful steak house connected to the hotel.  We grabbed good cup of coffee the next morning, walked through the town a bit, ate lunch and headed back home to our kids before they came home from school!

I bought my first pair of red heels and Mike was trying to put them on for me!

Our wedding day was a cold, snowy, beautiful day!  Friends and family gathered inside my home church and all the servers wore a shiny gold color dress!  It was the best day of our life together!  We drove down to the Philadelphia that night and flew out the next morning to Cancun.  Life was so perfect!

With 25 years of marriage behind us, we are changing.  Slowly changing from brown hair to grays.  We have more wrinkles.  We weigh more.  But we still have sparkling blue and deep brown eyes!  We still love each other, more deeply actually, than we did years ago.  We have learned a lot of life lessons!  Changes always take place when you go against time.  We got married with no cell phones and our children now could not imagine life without smart phones.  Land prices and groceries are way more costly than they were 25 years ago.  We changed churches and the way we dress.  One thing that remains the same is we love Jesus and ask Holy Spirit for guidance in our decisions.  

Being married for 25 years to my very best friend is a gift from God above!!!!  

Cheers to the next 25 years of more love, more time together, more travels, more grand babies more life hand in hand .... together!