Airman Navarro

Mr. Goad, Airman Navarro (grin) and Nathalie (and baby in the oven!!). Mrs. Goad couldn't make it that day.

This past weekend, I was privileged to attend the graduation of a brand-new Airman. I am posting my three favorites from the weekend.

Their first hug in 8 weeks.

We all brought mustaches to wear after the graduation. :)

Jesus My Glory

Hi everyone! Yep, I'm still alive, I promise :)

During my daily devotions, I read one prayer out of The Valley of Vision. This morning's prayer was so wonderful and encouraging I thought I should share it with you.

Jesus My Glory

O Lord God,

Thou hast commanded me to believe in Jesus;

and I would flee to no other refuge,

wash in no other fountain,

build on no other foundation,

receive from no other fullness,

rest in no other relief.

His water and blood were not severed in their flow at the cross,

may they never be separated in my creed and experiences;

May I be equally convinced of the guilt and pollution of sin,

feel my need of a prince and saviour,

implore of him repentance as well as forgiveness,

love holiness, and be pure in heart,

have the mind of Jesus, and tread in his steps.

Let me not be at my own disposal,

but rejoice that I am under the care of one

who is too wise to err,

too kind to injure,

too tender to crush.

May I scandalize none by my temper and conduct, but

recommend and endear Christ to all around,

bestow good on every one as circumstances permit,

and decline no opportunity of usefulness.

Grant that I may value my substance,

not as the medium of pride and luxury,

but as the means of my support and stewardship.

Help me to guide my affections with discretion,

to owe no man anything,

to be able to give to him that needeth,

to feel it my duty and pleasure to be merciful and forgiving,

to show to the world the likeness of Jesus.

Our Disney Cruise - Day 7

I just realized I never really finished my cruise series!

Well, the last days were mostly uneventful. This day we were at sea all day on our way back home to Galveston. We spent the day eating ice cream (did I mention there was 24-hour soft-serve?), taking an abbreviated tour of the ship, enjoying some time on the upper decks, and generally sucking every enjoyment out of our last hours on our beloved Wonder.

That evening, a special dinner awaited us. The theme: "See 'Ya Real Soon!". The dessert: flaming baked Alaska! But before dessert, all of the servers, as I mentioned before, paraded their way around the restaurant, bearing flags from all over the world, to the tune of a modernized version of "It's a Small World." They briefly walked into the kitchen to deposit the flags, and then came back out to everyone cheering for their respective server team. (Every table has 2 servers.) Our new friends Savio and Maggie came to our table and hugged all of us or shook hands, and then the dessert was served. For me, that was the first moment of the beginning of the end.

After dinner, all the captain's officers came out to trade pins! My Grandma is quite a fan of Figment (a former character from Epcot), and she was able to trade for 2 Figment pins. :)

Every evening after dinner, there was a special theatrical performance of some kind. For example: Toy Story, the Musical; The Golden Mickeys (a Disney spinoff of the Golden Globes); one night it was the film Planes; and this night, it was called Remember the Magic. 

We were not allowed to photograph performances, but I sneaked this picture of the beautiful theater.

That night, after the show, for those young and young at heart (including me - smile), all the characters made their final appearance. There were opportunities for pictures with them - and funny thing, the shortest line I was in all week was for the Captain himself!

After about 15 minutes time for pictures, all the characters gathered on the stairwell for a final goodbye.

The next day, we disembarked the ship, so no pictures of that, really.

That's about it! I hope you enjoyed this series. If you ever can take a Disney Cruise, please take the opportunity. It's the trip of a lifetime and you won't regret it. You will make LOTS of memories. :)

A Musical Christmas

Well, in my last post, I wrote, "See you next year!" but I'm backing out on that because these pictures are too fun... I just couldn't wait 'til next year to post them :)

Catrina & I served as models for Allison. We dressed up in Avonlea-style outfits and tuned our instruments for a Christmas-y Anne/Diana themed photo shoot! It was quite chilly (that is, if you can call 47 degrees in December chilly!) but we smiled through it all, and the results were wonderful!

I suppose I also forgot to tell all of you that I started playing cello this year! I quit piano lessons when I was seven but after admiring the talent of several musically-inclined friends and The Piano Guys, the desire to learn to make music burst forth... I chose the cello and thanks to a wonderful teacher and encouraging family & friends, I have been making much progress and enjoying it immensely! I thank God for giving me the ability to play and enjoy music!

All photos below are copyright of Allie Dean Photography.

Joyeux Noël...

...and Merry Christmas to all :) Have a blessed day with your family, remembering all the blessings the LORD gives! 

See you next year! :)

Our Disney Cruise - Day 6 - Cozumel, Mexico

I hope I didn't leave you waiting too long. :)

On this day we arrived in Cozumel around 11:00 AM, and our excursion for this port was snorkeling!

The three of us (Grandma stayed on board) boarded a small boat and met our guides. They had us recite their names 3 or 4 times so we'd remember and recommend them :) - Julio, Joe, Milo and... unfortunately, I have forgotten the fourth guy. They were all very friendly, helpful and Julio, our main guide, spoke English very well.

We cruised along for about 20 minutes to our first snorkel stop. Here, a "professional" photographer jumped in the water with us and took our picture (below). I think we look a little silly with those masks on, but oh well. :)

The following photos were taken with a disposable waterproof camera and lightly edited in Lightroom. Not bad for a disposable, I think.

There were several different kinds of fish, a crab, and two eels. The yellow fish with black stripes is called a Sergeant Major.

Snorkeling selfie! :)

The above picture features a "man-made reef" - a piece sunk on purpose for the coral to grow on and somewhere for fish to congregate, apparently.

My feet with flippers on :)

After we were done, we briefly re-boarded the ship, changed clothes, and disembarked again to go shopping, which involved my first experience with haggling, although Dad did most of that. We bought a few pieces of jewelry and some souvenirs. I re-boarded the ship to grab my camera and we took some pictures of the stern of the Wonder.

After re-boarding, I noticed some of the characters had come out, and, since I hadn't gotten any pictures with them yet and the lines were short, I took the opportunity.

And then, he said, "Will you marry me?"

Well, actually, I inferred that. He can't talk. He's a dog. :)

Did I fool you? Probably not. :)

We then re-joined Grandma and enjoyed the view from the bow...

When it was time to leave, we watched a crew member take down the Mickey flag...

And then, it was time for dinner. So we made our way down...

And it was quite windy. :)

This night was the Captain's Gala Dinner... lobster!

The girls were feeling nostalgic, so we asked for Mickey ice cream bars. :)

Me, on the Disney Magic, with a Mickey bar, 10 years ago...

and me, about a month ago, on the Disney Wonder, with a Mickey bar.

That's about it for today! 

4 Years...

Happy Adoption Day, Papa Bear. It is a privilege to be your daughter. :)

Dad, Mom, Me, Judge Haughney, Matthew & Grandma on this day... In Wisconsin! :)