Family Cruise to the Caribbean

Because we moved around for business a lot in the early part of our marriage, we sure appreciate the fact that we now live close to both sets of parents. We are so blessed to have families that not only get along extremely well, but also enjoy traveling together. We recently took a family cruise to the Caribbean, that included both sides of our families and we had a great time vacationing together. We also enjoy hanging out with them at our home or theirs, meeting at a local restaurant for dinner or sometimes just stopping somewhere for a slice of pizza. Our parents LOVE being grandparents and are eager to welcome the new bundle of joy to our family! The reason why we feel so confident being parents is due to the incredible examples our parents were to us. Because they were loving, accepting and giving; good parenting comes easily for us.

Christmas Lights at the Zoo

Mark’s parents are very special people. They've been married for 39 years. Having Mark as their only child, they traveled a lot together, always working out their schedules to maximize their time with him. Spending time with each other was always a priority, cheering for Mark at each of his games-from Little League through to high school. They even went out for a slice of pizza or ice cream every day after school. They are generous and loving parents, who truly view Michelle as their daughter.

Michelle’s parents have been married for 43 years and have always been an example of how beautiful it is when two people truly love each other. That love overflowed into the raising of Michelle, her older brother and younger sister. Family is extremely important to them and they cherish every moment spent together. Growing up, it didn't matter that there weren't a lot of material things. We were always rich in the most important ways. We always knew how much our parents loved and believed in us, telling us we could do anything we set our minds to.

Our Home

We are SO thankful for the community where we live!! We have such friendly neighbors, who go out of their way to express thoughtfulness. We have parties in our cul-de-sac where everyone brings out their tables and chairs, with a dish to share and we have a big barbecue. The kids play together (they love Martonio and are eagerly awaiting a new baby). We often get knocks on the door, hoping Martonio can play…they even ask if our dog can come out and play too. We are especially close with the neighbors next door. We do things together as families and our children play together and take classes together as often as possible.

A Park Nearby

Our five bedroom and three bathroom home is bright and cheery, with lots of windows. We live on a large lot with tons of room to run and have fun. Since Mark works from home, we often go in the back yard and play, go for walks or take a ride through one of the many parks in our community-even on workdays. We sometimes comment to each other that our neighborhood feels like a place we'd take a vacation in…only we're blessed enough to live here.

There is a new school close by that's in an excellent school district. They're even building a brand new park down the street (across from a lake where we can fish). It will have basketball courts too. Very close is a public pool that is known as the best around. It has fun water features for every age group: water slides, fountains, toys, baby/toddler areas and a diving area…we have so much fun!