Briam's Family Blog

What a special day today is.  “What day would that be Briam?”  Well, I’m glad you asked.  Today is our wedding anniversary!!  Nine unbelievably blessed years of marriage.  Inevitably someone will ask the old question “…are you guys in as much love as you were when you were first marriage?”  Ok, well maybe not too many people will ask this.  But I will answer it anyways.  No andYes.  HaHa… well I hope my wife does not stop reading there or I am in trouble.  No?  Well, when we are out together, people no longer have to hose us down to get our attention…  I guess you could say we have matured a bit (Paola more than me).  Yes?  (This is where it gets sappy)  The Love I feel for Paola gets deeper and more meaningful each year.  It’s hard to describe, but I am constantly surprised by the growing amount of Love I feel for her.  It changes my attitudes… It changes my behavior… It changes my thoughts. (In a good way)

I grabbed some of my favorite family pictures and put them together.  They remind me of how blessed I truly am.  Sometimes I wonder how Paola puts up with me.  Each day is another gift that I did not earn or deserve.  I hope that as I grow older, I will keep that mindset and live each day that God has given me to the fullest!  Happy Anniversary Baby!!

What a great time we had going to Amicalola falls with our friends (The Lopez Family).  On top of it all, we actually survived with all the kids... (and without starting a forest fire).  We had to make the reservations a couple of months ago, and the only thing left was a lodge room.  I had thought that it was a cabin, but it turned out to be a really nice full service hotel/lodge.

The weather was perfect!  Warm and sunny... when the heat was to much, nearby shade and a cool breeze awaited.  We were able to get some hiking in from the base of the falls as well as from the top area (near the lodge).  The kids did great on the hiking (with our nice and leisure pace).

We had expected to be in a cabin, so we had brought a ton of food to cook.  So, for the meals, we headed out to the picnic areas where we could cook and grill out.  The food was great (Thanks to Jose who saved me from setting myself on fire)...  Also, there was a neat little animal museum and a couple of playground sets right near the area where we ate at.

Here is a picture of our friends that went with us.  We took tons of pictures, so click on the pictures or HERE to see more.  The one thing that we did not take pictures of was the tubbing we did.  On the last day there we went to Helen after check out.  We all went tubbing for a few hours followed by a picnic.  That was a lot of fun, and the camera was glad that it had not gone with us... for surely it would have been its demise.    So in its place, I will work on my etch a sketch drawings to try to capture the memories...  or not.  

Paola and the kids got a chance to go do some strawberry picking last week with the cousins.  Of course I really really wanted to go to work instead... what can you do?

Here we have the kids in their strawberry picking outfits with their strawberry buckets.  The sun was blazing, so they had to all use hats.  I did not even know we had that many hats.

Here we have Paola and Sophia going around the field.  I believe they are 'taste testing".... I hope the owner does not catch them.

The kids, of course, enjoyed the trip and talked about it for days.  Paola made some delicious strawberry jam from a bunch of the strawberries.  The trip was a great hit.  But I bet they are all still jealous that they were not able to hang out with me.... and work... the same daily work chores that I do everyday....  yeah.  I know behind those smiles and laughs, they are just hiding the regret.  For more pics click on any of the pics or click HERE.