A Sweet Father's Day Tribute....

Children look up to their Fathers.

And children share cupcakes with their dad on Father's Day. 'Cause Dads DIG Cupcakes.

Yesterday was Father's Day. It's a special day for us. To show and express to our dads just how much we love and appreciate them.

I took this beautiful photo of Gary yesterday. Opening his Father's Day gift with Katie by his side. It's precious. I love the warm glow on their faces. Looking at this picture makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Happy.

I have a wonderful dad. He and I are similar in many ways. For one, he and I have very similar handwriting. It's kinda funny. He writes like an architect. Maybe that's because he used to be a draftsman and designed both commercial and government airplanes. I love my dad and appreciate all he has taught me in life.

The man I married, is an amazingly wonderful father. He loves his children.

And enjoys taking each of them on "daddy dates"~

Sometimes it's to the movies.

Sometimes it's hiking and looking for reptiles.

Sometimes they go out to eat together somewhere special.

Sometimes they go camping.

Sometimes they go get ice cream.

Sometimes they go shopping for fun stuff.

He also spends quality time with them at home~

Playing games.

Playing with our dog Buddy or taking him for a walk together.

Playing basketball.

Playing outside.

Making everyone laugh.

Watching movies together.

Listening to music together.

Or playing his guitar.

And teaching his children how to play an instrument.

Gary not only values his one on one time with his 3 pride and joys, he values family time. He has declared Fridays as "Friday Family Fun Night". That's when we eat take-out and do something fun. Usually the fun lasts the entire weekend as we always seem to find some exciting adventure for the family to enjoy together.

When Fall rolls around, you can find Gary coaching our kids soccer teams. And he is one of the best AYSO Coaches.

His teams always go to the finals. And Gary's players love having him as their coach.

Gary works hard everyday and sacrifices so much for our family. He truly takes incredible care of us and wants the best for his family. The one thing he desires the most for us is for everyone to be happy. And believe me. We are. Life is good. And totally sweet.

One Sweet Trip...Part I

I've been wanting to write a synopsis of my trip since we returned home. 2 weeks ago!! But, between having severe jet lag and being totally overwhelmed by the entire experience--I really don't know where to begin. Or how to begin for that matter. I truly am speechless. That's how amazing it was. Everything we saw. Everything we did. Every authentic meal we shared, was a gift. I'm certain this will be the first of many blog entries about our journey.

This, for instance, is Ephesus~

It's a very ancient city in Turkey dating back as far as 600 BC. But, we'll get back to this place a little later. I could write an entire book on this, "the oldest city everrrr..." {Sorry couldn't help myself here. It's an inside joke between my husband and me}.

We always left the ports we were visiting late at night and sailed the sea while we were sound asleep. It was quite nice, we were rocked to sleep. Nightly. Like little babies. Fortunately, the seas were perfectly smooth the entire trip~despite the fact we traveled through two bad storms. One, when we left Athens and the other in Kusadasi, Turkey. My prayers were answered! It was smooth sailing the entire trip in every way.

This trip was such a dream and so exciting that I think I must have felt the same level of excitement a small child does on Christmas Eve. Every day we'd wake-up bright and early. In fact, as soon as my eyes popped open, I jumped out of bed and hurried over to our big sliding window which opened up to our balcony. I'd pull back the curtains to unveil places I'd only seen on TV or read about in history books! Each time, I was super surprised by the beauty and grandeur of it all. And couldn't wait to get out and explore the city that awaited us. It was a thrill ride like no other.

Back to those storms I mentioned earlier. Simply because this storm is one of the funnier more exciting stories. Gary and I got stuck right in the middle of a massive rain storm in Kusadasi, Turkey~and it was everything from hilarious to terrifying. Let's just say that it was pouring rain. Buckets. And buckets of rain. In fact, one of the Turks we passed in an alley said that this was the most rain they've had in 30 years! Weren't we lucky?!?!

See for yourself. Nice, huh?? Real nice.

Before I go on, I should explain to you a bit about Kusadasi. So you can visualize it. It's a port town filled with open air stores in little alleys. Also, please note on this particular day that Gary and I were dressed in the only clothes we had at the time!!! Let me repeat that....THE ONLY CLOTHES and SHOES we HAD at the time!!!! And now we were completely drenched. From head to toe. And our shoes were soggy. My one and only pair of shoes!!!! So from this you can figure out that our luggage didn't make it to Athens when we flew in the day prior. It was still stuck back in the U.S.! Funny, huh? ALL my new clothes, shoes and necessities of life were still sitting somewhere in the Philadelphia International Airport! However, they finally made it and arrived while we were in Santorini. Three whole days into our trip. It's a long, long story. Maybe I'll bore you with it later. But the most important part of the story is that our stuff did make it and I was over-joyed when it all finally arrived. I even stood on the balcony of our room while I watched the water taxi deliver our lost bags to the ship....it was quite a happy moment for me! I went as far as to yell down to them from my room, 5 floors up....cheering and clapping loudly!

Look!

Here they are!!!!

YAY!!!!!

It was a long journey from the U.S. to Santorini. Poor Bags.

Or maybe it was more like poor me?

Anyhow, back to that aweful storm in Kusadasi. After touring Ephesus we attended a carpet demonstration with our group {'cause if you didn't know, Turkey is well known for their carpet weaving~and they are gorgeous}. Afterwards we told our National Geographic tour guide that we wanted something authentic to eat for dinner! Afterall, we were starving. We'd walked all over and worked up a huge appetite.

Gary and I love tasty Mediterranean food and wanted to make sure that we found a good restaurant where we'd get the sweetest meal! I thought it was so nice. Instead of the tour guide just telling us the name of a restaurant and how to get there, this kind Turk personally led us through a maze of streets to an amazing little Mediterranean joint. Almost immediately after we sat down, our server brought us a huge brick oven cooked pita bread. Along with some amazing humus, feta cheese, and grape leaves wrapped around something very yummy. Not sure what it was, but it was truly incredible!!

This delicious appetizer was followed by a huge platter full of chicken, pork, steak, and lamb kabobs. The food was off-the-hook! And they treated us like gold. But while Gary and I were sitting outside dining, dark, ominous clouds rolled in. The restaurant workers began working furiously to put all the tables, chairs--anything that was outside away where it wouldn't get wet. I looked at Gary and said, "Uhhhh, I think they know something we don't. Maybe we should move inside." Good thing we followed their lead because it started to rain.

By the time we paid for our meal and left, it was pouring. Thankfully I had on a raincoat. But Gary only had on a short sleeved shirt. And we had NO umbrella. We ran through the alleys in the direction of the port where our ship was docked. All the storekeepers were putting their merchandise away. Most of them laughed at us and told us they thought we were crazy. Maybe we were. But we had to get back and there was only one way to do it. We dashed around in the pouring rain.

I felt like we were in a James Bond movie. Gary was Bond, James Bond and I was his bond girl. The rain didn't bother us. It was exciting. Fun. I even bought Gary an umbrella at one of the stores we ran past. And it seemed to help. For a little while. That is until the lightening and thunder came. Lightening was striking all around us. It was so close the lightening and thunder came simultaneously. It was so powerful the ground shook!

We continued on as we wanted to get back to the ship and get out of the rain. But the closer we got, the harder it rained and the more furious the storm became. At one point Gary and I joked about his umbrella and how it probably wasn't smart to have it up in this particular storm. About two minutes after we laughed about his umbrella being a lightening rod, a HUGE lightening bolt struck the water right in front of us! Close to where our ship was docked. It absolutely freaked us out! It was so loud! And it set off all the alarms in the area. The only funny thing about this moment in time was Gary's reaction. He was still holding his umbrella when that bolt of lightening shot out in front of us!! He screamed and immediately threw it to the ground. It made me laugh and I practically started crying it was so hilarious! We both were laughing at ourselves. It finally hit us. Maybe that Turk back in the alley was right. Maybe we were crazy trying to navigate a storm that intense. Later we found out from one of Gary's CA co-workers that there was even a water spout over our ship!!

This is the view we had when the bolt of lightening struck the water. And where we planted ourselves right under the eaves of a big building~while we waited for this horrific storm to pass. We stood there soaking wet. No coat. No umbrella could keep us dry. When we felt it was pretty safe, we darted over to the port where we managed to find a few high end stores still open. We stopped in. Hoping to find some dry clothes to wear once we got back on the ship. I bought a nice linen dress. A sexy pair of red sandals. And Gary found a handsome shirt and nice pair of shoes {he packed more extra clothes in his carry on than I did--he's the seasoned traveler. I only packed enough for two days. And none of it was evening dress code worthy. The ship we were on had a dress code for the evening. It was "country club casual-no jeans". Jeans were all I had with me at the time. And now they were wet and clinging to my body}.

Once we made our purchases we hopped aboard the ship. Went straight to our room where we took a very warm, welcome shower. Dressed up and headed to the Casino where Gary used his mad Craps playing skills and won us some good money. I'm his lucky charm. When he's with me....he always wins. If I'm gone, he loses. It's that simple. So I can never leave the table during play.

We lucked out that night and ended up with a "hot" craps table. We left while we were up and headed to bed. It was a great way to end a day filled with some seriously amazing tours {Ephesus--that is a blog entry in and of itself}. Great food. And a lot of excitement!!! And this was only the first full day of our trip. It was a day we'll never forget. I can't wait to tell you about Ephesus~"...it's like, the oldest city...everrrrrr!" {insert me laughing here~so sorry! I couldn't resist}

Until then, take a look at this decadent treat~Chocolate covered Turkish Delight! We found it sitting on our bed waiting for us when we returned to our room. Soaking wet. We tore into that sucker fast and dug right in. It was really good. Now that I'm home, I miss it and want more. I need to have some shipped to me! Stat!

This was just one of the many great gifts we were given by CA on our Compass Club Odyssey. Sweet, huh?!? Jealous? I would be! 'Cause this was one dreamy trip....to be continued....That is the blog entries. Not the trip, itself. I wish. I wish I could go back.....

The SWEETEST Brownie Recipe Ever.....

Brownies. We all love them. Or, well. At least I do. They're gooey, chocolatey goodness~period.

Really, need I say more?

I absolutely adore all holidays. I was raised that way. My wonderful mom had a way of making every holiday a special occasion. Somehow I've seemed to carry on that tradition with my family. Food. Decorations. It's always a party at our house. I will find a reason to celebrate. Just about anything!

Enter St. Patty's Day 2010. Since my amazing husband's grandmother came here from Ireland, we make absolutely certain that when St. Patrick's Day rolls around every year that we go all out. Everything is green. And dinner is always your standard Irish fare. You know--Corned beef, carrots, cabbage and mashed potatoes {instead of boiled potatoes~they go over better at our house}. Then comes dessert. My favorite. This past year I came across a recipe I just had to try for Mint Brownies.

Oh. My. Gosh. Hello?!?!?

They.

Were {Are}.

The.

Perfect.

Brownie.

I will no longer make brownies from a box again. You shouldn't either. Pinky promise?

These come out beyond amazing. They don't have that hard edge and gooey, almost under-cooked center.

Instead, they are perfectly moist. In fact, they cook evenly from the edges all the way to the center. And that's what makes them so SWEET!

I love them. And as I sit here blogging about them, my stomach is growling loudly. Very. Very. Loudly!!

Maybe. Just maybe. If time permits, I'll indulge and bake up a batch of these today.

You should too.

You'll be glad you did. And if you make them for your friends, family, and neighbors~they will not only thank you, they'll be begging you for this recipe. So be sure to include it!

Are you ready?

Here it is. The recipe for my all time favorite brownie. However, before I go on, I can't take all the credit for this truly great recipe. I need to thank one of my favorite cooking blogs, Our Best Bites for this. If you've never visited Our Best Bites website, do yourself a favor STOP whatever it is you're doing right now and click on the link--it's here on Everything Sweet for a reason. Because it's full of truly good recipes which are not only easy, but very tasty and super family friendly. Gotta love that. It's a sweet website.

And this is truly the sweetest brownie recipe....ever.....

Mint Brownies

Recipe by Our Best Bites

Brownies: 4 squares unsweetened baking chocolate (4oz)

1 C butter (2 sticks)

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/4 C flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

Frosting: 2 C powdered sugar

4 T butter, softened

1 1/2 tsp peppermint extract

1-2 Tbs milk

green food coloring

Chocolate Glaze:

6 oz (about 1 cup) semi-sweet chocolate chips ,you could also use dark

6 Tbs real butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x13 inch pan with foil making sure the foil extends over the edges by at least one inch. Lightly spray with non-stick spray and set aside. Chop both unsweetened chocolate and two sticks of butter into chunks and place together in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until just melted and smooth. Set aside to cool, stirring occasionally. With an electric mixer or stand mixer beat eggs, sugar, and vanilla for 2 minutes. While egg mixture is beating, measure out flour and combine with baking powder. While mixer is running, slowly add melted chocolate and beat to combine. Turn beater speed to low and add in flour by spoonfuls. Mix just until combined. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 20-30 minutes or until a knife poked in center comes out clean. Cool completely on a metal rack. When brownies have cooled to room temperature, prepare frosting. Combine all frosting ingredients, starting with 1 1/2 tablespoon of milk, and beat until light and fluffy. Add more milk by teaspoonful as needed. Spread frosting evenly over brownies and then place brownies in fridge to chill. While brownies are chilling prepare chocolate glaze. Place chocolate chips and 6 tablespoons butter in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until just melted and smooth. Set aside to cool for about 15 minutes and then carefully spread on top of the frosting layer. Return pan to fridge to cool. When chocolate has hardened, use edges of foil to remove entire brownie from pan. Cut into squares and serve.

**Note: I just love the brownie recipe itself. The mint layer of frosting is so refreshing. But not required. I was thinking of just making the brownies and frosting them with my famous peanut butter-chocolate buttercream. So. Very. Yummy.**

Now. Please. Whatever you do. Make these brownies today. It'll be the perfect way to start out your week.

The Trip of a Lifetime~A Sweet Adventure is in Store...

Oh. My. Gosh!!!!!!

I can't believe that in just two short days this is where I'll be.

In Ancient Civilization.

Touring.

Taking in all the sites.

And being completely overwhelmed by how amazing it truly is.

I've only read about these places in history books back when I was a school girl.

This is the cruise ship that'll be chartering us from port to port. It's the Luxury 6~Star Regency Seven Seas. I've never been on a cruise before. This is not only going to be a first for both my husband and me~but a new experience in traveling altogether! I'm praying for smooth sailing. Literally!

Fortunately, everyone I've talked to who aren't cruise virgins, like myself, absolutely rave about them! I'm hoping I come home doing the same thing! Gushing about how luxurious cruises are the only way to travel. I'll get back to you on that in two weeks.

This is going to be a truly interesting and exciting Odyssey where we'll cross five seas--The Aegean, Adriatic, Mediterranean, and the Sea of Crete. All the while, we'll be visiting four countries. It's going to be an incredible adventure! One that I know we'll never forget!

We'll be visiting Athens, Turkey, Santorini, Croatia and Venice, Italy.

I've dreamt of going to Italy my entire life~now that dream will become a reality in no time at all! Who said dreams don't come true?

Until then~I still need to pack. And tie up all the loose ends at home before I embark on this journey of a lifetime. I'm excited~and can't wait to share all of our enthralling experiences with each of you!

Snails are Sweet~According to Megan!

School is still in session.  For 5 more weeks.  Which means, Megan is still waking up at the crack of dawn to catch the bus. Early on she was always crazy excited to see the bus! Now, not so much! In fact, I have to actually pull her out of bed just about every morning now.  And the sad part, she cries.  Megan is tired. And feeling a bit "sluggish" if you will.

Today she did much better!!  She even announced with great excitement, "Bus is coming"! And there was NOT a single tear shed!  

When the bus arrived, we opened the door to head out.  A burst of cool, fresh Spring air washed over us.  Ahhhhhhh.......  It woke us both up!!  

While running out to the bus, Megan managed to kick a snail. I told her, "Oh, know! You kicked that snail back there!"  She immediately stopped in her tracks.  Said, "Huh, oh!" Made a 180 degree turn and ran back to the snail.  

Once she got back to where Mr. Snail had planted himself, she bent down to him and said, very sincerely "I'm sorry!" 

Before we go on I should mention that Mr. Snail survived the kick and didn't sustain any injuries.  He did, however get a bit scared.  And as a result, retracted up into the safety of his shell.

Moving on.  

After Megan apologized, she was still a bit concerned about Mr. Snail's well-being and picked him up.  She turned him over and looked inside.  And there he was safe inside his shell.  

While looking at Mr. Snail all tucked up, Megan said very sweetly, "Oh!! He's sleeping".

Why of course.  Who would wake up so early? Only little girls who have to catch a school bus!

No harm done.  Mr. Snail was perfectly fine.  Why, he was in dreamland.

Just one thing.

I'm wondering if Megan didn't think it was just any old snail. Because if there's one thing I know about my sweet Megan, it's that she loves the Nick Cartoon, SpongeBob! And SpongeBob happens to have a pet snail named, Gary.  

Here's the question:

Did Megan think it was Gary the snail?

OR

Does Megan have a greater love for all snails now because SpongeBob has one as a pet? 

OR

Is it just that big heart of hers that seems to love everyone and everything?  

I'm thinking, by her reaction, it's the later.  Megan was very sincere and seemed very concerned. Hmmm???  I know how much she loves that Nick Cartoon and I'm certain she'd never want to hurt Gary.

Regardless of her motive, there's one thing I know for a fact.  Megan brings joy into our lives everyday through the little things she does.  This story of Mr. Snail is just one of the many examples.  It's the little things we typically overlook, which Megan does not.  Instead, she brings them to our attention.  

I don't like snails.  They eat my pretty flowers.  But it was such a beautiful sight seeing how someone could be so kind to a pest.  

Here's another lesson Megan taught today~Perhaps we all could stand to be a little nicer and a bit more thoughtful, even to those we may consider "pests" {just like those little pesky gastropods}.  Taking time out of our busy day to do more nice things for others, will not only bless their lives, but will simply make us each better people.

Side Note:  It's possible Megan somehow knew that gastropods have unusually long life spans. Did you know, they can live up to 10 years!  There are even reports of some living as long as 25! Maybe she wanted to make sure this young snail had a full life ahead of him~eating all my plants and flowers!! Sweet, huh?

This whole snail encounter lasted 2 short minutes. Tops.  And really, more than anything, it made me laugh!  Especially when Megan declared that Mr. Snail was asleep.  Because I am sure that is exactly what she wanted to be doing.  Sleeping.   

Sweet Treats!

I love treats. Especially sweet ones. As I've been going through my enormous photo library I came across this gem. It's an amazingly delicious Giant Pizza Cookie. I made it for my son, Eric's, seventh birthday. Actually, I didn't just make it for him, I made it for his entire first grade class. I wanted Eric to have something unique. Not the typical frosted cupcake from the grocery store. Those things are nasty. And the kids just lick the frosting off the top anyway.

When I made this sweet treat for Eric's class, it was back in the day when you could bake anything you wanted at home and bring it in to share. Now, it all has to be store bought. A bummer. A total, total bummer. Because I enjoy baking and sharing my specialties with others!! I guess it's their loss. Not mine. Sweet treats from the store just aren't the same.

There was a lot of time and love that went into this truly great cookie. And work of art! Plus, it was fun to construct. The cookie itself is an excellent soft oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe. So if you aren't in the mood to make something so big AND fancy--the cookies by themselves turned out real yummy. Also, when I made this giant pizza cookie, I decided to make individual ones too so that each child could have their own little mini pizza. It was super fun! And Eric's friends all thought they were crazy good! Needless to say, there wasn't a crumb left! Now go make this for your next party. Your guests will thank you!

Giant Pizza Cookie

{LET YOUR IMAGINATION GO WILD AND TOP

THIS CHOCOLATEY GOOD COOKIE WITH SOME

OF YOUR CANDY JAR FAVORITES!}

INGREDIENTS

1 CUP ALL PURPOSE FLOUR

3/4 CUP QUICK OR OLD-FASHIONED OATS

1/2 TEASPOON BAKING SODA

1/4 TEASPOON SALT

1/2 CUP (1 STICK) BUTTER OR MARGARINE, ROOM TEMPERATURE

1/2 CUP PACKED BROWN SUGAR

1 EGG

1/2 TEASPOON VANILLA

1 CUP SEMI-SWEET CHOCOLATE CHIPS

1 CUP PREPARED MILK CHOCOLATE FROSTING

RED FRUIT SNACK ROLLS, GUM DROPS, CANDY COATED

CHOCOLATE PIECES AND WHITE CHOCOLATE

#1 Preheat oven to 350. In a small bowl, mix flour, oats, baking soda and salt.

#2 In a mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until creamy. Add egg and vanilla and beat well.

#3 Add flour mixture to butter mixture and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips.

#4 Shape dough into a ball and place in the center of a round baking stone. Lightly flour your hands and pat dough into an 11-inch circle. Place baking stone in rack.

#5 Bake 14-16 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove from oven. Cool completely.

#6 Spread cooled cookie with frosting. To decorate, use an apple corer to cut round pieces from fruit rolls to resemble pepperoni. Using kitchen shears, snip gum drops into pieces for pizza toppings. Add candy-coated chocolate pieces, as desired. Using a cheese grater with a fine grating drum, grate white chocolate over top for cheese. Cut into wedges with a pizza cutter.

**Note: When I transported it to school, for a real pizza effect, I went to the pizza store and had them give me a large pizza box. The children thought is was way cool!

As I've continued sifting through all my photos, I have quite a few images of treats I've made through the years. As a result, I've decided I'm going to be changing up this blog a bit. I'm going to be posting a recipe of a sweet treat {or savory favorite family meal} I've made, that is sure to be a hit weekly. Because, like I said, I like sharing what I've baked with others. So consider it just that. I'm sharing the goodness with each of you. And you can do the same. Spread the love. The sweet, sweet love of a well-made treat.

Sweet Spring Cleaning!

We have 28,818 photos and 148 movies currently stored in iphoto on our mac computer. Let me repeat that~28,818 PHOTOS shot over approximately 7 years!!! Mathematically speaking, that's about 4,100 pictures taken each year since we bought our first digital camera. Chronicling our family. And EVERY photo holds a sweet memory. But just one thing. EVERYpicture is sitting on a hard drive. Which is scary. Very. Very. SCARY!! They aren't published in pretty books to look at and enjoy. Or hanging in a beautiful home gallery, for that matter. So, I've decided to fix this horrific problem. Immediately!

Just how, you ask, am I resolving this depressing issue? I'm doing a little "Spring Cleaning", if you will. I'm going through all 28,818 of our photos and turning them into books for our family and others to enjoy. In addition, I'm even working on putting together a stunning photo gallery in our home. It is, however, quite an enormous, task. Fortunately, it's a fun one. This is the kind of spring cleaning I do find enjoyable. It's sweet. It brings back floods of memories. Some of which I will share right here!

For instance, here is ONE of the reasons WHY we moved back to California from Boston, Massachusetts. Nor'easters which left us digging ourselves out. Winter after winter. And, to be quite honest, more than we wanted or liked to.

Boston. Winter 2003

{check it out. eric is sitting level with the bumper on my van!}

Back to why I'm doing this Photo Spring Cleaning. I openly admit that it was my baby, Katie who motivated me to tackle this enormous project. She is the only child who was born in the age of digital photography. So while her brother and sister have baby albums, she does not. She discovered this sad fact recently. I feel bad that she had to ask me to make her one! What kind of mother am I? My poor baby doesn't have a baby album. Or any album, for that matter. If she wants to see her life in photos, we have to sit down together, turn the computer on, open iphoto, and then search for all the pictures of her throughout the years.

I figured for her seventh birthday in June, she'll get the best birthday gift ever. Photo albums. Yes, plural. There will be albums tracking her first 7 years of life which I know she'll cherish. I can't wait to see the finished product. And more than anything, I can't wait to see the look on her face as she opens each book and looks at the story of her life. So far.

Here are some precious photos of Katie which I came across today while Spring Cleaning in iphoto. These adorable pictures will appear in Katie's storybook of life....

Katie Then

Almost 7 years ago....

Katie Now....

Such a Beautiful Little Girl!

I could sit for hours, daily, looking through each and every one of our photos. It's truly entertaining seeing where we've been. What we've done. How we've all grown and changed over the years. And I would say that our 28,818 photos make up one sweet family story. Because each of us has a story. That is the very reason why I love writing this blog. It's my story. Which I choose to share with you. Hopefully, you find it as sweet as I do. Soon it'll be published into beautiful books. Finally. The best part~they will be a family treasure. Which we can enjoy and actually look at without having to turn on the computer.