Monthly Archives: May 2025

2025 Homemade Mother’s Day Gifts

Posted on by
Reply

As I have echoed my own mom’s words in past blog posts, homemade Mother’s Day gifts are simply the best. Once again this year, St. Mary Catholic School offered the initiative/thought while our kids supplied the creativity to produce some special gifts for Sidney.

Let’s open up these gift bags and see what is inside!

First, let’s start with Beau. You know if the gift bag has a cute pun on it that the contents should be halfway decent…

Based on the pun, any idea what is inside?

Beau gave Sid a cilantro starter kit. Everything she needs to grow the herb is in the pot that Beau painted himself. Thanks to the handsome photo of himself, there will be no confusion on who gifted his mommy the cilantro wants it begins to grow.

Beau gave Sidney this cilantro kit.

Sloan channeled her inner-Picasso for the second straight year. However, instead of the stunning portrait she made of Sid last year (which I loved), Sloan painted this moody landscape to be hung at the most highly-visible spot in our house.

Sloan painted this for Sid.

As a bonus, Sloan also filled in this sheet for Sidney. However, I think as kids grow in age, these things just get more mundane because this is probably the most boring/least funny/straight forward “All About Mom” exercise I have ever seen.

These have sadly become pretty straight forward as Sloan has gotten older.

In addition to the above beautiful gifts, the kids also helped serve breakfast in bed to Sidney. I hope your Mother’s Day was just as sweet as the cinnamon sugar pancakes we made for her. Don’t Blink.

Habemus Papam: Introducing Pope Leo XIV

Posted on by
1

WHITE SMOKE.

It didn’t matter if you were Catholic or not—on Thursday, it seemed like everyone on the planet was captivated by these two words. Once the College of Cardinals made a papal decision and the smoke conveyed the good news, you couldn’t escape the phrase: it resided on breaking news tickers of all stations, screamed in all-caps on social media, and filled up text message chains.

After the initial adrenaline rush and hysteria from just seeing the white smoke, attention started to shift to the monumental question: WHO?

I don’t think I need to fill much of this space with the pleasant shock I felt when Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was announced as the next pope. I shared the same sentiment as pretty much every other Catholic…surprise. This line is cliché by now, but I too didn’t think I would ever live to see an American pope. But here we are.

Count me all-in when it comes to the papacy of Pope Leo XIV! I am optimistic and excited for the direction of his holy leadership. Let me share three quick tidbits surrounding his selection…

I am excited for the papacy of Pope Leo XIV.

– Initially, you hear commentators proclaim that Pope Leo XIV is a moderate. I dislike using political terms to describe leadership tendencies of the Bishop of Rome so let me paraphrase it in a different way: I think the new pope is going to make the Church even stronger by uniting the faithful to a degree we haven’t seen in 20 years.

– It has been surreal for me to realize just how…umm…American that Pope Leo XIV is. I can go back to when he was Cardinal/Bishop Prevost and watch clips of him talking in plain English. I can view news reports featuring his siblings—ordinary American people—talking about an extraordinary disciple of Christ. I can scope out past social media posts, learn about his favorite Chicago teams, and research his time at Villanova. Pope Leo XIV simply hits very close to home…what a blessing!

– Speaking of blessings, I had the good fortune of benefiting from the insight and expertise of my pastor, Fr. Jeff Lewis, before/during/after the announcement of Pope Leo. When the white smoke was spotted, the Signal group I am part of with some of my best friends and Fr. Jeff started to blow up. After our initial excitement, we deferred to our priest as he took us through the proceedings, provided us background on Pope Leo, and offered his observations about the new pope’s initial choices and preferences (name, speech, clothing, etc.). It was enlightening and very much appreciated.

Pope Leo XIV made a great impression when he addressed the faithful who packed St. Peter Square.

But can I make a confession (pun intended)? Although I was so excited about the selection of Pope Leo XIV, I think I walked away from last week feeling even better about the way that Catholicism was truthfully and elegantly presented. Every single news station and media organization devoted wall-to-wall coverage of the conclave. And what did you see?…

You saw the true global reach of the Church. You marveled at the thousands upon thousands of devout people who filled St. Peter’s Square. You were touched by the joyous live reactions inside Catholic school classrooms when Pope Leo XIV was announced. You observed a diverse College of Cardinals comprised of holy clergy members from all corners of the earth. You sensed…perhaps even boldly felt…the billions of prayers being lifted up for Pope Leo and the Church in general. You were awed by the authentic faith in Christ that was on constant display.

What you saw was a large, passionate, faithful Church. It was simply a profound week for the 1.4 billion Catholics in the world—this blogger included.

As the papacy of Pope Leo XIV begins in earnest, let us pray for holy and humble leadership that leads us all closer to Jesus Christ. Don’t Blink.

Disney Thursday Rundown

Posted on by
Reply

My apologies for last week’s lack of a Thursday Rundown. Disney World kind of got in the way. But don’t feel too sad because I am back tonight with five random topics…

Five Amazing Years – On this date five years ago, with COVID turning the world upside down, Sid and the kids landed in Spokane to begin a new chapter with me (watch Sloan and I re-unite). I had moved to Washington a couple months before everyone else so I could start my new job at WSU while giving Beau more time to acclimate/grow post-NICU. I am so proud of how everyone adjusted—especially my wife. She took a chance, showed courage, and ultimately thrived by allowing us to move out here. I know others look at her as a role model in terms of what can happen when you move outside of your comfort zone. Thanks be to God for the grace he bestowed on us.

Sidney holds her sign moments after landing in Spokane on May 8, 2020.

Crowning 2025 – It is the Month of Mary and one way to honor our Blessed Mother is by crownings. Sloan and Beau had their Mary crowning at school earlier this week. Every student was invited to bring flowers to lay at the feet of the school’s Marian statue. When I brought them to school on Tuesday, we spent some prayerful time with Mary in the courtyard…a truly great way to start the day. St. Mary, pray for us!

Sloan and Beau hold the flowers they presented at St. Mary Catholic School’s (Spokane Valley) crowning of Mary.

Sword in the Stone – I didn’t share this photo in my Disney recaps so I figured I would place it here. If you have ever watched the Full House episode where the Tanners go to Disneyland, you are probably familiar with the Sword in the Stone. Park attendees can try to lift the sword out of the stone (just like King Arthur). If they are successful, a contingent of dignitaries come out of the woodwork to recognize the noble person. Unfortunately, Beau’s muscles weren’t enough to make the sword budge.

Beau tried his hardest, but he couldn’t remove the sword from the stone.

Squirrel and Bacon – Like pretty much every other place in the United States, Disney World is also home to lots of squirrels. As our group assembled outside of our resort to head to another park, we watched this squirrel chow down on some bacon. I bet it tasted so good.

I took this photo of a Disney World squirrel eating bacon. That is all.

Dum Dums Surprise – The lighthearted story I enjoyed the most from this week was the Dum Dums ordering spree an 8-year-old boy went on. He wanted to host a carnival and give suckers to those who attended so he made the “quick” order while playing on his mom’s phone. He evidently thought that 70,000 Dum Dums would be enough. Despite his mom’s best efforts to cancel the order, the large shipment arrived at her house and she was on the hook for $4,000. Luckily, everything got sorted out as the candy was eventually returned and the mom received a refund. If you are a longtime reader, you might remember a blog post I wrote 11 years ago that addressed why Dum Dums are special to me.

Me with some Dum Dums.

————

Thanks be to God that we have a pope! Please pray for Pope Leo XIV as he begins his new ministry. Thanks for reading and I wish you a magnificent spring weekend. Don’t Blink.

My Favorite School Nurse

Posted on by
Reply

For those of us lucky enough to have one at our school, you probably still remember this person. They saw us at our worst and did their best to straighten us out.

No, I am not talking about the detention teacher.

Rather, I am talking about the school nurse. On those days where our stomachs felt sick, our heads pounded incessantly, or our knees left some skin on the black top, we could depend on the school nurse to help us feel better (or at least give us a one-way ticket home to watch TRL).

School nurses weren’t just reactive either—they screened for ailments before we even knew anything was wrong. Hearing tests, lice screenings, and scoliosis checks, anyone? Always busy, overworked, and underpaid, the school nurse was definitely an MVP in the schools I attended as a youngster.

But despite the stellar nurses I had in the schools I attended, there is someone else who I prefer. My favorite school nurse is my mother-in-law!

My mother-in-law is my favorite school nurse!

Brenda started her career as a general practitioner nurse. When my wife was 4, my mother-in-law made the transition to the Marion (South Carolina) school system. However, I don’t know if “transition” is the  right word because there was nothing to transition to. You see, Marion didn’t have a school nursing program…

So Brenda created one from scratch.

After building and establishing a nursing presence in the Marion County School District, Sid’s mom would eventually work for Horry County Schools. By the time she retired in 2018, my mother-in-law had devoted more than 20 years to nursing in schools. One can only imagine how many students and staff members she treated.

Although she is now retired, my mother-in-law is still very active in the community as she lends her nursing talents to various causes. She is also the perfect “personal nurse” to my father-in-law, all her children, sons-in-law, and grandchildren. It goes without saying, thanks to Brenda, we were all in great hands at Disney World. 😉

It sure was nice to have our own personal nurse with us at Disney World.

The Wednesday of National Nurses Week (May 6 – May 12) is always reserved for National School Nurse Day. Take a moment to remember the school nurses you had growing up and perhaps do something special for the nurse currently serving at the school where your children attend. Much gratitude to my mother-in-law for the incredible impact she made in the lives of so many. Don’t Blink.

Disney World Magic and Memories

Posted on by
Reply

Over the span of three full days, we jumped headfirst into all Disney World has to offer.

Hanging with these three at Disney World was a magical adventure! We jumped right in.

If that opening sentence seems a little abrupt or random to you, please read this past post that explains how we found ourselves at WDW in the first place.

Sloan poses for a photo with Sid’s parents and her cousin, Henry. It was awesome to see all of Sidney’s family again.

But for this post I want to jump right to the chase. As I am fond of doing, I wanted to highlight 10 themes/observations from our time at Disney World.

Beau, Sloan, and their cousin, Jack, wait at the entrance to Magic Kingdom.

Disney’s Yacht Club Resort – The four nights we spent at Disney World were under the roof of the Disney’s Yacht Club Resort. After most recently staying in a cruise ship cabin that the four of us could hardly move in, we enjoyed our more spacious quarters. I especially liked our balcony that overlooked the hotel grounds, the distinctive hotel scent that hit you the moment you walked in, and the adjoining door that connected us to Sid’s parents’ room.

Sloan hangs out on the balcony of our hotel room at the Disney Yacht Resort Club. We had a great stay!

Family – Speaking of my wife’s parents, this trip was special because we had the blessing of vacationing with my in-laws and Sid’s sisters (plus their families). Because they live in South Carolina, making the hour flight from Myrtle Beach to Orlando was manageable. It was awesome to catch up with everyone but perhaps nothing was better than watching all the cousins engage and play with each other.

Our Mathis group takes a couple moments to rest inside of Epcot. It was great to see everyone!

Packed Days – We tried to make the best use of our days with the limited time (three full days) that we had. Our crew hit up Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Epcot. Disney lines are long so you must prioritize what you want to ride. It was interesting to observe the distinct vibes and unique characteristics of the parks! I liked each one for different reasons.

I liked all the parks for different reasons but it is tough to beat Magic Kingdom.

Character Breakfast – One of my favorite moments from our time at Disney was the character breakfast at Animal Kingdom. However, this isn’t near the top of my list solely because we got to meet Mickey but rather because of the food! The breakfast buffet was delicious and by far the best park food I ate. The French toast was delightful (perhaps the ample whipped cream had something to do with it?) and I loved that they randomly offered chicken curry as well.

All the cousins pose for a photo with Mickey at the character breakfast at Animal Kingdom. Best food all trip!

Sloan’s Fearlessness – I felt proud as I observed Sloan’s bravery. She rode all the coasters and thrill rides without thinking twice. She definitely doesn’t get her fearlessness from her dad—I don’t usually ride roller coasters—so it was neat to see her exhibit more guts than me.

Sloan was up for anything in Disney World and was a lot of fun to be around.

Favorite Rides – Even though I wasn’t usually with the group hopping on the big coasters, I still rode some rides that were fun and very well-done. Ratatouille (Epcot) was cute and incorporated aroma effects, DINOSAUR (Animal Kingdom) was intense and mission-based, Mickey’s Runaway Railway (Hollywood Studios) was an adventure, and racking up the high score of our group on Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin (Magic Kingdom) provided me some bragging rights. However, I have a soft spot for the Magic Kingdom classics like Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, and the Winnie the Pooh ride.

Hanging out with Beau and Sloan on the Ratatouille ride at Epcot.

Bonding With Beau – While Sloan was out being brave with the other thrill-seekers in our group, I spent a lot of time with Beau. I had so much fun with him! We hit up the tea cups, carousel, Dumbo ride, and many more. While not on rides, we tried pulling a sword out of a stone, ate Mickey ice cream bars, and played in splash pads. I am always touched by what a sweet boy Beau is and I feel thankful for the memories we made together.

I had a blast with Beau at Disney. Such a sweet boy!

Fireworks – Each park offers nightly fireworks and we took full advantage. Sid and I received front row seats for the Epcot show on Friday compliments of Traveler’s Insurance and our whole family group watched the Magic Kingdom display on Thursday. But the most magical experience came the first evening we were at Disney. While in our hotel room late at night, we heard fireworks exploding outside the building. Sloan rushed to the balcony and got to watch that evening’s 11 p.m. Epcot show. The view we had from our balcony was superb and provided the perfect way to close out that first evening.

Sloan and Sidney stroll as the fireworks fill the sky at Magic Kingdom.

Character Encounters – Beyond the character breakfast I mentioned earlier, the kids had an awesome time engaging with Disney heroes at other moments during our trip. They met Elsa and Anna in the duo’s summer home, randomly encountered Asha from “Wish” at Epcot, ran into Chip and Dale in our hotel lobby, and crossed paths with Daisy. Each time, Sloan and Beau pulled out their autograph books for signatures. These Disney cast members who portray the characters are expertly trained and undoubtedly talented!

The kids met a lot of Disney characters. This photo shows some of them.

Mass At St. Mary, Queen of the Universe – On Sunday morning, we attended mass at Mary, Queen of the Universe Basilica. It was built to serve the large population of Catholics who visit Disney each year. Seating approximately 2,000 people, the church is beautiful and the services are reverent. What a blessing it was to spend the third Sunday of Easter there.

Beau and Sloan stand in front of Mary, Queen of the Universe Basilica in Orlando.

—————-

I am grateful our children experienced Disney World at an age of reason. Although Beau’s memories might be a little fuzzy 10 years from now, I know Sloan will forever remember this trip. I have never declared myself a Disney freak but I can at least admit that a palpable sense of magic does float through the parks. I hope Sloan and Beau saved some of that pixie dust to pair with their beloved Stitch stuffy souvenirs they brought home.

It was such a joy to spend time at Disney with these two little monkeys.

Thanks again to Sidney for helping us get to Disney via her Traveler’s Insurance professional prowess. I also owe additional gratitude to my wife for the enthusiasm and planning she exhibited in preparation for this very special trip.

Thanks to Sidney for making our Disney World trip possible.

Hats off to the Mouse himself for a great time—we sure enjoyed ourselves, Mickey! Don’t Blink.

Why We Went to Disney World

Posted on by
1

Although we try our hardest to go on an annual vacation every 12 months, very rarely do we go on TWO vacations in a single calendar year. But, as you probably gleaned from my blog post last week, not only have we now embarked on a couple different vacations in 2025, we did them within a couple weeks of each other.

Let me quickly explain…

The cruise we recently returned from was more than a year in the making. My sister rallied the troops in early 2024 and organized a Reser family vacation on the Freedom of the Seas for April 2025.

The Disney World vacation we just returned from was a little more spontaneous and it was 100% because of my talented wife…

Our family in Magic Kingdom during our visit to Disney World.

Earlier this year, Sidney was named an In-Synch award winner for Travelers Insurance. Basically, out of 30,000 employees, she was one of the approximately 100 professionals honored for going above and beyond on an everyday basis. One of the perks she received for her inclusion in this prestigious .3% grouping of the Travelers workforce?

An all expenses paid trip for two to Disney World!

Thanks to Sidney’s work performance with Travelers Insurance, we were given an all-expenses paid visit to Disney World. This is us at the beach welcome party on Thursday, May 1.

Although I thought she would choose my sister to hop on that plane with her, my wife decided to choose me! And, it kind of goes without saying, but if “mom and dad” are going on a trip to Disney World, the two kids better be going as well.

And they did. 😊

What a gift it was to bring Sloan and Beau to Disney World!

But it wasn’t just the four of us who spent time in Orlando this past week. When Sidney called her parents to tell them about her honor and prize, they said they would meet us there! Then one of Sid’s sisters (and her family) also committed to the trip and shortly thereafter her other sister also booked tickets for her family.

Sid’s family hanging out during a day at the Disney parks.

After a family vacation with my parents and siblings, we were doing the same with Sid’s family!

This is how the Travelers vacation package worked: Sid’s company made all travel arrangements, set us up with lodging at the Disney Yacht Club Resort, provided three full days of park tickets, organized different recognition events, and much more.

There was a lot going on during the five days we spent in Florida…

– Sidney got to spend time at her most favorite place on earth.

– Our children had the thrill of experiencing Disney for the first time at an age they will remember.

– We had the pleasure of spending time with Sidney’s family who we don’t see enough.

– Sid received a truly memorable Travelers experience where she received tremendous recognition, enjoyed the red carpet treatment, and networked with other high performing colleagues plus top-level executive management.

We enjoyed a nice time at Disney with some beautiful weather.

During the day we spent time at the parks and at night we attended the Travelers events. I will follow this blog post with another one that chronicles our family experience in more detail, but I did want to use this post to very briefly touch on what made the time “under the Travelers umbrella” so eye-opening.

I could write a lot but for the sake of brevity, let me highlight three things that really stood out…

1. Meeting Sid’s colleagues – I had the honor of meeting many of the people Sidney works with. A few of them were from the Spokane office but many of them were from all over the country. It was really cool to see the respect they have for each other and how happy they were to spend time together.

Sidney with her Traveler’s Insurance colleagues at the beach welcome welcome.

2. Understanding the Travelers Work Culture – I learned a lot about how highly Travelers Insurance values its employees and the company’s “WHY” for doing business. Travelers CEO Alan Schnitzer spoke at length during the award recognition dinner and I appreciated his leadership philosophies. I also really appreciated the special shout out he gave to Sidney during his remarks and it was an honor to meet him during the after party.

Sidney with Traveler’s CEO Alan Schnitzer.

3. So Much Fun! – From a welcome dinner on the beach to the awards banquet to the Epcot dessert/fireworks event, I felt lucky to enjoy the fruits of Sid’s success. The best perk though was the after hours access we received to go on the Ratatouille ride as many times as we wanted!

Sid and I pose for a photo before going on the Ratatouille ride.

I am adjusting back to West Coast time and still have a lot of positive thoughts and experiences to process from the whirlwind five day trip, but this is a good start. I know my wife is thankful that she took a big leap of faith 2.5 years ago by totally switching careers and accepting a position with Travelers. I am so proud to see how far she has come in such a short period of time. Don’t Blink.