10.20.2011

Cruisin

We just took our first cruise. 

We have had our eye on
a Disney Cruise for years.

We found a good deal on this one and some great families were going...so we jumped in.



We left Port Canaveral, Fl.  in the middle of a huge monsoon storm and the
 anti-nauseau medicine I was diligently taking was not cutting it. 
 I lay flat on my bed, looking at the ceiling...
dreaming of chartering a helicopter to get me the heck out of there. 
I know, I am weak.



Crazy monkey towel was not helping improve my mood.
In fact, it kind of made me angry to look at that face as I got up to throw-up.




On the third day, the sun came out literally and figuratively.
The seas were no longer angry and neither was I.




I could venture on deck and partake of the ice cream machine.
The first of many.









Despite the rough start, I really loved the cruise.
I love that the Disney ship was so geared for the family experience.
You really have everything taken care of:  
meals, room cleaned twice a day,
transportation, entertainment, all included.
We also felt safe letting our kids have their freedom 
 (with a surrounding ocean -- they could only go so far)
and they each could run with a pack of good kids.


However,  Isaac could have used a little more supervision.  
Every time I saw my child, he had chocolate or something sticky sweet all over his mouth
 and a piece of pizza in his hand.
I am blaming my rough start and high doses of Dramamine on my lack of parenting.



This trip would not have been the same without the great families we were with.


(Thank you to Shawni for some of these photos...she is so great about capturing moments)
Tracey, I am still waiting to see what you captured for me....hee hee.
It is nice traveling with great photographers (:


Our first stop, St. Maarten.
A beautiful island that I wish we would have seen more of.
It is divided in 2 parts:  French and Dutch







Next day, we stopped in St. Thomas.
This was my favorite spot.  We got a great quick tour and history lesson from our Taxi driver.
You can learn a lot from a great taxi driver.

 We got dropped off at Coki beach--
 the prettiest beach I have ever been to....great snorkeling.
Cole and Summer got to try out scuba diving at 40 feet.  
I think this may be our next diving destination.






The last stop was Disney's private island, Castaway Cay.
The beach looked like it was vacuumed....
not a foot print on the sand when
we arrived.  







Required snorkeling gear....a bit much.







So guess who didn't bring their own sunglasses?
Elton John snagged mine while I was snorkeling with the kids.










Disembarking and heading home. 
(Cole is running on fumes at this point... a lot of late nights)
Always nice to get back home.








10.02.2011

Holiday

We look forward to our church's 
General Conference held twice a year...first weekend of October and April.
It feels like a holiday.  
Instead of heading out to church, we enjoy hearing from the leaders of our church 
broadcast over the television on Saturday and Sunday.
As Ike put it "Yay, church on the couch!"
Amen.


My kids wanted to invite some family over for a brunch between the two sessions...they love to host.


Landon   Griffy  Molly

Landon brought his yummy cinnamon rolls over.
He makes them only on conference weekends...and they are delish!



Parker (our nephew) and sweet 'lil Tillman


"Hey everyone look here real quick."
Luke and Cole were being stinkers.




Here sits a man we all love dearly.  He turns 80 this year.
He is the father of 12 children and 63-4 grandkids....you'd think I would remember 
the right number and I am too lazy to figure it out right now so there.



My kids love the babies...it makes us happy when the "littles" come over.









 Molly was telling us about this great video that we all needed to watch.
Check it out here



 Before our guests left...we had to have a quick game of 
"Around the World" ping-pong.


You hit your ball then go to the other side for your next hit.
You start out walking and then it turns into a run.  It requires a kind of coordination that
I run short on.
The last two players have to do a 360-spin before hitting their ball.  




After a big meal, playing with the babies, and ping-pong...



Back to watching some great messages of hope, faith, love,
and encouragement...

....with a little help to stay alert.