Forts

 The boys love to play in their forts. Sometimes we will use the lightning McQueen fort they received for Christmas. Other times we gather up blankets and make our own. Today I made a small fort between the love seat and sofa. They played for an hour inside the small fort. I heard cute conversations and giggles and I had to investigate. Crew had lots to say, while Sawyer mostly said, "Yeah."  Unless Sawyer saw a monster coming, then he made sure to say a lot about hiding!

Happy Birthday Crew!

It seemed rather appropriate that I was up all night to get home to my little boys and slightly exhausted while celebrating Crew's 4th birthday! (I had Crew at 4 am after and got very little sleep on the day of his birth.) 

As soon as I heard Crew waking up, I went upstairs and poked my head in his door. Sawyer was still sleeping as Crew and I did a silent, but joyous, celebration! I was greeted with tight squeezes and Crew saying, "I missed you, Mom!" We found ourselves snuggling on the couch and not being able to stop smiling and giving each other loves. Soon Abe and Sawyer were awake and it was great to be together as a family!

Crew was so excited about his birthday and making a cake with Grandma. It was all he talked about before and during our trip. I think his cake met all expectations!

 All meals came with the traditional candle! For a small thank you for all that my parents did, we bought everyone lunch. Grandpa even came home early from work to join in the noon-time celebration! Anne also joined us before she went off to work.

Crew requested waffles, eggs, and sausage for his birthday. I guess everyone was surprised and kept on checking to see if he wanted a different meal. Nope! He wanted breakfast for dinner. While helping to prepare his meal he made sure to use his extra-strong four year old muscles to stir the jam. The silly boy kept trying to eat a spoonful of the homemade jam and didn't like being told he couldn't eat it out of the jar!

 Sawyer was pretty excited and kept on being silly with everyone.

 It was way exciting to celebrate with Liam and Molly there too! It was a great family party!

 Dinner was fabulous. Grandpa knows how to make a good waffle! We were all so full from dinner that we had to open presents before we cut into the cake. Crew loved every present he got and gave great reactions! He received scripture characters from Grandma and Grandpa, an activity book from Liam and Molly, pirate pajamas and a small Book of Mormon with his name on it, from us, and a helicopter from Abe.

helicopter

Finally, the long awaited moment arrived; cake time! Crew enjoyed dumping and scooping for a short time before we finally ate the cake. I think he was in birthday heaven!

The other two little boys waited very patiently as Crew would hand them the occasional rock candy.

Crew had a wonderful day! He is an a pick pirate kick right now, which explains the pirate shirt from our trip and the pirate pajamas for his birthday. He is full of energy and loves to work hard. His kindness sometimes surprised me because it's beyond my expectations of a four year old. He is quick to love, apologize, and help another. He also knows how to be a big tease and handles being teased very well. Being dressed right away in the morning is very important to him, and often times he will come out of his room all dressed and ready for the day as soon as he wakes up. Singing, dancing, playing legos (playgos is what he calls them), working on the farm with Dad, feeding cows, riding his four wheeler, and running are all on his lists of most requested pastimes. I love this little boy and can't imagine my life without him. He has made my life sweeter and much more rewarding!

Eastern Caribbean Cruise: Day 9

We had one last sit down breakfast and then we wandered around until we were called to get off the ship. I definitely was feeling sad that it was over but the excitement to see our kids overwhelmed any other feelings. I got very little sleep on the airplane, but did enjoy watching the landscape change below us.

When we landed in Salt Lake I was feeling pretty tired. We had been going to bed around 9:00 pm every night and our bodies were feeling the time difference. Luckily Abe and been very wise in sleeping when he could so he felt more rested to drive. I fought so hard to stay awake to more sure Abe was feeling alert. 

Finally we made it to my parent's home around 11 pm. We felt like it was 2 or 3 am. We sneaked into the kids room to see them snuggled up together and sleeping peacefully. It was so good to see them again and we had to fight the urge to wake them up and kiss them! I have missed them, and I can't wait to see their smiling faces tomorrow morning; Crew's fourth Birthday!

Eastern Caribbean Cruise: Day 8

I can't believe this is our last day on the ship! I feel like we just started this adventure and tomorrow we will be flying home!
Today Abe and I had two different last day wishes. I wanted breakfast in the dining hall, so I got up early to work out and then have my breakfast in the dining room. After I was done eating and chatting with the other guests I made my way to the deck to read. I found a shady part to read until I knew Abe would be showing up and then I went and found two chairs together. Sure enough he showed up about 30 minutes later to lounge with me. He said sleeping in was wonderful!
It was hot today so we were in and out of the pool and then back to our lounge chairs a lot. I actually read my book today but didn't finish. After some more lounging Abe and I went and grabbed our separate lunches (I loved the cafe's green olive sandwiches!) and met back on the deck. For more relaxing. Our main goal was to relax and relax some more.
The captain and a few head crew members had an informal question/answer presentation and Abe went to that. He thoroughly enjoyed learning about the ins and outs of the ship: what is done with waste/garbage, how rough of seas the ship can handle, fuel, engine power, etc. Again, I relaxed and read!
After a good amount of relaxation we went over to the Flow Rider to watch the "Best Of" competition and the staff performance. Both were highly entertaining and enjoyable!
Almost every night on our way to dinner we would stop and chat with Larissa (the lady that kept our stateroom so nice) and tonight was no exception. I planned in advance to give her a thank you note with a little more tip inside. She always made sure we were well taken care of and our needs were met before we even knew we had needs! We did the same with our two waiters. I actually preferred the supporting waiter over our main waiter, but Abe always enjoyed the suggested items by our main waiter.
Another amazing meal, a little bit of chatting with our table-neighbors, and we were off to the last show.
One more round of shuffle board, and our final evening stroll around deck 4/5 was fabulous. Every night I have loved that sensation of walking out onto the bow, breathing the warm ocean air, smelling the saltiness in the humid air, and looking at the starry skies. Some nights have been ridiculously windy. Other nights it has been extremely peaceful and calm as we traveled with the breeze. Either way it was always fantastic! God created one beautiful and amazing Earth! I feel so privileged to have seen a few small pieces of it.
This vacation with Abe has been amazing! I had reservations about a cruise and, at some points, major anxiety about leaving our kids for such a long time (for my kids and parent's sake). I have loved learning about other people, seeing new things, the beauty of things built long ago, the amazing things nature has to offer, and so much more. Heavenly Father has given us an amazing place to live with so many things waiting to be discovered. I feel like I have been blessed beyond my own deserving to see a few of these things with Abe at my side.
It has been worth every penny and all the time spent planning it. Abe and I can't wait to go again and to bring our kids along with us!

Eastern Caribbean Cruise: Day 7

Today I slept in for the first time on our whole cruise; meaning I got up at 8:30. Abe has enjoyed sleeping in almost every day to at least 8:30 or later! But, soon enough we found ourselves off the boat and on the beach. We would have gladly sat on the beach all day in Labadee, Haiti. But, I won a free zip-line excursion and we bought one for Abe! After some relaxing I went and swam in the ocean for a little bit and then I went over to look at the Haitian market. I didn't bring any money with me because I didn't want to buy anything. I just wanted to look. Those guys were so pushy that even when I said I had no money they would hand me some item and then say they trusted me to bring back their money. No thank you! All items were returned and I got out of there as fast as I could.

For lunch they had a bbq type setting on the beach. I stacked a plate high with a burger and ribs and went off to find Abe. He was extremely happy when I showed up with man food! After a quick bite we went to get ready for the zip-line. This included signing away your life and getting weighed. I knew what I thought I would weigh, and I was spot on. Abe weighed 10 pounds more than he thought he would and told me he thinks the scale at home is off. I laughed! Have I mentioned how good the food is . . .

Soon enough we were being prepped and fitted for our harness and taken to a short practice zip-line. It was fun to go down at the same time as Abe! Then we all loaded up into the back of a truck with rows of seats and went up a sketchy road to the top of the big zip-line.

Walking single file up the plank we came out onto a platform where we were assigned numbers. We then had to go down the line that had our corresponding number.

 Abe and I observed, eventually we were in the next group of 5, and we walked out and clipped in. The head guy was chatting back and forth with the landing area down below. They said no one over 200lbs could go down anymore. The wind was too strong and pushing the big guys too fast. Devastatingly, Abe had to unclip and observe from the top as I went down without him. Even with his money refunded it was still sad.
I don't usually get scared of heights or have any issue doing something like this, where I am strapped in. But I did have the memory of Anne breaking her back on a zip-line flash into my mind right before I went. It was a weird emotion to have that sweep over me, but I was still excited and thrilled as I stepped out over the platform, 500 feet high, and sailed across the open ocean. It was beautiful!

I turned in my gear and went to wait for Abe. He didn't show up for another 20 minutes. I hung out with a lady that was in her 30's and a walking miracle. She'd had several strokes two years previous and wasn't supposed to survive. Yet she was walking around, talking, and able to live her life. Her husband also couldn't come down the zip-line so we chatted until they eventually made their way back to us.

After getting a drink of water we made our way to another part of the beach. We relaxed, swam, and relaxed some more. Finally hunger drove us back to out ship.

from deck 10

bracelet from St Kitts, red seed necklace for San Juan

pulling away just as it started to rain

After dinner we went to the early show. We knew that we should sit on the side where it wasn't as loud, and it was much more enjoyable. 

As part of tradition we finished our night off with some shuffle board and a walk around deck 4/5. I still can't get enough of the fresh humid air. I love it!