Tropical adventure...part 2

Ahhh!

Brad and I have finally gone through and organized all of our cruise pictures.

Yahoo!

I sorta have mixed feelings, though. I love looking through them and thinking about all we did, but it's so hard to come back to reality! Plus I am an avid scrapbooker, and I am so far behind with my kid's albums that it's going to be 5 years until I actually get to scrapbook our adventure. Oh well! Thank God I can make our favorites my desktop and screensaver pictures!

So, in continuation, after we spent the day on St. Thomas and St. Johns in the U.S. Virgin Islands, we next headed to Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. The islands are really just a hop, skip, and jump away from each other.

Here is a picture of the sunrise as we entered Tortola.


We only spent a short while on Tortola because we decided to find a way to independently get to the Baths and Gords on the island of Virgin Gorda...our national park stop #2!


The Gords are these HUGE boulders right on the beach. You could crawl through them and over them and there were even places to swim between them. We spent most of the day there.


That evening we went to a show in the theater before a late dinner. One of the shows we walked out of...wasn't the most appropriate show for my husband's eyes... but the rest of them were pretty good.


One other disappointment was the final island. Most, if not all, cruise lines now own their very own private island. So after 1 full day at sea, 3 island stops (in which we actually saw 5 total islands because of additional ferries we took), then 1 more day at sea...our last full day was going to be spent in the Bahamas on Norwegians private island. We had decided not to do beach or snorkeling days at the other islands because were were supposed to spend the whole day swimming and snorkeling on the private island. So we were SO BUMMED when we woke up early and heard over the speaker that we were going to be unable to take tenders onto the island because the swells were so large. It was such a huge disappointment! We had borrowed snorkeling equipment and practiced in the swimming pools on the ship. But we tried to make the best of it. There were additional activities on the ship that day, and we did a variety of things...but were still sad as we sailed right by the islands in the Bahamas!

One thing we learned that day was that we ARE not meant to be shuffleboard players!


Brad also played soccer with some other passengers and crew members. (Which is quite hard to do on a moving ship!)


This was our final sunset picture the last night. Isn't it sweet that our clothes matched the sunset!


Here I am in one of my beautiful (and borrowed) maternity dresses. I'm standing in the atrium...a few of the restaurants were located here, plus some shops, bars, a HUGE screen TV, the "front desk", etc. It was a very pretty part of the ship.


I couldn't help but take a picture of one of the most beautiful restaurants, the Summer Palace. Seriously, this room has luxury written all over it!


This was the LAST picture we took...it was down by the pools and it was taken just moments before the final...and I mean final disembarking announcement was made. And we were literally two of the last passengers to leave the ship!


All in all, it was an amazing trip. It was worth every penny we spent, and it did wonders for each of us personally and for our marriage. We probably won't do it again for many years, but I think we eventually will do it again.

And, in this season of thankfulness and as we look toward celebrating our Savior's birth, I am just so grateful for the time to be refreshed and to spend quality time with my husband. I love my children so much, but I have to keep reminding myself (well, Brad is actually the one who has to keep reminding me) that I am a daughter of the King first, a wife to my husband second, and a mother third. It's very easy for me to be a mother first. But I've learned (and am still learning) that when I keep that order, my life is much, much easier.

And I hope I can continue to be faithful to that order.

Tropical adventure...part 1

For the past...let me think...let's see...how long have I been married? Ummmm, oh yeah, about the last 10 years, I've been trying to convince Brad to someday go on a cruise.

And let me tell you, it has been a long and hard 10 years of persuasion!

His parents went on their first (and only) cruise on their 25 anniversary. A few short years later, Brad's dad died. I DID NOT want to wait that long to do something like this! We don't know what the future holds, and I wanted to do this kind of adventure when we were young.

And, in confession, I knew that if Brad liked the cruise, there was a much greater chance that we would do more of them in the future...and NOT just on our 25 anniversary!

So, after talking about it for, like 10 years...but really only seriously the last 10 months to a year...and after trying to plan a cruise with another couple...that eventually was foiled since I couldn't cruise in January or February due to the cruise lines change in "pregnant women" policy...and after deciding that it would be now or 10 years from now...since our kids will be in school soon and that just complicates finding childcare for 8 days...we found a GREAT deal and booked it...less than 3 weeks from departure. It was CRAZY!

But even with all the planning, packing, and research, it was completely worth it! For 7 wonderful days and nights, we were away from the Internet, cell phones, and pretty much all news (except for updates from Captain Hans). We ate 21 meals without children, read books, listened to sermons together, exercised, explored, talked, went dancing, watched movies, and saw some amazing places. It was a wonderful experience!

This is the first picture we took once we got on our ship, the Norwegian Pearl. It is taken from the 15th floor and overlooks a sundeck and the pools and hot tubs.


This is taken as we're leaving Samana in the Dominican Republic. We had to take these smaller boats called tenders to get from our ship to shore. This island had huge palm tree forests.


Every evening we dressed up for supper. It was such a blast! And I had some wonderful friends who loaned me some cute dresses. This restaurant is called Summer Palace...oh, and by the way, there were about 12 restaurants on the ship.


The next evening we ate at Mambo's. I think Brad ordered 2 appetizers and 2 entrees. That's the crazy thing about eating on a cruise ship. Your waiter will say, "You like? I bring you more!" Seriously, it was crazy how much food you could have eaten. Brad ordered lobster tacos (I know, sounds really gross, but there were so yummy!) and swordfish and shrimp kabobs. I had the BEST burrito I've ever had. As you can see, we were a little crazy with this picture...and we did go ballroom dancing later that evening.


At 2 of the stops, we were able to dock right up to the port. At the other stops, we had to take tenders. Here's a picture of me in front of our ship at St. Thomas. Seriously, these boats are HUGE! Ours had 15 floors, 12 restaurants, shops, a theater, fitness center, pools, casinos, lounges...EVERYTHING!


Don't we look cute as a post card?


There were a few disappointments along the way though. We were supposed to take an excursion to St. John's and to Trunk Bay...which is one of the 10 most beautiful beaches in the world...and also a pretty private beach as well...but the swells were too high that day, so we had to take the St. John's island tour instead. It was still beautiful, but we didn't get to go snorkeling or swimming at Truck Bay. This was as close as we got!


Here's a beautiful view from St. John's island. The far islands are the British Virgin Islands...which was our next stop. (Oh, and this was the first of 2 national parks we visited. That's right...almost every one of our previous vacations have been to state or national parks. Somehow my hubby was able to find 2 and convince me to go and explore them with him!)


This final picture...of this particular post, that is...I don't want to make your eyes bleed too much from overuse you know...was a example of one of the many towel creations made each night by our wonderful housekeepers. These were a ton of fun!


Stay tuned for the next exciting installment...you know, after I organize the other 1289 pictures we took...

it may be awhile!

Holding tightly to lessons learned...

Since walking back into our home (at 2:04 a.m. last Sunday morning) after being gone for 10 days, we really hit the ground running. Brad had to work some crazy hours this week and the laundry, mail, bills, and my greatly missed children took priority. My poor computer was pretty lonely...

And the funny thing is, I'm okay with that.

Two weeks ago, I would have been DYING over the fact I haven't been making comments on my friends' blogs (especially yours Gianna!!!) and updating the best of our some 1500 cruise pictures. I would have been staying up all night because I felt time for myself on the computer was more important than sleep or spending time connecting with my husband.

In reality, this pregnancy has really wiped me out. I'm tired all the time, and I realized that I had placed my selfish desires above many other things and commitments...and I really didn't like it.

Even though some days it kills me to keep walking by the computer on my way to finish my 8th load of laundry or to play ponies with Sammy or to fix a nutritious supper for my family, all I have to do is think of this....


or this...


or, my personal favorite...


These are just a few of some of the AMAZING sunset and sunrise pictures my husband took. They really are beautiful, aren't they! And I can't help but remember those moments of refreshment, relaxation, and perfect contentment while we stood at the edge of the ship and just enjoyed the beautiful creation around us.

It was in those moments that I realized I tend to get so worked up over things! I am constantly telling my kids, "hurry, hurry, we're late...please, move a little faster!" And I think I have to do EVERYTHING right away or stay up and run myself ragged...as if my family or friends will be greatly hurt if I wait a few days to call or to answer their facebook post or post a blog.

I've been giving myself pep talks since we got back...

Like, "it's really okay Jenny...give yourself a few days to get through all the laundry, mail, pictures, etc...no one is going to hold it against you...take your time...what's your rush...slow down and listen to your body and WALK AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER AND GO TO BED."

or something like that...

For now, I'm holding on and remembering those lessons...

So for all my adoring fans...you know, all 8 of you...I guess you'll just have to wait a few more days for those glorious Caribbean pics.

Here's just one more to tide you over...


Ahhhhhh, that's better!

Birthday girl

As a mom, I’ve wrestled with what to do about birthday parties. I can’t remember ever having one growing up, so I was not really sure what to do about them. And since we have no family within a short driving distance, we couldn't’t do the traditional “extended family” birthday parties. But I know they are very special, and we've done one every year for Sammy and Caleb…even if they don't even remember the first several!

So for Sammy’s first birthday, we invited a TON of people…including a bunch of students from our youth group.

Yeah, should have thought through that a bit more...

Even though birthday parties are to celebrate the lives of our children and the blessings they are in our lives, we’ve come to believe that we do that best with our closest friends and their children. So Brad and I decided to invite one to three other couples and their children over for our kids’ birthday parties. Our children are encouraged and loved upon (and still get to play with their friends), and we get to share our joy with the other adults who know our kids best.

This year, only one family was able to join us, but we had a wonderful time.

We did a “breakfast brunch” the Saturday after her birthday. I made an egg bake, cinnamon rolls, and cut up a bunch of fresh fruit. It was so yummy!


Here Sammy is eating with her good friend, Arnae…who was the only other “Princess” in attendance. Don't worry...we did have three princes to watch out for and protect our beautiful girls!

Then we did a little craft. Earlier in the week, I had grabbed five Burger King crowns and wrapped them in tin foil. Then the kids used foam stickers and glitter glue to decorate them.


If you can’t tell, Sammy is all about crafts!


This is Arnae and her mom, Christina.


And this is Adam and their oldest son, Mick.


Needless to say, Caleb and Sammy are still wearing their crowns around the house (and sometimes to the grocery store) over two weeks later!

After that, Sammy opened her presents.


I think it gets more fun each year watching my children open presents. Her “oooohs” and “ahhhhs” and “oh, thank you, thank you!” are priceless!

Then it was time for cake. About two weeks before her birthday, I had taken Sammy on a date, just the two of us, to discuss her birthday party and shop for plates and napkins. She decided that she wanted a “Princess Party” and she wanted to wear her flower girl “princess dress.” Then we looked on-line at princess castle cakes, and she picked this one out…which is really a sand castle cake, but was far easier to make than other ones I had found.

http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/towering-sand-castle-cake-688671/

I must tell you that making this cake was quite the experience. I don’t know if the sugar cones falling off the cake and smashing into a million pieces on my clean kitchen floor frustrated me more or the fact that I used the wrong size cake pan. Oh well! It doesn’t look the best in the picture, but it looked good in person…and tasted really, really good!


Sammy couldn't’t wait to blow out her candles. (Caleb just wanted to eat the cake!)


I just love this picture of the two girls. Arnae is about five months younger than Sammy, but they are such good friends.


After the kids (and adults) finished eating, the kiddos played for a bit and the adults got to sit at our kitchen table and chat. What a wonderful day to connect, share, and celebrate!

Oh, and Sammy just had to try out her tea set before Arnae went home.


By the way, we’ve had at least three tea parties a day since then!

I am so blessed to be Sammy’s mommy. It is truly a joy to spend each day with her…watching her grow, change, develop, and learn.