The Caribbean Cruisers

Brent, Ryan, and Austin flew down to Florida 2 weeks ago, the day after Ryan returned home from his mission.  Since Brent had to guide the tour group and wouldn't see Ryan for ten days, he invited him to go along.  Which lead to the obvious conclusion that Austin should go along with them...  (Its a 'man-thing'!) The vacation consisted of the BYU/ Florida game (and a quick '7-day' trip on a Caribbean cruise!) Heres a photo at the BYU game. (We won't talk about the score!)

 Austin took a snapshot of this sign... pretty hilarious!

 Just a little R & R... not like the whole trip is a little R & R!

 Aboard the ship they had just a couple amenities...  (Brent did this btw!)

Tennis, Rock-climbing, is their anything they don't have? (Btw, they have an ice-skating rink on board!)

The cruise and game were hosted by Lavell Edwards and his wife who later posed with the tour members.

Yes, yes, this is the ship!

A close - up of the ship. Deductive reasoning people... keep up with me!

 A view from off the ship.

 A view on the ship... nice ship, huh?  Anyone up for miniature golf?

 The first stop on the cruise was Haiti, Brent said it was mostly beaches.

This looks like a pretty cool cove.

 The second stop was at Jaimaca where the tour group hiked up to the top of Dunn's River Falls.

We're hiking, we're hiking...

 Hikers were supposed to form a line and hold hands all the way up the falls.

 Austin didn't feel the least bit awkward!

Swimming, or blowing our noses? I dunno, you guess...

So nice to have the occasional trail guide in the form of a humongous sign!

Ooh, pretty picture of the ship!

 Jaimaca really catered to the tourists.

 In Grand Cayman, the same is said for catering to the tourist...  Swim with a dolphin or....

 Watch the show!

 Or pose with a statue/pirate as a pirate?!

 Or pose like a statue/ pirate/confused teenager?

 No comment...

 The views were heavenly... or

 They could be Hell?!  Apparently there is a city in Grand Cayman called 'Hell'. Which begs the question...

 You ever been to 'Hell'?!  They actually thought of sending us a postcard! How nice!

 The last stop of the cruise was at Cozumel were the 'men' visited the Mayan ruins.

Picture #1.

Picture #2.

Picture #3.

Picture #4.

Picture #5.

Picture #6.

Picture #7. ( I didn't know how to narrate through there, hence the numbered pictures?!)

 The boys had a blast.  I think they might have had some of their "best days EVER!"

THE BEST DAY EVER!

My favorite movie of the year, 'Despicable Me'... loved it, adored it, seen it twice, gotta own it! Yesterday Keala ran around the house (for no apparent reason) yelling "This is the best day EVER!"... thats from a scene in the aforementioned movie.  (Still...you gotta see it! Are you listening to me?!)  I laughed at Keala's wittiness. (Is that a word?) But every once in a while I want to run around like a 5 year old kid yelling  "This is the best day EVER!"  I admit it, I'm impulsive, I could do it one day! Double-dog-dare me? 

So, it could be the 76 degree F temperature outside or the fact that I just 'felt like it' to deem today one of the "Best Day's EVER!"  (Just for no apparent reason.) I have to prelude what I'm about to say with what has happened already today.  I woke up from 5 hours of sleep (thank you 'insomnia') to my sweet baby boy's cheek blown up bigger than Alvin and all the Chipmunks.  (He wasn't even complaining!) I looked at him in horror and quietly asked "Kai, are you chewing on something? Whats in your mouth?" Response from Kai: look of confusion, pause, more looks of confusion. I immediately administered the age-appropraite dose of Children's Tylenol and promptly called his dentist.  Waiting for dentist call back. Prescription of antibiotics called in. Killed time doing workout on treadmill, keeping a careful examination on son's left jaw bone. Confirm with pharmacy if prescription is filled.  They haven't checked their voice mail yet!  I gently encourage them to do so, secretly wanting to wrap my sausage fingers around someone's neck.  Carefully now administering age-appropriate dose of Ibuprogen to said child. (Info-update: surgery already scheduled in 2 weeks to remove rotten teeth!) Finally get prescription filled, run said child back to school, carefully administer age-appropriate dose of adult anti-anxiety, case closed.  (Just kidding about the anti-anxiety, I just added it in for dramatic effect!)  But thank you friends and family for offering... Then ran Keala around the house to ready her for school, juggling my time to meet BFF at a movie for a mom's 'time-out', only to run out the door with too many things in my hand and drop my cell phone which shattered in 2 directions directly under my car.  Backed out the car (carefully) and tried to put back together said cell phone, only to find it not working for ten minutes of undescribable horror! Finally backed out of my driveway (forgetting my bottled water) and drove half-way down the street only to look in my rear view mirror and find my family pet, "the dog", chasing behind my car. Stop car. Said pet jumps in. Take 'pet' back home. (Forgetting again, bottled water!)  Call BBF and explain tardiness.  And finally arrive to planned destination to enjoy my now second favorite movie of the year...  "Easy A"  ....H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S!  (Loved it, adored it, gonna see it twice, gotta own it!)

So why is this the best day EVER!  Aaaah... could be the weather, or a good movie, or time with a favorite BFF, or thinking of how much I love my witty daughter, or my sweet, bulgy-cheek son.  Or being grateful my family cares about my silly drama.  Or flattered at the thought that after 5 hours of sleep I could still get in about 3 miles. (Don't laugh... thats a big deal for me!)  Or just feeling plain happy for once. I dunno. I just decided to deem this 'the best day EVER'! (For no apparent reason.)

Ryan's Homecoming

When we got to the airport, Ryan's flight was delayed 20 minutes so we just all sat around socializing. Yes, Kasey's hair is brown, she dyed it up at school a week ago... no one can recognize her! And yes, I fixed it for her... but I let her know I wasn't happy about it! (Lol!)

Standing around waiting so long made a few of 'us' a little grumpy!

Once the information board said the flight landed we were off to the escalator to wait for Ryan.

We took care of some time posing for a few photos... but once Ryan was in plain sight, we were all cheers!

Ryan hugged everyone and no one cried until G'ma Joan started and then all us girls were in tears. Whats funny is once we all finished hugging Ryan, no one knew what to say.

It took Joan some time to clean up her tears. We were all sooooo happy to see Ryan again. He told us there were 7 other missionaries on the flight with him, so there were a lot of families in the airport this morning!

After cheesy photos we all went out to eat and then ran errands in preparation for Brent, Ryan, and Austin's trip to Florida today. I cooked for about 3 hours for dinner, and Brent cleaned up this mess for 3 hours...

Austin had asked a girl in his school to Homecoming and this is how she answered him.... with confetti spread all over his room! It was a hellacious mess! Just in time for us to spend hours cleaning it up the night before their big trip! Hello!

Kasey and Austin worked together to clean as much as they could the night before Ryan came home but Austin couldn't even sleep in his own bed it was so bad. (Kids love this stuff though!)

Brent and I spend hours vaccuuming and cleaning confetti off the shelves, out of the dresser drawers, out of the closet, under all the sheet layers on the bed. Not the best timing I have to admit! Austin was off at a golfing tournament so he didn't have time to clean his room before his vacation, and he didn't get see Ryan until late last night. But it was a good week for Austin. He finally got a confirmation from this girl before his 10 day vacation, his brother came home, and tonight they are off to Florida for fun and adventures! Kasey's back at school, and I'm holding down the fort as usual. Ryan said at the end of the night that it was a good day! We had dinner with the whole family at 5, and later a handful of his closest friends came over and visited with him. I am really glad to have him home and feel so lucky to be a part of such a special family. I am really impressed with Brent's kids, they are a bunch of great people!

Austin on the other hand owes us big time for cleaning up this mess! "For the love of Pete!"

Keala's First Day at Kindergarten

Keala was sooooo excited to start Kindergarten this year! We have been counting down the days for months! It was so bright outside she had a hard time smiling into the camera.

She also had a hard time getting this name tag on!

Yeah, she did it!

And Brent got new waders..... The End.