Friday, April 20, 2012

Guess Who is Driving?

Megan got to take driver’s ed for her birthday gift.  She now has a learner’s permit and is DRIVING!!!!  How did that happen?  I have a 15 year old Megan.

She is a great driver.  Learned on the golf cart I guess.  Looking good behind the wheel.  And love the sunglasses.

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Wednesday, April 18, 2012

My New Hobby

Tammy talked me into buying a Silhouette  Cameo vinyl cutting machine on Black Friday last November.  It sat in the box until I went down in January and she and I figured out how to use it.  OH MY GOODNESS, I love this new hobby!  Creating is just a part of me anyway.  So loving all the things we can do.  These are my first independent projects– independent of Tammy my personal crafting instructor. Most of these pictures I snap with my cell phone to send to her and ask instructions or advice or just to get feedback. 

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Made this gift for a friend that had a girl after 4 boys.  Celebrating Pink!2012-04-17_21-34-09_1562012-04-17_21-43-48_6182012-04-24_22-37-51_22

Mike plans to decorate his tool box with new stickers!  And this is my favorite.  I etched our name on my glassware.  It makes me happy to set the table now!  Love it.

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Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Cruise Withdrawl

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Laundry and watching my tan lines fade….

I love my bracelets from Puerto Rico and St. Kits.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

I don’t want to get off the boat!

Well, all great vacations have to end.  We got up Sunday and headed off the boat.  We still had a full day ahead of us.  We waited at the pier while Mike went to pick up a rental van.  It was great to sit and soak up the sun for just a little bit more. ( I know where I’m headed – back to the dark and dreary Northwest…)  The kids were glued to their cell phones and facebook after a week of blackout from electronics.  In a crazy mix up Mike went to the wrong airport to get the rental van, so with the extra time that took it canceled our Easter plans for church.  All the kids had church clothes ready so I am impressed that they actually listened to me.  

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We broke a zipper on one of our pieces of luggage so we knew we’d have to find a Ross or TJ Maxx or something to buy one.  Note  – EVERY BIG BOX STORE IN FLORIDA IS CLOSED ON EASTER SUNDAY. Really…. we could not find an open store!  We went to Ft. Lauderdale Beach and did a bit of tourist shopping.  Lifeguard Sweatshirts, Bubba Gump stuff.  The beach was crowded - end of Spring Break.  These people may not shop on Sunday… but they all go to the beach.

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We found some luggage at K Mart (shame on them for being open…. shame on us for needing to shop…)  We had a fun lunch at Taco Bell.  Just spending the day lazily with plenty of time when Andrew decided against an expensive sweatshirt he bought at Bubba Gump’s.  So we decided to fight the 5 pm beach traffic again to return it.  It put us behind on heading to the airport and we were so worried that we would miss our flight despite driving at Mach 7 thru the streets of Ft. Lauderdale.  Stress to the last minute!  Mike dropped us off and went to return the van.  We said our goodbyes because we were sure he’d miss the flight and have to catch one later.  But we had our own delays at check in because we had to rearrange weight in luggage to avoid the $75 fees.  (Megan had more of her full sized toiletry items confiscated …. she once again thought they would make it through on carry-on.  That girl does not get the 3 ounce rule.)  Once we checked in we were more relaxed that we would make the flight.  Mike actually used the electronic thing for check in and didn’t  notice us so he beat us to the gate.  Ahhhhh, once on board, we sat back and said goodbye to the sun and ocean and the most wonderful week of vacation ever! 

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Day 8 Last Evening

Tonight we had to say goodbye to our wonderful room steward Marvin.  We left him a sizable tip because we love him so much.  He left us the cutest towel animals and worked around our crazy comings and goings.  The more we found out about his humble life and family goals in Honduras, the more our hearts went out to him with wishes of blessings and luck.  I wish I could bring him home with us!  It is so amazing to have someone there to take care of you.  He made us feel like we were his only customers.
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So these are our rooms.  The first day it took us forever to navigate the long hallways to find our “8564.”  But by the end of the week, we were able to get around the ship no problem and find the fastest routes back to our rooms.  A little piece of home, with all our stuff!  Loved our balcony room and having the kids just across the hall. 
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CRAZY ROOMMATES!
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Then it was off to our last dinner.  Hard to say goodbye to Kiara and Bernardo.  I think I could live in the days of servants just fine.  I love these people.
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Tomorrow night at this time we’ll be on a plane headed home.  :(