September 4th, 2012

JENNA’S Visit!

Long time no blog! Ok so in a nut shell, Jenna’s visit was great! We had a lot of fun and did lots of fun stuff. We had 2 great beach days at the beginning of her trip, then we had Tropical Storm Isaac for a few days…which ate our beach. So we had 5 beachless days. SAD FACE! … The sand at our beach is still gonzo (the storm ate the sand… and also brought some jelly fish to our area) The locals say that the sand will return anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. The locals say that we need a northern sea to come, and then our sand will return. So we finally explored on over to Zealandia beach. What a blast! The locals do NOT swim there, and think that you’re crazy if you do. There are dangerous rip tides and people have drowned there. We were desperate for some beach so we went and tried it out. Don’t freak out. We didn’t go in past our wastes so we were fine. We played in the waves and the girls played in the sand. Hold on to your suits!

 

         

   Jenna took us out to dinner a couple of times and we had great meals and lots of laughs. We taught her how to play fruit basket. Baha! We had lots of late nights watching movies (when I say we I really mean Josh, Jenna and Emma. I would make it about 15 minutes in most nights and be ready to hit the hay) and eating salt & vinegar popcorn (big thanks to Jenna for bringing the S&V flavouring!) and pina coladas. We played uno and drank shots of water.

            Auntie Jenna brought lots of goodies with her. Amoungst Fay and Eden’s favorites are their Dr. Seuss books and new swimsuits. Josh was excited to have his free-diving fins arrive and I was happy for all the licorice that she brought ( i think 8 pounds worth!). Her spoiling us didn’t stop there! Ice cream is a delicacy here… it’s pricey. We had root beer floats an a few occasions, and plenty of pink tings (a Caribbean beverage- a grapefruit drink) and apple turnovers form the bakery.

            We are so grateful that Jenna took 2 weeks to come spend time with us, here in the Caribbean. I think she learned that life here for us isn’t always a holiday in paradise. It’s our life for the next few years. I heard a quote that went something like this…”Some people dream of living in a beautiful place, others make a place beautiful.” I think we’re lucky to have a bit of both going on here.

Twenty-Two vs. Sixteen-Months

            August 28^th marks Fay and Eden’s 16 months of life. It’s been great! I love being a mom! It is the most amazing thing, watching them grow and learn new things. They are so stinkin cute! Here is a link to a video of their latest things http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOjl4knGRnc&feature=plcp

I love how allllll the animals are in the pic too :)

            August 28^th also just happens to be my birthday. I turned the big 22. Ha. Sometimes I feel much older and sometimes I feel much younger. The day was perfect. Breakfast in bed, a happy family, Emma and Jenna visiting, lovely facebook messages, amoungst my favorites were some pictures from my family back home wishing me a happy birthday. 

*** And a very sweet letter from a friend.  Jenna brought my favorite shampoo from home, what a treat! And Josh and the girls got me a new swim suit from Lime Ricki. We had a relaxing evening and then went out for dinner to Pink Papaya. Oh my heavenly days! The food is soooo yummy there! I had an Alfredo dish that I’m sure is the best on the planet!

Rolling In The Deep

            So… funny story. Emma and I went out to Zealandia one day, for a couple hours to bask in the sun (aka suntan).  We would listen to 4 songs on her ipod then switch to lay on our backs, then another 4 songs and switch back to our stomachs ect. For our final song I asked Emma to play a wicked awesome song. She asked which song she should play and I suggested Rolling in the Deep by Adelle.

            So there we were, eyes closed, ear buds in, belting Rolling in the Deep, feeling great. The song ends and we stand up to get ready to pack up and …. There are two army men about 20 feet away coming towards us.

            Needless to say we were super embarrassed. After talking to them for a few minutes we learned that they and their platoons are from Holland and are here practicing for hurricane evacuation procedures and they were just scoping out the area for drills. We were relieved to learn that the crashing of the waves masked our loud singing.

Welcome, Welcome

            We have two new families here on our island to add to our LDS group or ‘twig’ as the Hunters like to call it! The Hunter family of seven with both parents (Grant and Angie) and oldest daughter (Brittany) in classes, a son (Truman) working back home preparing for a mission and three other kids (Hailey, Savannah and Justice) are here with them. They seem super fun and we are looking forward to getting to know them better. Emma and I have sung with two of the daughters, Brittany and Hailey, in Girls Choir.

            Brandt and Camille Tidmarsh from Magrath are here with their two little boys Liam and Caleb. So cute! They seem super nice and we are also looking forward to getting to know them.

            Josh got asked by the school to be on the welcoming committee. Which entails going to the airport with Bongo (driver man) to pick up the new students, answer questions they may have about life and school here, and drop them off at their apartments. He does a great job, and is such a personable person. The added bonus is that he also gets paid to do this. Hurray!

The new semester has started, so that job is over now.

Looking forward to blogging again soon! Thanks for all your love and support!