The beginning...of the Cruise (Warner)

“They say when you are missing [something] that [it is] probably feeling the same, but I don't think it's possible for [it] to miss me as much as I'm missing [it] right now.” ― Edna St. Vincent Millay

Not sure who the heck Edna St. Vincent Millay is, but I really love the quote and thought it expressed well my feelings about how much I miss the cruise and each port.  Awwwww...oh well.  Life goes on.

On Sunday we got up and dressed in our Sunday best to go down to breakfast.  It’s weird not being in Utah and seeing people dressed in regular clothes on a Sunday, but I realize that not everywhere is Utah and not everyone dresses up for Sunday.  I noticed that Max was the only one that wasn’t dressed up yet, but it didn’t spoil my breakfast.  The food was good and gave me the energy I needed until we got on the ship.  I noticed that the dining room was much more crowded than I expected.

It was a beautiful sunny day in Tampa and noticeably very muggy.  Janey and I decided to go for a little walk after breakfast.  We walked around the parking lot and that was enough for us to work up a sweat and head back into our air conditioned room.  Everyone was back in their room to get freshened up for our Sunday devotional that we had planned before Max was to be ordained an Elder. 

Everyone met in our room because it was a better place to hang out.  We had a song and a prayer and then I gave a thought, followed by some great talks from Rosey, Nick and Blaine.  The priesthood holders then gathered around Max and gave him the Melchizedek Priesthood.  It was a really neat experience. The spirit was there and I was grateful to be a part of it.

We still had a little bit of time to kill before our shuttle was to pick us up and drive us to the port.  Instead of watching TV, playing games, or taking a nap, we all secretly got together and decided to charge Blaine and Kristi about $5.60 worth in text messages.  I don’t think they appreciated our swindling ways, but we enjoyed it nevertheless.  Just kidding it was only like $3.20.  Once we got the group texting figured out we decided to get a little more casual, I took off my tie, and got all of our bags and stuff down to the lobby and ready to be taken to the port.

While we waited in the lobby, the USA men’s basketball team was in the gold medal round versus Spain.  We were pretty sure we would win and yes, the final score was a whopping 107-100.  I personally thought the USA would have done better, but as they say, a win’s a win.  Our shuttle driver seemed like he wanted to stay and watch the game but we were too excited to get going and wanted to get to the port so that we could hurry up and wait…in the line…which really wasn’t that bad.

We got to the port safely, no crazy illegal U-turns or holding up of hands inside the car to let people know we were about to cut in front of them, that was Saturday.  We unloaded our luggage and made our way to the check in area with our passports and boarding passes in hand.  Remember, no photography allowed in this important area.  It was interesting to see the difference there is between airport security and port security.  We didn’t need the TSA to ask us to turn our head and cough and honestly I liked it more and still felt very safe.  Who knows, maybe the TSA will work their way into the ports in the next couple of years.

Janey and I were the first ones through the line and we sat and waited for everyone else to get their ship card.  How exciting my first ship card.  We soon realized that there was a VIP among us.  Blaine was lucky enough to sport the Gold Ship Card.  We were happy for him and knew he deserved it.  All that cruising is hard work; I can only hope to be a professional VIP cruiser like Blaine someday.  Thank you for giving me a goal to work toward.  We all got together and decided to take a last picture before we crossed the ramp from shore to ship.  We were in a picture friendly zone thank goodness.

This was my first time on a cruise liner and a ship of this magnitude.  It met every one of my expectations.  I didn’t really know what to expect, other than a really big ship with lots of people.  It’s smart to have people leave such a dull area at the port of call and then enter a magnificent grand lobby as the first sight you see.  It was a beautiful lobby and I just stood there and took it all in. 

 

I had trouble finding the front of the ship and got lost trying to find where our room was located.  I remembered, from looking at the ship map online, that our rooms were toward the front of the ship.  I had my room number memorized, but that didn’t help me much yet.   Next, I realized that the room numbers are divided into even and odds.  I felt good to myself noting that little pattern.  Whoever designed the ship numbering system was very smart, I would have done it the same way. 

Finally, we found where our rooms were going to be but we couldn’t enter until 1:30.  What time did we board?  Around noon?  Noon thirty?  Baggage didn’t come to our room until about 3:00, and for Max it was even later.  He had me getting a little worried, but I remembered that we unloaded all of our bags from the shuttle at the port and even paid a person to get our bags on the boat.  I was hoping that Max’s $2 would not go to waste.  Max did get his bag and everyone rejoiced.

Some of us, maybe all of us, decided to walk all around the boat and check it out.  That was fun.  The weather was a little disconcerting.  We had sunshine in the morning and early afternoon while we boarded.  As the ship was leaving the port the clouds moved in very quickly and it even rained for a little while.  I remember Blaine checking his iphone and the iweather was predicting clouds and rain pretty much every day at every port we planned on visiting.  Whatever, I was on a cruise and I was going to enjoy it despite the crummy weather.  (Thankfully it was sunny every day and pretty much perfect.)

It did rain during our muster station drill.  I was surprised at how hard it was raining, but thankful that I was standing out of the rain.  I was amazed at how many people they could fit on that deck and I was hoping that we would never have to use the life boats.  They don’t hold as many people as there are on the boat.  But I guess if they carried enough boats to fit all of the passengers for one large boat exit that would increase the costs of the cruise and just be more of a hassle, so I stopped thinking about it and made creepy faces at Nick’s camera instead.

Dinner was served at 6:00.  It was delicious.  I was in heaven and so was everyone else.  It was my first experience ordering from a menu that had no price, and no fine print demanding that I pay a 15% tip for a party of 10.  It was wonderful.  Despite the fact of not having to pay for the food as we left the dining room, I still felt that I had to finish everything and I couldn’t waste a bite.  I was very stuffed, but very delighted.

 

After dinner we attended a game show and the opening show in the theater.  That’s where we first met Peter (pronounced Peetah) and James (said in your best Queen’s English while pinching your nose).  Oh and how could we forget Showtime?  The game show was where we also met Kevin and his funny girlfriend.  We saw them everywhere and they looked really in love for having known each other for only 3 days.  After the game show was a round of Bingo and then the opening show.  (By the way, Janey just informed  me that the game show was before dinner, oh well, that's what I get for waiting so long to write this.)

What more can I say?  It was an amazing first day and I loved, and now miss, every second of it.

Thank you so much to mom and dad.  We love you.

Saturday: The day of anticipation!

Hey everyone! Sorry its taken so long to get this out there. School has been a bear! But I'm loving every minute of it! (I'll save details for another post :) )

Saturday, August 11th: The day of anticipation.
     At the Bret Bassett home, we got up at about 5 ish to get bags together and head to the airport. Some of us (me atleast) didn't really sleep much the previous night so we were pretty darn tired, but our excitement superseded that! Uncle Ted came at about 6:00 to drive Mom, Dad, Rosey and I to the airport. He told us that he was on his way to Yellowstone (?) for a tour after dropping us off. As we unloaded our stuff, Janey and Warner pulled up right behind us with smiles on their faces. Warner's dad was very nice to drive them. We walked into the airport where we met up with Nick and Stef and Blaine and Kristi. We were all soooo pumped up (and a little nervous for the long flights.) We didn't wait long for our flight to Las Vegas. We got to watch Romney announce Ryan as his VP. All I remember about that was Ryan's messed up hair.
On the plane, I sat next to Mom and Dad, and talked about packing for school and such. (Its funny to think how nervous I was to move down here. And to think it was only a month ago; CRAZY!!!) Anyways, we landed in Las Vegas successfully. You could tell we were in Vegas because there were slot machines everywhere! We even got in trouble for loitering next them too long. I especially had to move, due to the fact that I was "too young." Just a couple more years, and I'll be there! ;) Just jokin. Once we found our gate, Rosey convinced me, Kristi, Stef, and Nick to go to Jamba Juice to get a "light snack." I was pretty darn hungry and I had a couple gift cards so I ordered a lot. Of course, they didn't accept gift cards in the airport and my personality is too white to say anything, so I ended up paying 13 bucks for a burrito and a large smoothie. It was good, just not 13 dollars good. I'm sorry but I can't remember what everyone else got. After getting our food, we realized how soon our flight was leaving. Nick commented that he wasn't scared to miss the flight, he just didn't want to stress dad out. haha We sprinted back to the gate where they were boarding. Luckily we found Mom and Dad and got on with them. It was a stressful trip to Jamba, but we all enjoyed having some REAL food before our long flight to Tampa.
On the flight to Tampa, I sat between Blaine and Kris. I talked to Blaine about my feelings for school and about life. I was very impressed with Kris and her ability to hide her fear during the flight. She only had to grab my hand once. ;) But honestly, I never would have guessed that Kristi was even remotely nervous about flying. Way to be Kris!! :) Not sure what everyone else did on the flight, except I know Nick watched Bourne Identity and Rosey slept (I only know because her snoring kept me awake the whole flight) ;) hah just kiddin Rose! I felt the flight wasn't too bad overall! We finally arrived in Tampa!!!!! As I took my first step on Tampa soil, I could taste the humidity. I immediately felt sticky, but I didn't care!  Anticipation began to grow as we rode the shuttle to our hotel. As we checked in, everyone grabbed a (what's the name?) sucker. Everyone then had to decide which room to put Rosey and I (the stragglers). Our rooms were very well kept and nice. Nick, however, immediately stunk it up. ;) haha
We then decided we were going to go to CPK (?) for dinner. We thought our technology failed us when we realized we weren't headed toward the CPK, but after some argument and discussion, Nick found the way (I think it was Nick) We somehow didn't end up at CPK though, we ended up at the mall food court, which was just as tasty. I went with Blaine and Nick to MAX ORIENT. And yes, my name being in the restaurant's was a deciding factor. ;) Others went to Chik - fil- a and Sbarro: "Michael Scott's favorite New York slice."
After a tasty meal, we headed back to the hotel where we got our 2012 family Christmas photo under the highway.
Back at the hotel we enjoyed "In Time" in both rooms and decided to go swimming/hot-tubbing/ listen to the man sing in the bushes. What started as a fun, leisure activity turned into an Olympic sport as Nick and I raced there and back in the pool. We had to swim fast, not just to beat one another, but to beat the big lightning storm headed our way.
After that, we both split our separate ways, off to bed. In our room, we watched the REAL Olympics. We watched Stef's favorite diver lose the gold medal.
As I laid down to go to sleep, I felt, along with everyone else, that anticipation grower even more as I realized that tomorrow was the big day.

Thank you so much Mom and Dad for the wonderful trip! I love all of you so much! As the novelty dies down here at school, I'm beginning to get more and more homesick. Don't get me wrong, I love it down here! But I am so grateful to have such a wonderful family that will support me. It's good practice for my mission, which is coming up REAL soon!
I do read these posts and its so fun to hear how everyone is doing. So thank you for writing!!
I love you guys sooooooo much! :)

Love, Max!
ps I'm off to a sunday night dinner so I don't have time to proofread this. I hope it all makes sense!
Loves

Cozumel (blue water city)

Anticipation was high that Tuesday morning. We had spent the day before on the ship and were ready to get off! The evening before had been full of anxiety for me as max and I were getting ready to leave mom and dads oom for bed and dad stated, ( in a serious sort of way) "you guys need to be careful tomorrow, your head could blow up." Boy did I sleep well that night :) Max and I made our short walk down to our room discussing our anxieties for the next day, we got to our room and prepared for bed as the boat gently rocked me enough to be sick (due. To my previous conversation with dad). As I finally settled into bed and read The Hunger Games, there was a knock at the door. Naturally, I needed to answer it because. Max was still in the bathroom getting ready for bed...a pattern that followed every night. I opened the door to Kristi saying, "hey girl, wanna party?" Let's just say she was sitting in a lot more confidence and zest than I was at the present moment. We ended up staying in our room chatting about our. It scuba diving trip for the next 45 minutes or so before B&K wandered back to their room. It was a lot of fun, and Really helped me get more excited for our adventure that would be taking place the next morning.

So, now for the real day...sorry for the background, I just had to share the story from dad that was all to similar to when he told me there were still bad guys in the world. B,K, Max and I all woke up early to eat a big breakfast and then get off the ship so that we could catch a taxi to meet our guide at some random port. We sat and waited for our guys to pick us up at the port, the water was beautiful and I kinda felt like we owned the port because we were the only people around. We sat and took pictures and max got attacked by the friendly neighborhood pelican, and then finally, they (insert names) arrived in their little boat with our scuba gear.

The scuba trip was SO FUN and unlike anything I've ever done!  We drove our little boat to a spot right by the cruise ship and just like that, it was time to jump in and get started (he literally talked to us for like 10 minutes and then it was time to jump down into the ocean in hopes of survival).  Our first dive lasted for like 30 minutes...it could've lasted up to 45 minutes but dear sweet Max is an oxygen sucker (to quote Kris, "I worry that there is not enough oxygen in this world for both Max and I." )  Max, Blaine, and Kris all had no problem getting down on our first dive, but BOY did I struggle!  I would get down about 10 feet, and then I would just panic and shoot back up.  Luckily our instructor was very patient and worked with me, but then the problem became my wimpy ears.  I just had to descend very slowly.  Kristi later told me she felt like she had a guardian angel because every time she looked up I was floating above her, looking at all the same things as she was, just from above.  I did finally get to the bottom which was super exciting.

After our first dive, we got back in our boat and drove 45 minutes to our second dive.  Our little boating experience was as fun as anything for me because the water was just so lovely.  Not to mention we had a pretty little bird fly onto our ship and fall in love with me.  It seriously just chilled on my head all the way over.  On the drive over we ate cantelope and rolls and listened to our guide talk about how he is not a father (to his knowledge).  Weird.  Anyway, when we reached our second dive, I think we were all feeling a bit more confident.  I was able to get down quite a bit quicker, and we dove a bit deeper.  Again it felt like we were in a different world full of color and beauty.  It was so neat.  Upon finishing that dive, we drove back to the place they picked us up, and then we decided to walk back to the cruise ship, because we had time.

Bad idea.  Max, Blaine, and I had chaffed so badly by the time we made it to the cruise ship port that we could hardly even talk to each other.  Kristi was still chipper and went off to shop, but I just couldn't even hardly have a good attitude.  Not to mention we were spent.  Back on the ship we showered and headed over to play laser tag with Warner and Nick, disappointed to find out that you had to pay AND that it was about the lamest thing of all time.  So instead we all went up with Mom to watch the ship depart.  As we sat there Mom told us about dad walking out of the shower to the girls in the cruise ship across from ours staring back at him.  Awkward!  The night ended with a delicious dinner with good old Win, Margaret, and Mr. Too Many Consonants in his last name.

I wish I could remember exactly what we did the rest of the night, I just remember that my ear hurt the rest of the night (and for two weeks after that) and that I probably ate WAY too much food.  Regardless of what we did, I'm sure we had a wonderful time.  Stop number 1 on the cruise was definitely a success!

Thanks Mom and Dad!

p.s. I will quickly add what I know about what Mom, Dad, Nick, Stef, Janey, and Warner did while Max was sucking up oxygen at the bottom of the ocean....They all slept in a bit later and then took a taxi to some fancy beach resort where they paid 20 bucks to scuba dive and chill on a gorgeous beach, complete with a fun looking swimming pool.  Everybody did some scuba diving, and Nick reported to me that Dad was quite good at diving down...who knew!?  Mom, Jane, and Stef all had anxiety attacks as they would place their faces in the water and feel like they could not breathe (little did they know that all they had to do was lift their faces back up and they were in the "real" world).  While at the resort, Nick taught some local boys how to do cool tricks into the swimming pool, and besides that, I don't know a ton about their day.  But they all reported that it was a good time!  

Any more? (mom)

Hey guys,

I have loved reading everyone's reports.  I think we still have three more days to cover: that would be the day we flew, Saturday August 11 (max),  Sunday, August 12 (Warner)  and Saturday, August 18. (Blaine). It jut occurred to me that all three of you are in school.  Hmmm.  Try and get to it if you can.  I love you all.

The Beautiful Isla Roatan

August 16, 2012 - Thursday



On Thursday morning I groggily fumbled up to the Unicorn for a quick breakfast, as I sat down and looked out the window I nearly burst in to tears because Roatan was SO BEAUTIFUL! Don't get me wrong, our other ports were beautiful with clear water and gorgeous beaches, but Roatan struck me as so mountainous and green, the kind of island I wouldn't mind getting marooned on.


On the recommendation of my dad (and about 5,000 tripadvisor.com reviewers), I had booked an excursion for our family with Roatan Christopher Tours ($25 per person). It was kind of a buffet style tour where we could decide where we wanted to go and our guide would take us for the day. I had originally booked the tour for our group of 10, but had extended the invitation to our fellow LDS friends from Washington.

We all gathered and exited the ship together. We posed for some pictures by the big Mahogany Bay sign, enjoyed listening to some guys play some pretty music on the [insert name of musical instrument here]. For a small donation several of us were also able to get the first (and only!) stamp in our passports.

We made our way through the mob of people wanting to take us on tours and walked up a hill to meet with our tour company. Kevin, our driver for the day, was right there waiting for us with his 14 passenger van. We all crammed in and those of us who were close enough to Kevin to hear him got to hear about the demographics of the island, etc.

I think all of us would agree that a highlight of that drive was when we drove actually down the empty pristine coastline. And I don't mean on a road on the coastline, I mean on the actual coastline. Apparently driving on beaches is no big deal. The beautiful beach was deserted, which I thought was weird, until I realized that it was only like 7AM Honduras time :) 

We enjoyed the scenery on our 20 minute ride to the Monkey Farm/Zoo/Place. I was happy that Kevin advised us to not participate in the zipline at this stop since it apparently was the most dangerous, unregulated one on the island :). After paying our admission to the Monkey Zoo ($8 per person), we met our guide [insert guide's name here]. We were escorted (sans bags and purses) into a cage with two White-Faced Capuchins [ See: the monkey from The Testaments]. We stood in a circle as the monkeys chased eachother around the cage, and eventually they started hanging out on our heads, shoulders, arms, and cameras. They seemed to have a particular interest in Blaine, even reaching down into his pockets in search of a treat (which I have to admit was very intuitive on the part of the monkey). The guide bribed the monkeys to sit on each of us with the reward of sunflower seeds. We were all impressed with how nimbly the monkeys shelled the seeds, and how soft their feet and hands were.


At one point Rosey did something which sent one of the monkeys into hysterics and she got a little love bite :), and then the monkeys got pretty ticked at eachother and had an all-out brawl while both hanging upside down on Max's arm. I, personally, was impressed at the wide variety of facial expressions that Stef had while holding the monkeys, she's pretty funny :).

After a good fifteen minutes spent in the cage we were escorted out of the cage. We meandered through paths and saw several other animals, including spider monkeys, some anteater/racoon (?), squirrels (even the squirrels were pretty in Roatan!), deer (did you guys get to hear Stef ask our guide if they bathed the deer? Ha ha!), etc. We were able to go in to another cage to play with the baby White-Faced Capuchins. They were pretty fun and cute to watch and hold.

Before we knew it our time at the Monkey Zoo was done and we were piling back in the van with Kevin. Our next stop was West Bay Beach.


The beach was gorgeous! We parked and packed our stuff in and found a nice little spot by a restaurant to stay. It wasn't even ten seconds before we were accosted with vendors selling jewelry, carved stones, hammocks, back rubs, and everything. Seriously, it was a constant barrage of people selling stuff. The only place we could find any sanctuary was in the actual ocean, which was no problem as the water was warm, clear and inviting.




The boys (Blaine, Nick, Warner, and Max) decided to zip on Roatan's famous canopy zipline. I had been excited to do this, but my fear got the best of me -- or I guess I could say I stepped down in honor of it being a brotherly bonding experience :). Kevin took the boys to zipline, and since I wasn't there here is all I can tell you: The zipline was amazing! The view was gorgeous, the lines were high and long. And their guide apparently was a guy with questionable morals (which they got to hear all about as they zipped!). 

Meanwhile back on the beach: I had hauled my friends snorkel gear halfway across the world and all over Roatan and I was excited to use it. I must have misread in my research though because the shore snorkeling was dismal from the beach. Which is sad because I thought I had read that it was amazing (apparently I wasn't too far off though as I talked to some people later who were at a different part of the beach and had a way better snorkeling experience).

But- Kevin to the rescue!  Apparently their company has ties to snorkeling two and there were two guys over in a little (and I mean little!) boat who were ready and willing to take us snorkeling for $20. Since I kind of had my heart set on it Rosey, our Washington friends, and I went out snorkeling. On the boat ride out I had mentioned that I really wanted to see a sea turtle. All at once our boat stopped and the guys were chattering away in some other language. Apparently one of them had seen a turtle surface for air. He had his gear strapped on and was in the water before we knew it. So we all hurried and followed him. I have NEVER, and I repeat NEVER, swam so hard in my life. He was hauling it to catch up to the turtle. Rosey and I eventually caught up to him and saw the turtle! We even got to follow it around for a while. Our Washington friends didn't quite make it in time though (sad!). After the turtle we were impressed with our guide's spotting and diving abilities. In a sea of seagrass he all the sudden just dove down (like 15 feet) and picked up a live Conch shell. We then snorkeled over to the reef and it. was. amazing! We saw barracuda, tons of sardines, lobsters, parrot fish, and more. It was really cool because the reef was just inches under the surface of the water, so we really could see a lot. Then we passed a big crevasse that seperated two reefs. This is where our guide really showed off, that kid could dive down DEEP for a long time. I don't know how much free diving you've done, but after about 12 feet your head starts to explode :). These guys were talented.


We enjoyed our our snorkeling and then headed back to the beach, where we met up with the zipliners and the beach bums. Dad enjoyed some Conch Fritters (which he was SO NICE to share), then Max and I bit the bullet and shared some as well. Blaine got a good rub down/massage from some of the vendors, which he seemed to enjoy almost as much as the lobster dinner earlier in the week.





We continued to enjoy our last little bit bumming around the beach. Lounging on chairs, playing in the water, eating good food, until eventually (all too soon) it was time to go.

Kevin drove us back to the ship a little different way, so we were able to see the airport, lots of school kids and different parts of the town.



Back at port we decided to get one last big family picture, and our poor Washington friend...as he was handing mom's camera back to her it slipped out of his/her hand and the camera glass shattered on the ground. You could tell that he felt awful and mom was quick to assure him that it was no big deal. The camera still works but the glass is smashed. A not-so-fun souvenir of an otherwise perfect day.

Blaine and I bought a little bookmark for Gwen, and he bought his cologne at the duty free shops

Since we were back on the ship so early there was plenty of time for playing before dinner. Some went to the hot tubs/pools, some slept (holla!), I bet some ate, and some just lolligagged around :). Dinner was our second formal night, where most of us enjoyed snails :)


I'm not all that sure what we did at night, there are
pictures of us at some show, but I am not sure what it was :) Was this the night that Max sang karaoke? Someone please fill free to fill in the gaps ;)


Well, a picture is worth a thousand words, and I think this sums up how we all felt about Roatan...












Thanks Mom and Dad!

Belize (Nick)

Dear Family,

I can't believe how much time has already gone by since the cruise.  I apologize I haven't taken time to record "my day" yet, but here it goes.

Belize was our second day of the trip.  We arrived at the port early morning and had to tender 2-3 miles into the port.  Blaine and Kristi had made arrangements in advance with a company called Butt's Up (more details to come on that) and Nick and Stef joined them.   We were up and off the boat first thing in the morning...somewhere around 8 am.  The night before we had been up looking at pictures taken by photographers from around the ship, and Blaine noticed a familiar face of an individual from one of his law classes.  Well, on our 10 minute boat ride to shore who should we sit down next to, but his classmate and the rest of his family from Orem Utah.  Small world! Stef and I talked with the parents while Blaine and Kristi spoke with his friend.  Turns out they were headed to do the same activity; we had booked through cavetubing.com...they had booked through cavetubing.bz.  Originally we were feeling a little nervous about not going with a cruise excursion but we started feeling better when we realized that at least we were with the .com company and not the .bz.  Haha!!  We got to shore a little later than expected and by the time we made our way back to the meeting place the main bus had already left.  Luckily, a couple of the workers stayed back waiting for us.  We jumped in a smaller bus and took off through the streets of Belize.  Kristi was great to bring up the fact that we were from Utah and the fact the we were LDS.  Ironically, the main thing "Speedo" (our tour guide) knew about Utah was not necessarily Mormons, but Karl Malone.  Anyway, Speedo knew enough about Mormons to know that we didn't drink and lived virtuous lives.  For the remained of the trip he was constantly making tasteful "mormon" jokes about not giving us alcohol etc.  We eventually caught up with the big bus and rode the hour drive out to the place.  The drive out to the became a favorite part of the excursion for all of us because Speedo and the other tour guides basically did stand-up comedy the entire way out there.  One of their jokes was about where the name of the company came from.  They explained the when the water was low in the river, whenever there was a big rock coming up they tour guide would yell "Butt's Up" to prevent possible injure.  They went on to describe that there are a few signature rocks to look out for that over the years had gained names.  The names included things like jewel snatcher #1, jewel snatcher #2, the twin separator, etc.  Anyway, we enjoyed our travel up.  When we got there we were literally in the middle of the rain forest, in our swimming suits in the POURING RAIN! Everything was beautiful and green.  We began our 30-45 minute hike through the tropical jungle to where we would start the river run.  On a personal note, this was definitely a highlight of the entire trip for me.  We were wading through rivers, walking through/near big caves and getting an overview of important plants in the jungle.  When we reached the top our tubes were there waiting for us, and we carried them the final 100 yards of the hike.  All of us besides pregnant Stef that is.  They were so wonderful to make sure she was well taken care of...they even gave her an extra life preserver for back support.  The actual float down the river was fun and really pretty.  When we reached the bottom the rain had long since stopped, we climbed out and hiked back to the bus where they then took us to a shack out in the jungle for a yummy home-made chicken tamale.  We got Fanta and chips for a $1 a piece and enjoyed a delightful (basically free) lunch.  We then climbed back on the bus and drove back to the port.  On the way they showed us where the church was which was really neat that they all knew where it was.  We got back with probably about 30 minutes to spare before the last tender.  As we exited the bus we were totally mobbed by people selling everything from bracelets to wooden instruments and everything in between.  Nick and Stef bought a little bamboo instrument for about $15 as well as a $5 slingshot.  Blaine and Kris bought a couple of little things as well.  We all agreed it's hard when people are so pushy and that there really isn't a way to get out of those situations and feel good.  After working our way through the mob, we were exhausted but had enjoyed an absolutely wonderful day!  Special thanks to Kris who helped make it happen.  It was just the right blend of adventure and fun.  Definitely a day to remember.

Meanwhile, Janey & Warner, Rosey & Max, and Mom & Dad all got to sleep in a bit and eventually made it off the boat to find out what the day's adventure was going to be.  My knowledge of the details of their day is quite limited, but here is what I know: while they were riding the boat in, one of the drivers of the boat approached dad and asked him what the family was doing for their activity today.  When dad explained they were going to find someone to take them around, the guy kind of got serious and said that he need to go and find Murray.  The driver assured him he was the best driver there was.  When they got off the tender and walked out into the huge group of taxi drivers, Dad explained the they were looking for Murray...that Murray was their man.  It's as if he were a national celebrity (and in some ways, he was a very well known soccer player), but it was as if they became a top priority.  People quick bugging them and quickly went and found Murray for them.  Turns out, Murray was as good as they had hoped.  He was a younger fellow who had played on the national soccer team, and now had a young family.  He toured them around through the very poor city and showed them sites that included where he learned to play soccer, his home, the church, and more.  Ultimately, he took them out to see some old Mayan ruins.  The family spent a couple of hours out wandering around old pyramids and other cool structures.  The weather held up ok and they took some fun pictures.  While they were there Murray got a call about something that he was apparently in trouble for from his boss.  I don't think we ever really found out what it was, but it seemed like it was a pretty important issue.  Anyway, they made it back in plenty of time to do some shopping and get back on board the ship.

Once we were all back together again, we enjoyed a yummy dinner (as always with warm chocolate fudge cake), we went and listened to a comedian (although I can't recall which one it was), and then we had a fun time up going through dad's Q-Game.  We even discussed the various roles each of us would play in the business if it ever started to take off.  So keep the ideas coming everyone!!!

On another side note, I attended a "lunch-'n-learn" activity today at work that was talking about research done on happiness and success.  One of the items that was mentioned as an important element to happiness was that it is so important to invest in memories and not things.  I kept thinking how true that is, and that because of Mom and Dad's generosity, we will all have that memory to cherish forever. I hope that as our children continue to grow, one of the ways we can show our gratitude to mom and dad is to pass this tradition on to our own families.  I know we all feel a deep sense of gratitude for the countless fun memories they have given us over the years...let's all keep the tradition alive.

With love,

Nick

(ps...I haven't proofed this so I apologize.  I'm sure to the writers in the family the letter was more painful than anything but I had to get it done before some of the specifics of the trip started to fade.)

Day at Sea-Monday (Janey)

Monday was a “Day at Sea” aka “Discover the ship and eat to your heart’s content (and then some) day!”

I do believe I was the first one up and off to exercise in the mini gym at the front of the ship. Always a nice thing to run at sea level with more oxygen in the air to make a good morning run a little easier…..but always kind of weird to sweat WAY more than you normally do because of the humidity.  After my run I headed down to find Blaine and Kristi and Dad off to the dining room to enjoy breakfast together. Nick, Mom and Stef had made it up to the 10^th deck and decided to run/walk on the track outside where 4 laps equaled one mile. During the morning exercise they met a man on the track who became their “running buddy.” We saw him occasionally throughout the week and enjoyed getting to know him a little bit better. I don’t think Rosey and Max had quit gotten the bed off their back by the 10:00 hour. J

Over the course of the morning, the rest of the family ate in the buffet style Unicorn café and some even were lucky enough to see a dolphin and flying fish on the side of the ship. Throughout the course of the day, everyone kind of did their own thing…sometimes together, and sometimes separate. From what I can remember, this is what everyone’s late morning/afternoon consisted of:

Dad: Decided he wanted to get excited for the upcoming ports and went to see what shore excursions Carnival was offering. Carnival had a little presentation that they gave, showcasing some of the shore excursions they were offering. Dad didn’t buy any of them.

Mom/Kristi and Rosey/Warner: Participated in the bean-bag toss game. Team Rosey/Warner moved onto the final round (no thanks to Rosey….we decided this was one of the VERY FEW sports that she didn’t excel in) but didn’t win. They had a good time though!

Max, Janey, Stef, Nick: Enjoyed watching the bean-bag tournament!

Blaine: Uh….if I remember right, I think he spent a couple of hours looking for everyone. Somehow he lost us and it took him until lunch time to find everyone.

Janey, Stef, Rosey, Max, Nick: enjoyed the [very crowded] swimming pools! (Side note: I would LOVE to have a swimming pool like these someday. They had a little shallow edge around the entire pool to just lounge in, but an area to swim in if you wanted to swim. Okay, the pool itself could have been a little bit bigger…especially because it was so crowded. But I very much enjoyed thesepools.)

Stef, Rosey, Max, and Nick: Enjoyed a couple of trips down the slipping slide. Let’s just say there are better and faster slip’n slides in this world. As Rosey moved .02 mph down the slide, a little girl yelled to her from the top, “point your toes.” I guess that’s a technique that’s supposed to help you move a little faster down the slide. On their way back to the pool, R, M, and N “enjoyed” a solid 5 minutes of the traditional “Hairy Chest Contest.” They informed the rest of us that 5 minutes was 5 minutes too long!

Blaine and Warner: Enjoyed lunch together in the dining room. This is where Blaine ate some of the finest avocado soup he’s ever eaten.

Kristi, Mom, Dad: Ate lunch in the dining room.

A few of us enjoyed a short nap to try to get rid of sun/heat exhaustion headaches before it was time to start getting ready for “Cruise Elegant” night in the dining room. Everyone looked their best as we all gathered together for a fabulous dinner! This was a night filled with strawberry soup, lobster tail, and melted chocolate cake. Besides having at least 3 appetizers and 2 other entrees, I believe Blaine ate 3 lobster tail’s during the course of his meal. After enjoying a few rousing rounds of “Happy Anniversary”  sung by our waiter Winn to other guests in the dinning room, we left with our stomachs overwhelmingly (but delightfully) full.

We went and took individual  photo’s, couple photo’s, and family photo’s in our fancy attire. A few of us got some cheesy pictures taken by the professional photographers.  Eventually we made our way to one of the lounge’s and caught the end of the comedy/magic show. After the magic show, we went to change. Some people decided to call it a night, and some people changed and somehow made a little room in the stomach for a late night hot chocolate/pizza snack and enjoyed visiting with each other.

It was a fabulous day and fabulous trip. Thanks again Mom and Dad!

Cruise: Coming Home form Paradise (Dad)

Well, my assignment was to cover the dreaded last day of the trip.  This is the day when everyone's heads hang a little lower, the carefree smile droops, and everyone seems a little bit more pre-occupied with thoughts that are far away.  But I've got to say, that for my part, it wasn't too bad as last days go.  Our little group wasn't in a hurry to get anywhere quickly, and so we just enjoyed each other and clung tight all day long.  Here are some of the highlights of our lowlight day.

Met at Mom and Dad's cabin at 8:00.  We had to be out of our rooms by 8:30... but since the dining room was going to close around 8:00, and since we'd already done our packing the night before, everyone was right ready, and we wandered with our carry on bags up a floor to the Tiffany Dining room.  We got 2 nice tables next to each other and ordered breads, juices, eggs and pancakes, etc.  We visited back and forth across tables and visited till we were almost the last ones left.  We then decided to go to a place where we could sit and wait until our luggage # was called.  The ship was filled with people sitting next to their luggage waiting.  We went out on deck on the 3rd floor, and watched them prepare the ship for it's next voyage.  In lots of ways that was one of the best things I could have done.  It was fascinating to see logistics in action.  We had lots of fun discussions about the process they must follow to get the old out, and get the new stuff in.  We talked about the fastest way and cheapest way to get stuff loaded.  We watched the kinds of foods that they were loading and wondered.  It was fascinating.  Our group then wanted to go inside, so we wandered down to the big mural/picture of motion picture 'legends' which hung in a hallway.  We sat for a little while til someone found the card room empty.  So we all wandered down to the card room, where we visited and pulled out a game or two... we sat in there and visited until they called our numbers and beyond.  We stayed in there until finally they said 'everyone should be off' and so we decided to leave.  We said 'bye' to Peeta (Peter) our comedy assistant cruise director who was leaving the ship.  and we went down to get our luggagte in the cruise terminal.  Our luggage was easy to find, because it was basically the only luggage left.

We went through customs, and went outside.  We found our pre-paid shuttle across the street.  And after they kicked off a party of 4, so that they could fit us (a party of 10) onto the shuttle, we were officially on our way home.

At the airport, we found that we couldn't check in our bags for 3 hours...that's because you can't check your bags for 3 hours prior to departure... and our flight wasn't leaving until 5:00(?).  So for 6 hours we visited, played games (Settlers of Katan) played a variety of iPad games (mostly Mayan Ruins puzzle game and Achtung-Tron style game, and the Logos Quiz game).  Of note was that Warner got level 14 on the Mayan game which Blaine and Nick could only solve by searching online for cheats.

We found the Tampa airport a hospitable waiting area with good/cheap food all around and with lots of "Republican Elephants" and banners to look at since the Republican Convention was being held the following week.

We flew from Tampa to Phoenix, changed planes, and then flew from Phoenix to SLC arriving at around 11:30 pm.  Both flights made Kristi (and all of us for that matter) nervous.  We saw lightning hit the plane leaving Tampa... and we saw lighting in the clouds leaving Phoenix.  Plus with the weird mid-flight shifts, it made for some willey-nilly flights.  But thanks to Kristi who got us our A tickets on Southwest, we at least had comfortable seats to enjoy.

Everyone had rides waiting for them at curbside, and so after some sweet hugs and sad farewells, we climbed in our respective vehicles, and drove home in the darkness.

Special thanks to ALL of you kids for arranging your schedule to be there.  It wouldn't have been nearly so wonderful if we'd have been missing someone.  Thanks for spending so much time together.  It's so fun to review pictures and see such fun groups.  Thanks to your parents (our in-laws) for watching kids and making it possible for you to join us.  And thanks to M&D Bassett who's inheritance dollars left us enough that we could pay for this trip.

Until next time?

Suggestion

After we all finish our posts, someone-and I would be happy to be that someone- should go edit the order of the days/ports so that they are sequential :). just sayin.

Also, a little update from down south.  Bret is just loving preschool!  I am so happy for him, I feel like it is such a big step and he is doing really well.  Clay and I will enjoy the time together once Bret gets in full swing.  They ease into the schedule so he has only gone twice for one hour each which hasn't been much time to do anything besides go pick him up again...
Also, somehow babysitting always finds me.  I am watching a sweet girl named Scarlett who was in Bret's joy school co-op.  Her Mom is quite busy.  I just can't say no.  That kind of interferes with quality time with Clay while Bret is at school.  We will get in a groove soon enough though!

I have finally stopped rocking after the trip :) yahoo! I have started the dance company again and I am also teaching one dance class.  Those alone should be plenty to keep me busy.  I am really enjoying my days with the boys just hanging out outside with our neighbors Emily, Corbin, Naomi and baby Parley.  They all came swimming with us at Nancy's today so we could fulfill our garbage duty.  We have lunch and sometimes dinner together frequently.  They are a sort of saving grace for all of us and we have a lot of fun with them.  Emily is also my walking partner at 6:45 am as many mornings as we can do!

We are tired after so many trips up, but LOVE so much the time we have gotten to spend with all of you.  We hope for much much more!!!

Love, Stef

Grand Cayman (Stef)

On Friday, August 17, 2012 we had our final port in Grand Cayman.  Being the last port, our monies were spent, our energies exhausted, but we had just enough in us to spend one awesome day at 7 Mile Beach.  The whole family was together at this stop which was really fun!!  I think we all would agree that the ocean and weather were absolutely perfect for this "beach day."  Blaine and Kristi were nice to share and bring their snorkel gear.  Nick and Warner also rented some gear and those boys spent most the day off snorkeling around.  Mom rented a kayak and was so kind to share with each of us, especially since that was the reason we all go to see a sea turtle!!!  It was so cool the way he would hold his breath forever and swim down at the bottom, then come up for one quick breath of air and go back down!  Blaine the best "feel" of the turtle if you know what I mean! :)

We found lots of cool seashells on the beach and under the water (thanks Nick and Warner)!  Mom built a fun sandcastle.  B, K, M, N and S tried out the chicken tenders and fries at the restaurant close by.  We spent time floating on our backs forever and looking up at the amazing sky while listening to the quiet sounds of the ocean.  Lots of us got really sunburned lips and some of us got sunburned leggies and shoulders from snorkeling!  Dad got a little cat nap in the beach chair he rented.  Mom and Dad explored the whole beach!  We got great pictures and hated to leave the ocean when it was time to get back to the ship.  The dark storm clouds moving in only helped a little bit.  We were lucky enough to have perfect weather the ENTIRE time we were there!  We enjoyed not being bothered by people selling things, although the beach wasn't quite as clean as West Bay on Roatan.  We paid $5 a pop to taxi to this beach and were pumped when we found a guy that would do $3 a person back to the port.  Only two downsides to that, first-I had to ride on Nick's lap the whole way, poor guy getting a dead leg from his pregnant wife, second-we were in such a hurry to go that Warner realized the rental guys had forgotten to give him back his drivers license.  Hey enjoyed a $6 ride back to get it!  We still had a little time left to shop around before getting back on the ship.  Nick and I found a Christmas ornament and Mom found a little turtle.  Max bought perfume for Kristin- just kidding- is this where you bought your cologne Max or was that Blaine???  You get the picture though.  We all got back on the ship to shower and get ready for a big feast in the dining room that never did disappoint!  What a fabulous day!  We will hold the memory in our minds for A LONG TIME of the whole family being at that perfect beach!!!   LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the ocean in the Carribean!  Thanks Mom and Dad!!

Hey All

I hope this works.  I just added everybody's email to a list that should notify everyone when there are new posts.  Hopefully it works for everybody.  I did write a post earlier about a different way to do it, but that one wasn't instantaneous and I didn't like it as much.  Anyway, hopefully now nobody can complain that they didn't know what was on the BAWB.

Camping

Dear family,

Sorry I haven't been so diligent about posting the last month or so. Like the rest of you, I am very diligent about reading, but less diligent about writing. I did communicate to most of you about how I regularly use Instagram. And while I don't write many words there, a picture (they say) is worth 1000 words. So, I suppose I'm trying to use that as a bit of an excuse, but either way, here is a quick update for you:

Nick: life is good. I'm grateful every day I drive in to work for the simple fact that we have 2 cars. What a blessing. Since we got out second car however I have probably put on at least 5 lbs because I don't run nearly as much. I'm trying to get back into running some more but have had a hard time getting into the habit. Work is going well, nothing new there. It has been a blessing with Stef being pregnant because I've had to step up my game helping out more with the boys after work. They really are such sweet boys and I love spending time them. I am so excited for Rosey's new car. I happy for Max. I'm jealous (in a good way) of the new iPad.

Stef: we are grateful that pregnancy is so easy for her...haha jk Stef. Actually, she would agree that relative to lots of people it is easy, and we are grateful for that, but it does take its toll. We are happy to be through the 1st trimester. We have been looking really hard lately for a new tent and other camping stuff. She has been VERY patient with my extreme pickiness...especially since buying a nice tent is something I've wanted to do since I was a kid.

Bret: what a delight. Something has change in him the last couple months. He is still definitely a kid, but his formerly very stubborn ways seem to have become more mild lately. He gave his first talk in primary last week and did a superb job. I didn't think he would be brave enough to do it himself , but when the time came, Stef only had to stand there. He had a big smile, spoke very loud and clear and didn't miss a word.

Clay: has definitely entered the terrible 2s. With Clay though, it's as cute ad funny as it is terrible. He and Bret get along really well (most of the time) and I am constantly in awe at how well he keeps up with Bret with reading and other such skills. He is a smart kid...almost up there with there with Gwen, Ben, and Ivy. It is fascinating though how unbelievably different he is from Bret. One difference that has me baffled and a little nervous is how he responds when he gets in trouble. When Bret gets in trouble, he responds. He doesn't like to get in trouble. When Clay gets in trouble, all he does is laugh and get REALLY goosy. Even when I'm as serious and stern as ever...it just doesn't work.

Anyway, we love you all.

Nick

Hooray!

Once upon a time I splurged and bought a nice lens for my nice camera. It was a splurge considering I know nothing about photography, but I loved it! Then...I lost the lens! It's in my nature to lose things, but I had been very careful with the lens and treated it with the utmost care always.

I was so sad that it was lost and sad to watch my children growing bigger each day without being able to take high quality pictures of them.

Then, four months later, I decided to pack one closet a day for our impending move. I started with our hall closet.

AND I FOUND THE LENS! In the back of the hall closet, in a sack. Who knows the story of how it wound up there, but I'm SO HAPPY!

I'm not sure the moral of the story. Some might say it is to clean your closets more often (ew!), some might say to treat your things more carefully (duly noted), but for me the moral of the story is to never, ever, ever give up! (I had the new lens in my Amazon shopping cart about five times in the last several months, but could never justify using savings to replace something that I already owned...somewhere!). And also the other moral is to take pictures, even if they are just with your phone. I kind of went on a picture strike and the only one who suffered is me :(

End of June

Well it was a big month, which ended with a bang. On the 30th, Blaine and Kris won an ipad3 at his company party, nick and stef did something great (we just havnt heard yet what it was), janey and warner celebrated 1 year of marriage, rosey bought her first car, and max kissed his first girlfriend (in a non-theatrical role). I hope youll all share you big news with us as we all like to know. Today starts the new slc west mission. Hang on for a ride... Loves

No Excuses (mom)

Dear Family, Dad and I cleaned the church this morning and it turned out to be very inspirational for me. Our high priest group leader in the ward is Brother Andrus (father of Aaron, Josh and others who you know). As you probably know, he is legally blind. He is a deeply spiritual man and has given some of the finest talks I have heard about the atonement and the Savior. He is also very diligent in his calling and often visits and gets less actives to come to socials, etc. He always amazes me and today as I walked in to clean the church (straight from a run, sweat and all) there he was cleaning the windows. He was very methodical and doing a great job. It really touched me. If ANYONE has an excuse NOT to sign up to clean the church, it would be him. But there he was, doing his best, giving his best offering to the Lord. And knowing him, he is probably there once a month. I was so inspired I had to share. Love, mom

Andy

I just thought I would share the fun discovery I made today. Just in case anyone was looking for one more good reason to join Netflix, I found out today that you can stream all 8 seasons of the Andy Griffith Show. I streamed the very first episode while I ate lunch today. It was the one where Opie's old nanny gets married and Aunt Bea comes to take over. Opie is probably somewhere between Gwen's age and Bentley's age and is very smart and cute. He cooks breakfast to try to prove to Andy that they don't need anyone else to help around the house but to no avail. Andy still welcomes Aunt Bea and tries to make Opie like her by trying to teach her to do the things that his old Nanny could do (play baseball, fish, etc.). Opie is not won over, and when Aunt Bea leaves his bird cage open so that his pet bird escapes, it is the last straw--Opie runs out of the room crying. The next morning she kisses him on the forehead. She is leaving; it is best for everyone. Opie, secretly awake, runs outside to catch her before she drives away. What will happen to her if she goes out into the world not knowing how to do anything important (like baseball and fishing)? She is helpless, practically. She needs him! Everyone smiles and a valuable lesson is learned.

You gotta love the Andy Griffith Show. Not only does it hearken back to a simpler, more virtuous time in a way that all but hits you over the head with sentimentality and nostalgia, but it also speaks to problems that we have over 50 years after the episodes aired (I looked it up--this episode aired in 1960) in a sweet, funny, entertaining way that is accessible to young and old.

Anyway, jump on and watch an episode or two if you have Netflix. You won't regret it. I haven't watched an episode in years, decades maybe. But it blew my mind how it all came back to me. It almost startled me how familiar Andy looked, as well as Barney, Aunt Bea, and Opie. It was truly like seeing old friends after years and years apart but, weirdly, the friends haven't aged a day even though you have.

Enjoy! And write on the BAWB! :)

It's cruise time!!

Everyone, the cruise is just days away (ok....more than just a few, but it is right around the corner.) I have been looking at different things and have been trying to plan a budget friendly vacation. I think I would be happy to to just find myself a spot at the beach and enjoy that at every stop (with maybe a little bit of shopping.) But, I also hope that we will be able to do stuff as a family, so hopefully everyone elses thoughts/plans are somewhat cheap! :)

At our meeting we had way back in Jan. we each took an island to research. Warner and I took Mahogany Bay and discovered that at this stop the beach is just a 10 minute walk away (or you can take a little ski lift thing for a small charge...but I think we figured that walking is probably faster.)

Anyway, I would love to hear what others have been thinking.I'm getting SO excited to just go on a fun trip with everyone!

Love,
Janey

Life Back Home (Rosey)

It has been QUITE some time since I last wrote, guess I will be paying for my own luggage on our big trip that is less that 55 days away (Warner, I love the countdown).  Since I last wrote, I have graduated from school, gotten my first "big girl job", and moved back into the wonderful place which I grew up.  So a quick recap on those 3 major changes in my life: 

Graduation: Boy oh boy did I love graduate school!  I don't know a lot of people who can honestly say that, but I really did.  I loved what I learned, I loved the people I got to associate with on a daily basis, and I loved the variety of opportunities I had.  I was very sad to graduate but knew that the next stage would also be an exciting one.  I have seen some of the people I grew close to in my program several times since we graduated and am glad to be able to continue friendships.  I will never forget my wonderful experience at BYU. 

Big girl job:  As you all know, I am officially a mental health therapist for Valley Mental Health in Tooele.  I have been working this job for 1 month (on Friday) and have already learned a GREAT DEAL.  It has been very challenging and has forced me to step out of my comfort zone and simply do the best that I can to  help the people I work with.  My job has helped me learn several things about myself as well as life in general.  I am amazed at how blessed we all are, to have a family who loves and supports you is a great blessing which I never appreciated enough.  To have our basic necessities available without any thought is such a blessing.  I know that I am VERY blessed.  I look forward to continually learning and growing so that I can best serve these underprivileged people in Tooele. 

Moving home:  When I first realized I would be moving home, I was nervous (because I love being independent) and also a bit curious about what it would be like to be home again.  Well, being home has exceeded any expectation and has seroiusly been a BLAST!  It has been such a blessing to come home each day from work to mom and dad who are so kind to listen to me vent and show genuine love and concern about how my day went.  I have learned a great deal from talking with them and  have loved the opportunity to get closer to them.  I have also loved my time spent simply watching the news or an episode of "lie to me" with them.  I sure love them.  It has also been so much fun to see Max more, I have always felt close to him because we spent several years together as the "only children".  But man is he a cool guy!  I learn so much from him, and have such a great time with him.  It's great to be back. 

Well I promised to keep it short, so I will end it here.  Life is good, not always easy, but good.  I am so grateful for the gospel in my life...it makes all the difference!  Love you all and can't wait for the cruise!!

Love,

Rose