Our Book of Mormon Reward Trip--A Caribbean Cruise

We got off the ship at 7:30 this morning. We are sitting at the Ft Lauderdale airport. I wasn't sure how long it would take to get off the ship and get to the airport, so I booked a later flight to avoid stress. We were off lickety split and have several hours to wait at the airport before we can even check in!!!! Sounds like a fun way to end the trip, right? haha. That's just how I roll...

Here's a picture of Mady surrounded by luggage, content to have wifi and iMessage... 

We flew out of Las Vegas on August 1 at 4:50 pm and landed in Ft Lauderdale just after midnight. Arielle flew out of Nashville and landed in Miami at pretty much the same time we did. I booked our hotel online via Priceline and while I did well to make sure there were enough beds for us all to sleep comfortably AND to get us a great price for this room, I did not pay much attention to the LOCATION of this hotel. Arielle had a 40 minute shuttle ride (not counting stops for other passengers) and we had a 20 minute ride via taxi to the hotel. Other than requiring extra money for transportation and getting to bed really late, this didn't end up being as much of an inconvenience as I thought it might be. Everyone was just too excited for the cruise to care! 

We have taken one other cruise as a family--5 years ago--and the boarding process was a nightmare! Very long story short, I didn't realize Curtis misplaced his birth certificate when registering for football until the morning we were to leave. It was a holiday, so the health department was closed leaving no chance to obtain an official copy. A telephone call to the cruiseline told us that the photo copy that I somehow had would be sufficient, but the lady at the cruise line counter told us otherwise--she was not going to let us board. BUT lots of prayers and creative angles led to a desperate phone call to the Dixie Middle School secretary (who was on summer break,) who selflessly went to the school, found Curtis' file (which she told us afterward was not filed where it was supposed to be,) and faxed the copy she had to the cruiseline, which for some reason suddenly made it all valid and they let us on the ship--with maybe 10 minutes to spare!!!! (This is reminding me that I never thanked the school secretary with a gift card like I had planned... it is now on my TO DO LIST for this week!!!) 

I tell you this stressful story to explain why boarding this cruise ship seemed like such a miraculous breeze. It was fast and easy, and (almost) without a hitch.

Side bar: I would be lying if I didn't add that word "almost." While Mady was in Missouri this summer, I was somehow reminded of the fact that a Caribbean Cruise actually requires a passport--neither Mady nor Karter had one. Mady got home from Missouri 2 weeks before we were to leave on the cruise...we paid for expedition and sent the applications off with a prayer, called 5 days before we were to board the ship to learn that the photos were not valid (red eye--we did them at a professional passport photo place to avoid such problems, but I guess the Walmart photo counter should never be considered professional,) rushed to Walgreens to take new photos, overnighted them with another batch of prayers, and got the passports back the day before we left... To make it even more interesting, I had noticed online as we were still anticipating the passports that a birth certificate would actually be accepted, which allowed me to relax--until we got the passports back AND THE BIRTH CERTIFICATES that we were required to send with the application... My stomach couldn't help but sink a little at that point...  I guess I like to keep things exciting...

The Norwegian Getaway was a really fun ship! Brand new this year, it had all the latest and greatest amenities: a zip line, water slides, arcade, rock climbing wall, miniature golf, basketball court, mini bowling alley...I don't know if I've named it all, but it was really amazing! The girls really enjoyed laying out, while Karter wanted to do everything active that he could. This helped Dave and I realize that any future out-of-the-ordinary family adventures need to also include a friend for Karter. It took him awhile to dare to do things alone, but after a couple of days he realized that when mom and dad were not willing to engage in 10 year old adventure, he could go up to the sports court and find some friends to play basketball or soccer with. He also discovered that he could easily swipe his card at the arcade--and racked up quite a tab in doing so--but it was worth it to see him enjoying himself.

The ports are always my favorite part. We visited St. Martin (French side)/St. Marteen (Dutch side.) Here we took at taxi tour of the island with Tony. He stopped at several sites for us to take pictures and/or explore (including a nude beach, which he was very excited about but which obvioulsy a little uncomfortable for us...) and then he dropped us off at Dawn Beach to spend a few hours until it was time to go back to the ship.

In all the Caribbean cruises Dave and I have done with Heritage Makers, one of our favorite islands was St. Thomas. I was especially excited to spend the day at St John island, but when the shuttle driver explained the time it took to get there and the extra transportation expenses, we decided to take his suggestion for another simple tour of the island and a few hours at a nice beach on the main island. We shopped around as we waited for the tour to start, and Karter was invited by two native island boys to play basketball with them. They didn't have a hoop, so they shot the ball through some branches in a tree. Very creative! Karter loved it1  I enjoyed the tour--I love seeing sights and learning more about the culture of the islands--but I didn't enjoy the beach as much as I had enjoyed St. John. The sand was "dirty" and rocky (another example of how much of a "princess" I have become in my older age) but the water was clear and the sun was warm. Karter, Dave, and Mady snorkled, Arielle slept in a beach chair, and I sat on a rock at the edge of the water and just enjoyed the waves (once I got over the "ugly" beach) as they splashed around me. Karter also made friends with an iguana while we were at the beach. All the adults around were afraid of the huge lizard, but Karter worked up to actually petting it, showing all the adults that their fears were unwarranted.  The time passed way to quickly and soon it was time to go back to the ship.

Our last port was Nassau, Bahamas. It seems to be a little more modern, and the streets near the cruise ship port are full of shops and shoppers. We may or may not have lost Karter in one of the shops for a little while, but he was smart enough to stay where he was until I found him. We booked this final excursion through the ship--a day at the Blue Lagoon, which is a private beach that the ship has partnered with to allow its passengers to visit. It was a 30 minute ride on a catamaran over to the island. This beach was more my style! I went snorkeling with Dave and Karter while the girls layed out (and they had wifi, so they were in heaven)  and they served us lunch, and then it was time to go. I thought it was a perfect way to end the cruise.

One last side bar: I wanted to be able to tie the Book of Mormon into this vacation as a reminder of how personal scripture study provides blessings in our lives and if we dedicate ourselves to searching them, we will find hidden treasures of knowledge. I used symbolism, like the boat could be likened to Lehi's journey to the promised land and gave them sandals for the journey; a sweater for the girls and shorts for Karter were likened to the armor of God (I had also given the girls one piece swim suits before the trip, hoping they would choose to bring them, but I guess that is yet to come;) and little treasure cheats with CTR jewelry and pearls earrings (sunglasses and a tie track or Karter) as a symbol of searching the scriptures for that pearl of great price.  I hope someday they will remember this part of the trip, as now they pale in comparison... 

What a Week! (part 2)

The Isagenix convention has left me still speechless. What an amazing time! I wasn't feeling up to the event going into it--just home from girls' camp, leaving the kids, leaving many unfinished projects at home, etc--but that quickly changed as Dave and I were greeted by and reconnected with so many amazing friends! It was also really fun to have my brother Zach and Mekenze and George there with their little teams. Everything is better with family!

The first exciting thing was that at registration we were given a pin that let us know that we are on track to go to Paris for 5 days with Jim and Kathy Coover!!! Anybody who knows me can understand how happy I am to know that Dave and I are going to Paris!!! And with the Coovers, who know all the good places and shop like celebrities. Can you say EXCITED!!!???

Another amazing highlight of convention was the moment that Dave was awarded "Man of the Year!" This award is selected by president and co-founder, Jim Coover, and is a HUGE honor!!! I was so happy to know that all of Dave's hard work and passion are being recognized by corporate. He sooo deserves this award!! The event became even more of a highlight than it already would have been when Dave was NOT in the room when they announced his name! He had gone to the store and then took the bags to the car so they wouldn't be a bother. Right before the announcement, I got a phone call telling me that it was very important that I get Dave in the room--and I TRIED to get a hold of him--but he was too far away to get there in time. As they read his description before announcing his name, it was obvious to anyone who knows him that he had won. The crowd was going crazy and when they finally said "Please welcome to the stage our Man of the Year, Dave Mac Arthur!" everyone was standing and cheering...there was nothing else to do but to go on stage and accept the award for him. It was the LONGEST walk of my life! It was surreal as they handed me the mic and asked me to say a few words in Dave's behalf... I felt overcome with every emotion: pride, fear, sadness because he needed to experience this!  But it is what it is...it turned out well, and I got tons of compliments on being the "Woman of the Year" and stepping up to the challenge to speak impromptu in front of 8,000 people.  I was flattered, but still...HE needed to be the one!! I think he was a little bummed as well to have missed the opportunity, but he is humble and says that it happened how it should have...

Another highlight and extreme honor was that we got to sit at the Coover's table at the Gala! Of course we didn't get a photo, but here is one of us on stage with them:

We also sat next to Lori Harder, who is my wanna be vision board body model  (you can find her on the cover of Oxygen magazine, Sept. 2011) :) She is such a sweet lady, and I was so surprised and inspired to know that she is in her 30's! (not sure she has kids, which is another issue...) but a girl can dream, right? Anyway, she is on Dave's team and was named number 90 (or so) millionaire in the company. She is amazing, and I am happy to call her my friend. And I DID get a photo with her!

Dave's team party was amazing! So many people were there!! Dave and JoJo (Dave probably works mostly closely with her as far as masterminding and team activity) rented a house that team members who flew long distances could stay in to help cut costs. We stayed there too, which we usually like to get our own room at the same hotel as the event, so it was kind of a different arrangement than we are used to. It was good in many ways--we got to know some of the team members better. On Friday night, tons of team members came over to a dinner that JoJo had catered. They had team awards and a few testimonials. One of the most amazing testimonials on the effectiveness came from Bob Sheridon, who is a hall of fame world boxing announcer. He has quite a name, but his health has struggled the past several years. He has had incredible results! He spoke to us--very fun to listen to!--and we got a photo with him before he left:

Here are a few of the key players on Dave's team (there are SEVERAL more) and many of them stayed at the house. I love that I feel welcome among them! I really feel like we have an extended isafamily.  The team was very sweet to recognize ME with a nice award! I don't really do anything, but they say that Dave couldn't do what he does without my support. It was sweet for them to notice me, but the real power behind it all is definitely Dave! I just keep the home fires burning. ;)

So many more amazing people and memories and exciting things that happened at the Isagenix convention this year.  I realize more and more every year that Dave and I can really be ambassadors for marriage and integrity and family values to a lot of people who know how we are because of Dave's position in the company. I am blessed that Dave wants me by his side at these events.  I'm happy that we were able to go together again this year. It's important to me, and I'm learning it is important to many others to see us together. 

On the last night (Tuesday), the kids drove to Vegas to meet us. They stayed the night at the house with us, and then we drove to California to do some school shopping and to stay at the beach. Mady has been wanting to do this all summer and to bring her two best friends with her, and this was the only time that was available. We had a good time. We stayed in a really nice hotel right across from the beach, and we visited a few malls for the kids to find the perfect back to school outfits. It was a little much for the parents, going from one big event to another, but the kids had a great time, and it was worth it. (More time to relax on the beach would have been nice... :))

I didn't take many photos in California, but here is one of our night walk on the beach. We found a fire pit that was still burning, so we stopped to enjoy it for awhile.

 And here is Mady with her friends, eating lunch at Sharkee's at Huntington Beach. They have really yummy food and it's fun to sit outside and watch all the beach bums on the street. This was right before we headed for home. It was a really short trip, but we had a good time.

We were home long enough to sleep in our own beds, and then it was time to drive to Cedar City for Karter's first baseball tournament with his traveling team, the Bears.  These were the team's first ever games playing together, and they did quite well. They won only one of four games, but they played quite well. For Karter, this is his first "real" team--no coach pitch, no everyone wins, and the kids are starting to have some knowledge of how to play.  He felt a little bit of internal pressure as he wanted to pitch and hit more perfectly than he did, but he did a great job and had a lot of fun.  He is a good little player. I love watching baseball, especially at this level. 

Here Karter is playing first base:

And I always love the high 5's to the other team at the end of the game.

So, needless to say, we had a really fantastic week and a half, but we will really enjoyed spending the Sabbath Day of REST at home!!! 

Just in time to start school this next week...

Gates Family Vacation at Zion Ponderosa

Dave and I stayed at a cabin atZion  Ponderosa in May after he has been traveling a lot and we needed a reconnect. It was so awesome that we decided it would be fun to rent a bigger cabin and invite family to come enjoy it with us. 

Almost everyone that we invited was able to come!! We missed Chevia and Danny, who are working and pregnant in Denver; Cody, who had to work and finish moving his family into their new house (hero award); Cinthia and Landon and their family (and Malisa), who had car troubles and couldn't make it; and Tim, who was on tour with Due West (which is bitter sweet cuz although we LOVE Due West to tour and get their music out to the masses--and we're crossing our fingers that this tour skyrockets them to the next level--I was really hoping that we'd get to spend more than 2 hours with Tim as just Tim...)   Anyways...we missed all these peeps tremendously, but other than that  we had SUCH a fantastic time!! 

First day was mostly about discovering the cabin and reconnecting... And yummy food made by Davi... 

The next day was Sunday, so a bunch of us drove into Orderville for church. It was such a cool, old building, and I wondered if any of my Leany ancestors helped build it. I'm wishing now that I would have taken a picture of us in front of it. 

We had a baby shower for Mekenze after church. We skyped Chevia in so she could join us. Technology is just awesome!! 

The rest of the time was filled with activities like paint balling, swimming, riding the zip line, miniature golfing, and rock wall climbing! 

 

Oh! And 4-wheeling and bungee trampoline jumping and swinging and horseback riding and sand digging... 

 And lots of EATING!!

Grilled glazed pineapple by Berta (one of her many amazing dishes 

Kaluah pork with Hawaiian macaroni salad and rice by Zach and Brét, 

Spicy chicken sandwiches and Mexican corn by Mekenze and George...

And much, much more that was devoured before I thought to snap a photo... 

I can't wait to see all the family photos taken by Davi (the magician behind Sophia Shay Photography).

Of course this is only a small representation of all that went on at Zion Ponderosa. It was an almost perfect get away--at least as I and my family are concerned (I am only speak for myself, of course). We came home rested and ready for another burst of excitingly crazy busy-ness!!