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 1)

I must say I am a little tired, but this week has been an exciting one!!

It started last Thursday with girls camp. I can sometimes have a bad attitude about girls camp--not because I don't believe it is wonderful but because planning it is way over my head and stresses me out a bit. This year, however, I had the most fantastic leaders, and camp was so so amazing! Other than the self-inflicted kind,  I felt almost no stress.

It was "ward camp" this year, so we were able to take a few more liberties than when we go with the stake. First of all, we kept it short, beginning at 1 pm on Thursday and arriving at home by noon on Saturday. (My kind of camp! 😉 We accidentally discovered 2 years ago with our last ward camp that short but action-packed can be very powerful, at least with our girls' personalities.) We began at Sister Heidi Palmer's home to divide into "families" and to introduce our theme (which I LOVED)--Girls on Fire: Believe. Obey. Endure--with a devotional that featured a talk by President Thomas S. Monson. 

http://youtu.be/DKiIlwn8z3I

After the devotional, we loaded into cars and drove an hour and a half to Logandale campground in Kolob Canyon on the backside of Zion National Park. I never been to Kolob before, and I was completely enchanted by it!! It seemed like something you'd see  in an enchanted forest type movie. (For lack of a better way to explain it) Absolutely gorgeous!!! 

As soon as we arrived at camp, the girls put up their tents. The camp leaders made sure that none of the adult leaders did it (or anything) for the girls. The laurels were basically in charge and the girls did everything--set up, take down, meal prep and clean up, everything!! Once camp was set up, we circled around for a fun skit by the Laurels and then instruction from Sister Palmer and Sister Wells before they all left for their hike. All throughout July we has talked about survival and emphasized the importance of listening to parents and leaders and of being obedient. So the files were reminded of some of the things they had learned about prepared for a hike and then given 5 minutes to evaluate their day packs before they left. The plan was that there would be 3 different challenges throughout the hike--building a fire without matches or a lighter, finding edible plants, and building a shelter--and once those were completed the girls were told that they wouldn't be going back to camp that night but rather they would be spending the night where they were. I was told that all of the girls had great attitudes and did very well. :)

Next day was packed full of adventures like ropes courses

 rock climbing, rifle shooting, slip and sliding ( more photos to come as soon as I can collect them) and ended with an amazing testimony meeting. I was especially proud of my daughter, Madyson who went without her two best friends but who stepped up as one of the youth leaders (as a miamaid) and was kind and supportive and very engaged in every activity and who note the final testimony of the night, even though it a fear of hers. Her words were powerful and heartfelt and made me cry tears of joy and inspiration.  The youth of today are SO INCREDIBLE!!! I love to watch them when they finally step boldly into their power. I'm honored to be a leader of such a great group of girls. 

I didn't stay the night (Dave and I needed to leave early the next morning for the Isagenix annual convention), but the bishopric came Saturday morning to make a delicious breakfast for the girls and then they cleaned up and headed home, tired but happy and (I believe) changed.