The Big Cruise

I'm finally finding a minute to write about the cruise and now it feels like it was so long ago. What a time we had! It feels like a dream now. I loved being with my amazing sisters and mom and dad and having so much great uninterrupted talk time. I loved getting outside my regular life and getting some new perspective. I came home ready to really improve myself in a lot of areas - so many things seemed clear while we floated around on that boat - but I've found that since rejoining the complicated reality of my regular life, things have become a bit more foggy and my resolutions have been harder to keep than I thought! When I got home, my kids and husband looked better than they have in a long time. Jared did a fabulous job getting through church 2 weeks in a row with all the kids and managed to somehow get the thousands of things that needed to happen for work done in the midst of shuttling kids from babysitter to babysitter and taking care of all the kids' needs every morning and evening. What a guy!
On the crazy-gaudy boat, we ate ourselves sick and talked ourselves silly and laid in the sun as we watched the endless ocean go by and read and worked out (one day we worked out way too hard thanks to some personal trainers who made us so stiff we could barely walk for a couple days!). Of course we had the occasional huffy moment and disagreement - but time with my parents and sisters would seem strangely incomplete without a little of that! We also got to know some of the really nice people in the LDS tour group my parents were there to speak to - Mom and Dad led some great discussions on what we can learn about relationships from the Book of Mormon. We learned about some theories of where different Book of Mormon events took place and got a chance to visit one archeological site with links to the Book of Mormon - Tulum - so interesting and located in the most gorgeous spot. We went scuba diving in Cozumel and saw some amazing fish (I haven't been since I certified about 11 years ago - I was a little nervous but it turned out great!). We wandered the streets in Belize and met some super cute school kids. We saw rain forests and amazing butterflies and parrots, visited a school, and enjoyed a perfect beach in Roatan, Honduras.

Shawni and Saydi did a great job on their blogs saying more about the trip - so check out their blogs for more info. But I'll throw a few favorite pictures on here and then go on to the many many things that have happened since the cruise!

Tulum

On the beach at Tulum

Hanging out with the cutest schoolchildren in Belize

On the beach in Roatan

Butterflies in Roatan