Last Cruise Pics...

These are the last of my cruise pictures. It's nice to have all the ones I liked the best here on the blog. I'm planning on having my blog printed up into a book as a sort of scrapbook for our little family, so it will be nice to have them all together here. I haven't really "Scrapbooked" in years. This is a good substitute for me.

The ship behind her is the one from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

Little Janie was plum tuckered out. She's taking a nap with mama.

Here's Ryck's Castaway Cay creation! Cool, huh?

Dining in Palo, the Disney Magic's gourmet restaurant. Yum!

At Palo.

I think Gracie's had enough vacation, hm?

Beautiful Florida.

Zoe and Leah playing with Janie for a few minutes while we waited for our shuttle back to the airport.

The twins! Cute!!

It's been a long week! We were all ready to be home after having so much fun on our cruise!

And one of my favorite Jimmy Buffet songs of all time for the finale...

(song of the day: Jimmy Buffet, Son of a Sailor)

Cruise...

I had a strange dream last night that we took a cruise with all the adults in Joe's family. It was one of those tiring dreams where you have to go over and over the same thing. I had forgotten everything except clothes (i.e. toiletries, underwear, swimsuit, books, etc.) and had to keep borrowing items from my sisters and mother in law. It was exhausting! I took it as an omen that I need to finish posting cruise pics ;)

Arrrrr!! Andrea brought a bunch of awesome pirate loot and shared with everyone. It was so fun!

I think the gold hoop earring is really workin' for Dad.

They were actually within strangling distance and paused in their efforts for a quick picture! Amazing!

Janie had this face for a large percentage of the experience...as did Gracie. LOL.

The kiddos were in LOVE with this huge lizard who wanted to bite their fingers off. Aunt Andrea flinagled a big piece of lettuce from one of the zoo workers so all the kids got to feed it. She's such a great Aunt!!

The Disney Magic is the boat on the right. (Our boat.) This is on St. Thomas at the top of the mountain looking down.

Cutie pie Janie!

This is such a cute picture, it's a shame that it's a bit blurry. Oh well! Isn't Minnie's outfit cute?

A chip off the old block...

Grandma Sue and Leah Sue in the Walt Disney Theatre.

"Those that say you can't take it with you never saw a car packed for a vacation trip." ~Author Unknown

PS. "Thriller" is our music of the day in tribute to the awesome, the weird, the recently deceased Michael Jackson. (Let's face it, it's his greatest hit!)

Higher Education

I love this picture of Janie because she looks so serious...which is opposite her silly, carefree personality. I also love it because she's "reading" Homer's Odyssey. That's my girl!

"I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves." ~Anna Quindlen

Tuesday

"There's nothing that can help you understand your beliefs more than trying to explain them to an inquisitive child." ~Frank A. Clark

Gracie the Artist

Gracie has the spirit of an artist. She's fiery, unique, tender and intelligent too. Every time I take a moment to ponder the child that is my Gracie, my testimony that God is our father and the creator of our spirits and bodies, grows. She came down to earth with more sass than I've got in my little finger. SOMEONE must have made her that way.

Here's what she did the other night while Joe and I enjoyed our dinner toward the other end of the table. I was surprised at how cool it was! It's Picasso-ish to me. (It's a face, by the way.)

From "The Family: A Proclamation to the World":

"All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose."