Living the Dream

Our time in St. Kitts is ticking away. We have less than 5 weeks left on our little island and thankfully, we will be left with good memories and happy times.

We are more than blessed and have angels surrounding us. It will be more than evident as you keep reading. First, some exciting news:

February 7- an easy day to remember because it is both my Dad's and Grandpa's birthday- was our half way mark for baby number two, which puts us at June 27th for the due date- Grandma Cutler's birthday! We went for our only doctor's appointment on the island and only because I wanted to know the gender of the baby. I'm a bit hesitant of the medical care here and am bitter that we could be getting free health insurance in the states and have to pay for useless visits here. I still pray I don't eat my words, but so far, so good. The baby is healthy as all signs will tell. The head is of normal size and was unmistakably a boy. He kicks freely and often, for which I am grateful. Any signs of a healthy baby makes me a happy and relieved momma. Besides that, Austin has at least been checking my blood pressure, which is happily low and looking good. 

Eden is excited for her little baby brother and is starting to grasp that she is the big sister. She doesn't let me forget that I have a baby inside my big tummy either. We rarely go to the beach, but this was a grand occasion... Eden was terrified of the stormy ocean. The day we went was rainy and windy, but still she brags about finding seashells on the beach with mom :) How cool that we could walk here. 

Our apartment has been the best thing. Not only does Eden have lots of places to play 'hide-and-go-seek,' but we have loved being able to actually go outside. There are beautiful, well kept grounds here: lots of paths to walk and a big pool for Eden to swim in. She is getting pretty brave and loves to walk around on her hands while her feet float and blow bubbles. We are going to miss this. Amazingly- and seriously, I mean MIRACULOUSLY- we still have not had to turn on the AC since moving here. In fact, we have actually been cold more than once and had to shut the windows. I can't believe it. That really is a blessing in itself because we don't have to pay for the AC usage and are still completely comfortable. 

Eden has quite the personality. It is such a delight to have her around and to watch her develop. Having Austin home more this semester has been awesome; she loves her daddy. I mean LOVES. Mom might be needed for snuggles and food, but dad is FUN. I would easily call her Eden's besty. It's embarrassing to admit (but I blame Austin) yet too funny not to tell; Eden has discovered that magical things happen when you pull daddy's finger. Her favorite thing lately is to scrunch up her little nose, point her finger, and yell, "EEWWWW!!! SICK!" and giggle uncontrollably. That's not the best thing for a little princess to be saying, but it is pretty cute. And besides Daddy, one of Eden's books from Grandma talks about a little dirty duck.. EWW is right.

As you can see, she is Austin's little shadow. She looks just like him with his glasses and on the computer. Don't let all that fool you- Eden is still very much a girl. She has been walking around with a mirror and lip gloss for a day straight now and loves to show off her hair. She'll walk around in her church shoes just to be pretty and has to do her own nails now when we paint them. Ooh... that's a bit scary, but she's not bad for a 2 year old. If she had her choice, her fingers would be blue, but even I can't let her get away with that on her own yet.

 Sometime in the blur of the last month, Austin turned another year older and wiser too. I don't think I'll be able to say the same for me in a few weeks... here is to 27!

For a test week and a school day, we tried to make the birthday as good as it could have been. Eden helped me make Daddy a chocolate cake- which she FINALLY got to eat- and we splurged on ice-cream- a real treat.

Eden got daddy a bottle of Root Beer and wrapped it with shopping bags, stars, and paint. It was a sight to see. Oh! and we surprised Austin with pizza. Again, a big treat. With Eden, Austin's birthday lasted all week. She wanted to keep singing and eating cake. You would have thought it was her birthday with how excited she was!

As you can see, it is a present every day to be living in our apartment. We really are spoiled. Here are a few more pictures so you can appreciate just how lucky we are:

This is Eden's room: complete with bathroom, tub!, and her BIG bed (which she likes to hide behind and get into mischief). I've caught her many times this week sneaking chips behind her bed... coloring on herself... stealing my phone to watch YouTube... all which she knows are no-no's. Silly kid. It's so hard to discipline her because she's so stinkin' cute and makes everything a laugh. She even tells me she will clean up when I find her in a mess... oh Eden.

This is our room- or Daddy's room, as Eden says. I don't have a room according to her. What a view, eh? And 2 bathrooms! Heavenly.



















I'll pause so you can admire the rest of the house like I do.



It's beautiful. Clean. Bug free. And complete with dishwasher, disposal, and washer/dryer. I can't tell you how much of a better housewife and cook I am with a real kitchen and accessories. It's unbelievable. And I'm letting it all sink in while I can since Austin says we won't ever live in a place this nice again (at least for a very long time). After seeing what rent costs in the states, I'm starting to believe it too. We just settled on our housing for Maine. It's a mile away from school and has the important things, but is unfurnished. It'll be a chore to put together, but we are in good hands since the Hickman's are already there and ready to help. It's hard to believe that we are grown up. I still feel like I'm playing house and dress up.

This is the upstairs... which is likewise beautiful, but we never use. I'll say it again: we are so spoiled. We owe a lot to the kindness of our landlords and the missionaries. There are true angels around us and tender mercies every day.

Besides all the miracles and blessings that I've already mentioned: healthy baby, happy family, not needing AC, how nice we are living... here is another to add to the list:

On my way home from a Primary activity last week, I stopped at the grocery store before heading home. It was 8:00 at night and dark outside and there was a crazy man at the store trying to talk to me. I'm not the only one he was approaching, but I nonetheless wanted to leave as soon as possible. It was a miracle that our car started for me to get away, especially since the windows are always down and prone to vulnerability. Eden was with me too and such a trooper, as always. I have put her through a lot in our experiences here. A little more than half way home, our car- which hasn't been working well lately- started to make a grinding noise as if something got stuck underneath it. At that point, I was going uphill with no place to pull over and just prayed it would make it. At the top of the hill, the sound stopped, which I was relieved, but falsely so. Quickly the car stopped responding to the gas, and basically turned off. The wheel mostly locked and I was afraid the brakes would go out with how it felt. Remember, I was at the top of the hill and ready to go down a steep curve, around a roundabout, and on from there. Angels again were driving the car. It was as if someone else were driving for me. I couldn't turn the wheel, but for some reason, it turned just where I needed to go. Somehow, the car coasted almost all the way home and to a perfectly safe spot where I could pull off to the side. There are only two roads in all of St. Kitts (that I can think of) with somewhat of a shoulder or place to pull off to the side. Those are the two places that our car has broken down. If that's not a miracle, please tell me what is.

Our kind missionaries were able to come pick Eden and I up with our groceries and even carried them up to the 3rd floor for us. If that's not enough, our kind home teacher left work to come tow the car back to the apartment parking lot the next day. Brother Gonzalez is was another angel for us this week and stands as a true example of how to serve selflessly and be a good home teacher. When he found out that our car broke down, he was mad that I didn't call him that night- what a good guy. He checked as much as he could for us: added oil, water, and even took the battery out of his own car to try to directly jump ours. When none of that worked, he towed us away by his small car that reminded me of the the little engine that could. He even came back with a mechanic to give us a second opinion without me even asking. We are so grateful.

So our car... it's dead. And it's our fault. We ran it out of oil and water and maybe killed the battery in the process. That's what we get for not caring about our junky to begin with, island car and not taking the time to get it checked. Sadly, the oil light never came on to warn us, but we knew better. Oh well.... it's better off dead. It was killing us every time we drove it.

Though I wish we could get sell that car for something, I'd almost pay to get rid of it.

Anyway, I can't count the people who have helped us lately and I thank heaven for keeping us safe. Driving in St. Kitts at night is bad enough when you have a car that works.

So, our adventures continue day by day. You never know what life will bring, but one thing is for sure: we are so blessed.

JINX! Take 2

Haha! Joke is on me. It has been more than an entire semester since I posted last; the last post started by telling what a horrible, no good, very bad time we were having. JINX! Lesson learned: never complain about how bad things are. You never know what the future will bring. 

It has been less than a walk in the park the last few months, but all with silver lining and tender mercies around every corner. God is definitely putting each stepping stone in front of us; otherwise, we'd be on another path of our own right now. 

So, in a whole semester a LOT has changed and nothing really at all. It is a new year, Eden is a year older and her own little talking person; we moved, we have another one on the way, and yet here we are still in St. Kitts, still a happy family, still very spoiled by our families, and still trying to be our best every day. 

I'm not sure I can fully summarize 5 months, but here are the highlights:

First, a laugh. If you aren't LOL-ing right now, you should be! I have a strange urge to "pakAW!" like a bird... but don't worry; Austin jumped when he saw this picture too. Luckily, this was right after finals and just before going home to Utah to get a hair cut. 

Among the many things we did at home, I saw my bestie from childhood: Alyssa. We would fantasize about the day we would have babies and be married. Now look at us! This is one for the books- friends for 20 years and counting. 

 Of course, on the list of "have-to's" while in Utah is attending the Temple. This was special because Austin and I lived a mile away from the Provo City Center Temple as it was under construction while going to BYU. It was dedicated just before the break! And it is beautiful inside and out. We were so lucky to go when we did; upon leaving, we ran into our good friends from our Provo ward. Rachel Hulmes, my old VT companion was there with her cute daughter. What a sweet reunion!

While we were home, Eden learned how to say "fish" watching Grandpa Gardenhire's goldfish in his office. It became a favorite thing, so much so, that Grandma took us to the aquarium. I don't think Eden expected to see 6 foot long fish (and neither did we)! She was a bit anxious, but loved the penguins and had a fun time seeing all the animals. 

You'd never know it, but this is the smiley face of a girl who just got shots at the doctor. Thank you, Grandpa, for making that happen! She was pretty excited to get her own (toy) cell phone. Who knew the doctor's could be so fun?

It's always good to be home in Utah and always hard to come back to St. Kitts. Lucky for us, Grandpa spoiled us and sent us straight to the Marriott so we felt like we were still on vacation. What a treat! And we were... on vacation! It was wonderful in every way. Can you tell that Eden loves it too? Cartoons... pushing stick things around with Dad... the pool... and lots of rain! Plus everything else you expect: AC, a dishwasher, a bed for each of us.... heaven. 

They even gave us Champagne to celebrate our anniversary! If only we drank...

 This. This is why we miss America. 

This is a grocery store. With no food (unless you like eggplant). 

This is what happens when you go shopping after a holiday when no one works and before shipments come in. 

You go hungry. :(

I think I went to 3 stores that day and they were all the same.

Do I need to say anything here? This is just to show you how cute us girls can be and to prove that we had fun. Eden rocks her shades. 

How many? Eden built this all by herself. She is pretty awesome at doing towers, but just you wait and see what happens when Daddy helps. As a side note, I'd like to brag that she knows her whole alphabet by sight and surprised me by counting to 10. She loves pointing out colors and her favorite? Blue. 

Told you! Big things happen when Daddy gets to play. Eden has become such a Daddy's girl. She is his total shadow and gets HYPER whenever he comes home. I'd compare her to what people describe a coffee high to be like- only more so and completely natural. Eden's new thing is to make you follow her everywhere. She waves you over and says, "Come here!" She has also started- and won't stop- saying, "I want to play" and "Come play." She is one busy, energetic, happy, not-so-little-anymore girl.



Time to LOL again. These faces!! I couldn't have posed her better. Eden is quite the character; takes after her daddy. Why some people never want kids is beyond me. They bring SUCH joy. It's no wonder why the whole plan of happiness is based around forever families. I sure love mine! And it's growing. Austin and I are waiting for Junior #2 in the summer. I should be around 19 weeks pregnant right now and doing great, just ballooning like I didn't expect. My mother-in-law, Alecia, wasn't kidding; after your first baby you are like a used balloon. Things are going great and Eden will be such a good big sister. She won't let go of her baby these days and is very protective. She knows a baby is sleeping in mommy's tummy, but I'm not sure she really gets what is going on. We are incredibly blessed that we will be in the States for the delivery and lucky to have Medicaid. It's a bit of a scare with Zika, but Austin and I were both tested while home and came back negative! Yay for us and our angels protecting us. Going to the doctor was a fun experience because we hadn't actually taken a pregnancy test to see if we were as we expected: expecting! Lucky for us, they dipped my stick for me and came back with the good news. Two days later, we had a healthy ultrasound of a 12-13 week fetus. And now I can hardly hide it. My pants don't fit and I'm happy to be in gym clothes. 

This 5th semester was a challenge in every way and why I laughed when I thought things were bad before. Poor Austin has had better days. For any medical student, class is enough to drown you. Austin has been remarkably able to take on huge loads besides and still stay the top of his class. This semester Austin was again a TA, President of AMSA, and finishing his research project on top of church and everything else. Needless to say, he had a lot on his plate; and that would have been just fine had he not been on his deathbed in the meanwhile. Three weeks into the semester, Austin came down with some weird gastroenteritis thing. He had an affair with the toilet and just couldn't break up. He tried, but after two weeks, just couldn't break up. For the rest of the semester he was completely sick: fatigued, nauseous with consequences, had no appetite, was achy, and got this huge rash. Everything looked bad. And it was. It's amazing he attended as much class as he did, and somehow he accomplished all the extracurricular responsibilities that were his. The picture above is from the research symposium at which he presented. Still, as super-human as Austin is, he is, in fact, still human. Unable to attend tests and school as needed, we are back in St. Kitts to finish strong in April.

The whole thing seems unfortunate- and it was financially- but ironically, it feels right. Heavenly Father has blessed us with a huge feeling of peace that surpasses all understanding that this is where we are supposed to be: in St. Kitts and together as a family. We have been incredibly blessed in every way. Our entire outlook has changed and we are completely happy with living in St Kitts at the moment. Life won't go on here, but we sure are content. 

Thanks to the missionaries and the kindness of our new landlords, we were lucky enough to end up in a new apartment for this last, last semester. We moved to Frigate Bay- the more touristy end of the island. Our new place is a dream. It's the third story of a complex with a beautiful view, complete with dishwasher, disposal, in-house washer/dryer, bedroom and bathroom for Eden, and real furniture to sit on. It's clean, bug-free, and so liberating. We are free to go outside, have a pool and grounds to explore, feel so safe, have great neighbors with the missionaries underneath us... I could go on forever. The fridge is big enough for groceries. The oven is big enough for not only 1, but 2 cookie sheets! The microwave actually fits what I want to fit in it. This place even has knives. It's really indescribably and like royalty compared to everyone else on the island. We really are undeserving and it's embarrassing how spoiled we are. The only thing that makes me feel somewhat better is hoping that we are helping the landlords with repairs and cleaning. It feels like we are on vacation every day. 

I still feel completely blessed to have lived in our last place in Camps. It was meant to be. But looking back, I don't miss it at all. Great things happened in that house: Eden grew up there. We have loads of funny stories and experiences living there, but I haven't looked back for one second. It is so nice to be out of there. We are much, much more grateful for this new place after living in the other, I must say. 

So we don't forget our old place... pictures to remember and remind us to always be grateful for what we have. 

 Good ol' Yaba had his birthday in November. He shared ice-cream with Eden and demanded a picture. We won't ever forget him even though I want to sometimes. Still, he was our guardian at that place and did a lot for us. 

Time for another smile to lighten the mood :) Eden is the best at that. 

What a girl- and mommy's girl too. She does her make-up with me; eyes, lips, cheese!

 Among all that happened last semester, one of the best things was watching our good friend, Trisha, get baptized. What seemed like a coincidence, was really not; her first day of work at the gym on campus was the first day that I decided to workout there. We've been friends ever since and now she is a faithful and diligent member of the church. It's been fun watching her learn and seeing her mind open, but I credit that to her humble attitude and open heart. There is no other word for it, but faith.  

Seemingly nothing, this deserved a picture because it was the first time besides my expensive birthday that we went out to eat. I had no idea that they would give us so much food!

I can honestly say the food court surprised me. It was a fun atmosphere and something new.  

This also deserved a picture. How is it possible to make a tile floor look so comfortable? 

I guess when you are exhausted, anything will do.















Frosting. That can only mean one thing. BIRTHDAY TIME! Eden's birthday, actually. And guess what color she wanted her cake to be? BLUE! What fun, can you tell? Yum...

And then we had to clean up. 

Eden's birthday was a big one to celebrate. Not only was she two, but it was the day we moved and the last time seeing the Hickmans before splitting ways. Our new friends, Megan and Josh were SO nice and spoiled Eden with presents before helping us move. Thank goodness they did! Austin was still sick and weak and we had two flights of stairs to carry all our hundreds of pounds up. Joanna was an angel and fed us dinner before having cake and ice-cream too. We have the best friends. Eden blew out her candles and had a great birthday; it was a pretty perfect day. 

The next day we went home. UTAH!!! Eden was a champ despite throwing up on the first flight. We didn't know what wing would hit first upon landing- it was that bad. She was a  doll sporting her new backpack, mismatching clothes, socks and sandals, and shoes that were too big. We were lucky enough to go home a few days early and make all our flights. 

Talk about spoiled. Eden made herself right at home and was birthdayed upon arrival. Grandpa and Grandma got her this fun kitchen set that kept her occupied the entire vacation. She loved it! 

It's a rare experience wearing a coat and boots, let alone any clothes, so we had to take a picture. Besides, she's just so cute!

This one is for dad. Austin was a boy scout making circuits, and a proud one at that. Look at the lights turn on! Go, daddy, go!

 Among all the fun, Eden got to see Santa Clause!! Grandpa Jack took us to see Santa and the Utah Symphony perform downtown. And that was just the beginning... we got to go to Kurt Bestor and the Celtic Women too. It was a first for Austin going to Abravanel Hall and the new Theatre. What spectacular performances and a great time we had! If that weren't enough, we were able to go to the Nutcracker at Capitol Theatre with the Gardenhires. What a wonderful time of the year!

No wonder Eden adores her aunts and uncles. 

It's awesome to have birthdays! And this year, Eden is old enough to open her own presents and blow out the candles by herself. It's more fun that way. 

Great Grandpa and Grandma Jack

  The family practiced their part for the Christmas program. Eden did the symbols and did pretty well.

Pajamas!!

You have to look at all of Eden's faces and then appreciate the good family picture we ended up with.

 It's Christmas. Need I say more?

Yes! I have to say more! Santa forgot one present in his bag and came to personally deliver it to Eden. How special! And he brought Elmo. There really is a Santa! And he is the best Santa there ever could be. 

Snow! White, cold, beautiful snow! 

Every kid needs a dad so they can have fun like this. Austin took Eden sledding and pulled her around the park on the "sleigh."

You'd never know, but this is a week later and still January. I love the cold, but there are perks to living in the Caribbean. And this is our new home. Could we be any luckier? Eden loves swimming and is getting really good at floating on her belly and blowing bubbles. 

 See? Bubbles! 

Bubbles in the pool... bubbles on the deck. She's good at them all. 










That's a wrap for now. Hopefully updates will be coming soon. Hugs from our family!

Thank goodness for family

The last few weeks are what Alexander would refer to as "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day[s]." It's a good thing we don't gamble because good luck has not been our favor. Austin had pneumonia, Eden's eye has been acting up again, people have been dishonest, we are losing things, and that's just the beginning. Good thing family came in the middle of the chaos to make us forget about the most of it. Keep reading... you'll see. 

What you see to the right is Eden being a good sport. She helped me clean the church. Really, she does help! She is great wiping, sweeping, mopping, and putting up with me. PS. I HATE mopping, so we skate instead. Good thing Austin lets me use his holy socks as wearable rags! 

I might have started off complaining, but thanks to  our good friends, it hasn't been all bad.  Joanna took Eden and I to a new beach where the sand is half black, half white, and the shore is lined with palm trees. It is a new favorite. 

It has been really hard to get Eden to eat lately, but she does love broccoli. This is proof! Thanks to Grandma, she eats fruit snacks just the same... all at once! 

Sitting on the counter is a favorite seat in the house (for me and her). Eden gets to help me stir and eat pre-dinner while I keep an easy eye on her. It's a win, win, except for the ants, which she always smashes. "ANT!"

Part of the fun of living on an island involves tropical storms and big rainstorms. We thought we would experience much more of those than we do- and what a shock learning that an island can be in a drought! A small tropical storm hit Saturday and Sunday a few weeks ago. The rain just happened to start the minute we parked the car coming home from church. 

If you can't tell, Eden's hair is wet and we are watching from the porch. 

The random picture below is something you won't appreciate unless you zoom in really close. You are looking at a trail of 12 cockroaches. Yum. Right outside our front door. Unbeknownst to me, you have to clean out the drain box or they stink horribly. I didn't even know we had a drain box... but we do, and we had it cleaned out. This was the result- an army of cockroaches to greet us the next morning. Oh! and did you know? Just because they are belly up, doesn't mean they are dead! I won't be sad to leave these buggers. 

This is another "aren't I cute?" picture of Eden. We had to model her new shades and hair do. Her hair is long enough for braids! And sadly, we lost her other glasses, so we got new ones. On the bright side, I talked them down from $12 to $10. Sigh...Walmart was a good invention and it's waiting for us. PS. If you look closely, you can see the keys in the door. Yep, Eden is tall enough to reach and smart enough to put the keys in the hole. Since when did my baby grow up?

This may look like a lot of fun, but let me tell you what (and I'm not even going to complain about the mess because that wasn't the bad part)- On this very wet day, Eden and I were at Joanna's house tending- more like playing with- her kids while she oversaw Youth Conference at the beach. On our way to their house, our car just stopped. Stopped while I was driving! We coasted to a halt and luckily I was smart enough to pull over. Our hunk of junk died on me. Thankfully, I was able to call Joanna and she came to pick me up. Sometime while we were at Joanna's house, someone hit our already dead car, the result being what you see in the picture below. Lovely. I hardly care about our car, but I do need it for 4 more months. 4 months! That's it!! Long story short, we hired Yaba as our AAA and he found a guy to tow it back to our place. After Yaba's "guy" and "guys" spent $700 on unnecessary fixes, our car is now back to it's functional as it will be self. All it really needed was a new belt. Oh, but don't worry- Yaba said he'd take care of the cost. We can just leave the car with him when we finish in December.... right, because $700 EC somehow equals $4000 US.  

Things like this are never in good timing, but this happened to be block week for Austin, just when he was studying for his tests.  What that meant was no car for afterwards, which is why you will see Austin pushing the stroller. We decided to go for a walk to find some hot food. That was in vain since it was a national holiday on Monday and Tuesday and everything was closed (including the places to buy car parts). Instead, we ended up at the Movie Theater. Again, I was shocked. It was almost American. It looked like America, smelled like America, showed new movies like America. The only difference was the security guard blocking the arcade and the dress code. Yes, dress code. No tank tops boys! (But it's okay if you are a girl.) Besides prescription drugs, the movies may be one of the first things that is actually cheaper than the States. It's only $6.50 for a movie and free air conditioning!

What you are looking at is a tourist stop in St. Kitts and it's just up from our house. Maybe an hour later and those trees would be completely white with birds. These peculiar birds are all over the island- Egrets, they are called. I'm not sure why they nest here, but I think I overheard a tour guide say that the trees have thorns that offer protection. Take a minute and appreciate how beautiful it is when overcast. I wouldn't mind if it were like this all the time. Clouds feel amazingly good! 

Ah yes! Family and the Marriott. They are coming soon, but not soon enough. Apparently, our bad luck spread to everyone else because their plane was completely cancelled and the soonest they could get here was an entire day and half later. We were happy to take the first night in the Marriott, but definitely would have preferred having the family there instead. It's fair to say that everyone had a decent island experience from an ant infested rental car that 9 of us squished into, finding bugs in the macaroni and ramen noodles, and coming home with a rotten bag of frozen peas. I'd like to call that bad luck too, but it's just what comes with living on an island. 

We did have a great time once everyone made it though. You'll see...!

Saturday morning, the boys, Austin, and I drove half way around the island to hike St. Kitts' volcano, Mt. Liamuiga. It was a tough hike after so much rainfall- muddy, slipper, and dirty- but so much fun. Austin's professor, Dr. Mungli, led us to the top. We even made it half way into the crater before having to turn around for time's sake. The pictures hardly do justice. Going into the crater was as close to repelling as it gets without a harness. It was an 80 degree angle and slick! We also swung on vines like Tarzan- in the jungle! You'll just have to watch the movie. There's too much to tell. (If the video doesn't work, try this link: https://goo.gl/photos/HsUaauDwfp1R9Ump6)

We couldn't wait to take everyone to church. The boys got a few mangoes and Gregory and Bryce did an AWESOME job singing. I managed okay on the piano, but they are the real stars. Later, we walked around the Marriott and enjoyed the light rain. 

This was one of the highlights of the trip. Dad rented a private catamaran to take us out on the ocean. Eden has been ecstatic over boats lately, but I don't know if she grasped the concept of actually being on one. Either way, she loved it! We all did. We sailed alongside the peninsula and stopped at Shitten Bay, by an old ship wreck. The water was beautifully clear. You can even see the fish through the water in the pictures! The captain threw potato chips to the fish and they would swarm to eat. We saw schools of fish, the ocean was colorful, and Matthew even dove to get a conch shell! I'd call that a successful day, but that wasn't all! We even stopped at a beach in Nevis. It was gorgeously green and now we can cross that off our bucket list. I can't forget to mention all the free juices/sodas from the open bar on the boat. What a fun time (and a good looking family)!

These pictures are from Carambola Beach. We just had to make sure Dad went snorkeling at least one more time. The kids were pretty good at their handstands and sand castles!

The week went by all too quickly, but was filled with fun and good family time. After checking out, we had time for one last game of golf. Austin would have you know that he won :)

With only a minor delay this time, off they went. We will be off in just a couple days too! America, here we come! I don't think we have ever been so excited to go home. Austin is just now finishing his last final of fourth semester and then the fun begins!