The last of the cruise pictures!!!

Here are some more pictures from our cruise. This is probably the last of them.

You're thinking (hopefully?!?!)

Emily on her way to her "Royal Ball"

Rebecca tried a cheeseburger. She hated it but ate the whole thing.

However, Emily loved the pasta alfredo and had a second plate for dessert.

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Rainy Day at Cozumel, Mexico

playing foose ball

Emily in the Mickey pool in the rain

Self portrait of Rebecca in the Mickey pool while raining

Time for a food break

Rebecca chillin' with some girls in the hot tub

Emily and her daddy in another hot tub

The view of Cozumel from my lounge chair. It was a rainy day so I enjoyed it by reading while the others enjoyed and empty pool.

It was amazing to see the Goofy pool with NO ONE in it!

Emily swimming the length of the pool. We're still working on her swimming but she is getting much better. This pool is over her head. Even though she kept going to the side to hang on, I thought she did a pretty good job.

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Dinner at Animator's Palate

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Pirates in The Caribbean night and party

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Til We Meet again

Don't let the culottes fool you. It was very C-O-L-D out there. Can you see the difference in the color of leaves between the post on Fri. Nov. 7th and this one? It was exactly one week apart. Man, a lot of leaves fell in one week. The one tree that was green til the end is now completely bare. All this going on while I dream of the warmer climate of Florida. We go back in 80 days!

Where is the time going????

Thanksgiving Countdown & MySpace Layouts

Christmas Countdown & MySpace Layouts

Custom Countdowns & MySpace Layouts

Castaway Cay

Ugh. I still haven't finished posting pictures from our wonderful vacation that is still so fresh in our minds.

Due to the lack of time I have right now, I'm just going to throw some odds and end pictures left from our cruise. They may be out of order but I have too much going on right now to devote to putting the rest of pictures on here, much less anything else on here.

The view from our balcony. It was a very overcast day with lots of wind.This is on the front of the ship. How cute is that?

The original Flying Dutchman from Pirates in the Caribbean.
The sun was right in their eyes.

Quick photo stop with Minnie before heading to the beach.

Rebecca's favorite: making mermaids in the sand

the pic doesn't do it justice

I was there chillin' in a chair all day. It was the best! Castaway Cay was the highlight of my vacation.

This is their post office. One cast member told me that if you do send anything out at Castaway Cay, it takes an average of 3 months before making it to the states.

There is a large mailbox at the top of the post. You can't really see it in this photo but it has a sign pointing up that says "airmail".

The leaves are changing colors and slowly falling to the ground.

I like what Diane said while sharing her thoughts on this season.

Here is our front yard. Thankfully there isn't much on the ground to rake yet.

It was absolutely beautiful temperature wise on Monday afternoon.
Rebecca wanted to do something special for her Daddy so she raked up some leaves in the back yard. Emily joined in the "fun".



Once they got the pile as big as they could with the limited amount of leaves on the ground, Emily couldn't wait to jump in them.
Oh, the simple joy of playing in a pile of leaves.

She jumped, threw them up, did cartwheels, flips, and acted silly.

Rebecca was determined that she wasn't going to jump in the leaves but then saw the fun Emily was having and couldn't resist.
She realized that it isn't as fun as it looks- she's just growing older and maturing.
After the fun, Rebecca got all the leaves off the ground and into the trash can by herself.
A few days later, plus rain, and you can't tell that she raked up practically the entire backyard. Isn't that the way it goes?

Rebecca's soccer pictures

Here are the soccer pictures of Rebecca that I promised. Sorry for not being on top of the blog. It's been difficult getting back into the swing of things but I think we did it. We are back into our usual routine. Busy, busy, busy.

getting instructions from Coach Julie

The day I took these, she scored 3 goals and blocked several while playing goalie.

Is it soccer or social hour? Sometimes, it's hard to tell.

Here's a short clip of Rebecca being goalie.

I have a few more pictures but Rebecca would like to put them on her blog.

No sense in doubling up on both blogs.

Be still...

I read something yesterday that made me stop and think. I love reading something for fun and getting little nuggets like this out of it.

Psalm 4:4 " Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah."

Lamentations 3:25 "The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him."

How often to we lay our petitions down before the Lord and after we are done praying, we get up off our knees and go back to doing our daily chores? Shouldn't we take sometime after praying to stop and wait for that still small voice to whisper across our heart? How often do we beg God to help us with a situation, cry our hearts out to Him and then when the prayer is over, we walk away?

We need to be still and know that He is God even while we are praying. Take time between petitions to pause and listen. If we are in constant chatter, how are we going to hear from the Lord?

The one line comment that I read was this, "Chattering to God and then hanging up was rude." Think about it. If one of my dear children only talked to me when they wanted or needed something and then ran off after they said what was on their heart before waiting for a response, I would certainly be less inclined to grant them their desires.

How does God feel about us when we do that?

Psalms 40:1 " I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry."

Spending time with the Lord in prayer is great. It is a much needed asset to our day. However, it doesn't stop there. Don't do things half way. If we are to have a relationship with our Lord, we should do it wholeheartedly. Daily, we must read His Word, pray without ceasing but be sure to take the time to stop and listen for His response.

Emily's soccer

I'm sure I mentioned it before but I'll say it again. The girls took a break from their usual soccer league this fall for a couple of reasons. They played with some local homeschoolers on Thurs. afternoons. This was completely different from what they were used to but it was good for them to meet other homeschoolers. It's was also good for Emily as it was noncompetitive and just what she needed.

With me helping (not that I'm that great at it!), on one team and both of my girls are playing on other teams, it's been difficult to watch any of the playing that they are doing. So, this past week, I made a point to go to both of their fields and try to get at least one decent photo of each.

Here are the ones with Emily.

Emily scored 2 goals this day. She was so proud of herself.

Here she is with her friend, Emily. Aren't they just too cute together?

*I'll post the ones of Rebecca tomorrow.

Georgetown, Grand Caymen

Upon arriving in the Caymen Islands, we were the first to tender (get off the boat). We had an excursion set for first thing that morning. We were to meet the guy picking us up in the parking lot to the right of the port. After wondering around for quite awhile, the pirate doing the pirate excursion asked if he could help me. After a moment of hesitation, I asked him where to meet the Soto's guy. We ended up following here and there. Then he had to go do something so I suggested we keep walking. Now, this must have been God helping us because I have no sense of direction. If my gut says to go right, then the right way must be left. I believe it's an inherited thing because my mother and grandmother have this lack of direction as well.

Anyways, we found out that there are 2 ports- north and south-. We were docked at the north port, Port Watler and the guy was waiting for us at the south port.

We were running very late now and the driver was in no mood for chit-chat!

He picked up 3 other people and then we headed out to snorkel and then to Sting Ray City.

This is a group of iguanas out sunbathing as we were heading out of the canal.

The snorkeling was done at Coral Gardens.

"Coral Gardens is a spectacular snorkeling site not accessible from shore. The site is 8-10 feet deep, featuring dozens of unique and fascinating coral formations. It is the home of hundreds of species of curious, colorful tropical fish and a gorgeous assortment of colorful plant life."

We now know to bring our own snorkel gear no matter the hassle. The ones we rented leaked just a bit. Jay and I dealt with it but Rebecca made a big deal over it. At one point, we set both girls on the back of the boat. It was then that Jay and I could relax and look at the fish. With them out of the water and a life jacket on, I was good.

Our next stop was Sting Ray City:

"Stingray City Sandbar is a unique and beautiful area. It is the home to many graceful and friendly Southern Stingrays. The depth ranges from 3 feet to 5 feet. They love to be held, pet and fed." They are as tame any household pet.

The water was over the girls heads as we got off the boat and into that crystal clear water. This started to freak Rebecca out. She was clingy and jumping around. Not a good thing to do when there are sting ray's swimming all around your feet.

After Emily got her finger bit (not that they have teeth) and they were literally swimming up your body, she decided she'd spend the rest of the time on the back of the boat. A smooth move for her. Rebecca refused to go sit with her sister. Instead, she spent her time jumping and shrieking when they touched her and the waves went over her head.

Side note- I'll not take Rebecca on our next snorkeling or sting ray adventure!

(and that's ok with her!)

After it was all said and done, the girls curled up with me and we snoozed the 30 minutes back.

I love the "smaller" boats as they remind me of my childhood of going out in the boat with my dad. I love sitting in the back and have the wind blowing on me. Jay...he was towards the front and was feeling a bit green.