The end of the cruise

Have to throw these pictures on here! Oh I miss the sunshine and warm weather.  I'm not sure I can say that enough!

House update! This picture was taken this morning.  Since then they've started adding the Durock to the front for the stucco and stone! The HVAC and plumbers are in there working right now.  Yay!

Life with Aizy

She has become quite entertaining! We have always known she was busy, but now she is curious. She asks, "What's that?" all the time! And when I answer (ex. potato masher) she says, "ohhh" or "what's that?" again. She wants to know what everything is.
She loves puppies, kitties, and bunnies; at least her stuffed ones and ones in books. She still love Barney. She loves to play with balls and might be a soccer star. She finally will hold still for a whole book.
She knows eyes, ears, nose, mouth, tongue, hair, and toes. She likes to brush her own hair and teeth and when I help she says, "nooooo." (Which she learned when Annie was playing with Vaughn. Now she says it way too much.)
She LOVES her daddy and runs to him everyday when he comes home.
She is good about saying thank you, unless you tell her to say it. She says Pea for please, but we know what she means.
House update- I will take a new picture tomorrow but things are moving along! The framing is done and the felt for the roof. Paul got the windows in today. Hvac should come Monday! Yay!

Roatan and Costa maya

In Roatan, an island of Honduras, we planned on just sitting at the beach near the port.  But when we got there and saw how lush and beautiful the island was, we wanted to do more! We found a little company to get a driver to take us around the island (around isn't accurate; there's only one road!) Mario was our driver.  He didn't speak much English but lucky for us, Clint could translate and communicate with him using his Portuguese. Mario took us to an iguana farm, but we didn't go in.  They eat iguanas there like we eat chickens (eggs and all). We ended up at a place called BananaRama (a hotel) and ate lunch there.  The beach was beautiful!   

In Costa Maya, the 4 Stangers had booked a tour of ruins through Native Choice tours to Chaccohben.  It was so neat! Those buildings were massive! I can't believe they built them with their hands.  We learned some neat things about them but Aizy is trying to steal my computer so I can't type them right now.

Cozumel & Belize

Monday, we stopped in Cozumel.  We booked this excursion through the cruiseline because it was actually cheaper this way.  We got on a ferry to go to the mainland near Playa del Carmen.  It was a 45 minute ferry ride (or longer) but the beach at Playa del Carmen was beautiful! From there we got on the bus for 15 or so minutes.  We learned that the name Yucatan (as in the penisula) is a Mayan name.  When the Spaniards arrived they asked what the place was called.  The Mayans responeded "Yuca yuca (insert Mayan words) tan." So they shortened it to Yucatan.  But, they were actually saying "We don't know what you're saying.  Don't understand." Haha! We also learned that the word chocolate is a Mayan word too.  Choco and latte mean don't touch, it's hot.  They ground up the cocoa beans and would put them in the fire.  It smelled good so the kids would try to grab it and they were scolded, "Choco choco.  Latte." At least that's what the tour guide told us!

We rode to Xcaret.  I don't really know how to explain what it is.  It's kinda like a park but not really.  There were animals, an underground river, beach and a lagoon.  You could swim with dolphins too, but that was big bucks.

In Belize, we had to take a tender boat to the port because of all the reefs. It was beautiful! We checked in with the snorkel company and got back on a little boat and they took us to Goff's Caye.  It's a 2 acre island that's actually a national park.  They had lunch there for us to buy and beautiful sand to relax in.  Then it was time to snorkel! Paul and I snorkeled once in Haiti but they kinda just took us out in the ocean and let us go. This time, there was a real reef to snorkel above.  We didn't buy an underwater camera like I planned on *oops!* and I sure wish we had! We saw 2 barracuda and tons of cool fish! We actually saw a whole school of fish too.  One of the snorkel guides picked up a sea cucumber and let people touch it.  It was slimy and gross. 

Cruise!

Oh I just love the ocean.  Every time I'm in the sunshine or near water I tell Paul I really shouldn't live in Idaho, it's like I don't belong here! I belong at the beach :)
Saturday we got on the ship and checked it out.  We didn't go to the "Welcome Aboard" show that night; we were too tired from not sleeping well the 2 nights prior to the cruise.  I was very excited about uninterrupted sleep on this trip.  And then I tried to sleep. We were on deck 2, which is very low in the ship.  During the day it's not a problem but at night, with my head on the pillow, I could hear the waves crashing! And employees doing who knows what under me.  Every now and then the room would shake; I'm fairly sure that was caused by a large wave.  Little did I know, it would only get worse when we had to port.  Sunday was a day at sea that we spent basking in the beautiful 80+ degree weather! We learned that the only place to get water (unless you buy a $2 water bottle) it up on the top decks 10 & 11, but that's also where all the other people are so there are no chairs.  We found a great spot on deck 5 next to whirlpools that weren't warm (ideal for a day in the sun without having to fight the crowds and kids in the pool) but there wasn't any water available.  Even the bars said you had to buy a water bottle.  Dumb huh? Well we learned for next time! We ended the nights playing some mini-golf.  After one time playing I was satisfied but Paul and Clay liked to play daily.

We're back!

It was beautiful! Pictures and day by day run down to come later. We came back today to semi decent weather for Idaho but not for Florida! It was beautiful the whole trip. I had service most of the time but to keep costs down, my mom sent me a text twice a day to let me know how things were going. Aizy did so good! My mom said she was sad for a long time one night, the 2nd to last night. Not bad!
When Mom and Brittney and Aizy were at the airport, they told her we were coming. When she saw us she ran!! It was so cute! She kinda ran sometimes before we left but not really. Boy did she at the airport! I loved it. She didn't want Paul to put her down :)

Holy moly!

I don't even remember when we booked the trip but it was a long time ago! The time has come though. Paul and I are excited but nervous and sad to leave Aizy. I'm a little paranoid about bad things happening so lots of prayers!
Update on the house- they put the garage walls up today. It has been too windy the past 2 days to do it. I hope when we get back we are surprised by the work that has been done! But I doubt it.

Love her!