snorkeling

We were on the water all day Tuesday.

We were headed for Key West.

It was hard to believe how blue the water was. 

Closer inland, in the Gulf where we live

it seems darker.

We were off the boat pretty early, 

before many people were up, 

(including the bums who sleep on the beach).

We did a little looking around,

visiting the southern most point 

(90 miles from Cuba),

and the southern most everything else too. 

We sat on the beach and read and talked.

There was this guy,

totally spray painted silver, like a statue, 

though the  crates kinda give it away.

And he would stand there perfectly still, 

his flag waving in the wind,

until someone would get close to him

trying to figure out what "it" was,

then he'd jump at them and hollar,

"what'cha lookin' at"?

And they would always jump, or scream, or both.

Beautiful water, and even white sand.

The next day we sailed into the Bahamas.

The water was beautifully clear.

The driving was a bit like Mexico or the Congo,

except the vehicles were nicer.

People were everywhere selling things.

They blow these conch shells and it sounds like a fog horn!

When I was younger we would sometimes 

find these at our beaches.

In this water, off Paradise Island

we went kayaking, "ya mon".

Our kayak was clear so we could 

see down into the water, "ya mon".

Then we went snorkeling.

I've never been snorkeling, 

but I learned quickly how to do it!

And they ended everything they said with, "ya mon".

It was great. I love the water.

Seeing all those colorful fish was fun.

Their colors were astounding.

On the boat we bought fish food, 

which the fish readily recognized.

I would feed them just enough to get lots around,

then watch and take a few pictures.

Then spit out the snorkel and dive down 

to be in the middle of them.

I never knew 27 pics could be taken so quickly.

The snorkeling was definitely top on my list.

I enjoyed the boat ride out and back too.

We enjoyed meeting the other people also.

We got back aboard the ship in time to

watch the sunset from the deck, 

which was beautiful again.

 

 

Bravery Hearts

It is hard not to think of where we 

were last year at this time

and what was going on.

The struggle for life that was taking place, 

the way our world was changing so quickly.

There were a few things that helped.

A few people that made a difference 

in this road we were on. 

While Boaz was in the hospital

for his first round of chemo, 

the "art lady", in charge of toys,

crayons, and generally seeing that the 

patients were as happy as possible 

and the parents as..................

Well, it's kinda hard to say relaxed,

that's definitely not the right word. 

This lady was telling me about a program

the hospital had for cancer patients.

The program was normally for four year olds 

and up, but she decided to let Boaz in it anyway.

It is called Bravery Heart Beads for kids. 

For each procedure they have,
an infusion of chemo 

or blood, each scan or test, surgery....
the list goes on and on. 

The nurse marks it on their paper and 

once a week the "art" lady comes around 

and gives the children their beads.

In my opinion, the children really do earn the beads.

There is one bead however that is different.

It is the "brave" bead.

Only a nurse or doctor can award this bead.

When they think the child has behaved 

bravely in a situation, they sign off the 

brave bead on the list.

All of the "B" beads are brave beads, 

which they ran out of. 

Each other particular bead being

for a particular event.

Boaz really liked his beads, 

though I doubt he understood the meanings.

Paige and his brothers liked them and

liked to look up what each of the beads were for.

Bravery Hearts also sells things 
to support the program. 

It is free for the children,

but is only at select hospitals. 

So, for Boaz birthday we bought Paige

a Bravery Heart necklace.

She definitely earned it, 

standing by his bedside for hours to keep him happy

just so I could think, or tend to other things.

Each one is unique, in that the beads are 
just placed on without a real order. 

But each on has two things the same.

A hand blown glass heart...........

And a small "bravery" bead. 

 I couldn't help but thinking how fitting that 

was for Paige, loving her brother through 

the worst, staying by his side when possible,

and being very brave through it also.

God allowed us some GOOD times!!!

Nick ordered one for me also.

Every time I wear it, 

I think of my little man, of his bravery, 

and the love the Lord allowed us to share.

*********************

 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness

of the Lord in the land of the living.  Psalm 27:13

 

   

 

Surprise Vacation

Nick took me out of town last week

it was as much a surprise as possible

while still allowing me to pack

Is this a good hint?

Is this better?

We went on a cruise, 

the ship on the left is ours, the Fascination.

We are not smiling about the wait to 

get on the ship, but there were about 

2000 people to process through.

 My favorite thing to do on board, 

sit on the deck in the sun. 

Though we usually sat on the top deck

in the lounge chairs, reading or napping!

 This was our first day out, and I 

wanted to catch the sunset pictures.

I'm sure I took more sunset pics

than anything else. 

The sun going down, shimmering across

the ocean, with nothing else in sight; 

it was awesome indeed.

This is looking down from almost the top floor

but not all the way down to the bottom.

I knew the children would think this was

pretty neat, and it was.

There were two of these, life size elephants,

half in and half out of this wall.

Each evening while we were at dinner,

the stateroom steward turned down the bed,

and made a cute animal from towels.

The first night we had a walrus.

The second night a dog. 

We couldn't have asked for better service at all. 

 Everywhere on the ship it was the same.

We had a great time, 

and I will post the next few days later.

It's too much for one post. 

Caleb's Birthday

Caleb's birthday was April 30th.

Caleb had his friend, Ryan, over. 

He is the one with his mouth opened.

They all drew on t-shirts for starters.

Caleb is all the way to the right.

Levi provided everyone with a sword.

And we thought they'd forget there 

were other gifts, but............

then he opened these books.........

 and set the swords aside for a minute....

and they looked like this!!!!

for a while....................

 Happy Birthday Caleb

one year ago

One year ago I was at the hospital,

not knowing my life would be changed forever.

My heart knew something............

 He was such a good boy.

here we were still in town

wouldn't I love to hold him again

just a few days before

laughing and playing at our beach

he was such a blessing

what I wouldn't give to hear that laugh again

his shirt says "too cool for school"

one fish is swimming the opposite way

one of Paige's favorite's =)

there were signs................

but who'd have known

Silas Boaz, "my love"

"My Little Man"