fun with the family

Every once in a while we just take the day

and have fun!!!

  a little wish shopping..........

what boys do while girls shop....

romping in the warm water

trying out their new snorkels and masks

(I really like it when they have their own money)

or maybe just carry water 

around in the flippers???

the thrill of diving into the waves

those masks must be the new cool thing

cause they like walking around with 'em on

is it me, or is he getting rather big?

of course, part of why we went was for

my sunset pictures

The heavens declare the glory of God;

and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

Psalms 19:1

s'mores for a snack, yummmmmmm

space shuttle launch

On our last day sailing we were up on the deck

when the captain made an announcement.

The space shuttle was taking off

from Cape Canaveral, FL.

It was a bit away. 

We were able to see it take off, 

see the smoke and the flame.

It all only took a few minutes. 

Then all that was left was the smoke. 

It was pretty neat. 

The last time I remember seeing a take-off

was when I was in elementary school.

We had a good time on the water slides Friday.

This one was four or five stories high,

and went out over the side of the ship.

It was really hot and the slides were cool.

These racer slides were for the very little ones.

Here's the adult racer slides. 

They were, of course, fast, wet, FUN.

Nick won most of the time, 

I don't know why.

  Watching the sunset the last night.

I love taking a picture every few minutes, 

it's amazing how fast the sun sinks.

*Beautiful*

*****

 

***

This ship appeared 

before the sun could 

finish sinking.

I know it wasn't going fast,

but it seemed like it.

 And then it was gone. 

The ship and the sun.

 ******

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