Ahhh, what can I say, the title says it all. A week in the Caribbean with my love, can't get much better then that! My dear sister and her roommate came out for the week to watch the kiddos, so Matt and I could have our "romantic getaway". We, lovingly, called our trip "post-deployment therapy". Our journey began with a red-eye flight to Grand Cayman. Not the most recommended, but it was a necessary evil. We had a long lay-over in Charlotte, NC, but the USO saved us. Because Matt is military, we were able to hang out in this exclusive club area. It was the bomb! Seriously, I had a luxurious couch to lay on and snooze, while Matt watched a movie in his recliner. Plus they had this whole breakfast buffet table set up with yummy goodness. By far the best lay-over I have ever had. We didn't get to enjoy it on the return trip though, since customs sucked up most of our lay-over time.
Stepping off the plane in to Georgetown, Grand Cayman is like stepping into a different world. The airport is small....quaint, you won't find anything like it in the U.S., with it's thatched style roof and single runway. The air was wonderfully moist and balmy, and the ocean was clear blue. Beautiful! We stayed the week at the Marriott resort, and we were treated very well there. The beach was right outside our Hotel, what a sight to see every morning. Matt and I spent as much time as we could on the beach...just relaxing and drinking pina coladas (virgin of course!). We did get around to see some sights on the island. Some other names Grand Cayman is known for is Tortuga (yes, pirates), Cayman (for crocodiles) and the British West Indies. So we had to do some Pirate history, and decided to tour some caves that are there that "might" have been treasure hide-aways. The Cayman's were originally uninhabited Islands, so were a natural choice in a hideout for pirates. We also toured Pedro St. James castle, which was the birthplace of democracy on the island. Matt was also able to fit in a round of golf...of course! There is a township there with some rock formations, they have named the township "Hell", So we visited Hell while on our vacation. We also made it in to town, and to the Sea turtle farm. That was amazing.
The farm had closed by the time we had arrived there (after a long walk from Hell!) and the main tour guide must have seen the disappointment on my face, because he promptly told security it was alright and led us back. We then received a private tour with the park all to ourselves. Our guide, Bennie, was so nice and even though it was closing, he was a typical islander. Relaxed, take your time, type attitude. He took photos for us, let us hold the baby sea turtles, and took time to explain all the "ins and outs" to us. It was a very neat experience!
You can't go to the Caribbean without snorkeling. So, we of course, did this as much as possible. Matt snorkeled and scuba dived a bit while he lived in Hawaii, and I had done some snorkeling before. Never have we seen underwater scenery like this before. We went and did most of our snorkeling at a beach called Cemetery Beach. We met a family of avid snorkelers that had been coming to the Caymans for 20 years. They said that Cemetery beach was some of the best snorkeling they have ever seen. The water was so clear, even the waves washing up on shore were clear. We saw some beautiful reefs, coral forests and amazing underwater sea life.
As with all vacations, they must come to an end. I joked with Matt that it was a good thing we didn't bring the girls, since they were the only reason bringing me back to the states. We missed our girls a lot during our "get away", we constantly saw things the kids would enjoy and love. Maybe that will be an excuse to go again someday with the whole family. It was a little hard for Matt to be away from his girls, since he needed to turn around and leave for a conference in San Diego right after we returned home. Due to scheduling and conflicts this was the only time we could go, so I am grateful that he was willing to be parted from his girls so long to spend some time with me alone.
Today, Sunday, Matt left for San Diego, Trudy and Carie left back to Utah, and I am left at home with my girls. My vacation has come to a screeching halt and reality has set in. I am glad that I am blessed with my beautiful girls though, and look forward to getting back to our routine. I am also grateful for spending the week with my love. What a fabulous vacation!
On Sunday we experienced some very high winds, in fact our area had a "high wind advisory" issued for that day. We didn't really think anything of it, since we have had strong winds before. Nothing has ever really happened, so we hunkered down for a nice relaxing Sunday afternoon. As I opened my latest read, I hear a loud "whoosh", and "crash". It sounded like our porch roof had just been blown off. I exclaim " did you hear that?". Matt looks up from his perch in the bean bag chair and says non-chalantly "I think it was our tramp". What, our tramp!!! We both jump up and run to 
the front door, open it, and Matt just kind of stands there like he is in shock. I am like, is the tramp still there...did it blow away? He replies " no, its still around, just on someones car". Holy Cow!!!! To sum things up, we had secured our tramp the best way we could. Putting it in a sheltered area, and staking it as best we could per the instructions. However, this was no match for the high winds we had on Sunday. The wind wanted to play, and picked up our tramp (yes, picked up our tramp), hurled it up on our roof (yes you heard me right), our tramp then fell down onto our porch roof where the wind picked it up again and sailed it down from our roof onto someones poor car! I felt like I was in an ad for a car insurance commercial...are you kidding me!!! Sadly our tramp is dead, dead, dead. It is a mangled piece of metal, all bent every which way and we mourn it's passing. The upside to all this is we live on a military base, and my husband is a lawyer. He quickly assessed the situation and talked with his superiors. All agree that we were not liable ( to the roof damage, or the unsuspecting car...who we left a note for, but have not heard from. They will be referred to the Ft. Irwin JAG office anyway), and we can claim our tramp. So that means we will be reimbursed for our tramp and we can buy a new one. The kids were sure relieved! As a side note, we have some ideas on how to reinforce our new tramp against the wind even better. This won't be happening again!!
out to perform the C-section, so back to pushing I went. We finally got her out, without too much damage to either Anya or mom. She was born at 4:32 p.m. on March 20, 2000. She weighed a healthy 9 lbs. 2 oz., and was 21 1/2 inches long. She was all chub and beauty, with lots of dark hair. We couldn't have been happier or more in love with her. Today my baby, my first child, turns 9. When they are born, you forget that they will grow up. It seems so far away, and now looking back I think how could we possible have gotten to this point. It hasn't been long enough! She is a joy in our home, a wonderful calming presence. She is the peace maker, helper and teacher. We think she is the perfect leader for our family as the oldest child, and so full of patients for her younger sisters. Thank you Anya, for being so wonderful. We love having you in our family, and have a wonderful HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
This is a picture of a sign that you will see in many areas on Army Posts. They are at the grocery stores, the post office, pretty much anywhere there is a public parking lot. I will be able to partake of these choice parking spaces for the foreseeable future. Most of you we have told, but for those of you we haven't...WE'RE PREGNANT! I am not too far along, a little over 8 weeks. Our due date is October 22,2009. It has been a long journey to get to this pregnancy. Our youngest will be 4 1/2 years old by the time this new little bundle arrives. We had always sort of talked about adding a fourth child to our family, but I had expected it would happen a lot sooner! Well Matt's deployment sort of put a damper on that, being separated from each other for 15 months doesn't help with conceiving! Then he came home and we were moving and life was chaotic, so we didn't really talk about it or plan anything. We were just enjoying being "us" again.
Hannah continually amazes us. She has so much persistence that if she wants something, and we don't have it, she will find a way to get it. Most times she will find the item laying discarded and forgotten by time. She especially has a good sense for finding any thing that is shiny or coins. She is our "treasure hunter". Often she will come home from school or the park with her pockets full of "treasures". However, the episode of treasure hunting that amazed us recently occurred last night. We were at a pizza restaurant getting dinner. There happened to be rows (and I mean rows!) of coin operated candy and toy machines. One machine caught her eye, it dispensed a polished rock for 25 cents. Hannah LOVES rocks, so she immediately started asking for a quarter, making deals, and pleading. I guess Matt wasn't fast enough producing the desired quarter, because Hannah started looking around on the floors. What did she find...her desired quarter! It was laying forgotten, in a corner under a table. What persistence and desire for treasure hunting that girl has. These types of things always happen for her. Amazing. Hannah got her rock after all.
