Back From Our Caribbean Cruise!

We had such a wonderful time on our cruise! It was so fun to see all of my siblings, and my Parents. We are already planning our next family vacation. Although we all loved cruising, we have all decided that we would have enjoyed more time in Mexico. I think we will probably go to Cancun next time. The water in Cozumel was so beautiful. All of us went snorkeling. We saw all of these tropical fish, squid, jelly fish, etc... I am so hooked on snorkeling now. I want to get certified in scuba diving! I cannot wait to go back to the Caribbean again! We had so much fun laughing, and eating WONDERFUL food!!! The last night that we were on the boat I had 3 giant Lobster tails! All of the meals on the ship were A+! Taylor loved it so much that he took pictures of his food every night at dinner. That is what he wanted to remember. I can't even begin to tell you how much fun it was to sit around and to be entertained all day by singers, dancers, magicians, watching all of the cousins interact! I loved seeing my nephews and nieces. I am so glad that I was brought up in a home that valued family so much. My Mom and Dad planned this entire trip for their anniversary because it was important to them for everyone to be together. I love that I talk to my Mom almost everyday, and that my Dad takes so much interest in everything Paul and I are doing. He cares so much about us! Paul really looks up to my Dad. It was so cool to see my brother Matthew, put his work aside and interact with us. He makes all of us laugh so hard. When you put both of my brothers at a table together, the two of them make us giggle like a bunch of little school children! My brother Matthew, works 80 plus hours a week so I enjoyed watching him make his sweet wife smile, him whispering in baby Peter's ear to put him to sleep, playing ping pong, telling jokes etc... When my Brother talks to you, he makes you feel like you are the best person ever. His wife Wendy is a super mom. I look up to her so much! My Brother Crismon, is such a good Father! It is amazing to see his little 2 year old son obey him. Crismon is so consistent with him and he is so attentive to his wife who is 7 months pregnant! My sister Lisa has so many good ideas I love watching her be a mother. I get so many good ideas about being a mother by just watching her. My son Alex, told me that he loved being around Lisa because he really felt like she cared about him! Again, I am so blessed that I was able to spend a week with my entire family. I loved going to NASA space center on the way home. We were able to take my brother's family because we had a 15 passenger van. I will not soon forget all of the kind words, the laughter, and the smiles on my parent's faces as they watched us all talk, laugh, and tell stories to eachother. I know that I will pass on the family values that my Parent's have instilled in me. I hope I can sress to my children, the importance of staying close to your family. The pictures are of the ocean! The picture of the four older kids was in Cozumel, in front of a big fountain. The weather was a perfect 75 degrees. I am about to turn up our heat becasue we are supposed to have a fearce ice storm tonight. I will try to think of the warm sun rays over all of us in Mexico as we freeze for the next 30 days here in Missouri.