Day 3: Nassau Bahamas

Today we docked at Nassau and we all decided we wanted to take the ferry over to Atlantis. Before we left we had a sit down breakfast in the main dining hall. We got sat with a couple from England and Sean and Jeff asked them every stereotypical question you could ask. They had us laughing (like always.)

We got off the ship and were bombarded with the natives trying to braid our hair or take us somewhere on a tour. They were EVERYWHERE! Jeff favorite response was, "How much to braid mine?"

The ferry was interesting to say the least. We laughed so hard as they packed us on like sardines. After making it over we got to Atlantis and realized we really couldn't see anything without paying an admission. We did get to see a little, like some of the aquarium.

AtlantisBoy do I look tired!Sean, Jeff and the cleaning guyThen we decided we have more fun on the ship and headed back for some lunch....it's all about food this week! LOL

After lunch we did the sudoku challenge and a trivia game. Sherry won the sudoku and I decided it might be better to start our on an easier one to get the hang of it! :-)

Dinner was good and we had a comedian magician show afterward. We've been going to Karaoke every night and laugh our heads off. Its amazing how people get up there to sing and make fools of themselves. We sure enjoyed it. LOL At one point this girl got up to sing and must have been completely tone deaf, but her family in the audience went crazy screaming for her. Jeff leaned over to sean and asked, "Is that good?" Sean was on the floor laughing!

Then was the Love and Marriage game show. Sherry and I so badly wanted to be in the show so we got there early and sat down front. Sean didn't think it was a good idea to be in it and he was right! Soooo glad we weren't picked. Oh the questions they asked. Wouldn't have wanted to answer those. But we sure enjoyed watching it!

Then we had a midnight buffet (that wasn't that great) and we headed to bed.

Day 2: At sea

Today we enjoyed all that this cruise has to offer!

We went rock climbing, I cruised up the wall and didn't chip a nail, Sean made it to the top in spite of his fear of heights (go babe!) and Jeff decided on his first rock climbing experience to climb the hardest path!

We had lunch at Johnny Rockets (old fashioned dinner) Jeff had the biggest burger any of us had EVER seen! We chowed down on onion rings, french fries, burgers and Chili dogs. Then we washed it down with a oreo ice cream sundae! And I ate it ALL!! We laughed as our waiters danced to "Stayin' Alive" with the music SO LOUD.

Sean doing his Hulk Hogan impression with the look alike Hulk standing behind him!After all the grease in our stomachs the boys entered the Basketball shoot out and Sean came in 4th and Jeff 1st. They were laughing so hard because with the boat moving it was a little more difficult, not to mention the WIND! All they kept asking Roger (the guy in charge of the athletic events) was "Where's the water Roger!?!?!"

(Sean Making his shot)

We played the Trivia Challenge (and were by far the youngest in the room...hahaha) And we got swamped by the old timers. Did you know the inventor of the bra was Auto Titslinger? Neither did we!

Then was the BIG event of the day: DODGE BALL-Crew against the shipmates.

(Sean throwing a good one at the crew!)Ah yes. The boys were so looking forward to it. The first rounds we got swamped. These crew members get a lot more practice at this then we do! They added that it was the highlight of their week, I bet! We laughed so hard watching them play. And after several rounds we finally BEAT the crew and the boys took home trophies! LOL

(Sean, Jeff and Roger)

Dinner was formal night tonight and we got all dressed upLook at that handsome man I'm married too!Dinner at table 452...the crazy, loud, laughing table!They came by and sang happy birthday to me (a few days early)

Sean and Jeff and their "serious, don't mess with me" faces.

After dinner we attended the show with singers and dancers and we were very impressed. They danced through the movies and they did a great job. Singing was really awesome. Late night snack was at pizza place. They had a Mexican pizza I thought I would try and the guys behind the counter said it was hot. I said I'd still like to try it and they smiled back at me and said they would get me a nice large glass of ice water. They weren't kidding! I bit down on it and was ON FIRE!!!! I've never encountered anything that hot ever! Of course Sean and I ordered room service again tonight and watched some movies. Last night we watched Vantage Point. Tonight we watched some of Ironman, staying up WAY too late. But hey...no kids...no responsibilities...sleep when you want!

Pizza with our pizza shaped table

Day 1 of the cruise

Let the crusing begin! We made it to the ship at noon after having dropped the boys off at school and Asher at my parents. We got checked in and headed to our little (and I mean little) room. I think it’s the smallest room of any of the rooms I’ve stayed in on the 5 cruises I’ve been on. But we aren’t meant to be in our room are we? So we headed to get some lunch and the food was great. Then we went exploring the ship when our friend Sherry and Jeff called. We met up with them and had a great time catching up, laughing and looking around. The drill was uneventful but Sean and I were happy to be lucky enough to have ours indoors. Jeff and Sherry teased us that we are “gold” members and that’s why we were inside. LOL

Dinner was fun. We all weren’t at the same table but they were nice enough to hook us up at a big table together with a bunch of other young couples. I’m so glad Jeff and Sherry are on the cruse. We have so much fun hanging out with them. More laughter than you can handle! Sherry and I joked that we might just have to separate the boys from each other. Our table had no idea what they were in for! LOL Before we ate Jeff asked if everyone minded if we prayed and the other husbands were so thankful for it.

After dinner we enjoyed the comedy show. Sean and I were impressed with the comedian. Especially for a cruise comedian and he was very clean! Refreshing.

We checked out the karaoke, learned some swing dancing and Sean and I danced a little, we enjoyed the moon and the reflection off of the ocean. Then by 11pm we were all tired and retired to bed.

It’s amazing to be on the cruise and have no responsibilities! No cooking, no cleaning, no taking care of kids, no laundry, taxi driving, and no getting up at the crack of dawn (even though I still woke up at 7am ready to go the next day!)

Cruise

Sean and I are leaving to go on our cruise tomorrow. The kids will be staying here with my parents and at the eve of my trip I'm anticipating my sad heart as I leave them behind. Sean and I haven't taken a trip together without kids since our honeymoon 7 years ago, so it's a much needed trip, but still my heart is a little scared to leave them. They probably won't even notice I'm gone, but I will!

On a crazy note: through facebook I found out that some friends of ours from our Sunday school class that moved away a few years ago to Georgia, are on the SAME cruise as us! How crazy is that! Boy did God have his hand on that one. No one else could have orchestrated that. So it will be so much fun to have some friends on the cruise with us. We can all miss our kids together!

Also looks like the hurricanes are going to dodge us! Ya! I was so worried last week that the ship might not even come get us! But it's all working out great and I know we are going to have so much fun. And maybe I'll have access to the Internet and I'll be able to share some of it with you all!

Bon Voyage!

Find Him Waiting

I wanted to share this song with you guys because it means so much to me. For sometime now I had felt like God wasn't talking to me. I didn't "feel" His presence. And through the Christian life this is a normal thing. It's a way of growing in your faith with Him. But I so desperately wanted to feel his presence as it says in this song. And here, in the midst of my own personal sorrow, I felt Him. And it feels so good to feel His presence again and to see Him work in so many ways in my life. What a blessing it is! I was writing to my friend Megan about the whole thing and it sums up what I'm trying to say here.

"God was so faithful in his love for me in what could have been the darkest moment so far in my life. Radically, with His glory and Majesty, He put His comforting arms around me. He showed himself more to me in these last 2 weeks than He ever had in my life. I'm in love with Him even more so now. I wouldn't wish a tragedy like that on anyone but I would wish that everyone could experience Him like I have the last few weeks. And it really was amazing how he prepared me in my faith before it happened."

So listen to this song, it's speaking from my heart. Especially when he talks about the widow raising her arms to Him. I raise my arms to Him because He is SO GOOD!

I've heard the angels and I've seen the devil

Fought with the lion, sent through the fire

I've been in the valley when it was dry

Walked through the desert to the other side

I'm not a preacher and I'm not a hero

My life has never been that kind

But there is one thing that I hold onto

I am yours, and Lord you are mine

CHORUS And through all these years

You have been there

Dried all my tears and answered my prayers

I just want to feel your presence again

I'm down on my knees in need a friend

And I find you waiting there for me

I've seen a widow cry through her sorrow

And still raise her hands in the midst of it all

And Lord I'm reminded what I was weary

You carried me, yes you carried me

BRIDGE In the midst of a struggle

There is one thing I know

You'll never leave me, no never alone

Dillard Update

If the kids don't keep me busy enough this dang dog just keeps it coming! Don't get me wrong, I love her. If it weren't for the love she would have been long gone. Her daily swims in the pond in our backyard with me screaming, "NO DILLARD!!!!!!!!" , then bathing her and her pouting outside because she can't come in, are exhausting. She also has a fascination for my books (among other things...especially MY things.) She will stand up and pull a book I'm reading off the dresser and tear it to threads, even hard back books. The latest was a book my mother in law lent me about The Worst Dog Ever. I did have to laugh that "my worst dog ever" tore that book up!

But there's also the oh so sweet side of her. Her love is just so sweet. And she thinks she is a lap dog and loves to just jump right up in my lap. Below is a picture of her laying on me while we were over at my parents watching the Olympics. She's actually fast asleep in the picture laying on her back. So funny!

She's also amazing at chasing things. Actually caught and killed a squirrel a few weeks ago. She'll chase anything that moves. She especially loves chasing lizards. So....the adventure continues as we try and mold and shape this oh so smart dog into our oh so behaving friend!

Asher Update

Asher is now almost 16 months old and growing up so fast. He so desperately wants to be able to do everything his big brothers can do. Just today he got so frustrated when he couldn't swim all around the pool like they were.

I stopped nursing on August 19th. The night before was his last nighttime feeding. He nursed the longest of all three. Boston was 13 months and Dallas was 12 months and Asher was 15 months.

He also got a new tooth about 3 weeks ago, his 4th upper tooth.

He's amazing with his hands, able to do things most 15 month olds can't do. He uses his fork and spoon like a pro. He LOVES to eat. He will actually go to the high chair and try to climb in, begging me to get in. He even recently used sign language to tell me "MORE". I've never super encouraged sign language, just a little here and there with them. It's amazing he got it!

He just started taking 1 nap a day since the boys started school. It was perfect timing since it would be a little hard for him to take the afternoon one with Boston's pickup at 2:50pm. But he will sometimes take one in the car to pick him up.

His new favorite thing to do is use my keys to pretend to open lots of stuff. He'll just stand at the front door pretending to open the door and he LOVES to walk to the mailbox and play forever with the key there.

He's also amazing with cars and trains. He will make a "rrrr" sound and have them move on the ground. He imitates all the things his big brothers do. And he LOVES to dance. When any song comes on he's moving to the music!


In the pictures he's playing with another one of his favorite toys recently. A Thomas the Train learning laptop. It will occupy him forever!

Our pond

Our pond has been dried up now for a few years with the lake of rain. So secretly we've been hoping for some rain from a hurricane or tropical storm because that's the only way the water is going to rise. So thankfully with the hurricane rain we have a pond again! And the ducks we have missed so much are back as well. I'll have to post a picture of the boys when they were so much younger with our very large pond (after the 4 hurricanes we got a few years back) feeding all of our baby ducks. They new Boston's voice and would come running when he called them, "Hey ducks! Come here." So we feed the ducks and are so enjoying the beauty of the pond again. Hopefully they will turn on the water fountain again too!

Wii and Bike riding

My dad got a Wii for his birthday and the boys and Sean playing it for the first time a few weeks ago. All three of the kids loved it so much that we will probably have to ask Santa to bring one for Christmas.

Boston has been working hard learning to ride his bike without training wheels since they broke. He's doing so good and rode so far today without any help. I was so proud of him. Although since school started we really haven't found time to practice much

Buring Shiloh

I had several people suggest to us that we should name the baby. At first I didn't want to, but then I thought it might be a good idea. So I was looking online for some baby names and came across an article about naming your miscarried baby and how important it is for your healing and also for the other children in the family. If you don't they feel like they have to continue the importance of the baby all on their own. But none of the names Sean and I had even discussed felt like they fit the baby. Especially because we didn't know the sex yet.

So I knew the name needed to be a name that could be for a boy or a girl. I also wanted the name to be a city name to continue on our city naming tradition. I wanted to like the sound of the name. And finally I wanted the name to mean something great, something to do with their short life, and how meaningful it was, even at its short length. I had no idea how I was going to find a name that met all those criteria so....I PRAYED. As I was searching online I stopped and prayed to God to give me the perfect name and for me to know right away that it was the right one. Then, out of nowhere in my searching the name just leap off the screen at me

SHILOH

What a BEAUTIFUL name! Then I started reading about it:

It's a boy or girls name

I love the sound of it

It was the site of a crucial battle in the American Civil War

It means "His Gift" or "God's Gift"

Also means "he who was sent"

Could there be a more PERFECT name? There is no question in my mind that this name was given to me by God. I have never even heard of anyone named Shiloh before. And to be honest, it feels so right. And it feels nice to have given a name to our baby.

Monday morning Sean and I buried Shiloh by ourselves at the lakehouse. Everyone else was off doing other things and we took a moment to be quiet and find a perfect stop at the lake, over looking the water and near the kids playground. We didn't pray because honestly I don't think we could have gotten through a prayer. God knew our thoughts and he knows our hearts and nothing needed to be said. This baby was and is loved deeply and we will look forward to one day meeting him or her in heaven. (of course Sean still swears it was a boy.) I plan on getting or making a rock of some kind with a saying, verse or something on it. Don't know what yet, but I'm sure God will lead me to it just as he has everything else.

There seemed to be so much stress lifted off of my shoulders that I didn't even know I was caring around. It was like it was all finalized and done and now I can continue to move forward. I think the burial was stressing me out and I didn't even know it. A part of me didn't want to bury Shiloh because it seemed to be the forever goodbye. I was holding on to him/her. But once I let Shiloh go it was a freeing to me. I know it wasn't for forever and what a great gift I have waiting for me when I arrive. I can only think of my grandma holding my precious baby in heaven. What a beautiful site! Now she has truly gotten to meet one of my children.