PLEASE PRAY ♥

Last evening, Wednesday....My brother and sister in law's grandson, Wade, age 14 [Gavin's age], fell from a ladder while fixing a basketball hoop. He was convulsing and vomiting and unconscious. By ambulance he was taken to the hospital.

They have driven to where he lives, and have told me that as of this morning he is still unconscious. Please, take a moment, if you will and pray for him and for his family.

Thank you,
and Thank our Heavenly Father for families. ♥

Here he comes...

there he goes...

[neither of us were really good at
taking the pictures.... :( ... first underwater camera for us!]

...we got back our snorkeling pictures....YEAH....i will
try to post some of the fish we saw
later today.

Jeremy is being baptized on Saturday.
May 2nd, 9 am.

If you haven't already gotten information about
where, leave me your email address
and I will get you the information.

We will be having a light Brunch
at our home
after the Baptism.

Hope to see you there...

...by the way...i am DONE
with my Language class....YEAH!!!

i have a paper due, a final,
and some scholarship applications to turn in.
I am also trying to get food
and home ready for Saturday...
while doing all the normal day to day
items with our four children... :)

so...
here i am....here i go.
be back soon :)

Peace be unto You...♥

I am pretty sure that I am not the only one who is struggling right now. Although life has many wonderful ups, it comes with it's downs. I was out checking on sweet friends who have helped me to heal from my past through their prayers, their words, their encouragement, and lack of judgment. I bring this back to you...my family and close friends. Because I think of you and all that you have gone through to support me as well. I pray that whatever trials you are experiencing that you may have peace. Enjoy:

In what ways can I use what I have learned from my abuse to help myself grow and to serve others?

Sometimes the Lord calms the storm. Sometimes He lets the storm rage and calms His child.

We have all heard popular sayings like this, designed to encourage us and push us forward.

A piece of coal must go through thousands of years of heat and pressure before it becomes a diamond.

A beautiful pearl is the result of irritation and pain caused by a single grain of sand.

As survivors we often feel that we have had all the heat, pressure, irritation and pain we can possibly handle! But, if we allow ourselves to look back at all the things we've learned, the wonderful people we've met, our increase in compassion and understanding, and our slowness to judge those around us, hopefully we can honestly say that we are grateful for what we have gained. We must learn to turn the darkness of the past into light.

As we struggle to make something good out of that which is so wrong and ugly, we can find hope and peace in the following scripture:

"My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment. And if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes." (D&C 121:7-8)

Sunrise...Sunset ♥

Georgetown, Cayman

We checked with the hotel staff
about places to go for the afternoon
and they sent us to Georgetown
for a quiet afternoon of discovery.

We caught a bus which was
an adventure in itself.
Busses will pick you up ANYWHERE on the street.
You just stand their, they see you,
they honk twice, you wave,
they pick you up.

$2.50 US dollar.

The busses are actually vans,
all conditions!
Pile in....

They drive so different than us.
Really conscientious to other drivers,
and pedestrians,
honking at everyone they pass,
want a ride.

They will even go off the bus route,
just to drop you off at home,
or whereever...
you just go along with them.

Nothing is a problem in Cayman,
It is just, "no problem".

People don't take tips,
They just say, "no, no problem, for you"

No one is in a hurry.
One thing we learned is that
they close up shop at 5 pm.

People who drive the "busses"
only drive until they need to go home to family,
there is no bus schedule,
and everything closes down at 5:00pm,
other than restaurants, and night life...
which is all laid back.

Entire towns close up shop...
even the airport is closed up by 6:00...
we learned by being stranded an extra day....
[the airport is no bigger than a church gym,
they only sell alcohol and rum cakes, a few trinkets,
a couple of vending machines,
no TV's, or electronic telling you about flights
and NO COMPUTER terminals, and only one spot
in the airport can you find service for satellite internet service...
a small corner..I will blog later about our 12 hours
at the airport....pictures included]

Great Island!

Pirate Ship

Cruise Ship

A trip to Georgetown was a lot of fun.
It was on the day that the cruise ships were at bay.
We got there about the time that
everyone was lined up to get back on the ship.
Didn't look fun to be standing in
LONG lines
waiting for the boats to shuffle you back to the ships.
Georgetown was like a ghost town when they left.
We had a lot of fun shopping, but mostly just
soaking it all up!

Road Trip: Queen Elizabeths Botanical Gardens

Road Trip....is a "trip" Cayman Style.
And then we add Brian.

First of all, no stop lights,
no stop signs...only stop for pictures...
Second, DRIVE LEFT.
Notice Brian is on the right side of the car.
And from the WRONG side of the car
you drive on the WRONG side of the street.

Brian is ALWAYS looking for trouble,
most of you probably don't know this about him.

We are in the Cayman,
at a resort,
snorkeling and beaches at our fingertips.
He decides we should go history hunting,
meets some real locals,
out in the country...you say...
Rent a car,
a bit of lessons in the parking lot,
unofficial lessons,
smiling hostess saying, you'll be okay...
no worries.

Mind you, this is AFTER taking busses
all over town the day before,

"no bus stops, just walk along,
people will honk and you wave and they will pick you up,
take you anywhere"
No Problem...

Oh...and a bus looks like a FUN BUS,
Scooby Bus style....pile in.
like the one in the picture wizzing past Brian below...
we hadn't figured out the speed limits yet.


Notice the white knuckles [below]...
no problem...
no one told us that you convert to kilometers
so we are driving really slow.

when it says 50...you go 100
no wonder many locals were passing us.

if you have a yellow license plate you are a local
a white license plate you are a tourist...

they really have some things figured out.

Cute little car...

Many butterflies. Very colorful.
They have a butterfly garden in Cayman.
We didn't make it there. But I imagine....ahhhh.

Yikes...snakes. Lots of them.

There is a lot of wreckage from Hurricane Ivan in 2004.
Some of these old trees are down, yet growing...
you can see the roots completely out below.

p

above, Konch [konk] Shell,
these are so beautiful. many many on the island.
people line their walks with them,
along with crushed shells,
which make a sound to walk along,
like a doorbell.

yep, didn't see many doorbells,
no stoplights,
no stopsigns,
just Giveways...
which means to give way to the person coming your way

Brian and I ate some Konch at a small diner
overlooking the ocean
during our road trip.
It is very yummy.

those pictures later...sunset dinner, very nice!

to be continued...