PARADISE ADVENTURE

We spent the last week in one of the most beautiful locations in the world .  We took a cruise to the southern Caribbean with Jason and LeAnne and Karli and Chris.  We flew to Puerto Rico and sailed south from there.   Our first stop was St Thomas where interestingly enough many of the local shop owners were Indians from Mumbai.  So dad and I had a great time chatting and coincidentally that night was formal night on the ship and I wore my Indian attire and therefore we met several waiters from India.  Small world!

 
 Our next stop was Tortolla followed by Antigua where we found incredibly beautiful beaches and sparkling warm ocean waves.  We did some snorkeling and had to drag each other back to the ship to leave the amazing beauty and perfect weather.

 

We saw this couple on the beach taking their wedding pictures.  Quite the beautiful scene huh?

Then we sailed on to St. Lucia and then Barbados.   Again, too beautiful to adequately describe.  We hiked in the rainforest in St. Lucia and appropriately got DRENCHED.  But how fitting !!!

I do think we clean up quite nicely!

In Barbados we took a large catamaran to the back side of the island for another amazing day of fun in the sun, ship-wreck snorkeling and swimming.  Couldn't have been a more appropriate last day in port.

It was really a perfect cruise with 6 port days and 1 day at sea.  The ship was magnificent with lots to do for everyone.

                              A dream vacation for everyone!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO HIM

Well my man had a birthday and it was a wonderful weekend.  We went to "Avatar" which we both really liked!  I was a bit hesitant about the movie as I am not a Si-Fi fan but I was pleasantly surprised.  The next night our kids took us to Tepanyaki for a yummy dinner with Allan's favorite dessert (lemon pie from Marie's). 

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It is amazing to think that we have been celebrating our birthdays TOGETHER for 2/3 of our lives.  How I love this amazing man and how blessed is our life together.

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The next day some of our precious grandchildren dropped by to wish "Papa" Happy Birthday.  Does he look totally entertained with his cutie pies??

I went with Ella and LeAnn to Primary Children's for her treatment this week.  It is such an incredible place and Miss Ella was so brave and cooperative.  We are all so thankful for her great progress and the good care she continues to get.  The Lord certainly has held her hand through all of this.  We love you sweet girl!

Last week Ame was in her school's production "Willy Wonka".  It was so cute but of course the star of the show in our minds was an adorable Umpa-Loompa who sang and danced like a champ!  Great job big girl!

A TASTE OF PARADISE

Well our time in Hawaii was full of sun,  fun, relaxation and great adventures.  We stayed on North Shore in a condo at Turtle Bay.  It was lovely, quiet an conveniently located to BYUH and the other fun on North Shore.

 

  

  

The surf at Sunset and Waimai Bay was incredible.  Of course we watched from a distance with occasional walks along the warm and beautiful shoreline .  We saw some amazing tide pools at Chun's beach and of course enjoyed the "shave ice".

  

  

  

  

We spent some time in Kauai with our friends Lee and Kathleen.  They always show us such beautiful places on that island and it was good to see them again.

 

  

  

Perhaps our most wonderful time was spent with our dear Indian friends who are at BYUH.  They are so excited to be going to school there and are experiencing such good and enriching cultural and spiritual growth.  We met them on campus for lunch, took them all for dinner one night and went to church together.   What a blessing it was for us to feel of their tremendous spirits once again .

 

  

  

  

A trip to Hawaii would not be complete without a stop at the PCC, especially since all of our Indian friends work there.  The new evening show is amazing and teaches the Plan of Salvation through the Polynesian  history and culture.

  

  

And last but not least we spent a day hiking through the Waimai Valley and botanical gardens to the waterfalls.  It was such a perfect way to end a perfect (minus the Tsunami) holiday.