The Long, Long Winter

 We came home from the Bahamas to these beautiful icicles hanging from the front porch.  One of them measured 5 feet, 5 inches.

 It doesn't seem like we can go for more than a week without snow or ice.  Just yesterday Gary & I went to Rensselaer for a few things.  A blizzard hit while we were gone.  It was amazing!  Instant blizzard!!  This was State Road 16 on our way home.  There were cars in the ditch and cars stuck in the road.  It was just awful!  So glad we made it home safely!  Gary said it was a piece of cake, but I think I left fingerprints in the dash of his pickup.

Then this morning he was taking the girls down to feed the calves.  The driveway was filled back in with snow.  It took him several tries to get through it.  He spent the afternoon plowing snow from our driveway, my mom & dad's, his mom & dad's, and his cousin's.  The girls went to the grandparents' houses manned with shovels and salt to clear their walks.

The crazy thing is that after the blizzard yesterday, it was 44 degrees today.  Everything was dripping and messy.  Then they are predicting it will be in the 50s Thursday with damaging winds and thunderstorms.  Then back to the single digits next week.  Such crazy weather!  I think I'll go back to the Bahamas!!

Bahamas Bound!

Just two weeks before the cruise was to leave, one of our Southern Gospel friends contacted us and told us they were offering a phenomenal deal for the Singing at Sea cruise to try to get the boat full.  We weren't planning to go, but decided we couldn't pass up this deal.  All 9 of us went for the cost of 2 adults, plus taxes and gratuities.

We were planning to leave bright & early on Saturday morning, but there was yet another winter storm coming in Friday evening.  We were afraid if we waited until Saturday morning, we wouldn't get out of here.  We worked as quickly as we could Friday to leave a day earlier, but didn't get out of here until 5:30 in the evening.  The roads were already slick, and the snow was coming down.  We drove through the night, arriving at our first scheduled stop at 4:00 a.m.  We stayed in Morganton, North Carolina, until Sunday when we finished our trip to Jacksonville, Florida.  We boarded the Carnival Fascination on Monday.

 Every morning, we ate our breakfast out on the deck at the back of the boat.

 It was always so beautiful!!

 We spent one day at Half Moon Cay.  We took Cheerios to feed the fish.  We had fish jumping up and splashing us as they fought for the Cheerios.  It was quite an experience as they swam around us.

 Family photo with the ship in the background

 Nanna playing in the sand with the other girls in the background

 Laura & Heather feeding the sea gulls while we were in port in Nassau

 It seemed like every night at supper time we were leaving one port or another, so the first 3 nights we never had all the girls at the supper table at the same time because their stomachs couldn't stand the motion and vibration.  This was one of the nights they were all feeling well.

 Our waiter, Big Joe, did tricks for the girls most nights.  In this photo, he is holding a glass of water up with a straw.  He raised it up 2 or 3 times, and a couple of seconds after I took this picture it fell and shattered all over the table.

 Big Joe is showing Laura that she has 11 fingers.  "10-9-8-7-6, and how many fingers do you have on the other hand?"  5.  "See, 6 plus 5 more is 11!"

 The Gala Buffet began at 11:30 p.m. Thursday night.  The ice sculpture was fabulous!!  The Coconut Grove was crowded!  We had a fun time fellowshipping with friends.

 There was food, food, and more food.  All of it was elaborately presented.

 Cantalope and watermelon

 The girls with our waiters the last night.  We were sad to tell them goodbye.  We had an absolutely fantastic 5 days at sea.  We wish it could have been longer!!!