I want a BIG...BAND SOUND!

The Making of Men

Feed them LOTS of food . . .

Feed their SOULS too . . .

Then DRESS them for the part . . .

And then PRAY they don't GROW TOO FAST!!

Trip to Paradise--first day!

Sorry it's taking me so long to put this up, and this is only our first day! Let's just say, this place was amazing and I already want to go back!! (I created two different slideshows on two different days of the same pictures--let me know which one you prefer!) Also, below is a quick video I took of Atlantis!

Nightmare

It was almost midnight. Ahhhhhhh. I had just filled up the tub with hot water to stick my aching feet into. I grabbed a magazine and tried to relax. I'm done--it's all fun from here!

I had spent the last two weeks planning and prepping, shopping and packing, organizing and re-organizing, and the last almost six months saving and waiting for this trip. Dan and I were going to the most beautiful place on earth--the Bahamas! My parents had taken a trip there about 25 years ago and I always dreamed of going there. The crystal blue waters, the white sand . . . It wouldn't ever have happened, if it weren't for the generosity of Dan's parents in lending us their timeshare. Dan and I planned on leaving our boys with family, and taking our first trip without children since the birth of our first child. We were terribly excited! We don't have much extra money so we had scrimped, pinched, went without, ate at home, took odd jobs, just to supplement a little spending money for while we were there. We paid big money for airline tickets, but we decided that it was a good enough reason to borrow a little out of our savings account. I had arranged everything to perfection: schedule for the kids, arranged subs for our ward assignments, food menus for while we were gone (to save money we planned, measured, and packed meals from our food storage), we even wrote a temporary will. It had been overwhelming and even a little emotional preparing for this trip (I started missing the children weeks in advance!) but it was going to be worth it! PARADISE HERE WE COME!!!

My reverie was broken when Dan ran up the stairs in a panic. Dan had been downstairs on the computer checking us into our flight online, the last thing we needed to do before retiring to bed. We had to get up in a couple hours to get to the airport on time for our 6 am international flight. "Rebecca!! did you realize your passport still has your maiden name on it?!?! " At first, I was not alarmed. I had somehow used that passport a couple times since I was married. Yeah, so?! Dan was running back downstairs already. "Rebecca, I don't think they are going to let you on the airplane!!"

Impossible. They can't just not let me on the airplane. I'll just use my marriage certificate or something. (WAIT! My marriage certificate is in the safe deposit box at the bank--and they won't open before we need to be on the airplane!) I raced downstairs and searched my files--whew!--found a copy! I'm sure I'll be fine.

Dan was in the middle of a phone conversation with the airlines officer. If we bring a marriage certificate would that work? . . .a birth certificate? . . . the conversation trailed off with all sorts of possible scenarios. Are you sure?? Thankyou, Good-bye. Dan hung up the phone. His voice sounded dull and flat. Rebecca, there is nothing they can do. You won't be able to go to the Bahamas tomorrow.

Silence. Numbing. Time froze. I think my heart stopped. I sank onto the couch and curled up into the fetal position. And sat there---a long time. Dan was nearing a break down. He called up his dad and sobbed on the phone, telling him the whole situation. Is there NOTHING that can be done?!?!? Dan and his Dad conversed while I watched the last six months flash before me. I felt cold, clamy, and sick. I couldn't get up or lie down. I must have been in shock. This isn't happening. This CAN'T be happening. . .

Dan finally hung up the phone with his Dad. He had an idea. He got online and checked out a few things, then called back the airlines company, asked some questions, then hung up. This whole thing to me now is a blur. He asked for the credit card and announced that he was going to buy another ticket. WHAT?? Buy an airline ticket to the Bahamas just hours before the plane takes off??!! Are you out of your mind???? Dan was not deterred. "Rebecca--I am not going to the Bahamas without MY WIFE!"

He bought another ticket. Under my maiden name. I was single again, sorta. And the ticket cost about three times as much as my original one. I was sick. And who knows if the whole thing would even fly (no pun intended) at the airport. I felt almost criminal to try such a thing! And the cost! oh the cost! We didn't have that kind of money! Our savings for this trip didn't equal even a fourth of what this extra ticket would cost us!

To pull myself through the shock I called my own daddy on the phone and cried out my woes--in the middle of the night! This was my mistake! I should have known my passport needed to be updated. How could I be so dumb?? This went on for some time. I finally crawled to bed with puffy eyes. I was still in denial. This is all just a bad dream. It will all be over in the morning.

Well, "morning" came about two hours later when our ride to the airport came knocking at our door. Our boys were asleep, so I couldn't really even say good-bye. Well, I may be back before you even wake up, I thought in their direction.

To make this long story shorter, the whole scheme ending up working out, and with each ID and ticket check I held my breath. Once in the Bahamas airport, they checked and double-checked again. No problems. I let out a tentative sigh of relief. I'm here! I'm actually here! It took me a couple days in the Bahamas before I could stop talking to Dan about all the other ways we could have better spent that money, but Dan didn't want to hear it.

To him, it couldn't have been better spent.

(pictures from our amazing trip to paradise coming soon!)

New Bed!

After going a couple of months without a bed for the boys (we had sold their old hand-me-down bunkbeds on Craigslist and they were sleeping on mattresses in our bedroom), our bed-frame order finally came in! Nearly three hours later Dan and Uncle Matt had it up and ready! We had sold Dan's old car and used some of the money to buy this bed brand new at a great deal! And thanks to friends who donated their old full-size mattress we were all but dying to have the boys back into their OWN room! And, if you can believe it, both boys slept through the night last night in their new beds! Yay!

Now to find a matching dresser . . .

Halloween Stroll

Does it get any cuter than this?

The People in McKay's Life

McKay is in bed, and I am telling him a story.

Mom: Once upon a time, there was a little boy named . . . McKay-
McKay: No! There's seven people!
Mom: Seven? Who are they?
McKay: Mommy, Daddy, McKay, Elijah, Emma, Uncle Matt & Aunt Vic!
Mom: Oh! Are those the people in your life?

McKay: Yes. Those are the people in my life!