Turks and Caicos

Russ and I just returned from a week of absolute paradise. We celebrated our 10th anniversary at a small island in the British West Indies called Turks and Caicos. We haven't been on a trip by ourselves in years, so we decided that it was about time! We left our kids with Russ' parents for a few days and then my parents for a few days. They took wondeful care of them so Russ and I didn't have to worry about a thing. Of course we did miss our them, but we had a fabulous time of relaxing by the beach and pool, swimming in a gorgeous ocean, eating delicious food and just spending quality time together.

We stayed at an ocean resort called Oceans Club West. It was a small resort with lots of different condos all around the beach and pool. Here is a picture of it from a boat.

Our condo was very nice and it had a beautiful view of the pool gardens and beach off the screened in porch.

We spent most days reading out on the beach. Picture beautiful weather, clear blue water and soft white sand. It didn't rain a drop the entire time we were there. It was hot, but most of the time a breeze was blowing which made it very comfortable.

The first day we were there, we met a very nice couple from New Jersey named Josh and Dayna. We ended hanging out with them some and we enjoyed getting to know them.

On Sunday afternoon, we took a paddle boarding trip through the mangroves. It was a lot of work, but it was so much fun. We saw some small fish and other ocean life. Even some lemon sharks were swimming below us! Josh and Dayna joined us which made it even more fun. Below is a picture of the mangroves we went through.

On Tuesday afternoon, we took a boat out to snorkel at the coral reef. Turks and Caicos has the 3rd largest reef in the world, so we saw a ton of beautiful fish. We have snorkled in a few other places and have been scuba diving on previous trips, but this was by far the best. We swam over a school of fish in the thousands, with big barracouda swimming below them. It was scarry, but so neat!

After scuba diving, the boat took us to a spot to dive for conch's. We dove around 15-20 feet below to find conch shells. Russ and I both found big ones, be we were only allowed to leave with one live one. Here is Russ with the one we ended up keeping as well as a small one that had no mussel in it.

After finding the conch shells the boat took us to a private beach. There they showed us how to cut the mussell out of the shell and then they cut up all the conchs and made a fresh conch salad. We all ate it and it was actually pretty tasty!

Russ also rented a mask to swim around the beach in front of the condo. There were lots of different fish out there just minding their own business while we swam. A couple of times, big sting rays would swim right beside us. Russ enjoyed it, but on the last day when he came face to face with a huge barracouda, he was done! Here he is diving down to see what was below:

It is hard to believe our trip is over now, but after 6 days of relaxation, we were ready to come home and get back to normal. Thanks to Nana & Papa and Mimi & Grampy for taking such great care of the kids so that we could have such a memorable 10 year anniversary!

Visit with the Great's

A couple of weeks ago, we drove to Kingston, Tennessee to visit with my grandparents. It had been almost a year since we saw them last because we weren't able to get their for Christmas because of bad weather on the day we were supposed to go. We were so sad to miss it, so our visit was long overdue! Russ wasnt' able to go, so the kids and I went with my parents. We had a great time and enjoyed every minute with them.

Grandma and Grandpa Stephenson just had their 68th wedding anniversary. They are both such living testimonies to our loving God. Grandpa just turned 92 a few weeks ago and Grandma will be 90 in October. They both are in pretty good health and they still live in their house and do everything. I hope that this will be Russ and I in 58 more years!

We weren't able to stay for more than 24 hours, but we packed it full. We spent Sunday evening in my grandparent's backyard. They have a big yard with a huge pear tree. The kids loved eating the pears, racing around the yard and swinging in the porch swing. On Monday morning, we went to see the goats that my kids love to see. Caleb, Kathryn and Clayton chased around the goats and had fun petting them! I wish I had the pictures to share, but my camera was out of batteries!

Of course, we wanted to go and visit our Grandma Rose before. She is Russ' grandmother and she lives about 5 minutes away from my grandparents. She is doing great and the kids always love getting to see her. We enjoyed visiting with her for a while too. The kids loved getting out and playing with some of the old toys from the back bedroom!

Kathryn's 4th Birthday Party: A Tutu Tea

This past Saturday, we celebrated Kathryn's 4th Birthday with a Tutu Tea Party. A friend of mine had an adorable Tutu party for her daughter a few months ago and ever since then, Kathryn has been talking about wanting to have a tutu party for her birthday. I loved the idea, so it was fun making lots of tutu things for the party. We invited 5 of her closest friends and each one of them wore either a tutu or a princess dress. They all came dressed so beautifully, all looking like little princesses!

I always love making the cakes for my children's birthday parties, but I must say that this one is my favorite! I loved adding all the details to make it extra frilly and cute.

My mom helped me a ton with the party from watching my kids while I made the cake, to helping me decorate. Thanks so much mom! Here is the table set for the little girls. They each had little princess hats to wear while they ate their food!

The little girls were perfect and so much fun to watch. While they had their little tea party, all the moms were in the dining room enjoying a tea party of our own!

Princess Kathryn eating her lunch :)

After eating lunch, Kathryn opened up her presents. She got so many cute, girly gifts. Here's the birthday girl with her "Rosie" bear dressed in the new tutu that Nana and Papa gave her.

Time for the cake! Kathryn said this was her favorite part of the party!

The little girls enjoyed a cup of tea with their cake

Kathryn was so happy that both her Mime and Nana were at her party. She also loved that Nana brought her cousin Flynn to the party too!

Each little girl left wtih a sweet little tutu shirt to top it all off!

It was such a fun party and Kathryn loved every minute of it. It was all girls, all frills and lots and lots of pink!