All I can do is laugh

This video is a small glimpse for all of you into our world! :)
I still cannot for the life of me figure out what Jenna is doing? Flicking her eyes? And doing it while in complete calmness while Jocelyn acts like she has had nothing to eat but cotton candy and Pepsi for the last 24 hours!
I mean, really, WHOSE KIDS ARE THESE?!?!

OCD

OCD. I wish that it stood for Obedient, Compassionate, Delightful since I am referring to Genevieve when I say that, but unfortunately, that is not the case.
Well, I take that back. She can be all of those things, and quite frequently is. But she can also show signs of the technical meaning. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
1 example: It's time for bed. She has on her robe and slippers takes them off before climbing into her bed. She hangs her robe up and places her slippers directly under the robe, side by side, toe next to toe, heel next to heel. Do you see where I am going with this?
Somehow, one of her slippers got bumped. The right slipper was now 7/8 of an inch lower than the left slipper. And this caught her eye from the top bunk! And she was insistent that she get down and fix it. Almost panicky.
And this is just one example.
But gosh dang it, she is so cute, that all I can do is laugh about it.

Is Santa for real?

While driving today, Jocelyn broke her most favorite pink headband that "Santa" brought her for Christmas. She was sad, but announced that it's okay because she was sure that Santa would bring her another one for Christmas this year. At that point, Genevieve asked me if I thought he would. I replied to them both that it depends on whether she is naughty or nice. Genevieve replied, "Well, that's not true because last year, we were naughty, and he still brought us stuff! That's weird huh mom?"
Man. If only Santa could follow through with his promises!

A better video...

Ski days

My baby girl has recently become quite the little skier. At 5 years old, she can almost ski more comfortably, effortlessly, and confidently than her mother. :) Hey, now, I said almost.

Taking a break from the slopes to get our faces painted. While we were there, we ran into a friend and babysitter.

Genevieve (up front) mastering the obstacle course.

The rest of the trip...

This picture is cool because you can see our ship way in the background. Princess Cays is a private island owned by the Princess Cruise Company. It is a very tiny, but BEAUTIFUL little island. So tiny, and shallow, that there is no place to dock. So they anchor the boat out in the ocean and tender us in on the life boats. So, yes, we got to ride in the life boat, but not because our captain hit ground and our ship was sinking, requiring our immediate evacuation, but rather, because we were being whisked off for a day of basking in turquoise, Caribbean water.
Isn't it gorgeous!?!?
At each port, the crew takes pictures of you with different "characters." I was extremely impressed with the size of Popeye's muscles. I have since increased the amount of spinach I eat.
One of the most incredible things for us was to watch how they "park" the ships. Especially at port when there are 8 other ships already there. They basically parallel park these things. It was quite a sight. These aren't little boats with a gas pedal and a brake. There is a science to it. I'm impressed just talking about it.
Oh yes, the rainbows in St. Thomas were beautiful! We got quite a bit of rain that day, but we were by no means complaining. The rain would pelt down on us for 3 minutes and then within 30 seconds, the ground was dry.
Magen's Bay is a beach in St. Thomas known as 1 of the top 10 beaches in the world. And I swam there.

Puerto Rico! A very colorful island! For some odd scheduling reason, our port time was only from 4-10pm. So, instead of finding a beach for relaxing, we did a lot of sight-seeing.

We had a minor mishap... Just kidding, but there were some definite "sketchy" areas in San Juan. In fact, we heard there is an 80% unemployment rate there. Yikes! Fortunately for us, they treat the tourists better than their vehicles.

The Famous "San Delipe del Morro Fort" was an interesting area to walk around in. It has been there since the 1500's to protect the island from any European invaders.

Its a pretty massive sized structure and only 10% is left standing now.

Sam even did his part in defending the invaders. He takes his job very seriously.

And now we are back to life. Back to reality. And honestly, we couldn't be any happier than to have our beautiful girls back in our arms! We are very blessed to have such a close family that kept our girls safe and comfortable while we were gone!!

Future Chefs?