Well let's just recap 2023 thus far LOL
Jon and I went on 2 cruises...one in January and one in February. We have travel agents as friends! (if you want a great travel agent contact OVI at Kay's travel doesn't matter where you live he can help you plan a great vacation tell him I sent you!)
The first we went to to Key West and Nassau with my BFF college roomie and her husband. It was their first cruise and they had a great time.
this is a real unfiltered picture from my phone!
We left out of Tampa so that was easy for us. It was the coldest cruise I've ever been on and the oldest. We were some of the youngest folks on the cruise. But we had an absolute blast! It was in January during a cold snap. It was even cold in Key West! I don't think I've ever been there when it was under a 100 degrees! Then we went to Nassau-we took a tour around the city-that was interesting especially the rum cake factory! We laughed so much on this trip!
Then in February we went with a group from my hometown to the Bahamas. The group included our travel agent. This time we left out of Cape Canaveral one a huge ship. It was the biggest one we've ever gone on before with Broadway Shows, a theater, an amazing promenade area filled with shopping and restaurants that were mainly included in our fare. At first I was a bit overwhelmed being on such a large ship but it was very comfortable and although there were more people it did not seem crowded. We shared the ship with a convention of Anime folks and "furries" that was interesting. The last night we got into a conversation with a group of them and really enjoyed them. They were very open and respectful. I'm glad we didn't let our differences keep us apart!
The ship had Grease the hit broadway show running. It was a treat! On this trip we just stopped at Royal Caribbean's Bahamian Island Coco Cay. We had gone there years ago but it was rather unremarkable. It's been updated and is wonderful with trams, lots of shady places, lots of things to do, places to eat, very nice!
We went on the balloon ride-none of my family or friends can believe I did it but it was beautiful to see the island from 450 feet!
There were lots of chickens on the island so I felt right at home. To be honest I didn't think I'd enjoy the island but it was fantastic.
Here is our group don't we look like we are from Downton Abbey??
Some folks wonder how we can afford to cruise but we don't go out much in our day to day life. We don't go on "dates" because it's usually just too complicated. And over the past years we don't even go out to eat that much either. It's not relaxing to us knowing we have to come home and take care of our day to day duties. In other words it stresses us out. Going out to eat with the kids is getting harder as Sarah has a strict diet now on top of having to have her food pureed. If we were to go out and get home at midnight, then our caregiver would leave and we'd have to be up early in the morning to start the day. For us we relax at home by reading or watching tv after the kids are in bed. That is great and we do enjoy it but going on cruises are all our date nights at one time LOL So we go on cruises so we can relax and spend time together. Living in Florida makes it easy and having grown kids means we can usually get dropped off at the terminal so we don't have to pay parking. (and we return the favor to them too) It doesn't hurt to have a great travel agent who works hard to find us a good deal. We generally get an inside room which is the cheapest - sometimes less than $100 a day. Meals are included at no extra charge. You can't beat a cruise for the price, convenience and over all relaxation!
It's been really good for us as a couple to get away from our extremely complicated life and focus on each other and having fun. We have so very many responsibilities that our life is filled from the time we wake up till we go to bed. I know everyone has responsibilities too but we are almost 60! Yes Jon will be 60 this year!!! Our responsibilities with our family is like having toddlers in bigger bodies that require total care. We get so tired physically then Jon has the prison and the church. We have our older boys too and Selah to watch over at her group home. It's alot and God gives us the strength to do it but this gives us a time to recharge. I'd recommend it to everyone!
We did do a family date night at the Strawberry Festival this year....
The cutest couple
Sam got his corn
my boys- i had no idea how much they looked alike
Then we went on a night just for Sam. Both trips were for his birthday present. He loves the Strawberry Festival. We rode most of the kid rides and all of the ferris wheels
Jon had more sense than to ride this one. I got so sick Sam loved it
Then I even took my friend to it so she could be a Strawberry Queen!
So far this year Sam has NOT had an issue with seasonal depression and has not lost weight! This is the first year we have not struggled from January -May (of course we still have some time but we've never seen it hit this late) We use a light box-it must be helping! Sam has topped the scale at 124! Last year he was up to 119 but lost to 84 pounds and doctors got very worried. We did too A doctor suggested this so I bought a cheap one on Amazon never thinking it would work but it did!!!!!!!
Steve and Nichole are doing great as newlyweds and recently went on a trip out to the Grand Canyon and Utah. We called it their 3rd honeymoon LOL
Shad got a promotion at work and has new responsibilities. We are so proud of him. He is so focused on his future and has such a great work ethic. He has his future planned and has goals. It's really great to see your children grow up and start their adult lives. When Steve first left for college I did not know how I'd live! He was the first one out of the nest and it was hard for me. I loved having all 5 of them at home. But I chose to embrace their growth and with that I grew too. Shad still lives at home but he works a crazy schedule and really only is home to sleep. He's like our roommate HAHA I've learned to treat them as adults and both of them have entered into their adulthood in a way that has made us very proud. They are both responsible and dependable. Steve has an amazing job as a video producer. It's crazy to think of my little boys all grown and completely self sufficient.
Selah is doing great in her group home. She has been there over a year and we are so grateful for the care she receives. I was there today and had a wonderful visit with her and her private nurse.. Yes they worked out a way to get her her own nurse! Since she is under 21 she is eligible for a peds nurse. So she has one during the day and at night. It's incredible.
Sarah was in the hospital in February. She had a blockage. Since her surgery things don't move as well as we would like them too. We have her a a regimine now that seems to be working but it's not exactly the most natural meds. But at this time we have to keep things going and hopefully her system will get back to normal.
Her new gastrologist did get her and Sam into the St Joe Complex Care Practice. Originally they were at Arnold Palmer's but that doctor moved. Our original pediatrician retired and moved too. It's been a challenging couple of years. If you don't have older special needs kids you will not believe how hard it is to find healthcare. We had 2 doctors refuse to take them as patients! Even our personal gastrologist was uncomfortable with their care because of their complications. I thank God for the many years we had such a wonderful pediatrician. Dr W gave me his home cell and back office numbers. I never took advantage of that trust. He would call and check on us when things were going on. I felt like we were a team taking care of them. He respected my input and I trusted his decisions. I knew he'd give med the best advice. Even back then I knew we were blessed but boy do I realize now just how blessed we were with him. Those kinds of doctors are few and far between. Thank you Dr W!!!! I'm hoping things will work out good with this new group/doctor
The day after Easter I'm having foot surgery. I opted for a lesser surgery on my heel in hopes it will fix my issues. I only have to be in a boot for 2 weeks....only..... I'm very tactile defensive myself and am hoping I can handle it! Just trying it on made me feel stressed. It goes up to the knee and has air compression in it. Evidently between all my 10,000 steps and my love of high heels I have what is called Haglund deformity It's affecting everything now and I get pains down the back of my legs. It's been a problem for almost 2 years. I had hoped it would get better but it hasn't. So wish me luck!
So that's it in a nutshell. We have more chickens. I ended up buying chicks for my broody hen at the end of the year. My hen was in chicken heaven and took them under her wings immediately. It actually brought tears to my eyes. (see a couple of posts back) Now those chicks are bigger than their tiny mama..Another one of my older chicks went broody and is sitting on 9 eggs (from various other chickens too) I had to mark them as some of her sisters will sit almost on top of her and lay their eggs and she'll roll them under her! So every night I pull the unmarked eggs out from under her! These eggs should actually hatch on Easter! Wouldn't that be adorable???
Good homes were found for the other 3 roosters and now there's just my one beautiful sweet boy. He is literally the best rooster I have ever known. Isn't he gorgeous? He has 14 girls so he is a happy boy!
Life is good-I'm thankful for my family and for all God has done for us. There are challenges but He brings us through and helps us out. Have a good weekend!!
