What the Weather???

What the Weather???

I think this is probably the craziest week of weather we have ever had while living in Iowa. Last Sunday church was cancelled due to the roads being covered in solid ice. On Monday, I woke up at 4:30AM to a thunderstorm. What? We had thunder, rain, hail, fog, and almost 50 degrees. Then on Tuesday the temps dropped fast. School was cancelled due to a foot of snow. We shoveled for almost 2 hours and the snow was so heavy because somehow underneath it was this slush crap. It was also extremely cold so shoveling was a nightmare. Thursday was a 2-hour delay. The roads were covered in a snow layer that was ice. That was fun. I have to drive in it anyway cause if I don’t go, I don’t get paid. Ugh! Friday was also a 2-hour delay because of the wind chill. When I left for work it was -29. Walking up the hill into the school I was pretty sure my entire insides would turn to icicles before I reached the entrance door. I guess the saying is true, “If you don’t like weather in Iowa, just wait a few hours”. I am counting on an early spring….

Alayna

Alayna had another orchestra concert this week and did a great job. It was hard to get a picture of her playing because there were so many kids, but I got a few of her before and after.

She also lost 2 teeth in the same day!!! When we were at Wal-Mart, she was eating a cheesy cracker thingy and crunched on something hard and realized it was her tooth. Then a couple hours later she came running out of the bathroom with another one!

Other Noteworthy News

Tyler went in on Friday morning hoping to get his cast off. Instead they put on another one until March 1^st. He was very bummed. It’s hard to dance with it and he has several show choir competitions this month. But the doctor wanted to make sure it fully healed. I agree.

On the snow day, I spent all day doing they layout for my concept map for my ePortfolio for my class. I would like to insert here how sick I am of school. I am 41 and so dang sick of it. I have GOT to get a full time library job this coming year. Please keep me in your prayers.

 

I got some cute pictures to share of Marisa and her roommate who decided last minute to hike to the Y yesterday. Crazy girls!

Kayla is getting tons of letters from colleges who want her. She is also preparing to take the AP Psychology exam! She has lots of studying ahead of her.

Also, I am not sure what has possessed me, but I have already started Spring Cleaning. I think it is filling the void in my life from missing my cruise.  Alayna volunteered her room 1^st. It took all week. We deep cleaned and got rid of a full trash bag of stuff (as she is a crap collector). It isn’t perfect since I let her be the executive decision maker. But she is thrilled because it is exactly the way she wants it.

Cruise Blues

Cruise Blues

It sure is tough to come back from an absolutely perfect vacation to a vast frozen wasteland with severe cold weather. It was BRUTALLY cold this week and I often went to work in temps below zero. There is just something really wrong with that! Today church was cancelled due to solid ice on the roads.

 

Friday Night

I love it when our kids get to perform at the same event. Makes it easier on us parents. There was a LM girls basketball game on Friday night. Tyler performed with the pep band and I was super impressed. They sounded great and he looked like he was having the time of his life!

 

Then Alayna’s choir group, Grace Notes, sang the National Anthem for the game. (Kids in color shirts are from her school, kids in white from another). She was so excited and did a great job.

She especially loved when she found who the mascot was and went to give him a giant hug (Tylers friend Logan).

My Girls

Grand Cayman Islands!- Best Day Ever!!!

BUCKET LIST: Take a Catamaran to Sting Ray City; swim, take pictures, and kiss stingrays; snorkel in some of the bluest water with the most amazing fish- CHECK!

As we 1st pulled into Grand Cayman, they told us that the Georgetown Port had been closed due to high swells and choppy waves.  So, instead we pulled into a port on the other side of the island.  Many of the excursions were cancelled.  Thank goodness we booked with locals so ours was still on! 

We took the tender in.  We even saw a pirate ship on the way.

Look at the color of this water!  Its to DIE for!

Then we took a bus to the west bay.  From there we took a catamaran to West Bay.

When we arrived at Sting Ray City and I was so dang excited!!!!  They come to this sand bar for food and have gotten used to people.  Here are the pictures from the boat before we got into the water.

When we got in, the waves were pretty crazy.  Usually the water is about waist deep, but due to the high swells, the water kept going up to our necks and sometimes over our heads.  The sting rays were everywhere!  They slide right by you, rub up against you.  Its just nuts!

I was one of the people who got to feed them!!!  You hold a squid like an ice cream cone and they come up and suck it right out of your hand like a heavy-duty vacuum cleaner.  It was incredible!  Then, they let us hold them.  They are velvety on top and like rubbery on the bottom.  If you and your spouse kissed a ray at the same time, you will be together forever.  So, naturally, we did it!

I was the last one getting into the boat because I was loving it so much so the guys let me hold them more and feed them the rest of the squid.  Im telling you, it was absolute heaven!

Then they took us out to 2 different beautiful spots for snorkeling.  It was pretty deep water (compared to the sand bar), but man, was it spectacular!  The water was crystal clear and there were fish everywhere by the corals.  The water was perfect, the view was perfect.  What an absolutely amazing day!!!

Right when we got back to the tender, this storm front came by and started to pour!!  If it had come a few hours earlier, this whole experience would have been cancelled!!!

We went to an amazing illusionist show after dinner.  It was so entertaining and baffling! 

Bonding with the Sting Rays! (Cayman Islands)

Mahogany Bay (Roatan)- Best Day Ever!!!- Part 2

After zip lining, our guide took us to this gorgeous beach resort with white sand and the clearest water I have ever seen.  We spent the afternoon here swimming and relaxing.

There were monkeys in the tree by us at lunch and there were cats that would catch lizards and eat them.

Here is the tree house that overlooks the ocean that you can rent for $50 a night.  So dang cool.

Mahogany Bay (Roatan)- Best Day Ever!!!- Part 1

BUCKET LIST: Exhilarating Zip line through an incredibly beautiful rainforest in Mahogany Bay, play with a monkey, swim in the white sands beach of a beach resort- CHECK!

This morning we pulled into Mahogany Bay!  This beautiful island is part of Honduras and used to be the hideout for a pirate!  It is stunningly beautiful!

We took a tour bus through the island, which is mostly rainforest.  Here is the overlook on the southern part of the island.  We met a brother and sister who were from Utah! He went to Utah State. They took this pictures for us.

Then our bus driver took us ON THE BEACH in the BUS!  I'm not kidding.  It was one of the craziest things I have ever seen.  He went through some of the water too!  Just crazy! 

Then we went to go zip lining.  Now, I have never done anything like this so you can imagine how scared I was, especially since I am deathly afraid of heights along with not being in control.   But I decided this is my chance to be daring, to live a little, and to check stuff off my bucket list.  So, they gave us a helmet and strapped on the gear.  They said this is the absolute BEST zip line in all of central America).

We met an amazing couple who are mormons and are farmers that live in La Salle, Utah.  We had so much fun getting to know them.  Anyway, the 1st line was pretty straight and it scared me a bit, but I did great.  Then, as they were unhooking me, one of the guides ( a boy like 17 years old) asked me if it was my 1st time and I said “Yes!  don’t kill me, I have kids”.  He said “Its my 1st time too”.  He laughed hard at my stunned look and then said, “Ok, I go with you”.  I told him that I was just fine, but before I knew it he hooked on to me and we were flying FULL SPEED through the rain forest.  It was the most exhilarating experience of my life and I wasn’t scared because I knew this kid could stop us in time.  You should have seen me!  I was flying.  I went by myself the rest of the time and barely braked at all.  The longest section was a 1/4 mile long! 

(That’s me!!!)

(That’s me coming in on the 1/4 mile one)

Then we got to hold on monkey!  It was so cool!!