Sunday, April 24, 2011

President's Club 2011

Caribbean Cruise!
Brock was chosen by his company to attend this year's President's Club trip, and lucky for me, he chose me as his "guest"! We left our kids in good hands (thanks Uncle Justin for watching the boys for the weekend, and Grandma and Grandpa K for taking Leila and then the boys for the rest of the week!), and were off to Miami!
We spent the first night in Miami, and just got to the hotel, ate dinner, and went to bed. A bunch of people took a shuttle to South Beach, but we just wanted to chill.
The next morning we took a shuttle to the ship, got all checked in and boarded, and started checking out the ship. We were on the Norwegian Dawn.
Here are Brock and I as the boat was about to leave. You can see Miami in the background. It was HOT, HUMID, SUNNY, and BEAUTIFUL! The complete opposite of Salt Lake City!


Our camera is really bad in the dark, but here we are at dinner the first night. They had two restaurants on board that were included, plus the buffets that ran all day. They also had a bunch of restaurants that were a bit nicer, and had an extra cost. Brock and I aren't picky, and we loved pretty much everything we ate.






Day one was a "Day at Sea" and it was spent soaking in the sun, getting to know lots of new people, eating, and apparently, taking no pictures!! That night we had our welcome party, and we talked and danced into the night.


The next day we docked in Georgetown, Grand Cayman. We have been there on both of our other cruises, so we decided not to do one of the cruise excursions. Instead, we got a cab and went to 7 Mile Beach. It was beautiful.


Here is a lovely picture of me on the Tender from the ship to the dock.






That's not our ship in the background, but it looked just like that! (the one on the left!)

The water was so clear and warm!







That night we met up with a few couples and went to one of the free restaurants. There were two cameras going at once, so we are all kind of looking at different places.


The next day we docked in Cozumel, Mexico. After much deliberation, we finally decided to rent scooters and ride around the island. In this picture, I am just holding the camera up behind me.







Natalie and Andrew Warner






Looking Good!




Curtis and Becca




We stopped a couple of times along the way. Here is one of the beaches we stopped at.








We found a fun little place to stop for lunch, and it was delicious! Fish tacos and nachos with fresh salsa and guacamole. It was so good. And we were sitting right on the beach. Even better!











Then we spent some time lounging. Here is Natalie, Becca, and me.









Me and Natalie scaling the rocks.




It was all fun and games until someone decided to slice her foot open on the razor sharp rocks. YOWZA! Natalie had to give me a piggy back ride back to our table so that I wouldn't get sand all up in it. Then we found some peroxide and a band aid, and it was as good as new!




While we were there, we had a slight death scare. Okay, it wasn't slight. It was awful. The waves look nice and innocent behind us don't they? Well, the boys thought so too. Curtis and Gary got in to play, and seemed to be having a grand old time. So Brock decides to join them, even though it looks like there is a really bad rip tide right where there are. He figures, they're in it, I can do it! He starts walking in, and looks like he's having fun too. Then I decide I want to join in the fun. I head over just as Curtis and Gary are getting out. They both fall to the ground, and are breathing heavily, so I ask them how it was. They both just looked at me, and could barely get the words out! "It is BRUTAL out there!" I look at Brock and he doesn't seem to be having a hard time, but I wave him in. Then I notice that it looks like he is swimming as hard as he can, and he is just getting further and further away. I wave him in again. (I didn't know this at the time, but he has been struggling since he got out there, and is starting to get really nervous at about this time.) I am really starting to get scared now, and then I hear him yell out for HELP! Now I am dying! I know Brock, and I know that he is not going to yell for help until he is literally about to die. I start looking all around for anyone that can help. One of the guys that was with us had rented a boogie board and I start yelling at him to go out to where Brock is. He could hardly get out there though. The waves were one after another, and it was almost as hard to get in, as out! At that moment, I start praying. Then I start thinking about what am I going to do without him! I almost started crying, but I was trying to keep it together. Brock told me later that he prayed also, and told himself to just breathe. Those of us on shore figured out that he needed to be swimming left instead of right, and we were yelling and screaming at him to get his attention. He couldn't hear us, but he could see us. We pointed to where he should swim, and he said that it seemed like the waves literally calmed for just long enough for him gather himself and swim. It wasn't long before he felt a rock below that he could stand on to catch his breath. Then he was able to swim in from there. He crawled out of the water, and just fell to the ground. I have never been so scared. I hated that there was nothing I could do, but watch, and pray, and wait. It was horrible. We are grateful for prayer, and that God is mindful of us all the time. Needless to say, I didn't get in, and we sat by the little pool the rest of the afternoon!



We made our way back and did a little shopping before heading back to the ship.




The men working at these booths thought we were twins! Natalie bought that cute hat!




That night we went to dinner at the yummy Steak House on the ship. It was delicious. Here we are taking a picture of Curtis and Becca taking a picture of us.








I got steak and crab legs. This HUGE pile of crab legs. So good!




We went with the Hansens and the Warners.




Later that night we had another party with the whole group. They handed out all of the awards. Did I mention our camera is horrible in the dark? Here is Brock with the owners. Jason, Brett, and Vern.




Here we are on the last night.







We had such a great time. I love spending one on one time with my amazing husband. We are so grateful that he has such a great job, and loves the people he works with and for. We are lucky that they take such good care of their hard-working employees. I know that there were a bunch of people who took more pictures, and hopefully we'll get those from them soon. I'll edit this post with more pictures if we get them.





7 comments:

Ute Family said...

So fun! Glad you've made it home safely from your 12th trip this year! LOL! Love all the pics! Looks like you had so much fun! Love paid for trips! Makes them all that more fun!!! :)

the watkins said...

Sounds so fun, minus the ocean scare! I can't imagine how terrifying that would be. Glad everything was okay :)

Valerie said...

Wow sounds like such a fun time! Except Brock getting stuck out there. That is super scary and I would have started crying. I am so glad he is ok. You look awesome and soooo tan! Glad you had a great time :)

The Johnson Family said...

All of those pictures make me want sun and sand more than anything right now (especially with the SNOW we are supposed to get). You look like you has such a fun time, despite Brock's near-death experience! I'm just happy you're home for a little bit. The backyard has missed little one's playing in it :)

Shandi Brown said...

Oh my gosh that was such a scary story! I am so glad everything is okay! You look amazing, insanity really does its job:) I want that right after I have my baby.

Jennifer Phillips said...

I just about cried when I read how Broc almost died. OMG that is soooooooo scary. I would have lost it if I were you. I am so glad he is safe. I just kept imagining me being in that situation and I don't know what I would have done. No more swimming in the ocean you two!!!!

Ashlie said...

Ummmm....HELLO! I need to get Insanity ASAP!! You look amazing girl. 3 kids and you look incredible! I bought TurboFire which is another beachbody video. It looks fun because it is all girls (well mostly) and fun music.