I feel like any child entering the realm of double digit age is a huge deal. But now that it’s my child, my brain just has a hard time getting around it. But indeed, our most amazing Fay turned 10 on May 7, and we are SO glad she’s been ours for every one of those 10 years!

Fay is just as fun as ever she has been. She is a passionate, enthusiastic little gem who is always up to something exciting! She currently loves

• Reading, currently really enjoying the Babysitter’s Club graphic novels
• Dragons and books thereabout
• Science
• Playing pretend, usually some kind of epic adventure
• Being in charge of things and people
• Animals
• Every human she has ever met!

And whichever of those things she is presently engaging in, she gives it all the energy she has! It is fun to find out what her new passion will be each day.

Everything about Fay is joyful and exciting; but I think my favorite thing about Fay is that she is just so good. She has always had a strong will and mind, and she chooses to use those strengths to serve and love others wherever she can. She is also just a treasured friend to me. When I have melt-downs or just am feeling low, she always responds to my weaknesses and mistakes with patient compassion. It is humbling to feel her love for me in those moments when I am at my worst; and her example of Christlike love makes me want to show more compassion to others. ❤️ She truly is a remarkable young lady!

We’re so grateful that Fay made us parents 10 whole years ago. And we love who she has become in those 10 years. Here’s to infinity more!

This past week Josh and I escaped, just the two of us, on a week long cruise to the Carribbean! It was such a needed break for us, and one that we never could have done without the magnificent Mother and Daddy! We are SO SO SO grateful for everything Mother did to take care of and entertain the kids while we were gone! And it is so lovely that the kids got to spend some fun, memorable time with Grandmother and Grandpa before they leave for their mission this summer!

After Mother took us to the airport last Saturday, we flew to Orlando where Megan and Naomi were waiting to pick us up. Megan battled so much traffic and airport craziness to retrieve us. She is our hero!

We spent some of the evening with the Orlando Muhlestein kids and dogs, and went out on a double date with David and Megan. It was a fun-atmosphere pub place that just got more and more exciting as the night went on. The next day, after a lovely leisurely morning with fancy pancakes and the best company, David and Megan drove us to Port Canaveral (#besthostsever) to board our Disney cruise ship!

We had 4 ports of call on this cruise, each of which was amazing.

Port #1–Cozumel, Mexico (day 3 of the cruise)
Our goal in Cozumel was basically just to enjoy the beach. We went to a beach resort and spent the day there. We spent some time in the water–there was a floating obstacle course we played on (I fell off three times; Josh fell off zero times)–and a lot of time relaxing in the shade. The temperature was basically perfect, and we had a great time!

When we returned to the ship, there was a mariachi band playing! It was really fun!

Fun fact about Cozumel: It’s coastline has one of the healthiest corral reefs in the world! To maintain the health of that reef, we were not allowed to wear sunscreen in the ocean.

Port #2–Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands (day 4 of the cruise)
On Grand Cayman we took a tour of the main city, Georgetown, learned a lot of history, visited a fascinating rock formation known as “Hell” (and met “the Devil”–a cooky old guy who owns half of “Hell” and runs a gift shop right next to it) and went to a turtle farm! The turtles were the best part! Another best part was the police officer directing traffic right off the port (no picture). He was almost dancing as he helped cars and pedestrians get around safely, and always with a big smile you could see despite the mask he was wearing!

Fun Fact about Cayman Islands: They are still governed by the UK, and their judges all have to wear white wigs in court.

Port #3–Falmouth, Jamaica (day 5 of the cruise)
Jamaica was quite the adventure for us! We had a shore excursion booked that would take us to an aviary, enchanted gardens, and a waterfall we could hike to. But when we arrived at the meeting place that morning, nobody was there from our tour company, and nobody who was there had seen them. We waited a while before giving up. Later, however, we got a ride on what’s called a “Pedicab”–a bike trailer type thing. We told our cabby, Mr. Happy, that we just wanted to get a taste of what Jamaica was like, because all we knew about it came from watching Cool Runnings. He obliged and pedaled us around the “tourist approved” parts of town. It was a very humbling experience to see the situation so many people lived in. We can only imagine what things were like outside the “tourist approved” areas. Mr. Happy explained to us that many people can only feed their families each day because of the wild fruit that grows plentifully all over the island. Two fruits that are absolutely essential to the survival of many Jamaicans are Bread Fruit and Ackee. The latter is the national fruit of Jamaica and is, quite interestingly, poisonous until it naturally bursts open when fully ripe.

Fun Fact about Jamaica: People really do say “ya mon” all the time. I never got tired of it!

Port #4–Castawy Cay, Bahamas (day 7 of the cruise)
Castaway Cay is Disney’s private island, which they lease from the Bahamian government. It was another paradisiacal beach/tropical jungle, marvelously maintained and easy to navigate. We again, enjoyed the beach (much easier to enjoy it longer when you can wear sunscreen and you’re me). We signed up to go parasailing–which I was SOOOO excited about! But right around our time window, the wind picked up and our adventure was cancelled. It was so sad. The skipper explained to us “I could definitely get you guys up, but I’m not so sure I could get you back down; and that’s something we typically like to do.” We had to admit that was fair.😂 It also started raining, which cut our beaching a little bit short, but honestly not too much. We still had tons of fun and relaxation!

Between ports, we had lots of fun on the ship, too!

Fun Fact about Disney Cruises: There is live music being performed at almost any hour of the day. We enjoyed some beautiful piano and violin!

Then Saturday morning came nice and early and we were off the boat and heading back to the airport. BUT, when we arrived at the airport (at 8:45 AM, our flight departed after 7:00 PM) we quickly rented a car and headed out again! We fulfilled a long-standing dream of mine!

Gatorland!

Gatorland is exactly what it sounds like. It is a park dedicated to alligators (and some crocodiles) and other freaky Florida wildlife. I feel like the other theme park it is most similar to is SeaWorld, only not so big. Gatorland doesn’t have roller coasters; but it does have a series of ziplines, which looked cool. Like SeaWorld there are some shows you can sit and watch about some of the animals they keep in the park. We got to watch alligators jump out of the water to grab raw chicken straight out of a handler’s hand! It was way crazy, especially since all you usually see an alligator do is pretend to be a floating log.

It was seriously so much fun (and somewhat terrifying) to see so many alligators! But there was another thing that was really fun for us to see, as well. There are TONS of cranes who make their home in Gatorland, and many just happen to have chicks right now!

Fun Fact about Florida: My Mom is from there! Also, in Orlando, we probably passed at least 4 streets with the word “Orange” in their name.

And then, after returning to the airport and flying back to Utah, we returned home to happily sleeping children, a clean house, and all the laundry folded! 🤯🥰 We had a fantastic time, and we are so grateful to Mother and Daddy (again) for making it possible!!