Arrrruba!

Based on the comments and notes I received after I posted that I was back from Aruba, I apparently didn't do a very good job informing y'all that I was going to Aruba in the first place. You see, I must have gotten all caught up in the craziness of the November that meant traveling every weekend . . . Also, you're not supposed to broadcast when you're leaving your house empty for a week right? Although in our case, we dont leave our house empty since our roommate and dog and all the chickens are still here. Not to mention the twenty-some-odd kids who are pretty much permanent fixtures on the front porch even if we're not home. Good luck getting past them.

ANYWAYS, all that to say that we spent Thanksgiving, and the entirety of last week, at a beautiful resort in Aruba. Courtesy of my fabulous parents, who also gave up their top-floor-corner-suite for the sake of their lovely daughter grandbabies.

We had an absolutely wonderful time, although it was definitely weird to celebrate Thanksgiving without the usual trappings and "fall" traditions. Not that I missed it, necessarily, since I was spending my time snorkeling and reading and laying in the sun on a perpetually 85 degree day with an ocean view. Not quite so much laying, actually, since Caden has become the busiest, craziest, toddler boy known to man. Sigh.

However, I literally could not be more thankful for my seeing my family (including my sister who I haven't seen in nearly a year) and a beautiful week enjoying them in the sunshine.

One of my favorite days was when we went snorkeling, and Jayci was so brave and she even put her face in the water and breathed through the tube-thing (something I haven't even perfected without panicking and inhaling water). She is her father's daughter for sure.

 

Also, the following picture almost made me pee my pants on the boat, which would have been embarrassing.