Baby Cassidy

One of the highlights of our trip was getting to meet this little sweetie for the first time.  This is Lacey and Jared's daughter Cassidy.

 Noelle and Liz loved holding her and kept insisting that it was their turn to hold her.

Thanksgiving

We were lucky to be able to spend Thanksgiving with family this year.  It was great just sitting back and relaxing with those we love.

This is a picture of us playing "The Great Del Moody" game.  It involves crazy hats and was a lot of fun.

Liz in the Turkey hat....I can't help but laugh out loud when I see this picture.

Candyland Birthday

Noey and Liz are 6! Wow, it's hard to believe it. We celebrated with a candyland birthday.  It was a few days after their birthday due to our trip to Jamaica and this theme requiring a bit of set up.  It was fun to get ready for.  Noelle and Liz helped me paint, cut, and paste to make the candyland characters.  The kids had a fun time.  The party got a little wild and loud at times but everyone had fun.

I am so proud of my little girls.  They have grown up so much in the last year.  They are doing great in Kindergarten and starting to read.  It is great watching them learn new things and ask questions.

Yah Mon

We are trying to adjust to life back in reality.  We left the 80 degree weather only to come home to 36 below zero.  Yikes.

For the start of our trip we left Fairbanks for a long layover in Seattle.  Fortunately Jed let me twist his arm into taking the light rail into downtown Seattle so we could look around Pike's Market.  It was fun and helped with the all day layover we had.  Then it was off to Detroit airport then Atlanta and finally Montego Bay, Jamaica.

When we arrived we whizzed through customs and found our shuttle bus to the hotel.  The guys at the airport were super pushy and grabbing bags out of our hands so they could be tipped to carry a carry on bag a few feet.  Not very professional but I guess if you lived in a country where the minimum wage only gets you 10 bucks a day you may fight for your tips too.

Next we drove out of the airport and I think my heart went out of rhythm for a few seconds when the driver started driving on the opposite side of the road.  This was the first time I had experienced that. Our bus driver dropped off a few other people at various hotels and made his way honking at various friends along the road as he passed by.  He showed us the nice houses belonging to "street pharmacists" and then we saw an array of ramshackle houses intermixed.

He explained that rates for home loans in Jamaica were 35% so no one can borrow money to build a house so they start with one room and then save up for another and so on until they have a house built and paid for the process takes about 10-15 years.  At first I thought that this was crazy and looked funny seeing so many houses with rooms made of re-bar  but the more I think of it the more I think they might be on to something.  Americans could all do better to live within our means and maybe instead of all buying McMansions we could start small.

When we finally got to our hotel it did not disappoint.  Neither of us had stayed at an all inclusive 5 star hotel and were amazed at all the amenities   The food was fantastic.  They had a buffet restaurant by the beach that we went to a few times and it was so nice to dine to the sound of the ocean and warm breeze.

We woke up early (4 AM Alaska time) for our conference the next day.  The speakers were all very well educated doctors from University of Washington and Harvard and presented some interesting topics.  We both tried our best to stay awake despite our jet lag.

We hit the beach that day and I was amazed at how warm the water is.  Normally when you go in the ocean it is a little chilly.  In Alaska it is downright cold and makes your whole body tense up.  Not in Jamaica.  The water felt like bath water and felt so nice to go in.

The rest of our time in Jamaica was spent finishing up the conference, swimming, snorkeling, kayaking, sleeping and reading on lawn chairs on the beach.  It was awesome just to kick back in the afternoons.

We decided to defer any side trips since our 4 day stay was limited we figured that
relaxing by the ocean or in the infinity pool would be better than taking a crowded tour bus somewhere.

When we left Jamaica we pulled out of our hotel and I was reminded of the contrast of luxury vs poverty as drove by some small shacks right across from our hotel.

We passed by the Ussain Bolt billboard and then it was back to the airport and more airplanes. US customs gave me a really hard time trying to bring home a bottle of Jamaican Jerk seasoning that I got at the airport. They kept asking me if I had any meat." Do you have any chicken or pig or goat?" Really? Do you think I am going to put goat in my carry on?  They didn't quite believe me so they xrayed my bag to find out that sure enough, no goats and they released us to return to the US of A. In Atlanta we got to see my Aunt Lisa, and cousin Kayley and Angela when we had our layover.  They drove out of their way to come have dinner with us that night.  It was nice to see our family that live on the other side of the country.

We finished our trip with another Seattle layover, this time we stayed in the airport and the time seemed to tick by so slowly.  At this point we missed our kids a lot just wanted to be home.  It was hard being away from the girls.  We tried to call but had a hard time getting a hold of anyone. Come to find out the answering machine message that we left ended up costing 41 bucks when we looked at our credit card statement.

Although our kids would have loved playing at the resort I was glad they didn't come along.  I read the travel advisories about armed robberies and kidnappings in Jamaica and decided to leave my 2 most precious possessions at home.  The crazy flights and layovers would also have been really tough for them too.  It was also nice to just have some time for Jed and I to have fun.

All in all it was great. The people of Jamaica are laid back, friendly people who appreciate a good laugh and don't worry about the little things.  Yah mon, no problem.

So now were back home in the frozen northland and the whole thing almost seems like a surreal dream.