Our Trip to Jamaica

This year Tim and Kathy celebrated their 6th anniversary and planned a trip to an all-inclusive resort in Jamaica. We flew to Montego Bay, and then took a 2 hour taxi ride to the Couples Tower Isle Resort in Ocho Rios. The weather in Jamaica was beautiful the entire trip, and the resort was really nice. We went horseback riding on a privately-owned plantation, watched a Jamaican man climb a palm tree to pick a coconut, relaxed by the pools, walked on the beach, sipped fruity, frozen cocktails, and enjoyed some delicious food. Tim especially enjoyed the spicy, jerk chicken. We also took some beautiful pictures of the resort and surrounding landscape to share with everyone. Although our luggage didn't get to us until 25 hours after we arrived at the resort, and Kathy got sick with a sinus infection....we made the best of it, and really enjoyed the trip and our time together in a warm, sunny climate.  

Christmas Cruise

We decided not to celebrate Christmas as usual, as this is our first Christmas after losing Kara, so we flew to Jacksonville, FL on December 24th, rented a car and drove to Mimi and Bob's for the night.  We went to church with them on Christmas Eve, and really enjoyed spending time with them.

On December 25th, after a delicious breakfast, we drove back to Jacksonville to catch a bus to our cruise ship, the Carnival Fascination.  We spent the 25th and 26th at sea, and it was pretty rough seas.  On the 27th we docked in Nassau, to VERY windy weather.  The Bahamians said they had never experienced such wind without a hurricane, and they said it was unseasonably cold--great, right? 

We tried not to let the weather dampen our enthusiasm as we set off on our excursion at the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island.  We participated in a deep water dolphin adventure! We were foot-pushed by dolphins, swam under water with them, and got to interact with them up close. It was very cool--and pretty cold, even in wetsuits--but we're very glad we had the experience.

 
On the 28th, we were supposed to go to the private island of Half Moon Cay, but the weather prevented us from going, so we docked in Freeport, Bahamas.  We enjoyed shopping in the Lucaya Marketplace, and the sunny weather was a nice change.  The 29th was also spent at sea, and we arrived back in Jacksonville on the morning of the 30th.  Some of the highlights of the cruise were the comedy shows, entertainment on board, and the art auctions.  We met some nice people, but are happy to be back home. 

Exchanging Gifts

Nana & Papa opened their gifts from us today, and so did Krista and Hunter. We also opened gifts from Karen's family.  Nana and Papa loved the mugs with their pictures of Kara. :)  Tim and Kathy already used one of their gift cards from the O'Malley's while enjoying a delicious dinner at Outback tonight.

 

Celebrating Sean's 6th birthday

Our nephew, Sean, turned 6 on December 16, and today we celebrated his birthday together with family.  We had a delicious brunch and watched as Sean opened his presents.  Sean got some really cool gifts, and loved it all. :)

Our New Kitten

Abby is the very cute, new addition to our family. She is a Siberian and considered hypo-allergenic, which is necessary because of Tim's cat allergies.  Abby is doing really well--eating, playing, and using the litter box.