The True Meaning of Christmas

Although we had a wonderful time on our Cruise and made some of the best memories ever, we didn't want the kids to forget the true meaning of Christmas. We love temple square at Christmas time. It helps us remember the importance of Forever Families and Christ in our lives. We visited Temple Square on Christmas Eve with Adam and Lisa and their Family. We had a very simple Christmas day this year. Santa stuffed their stockings, and they each got new bedding (well, Kyle got new motorcycle clothes, cause he didn't need bedding). They also got their traditional awesome Hess trucks from the Trammell's. We hope that they will always remember the memories we made together and that family and Christ in our lives is the most important Christmas Gift.

Final Cruise Post

The cruise went by so fast. None of us wanted it to end. When we got off of the ship in Orlando, we were right by Cocoa Beach where the Trammell's are from. We had some time before we had to go to the airport, so we drove around. We found the Kennedy Space Center, the first Ron Jon Shop and a beach where we collected more sea shells and took some more pictures for our Christmas card.

Christmas Cruise Part 3 Shore Excursions

I love the sun and feel so lucky that we were able to see the sun like this in December! This was one week before Christmas! So incredible! Our ship made three stops. The Bahamas, Nassau and Grand Turks. We took our own snorkel gear. In the Bahamas, we walked through town a bit, and then found a place to snorkel that wasn't far from the ship. We booked a shore excursion in Grand Turks. It was a snorkel and swim with the sting rays. It was so incredible. We took a boat ride out to a reef. They guides were great to make sure the kids had a lot of fish around them. There was even a reef shark, that the everyone got to "pet." After we snorkeled for quite a while we took a boat ride over to a little beach where the they circled the boat a few times and called in the Sting Rays. It was so fun. The water was crystal clear. The boys were a little skeptical to touch the Sting Rays. I definitely stepped outside of my comfort zone and held the sting ray first, so that they could see it was okay. I knew that if we left without holding it, we would all regret it. We got some really great shots and videos of it. We were also able to take a couple of family pictures for a Christmas card. Right after we got back from the shore excursion, it started raining. We went back to the ship and ate some lunch. By the time we were done, the rain had stopped and we went on the beach and searched for Shells. Chad loves to search for a rare treasure and the boys love to join him! I think that my favorite thing to is watch the boys and Chad enjoy each other and bond. I hope that this cruise is something that they always treasure and appreciate. I hope that they will always remember how important we feel that family is. I hope that they always remember that we love them and love spending time and making memories with them.