A banana tree

Have you seen the transformation of a banana flower into fruit? I think it is quite amazing.

Christmas

Watching for Santa Clause on Christmas Eve.

Excitement on Christmas morning. We are stuck in a predicament where the kids still believe in Santa, but they are asking for more expensive presents from him.

This is how we caught Damon during the period of time between opening presents and eating breakfast. He was told he couldn't eat candy and Oreo's for breakfast, but that didn't stop this little guy.

We later found his hiding spot.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas (somewhere)

We heard some of you had a little snow this last weekend....

while we spent some time underneath the mango tree in nursery.

Life in pictures

Thought I'd share some of the pictures from the last few weeks. First of all, I took a little trip to the States (all by myself- the first time) right before Halloween. Wish I had a picture to share from visiting Lexy and all the fun things I did with my sister in 3 days, and also the documentation of the craziness of travelling back to St. Kitts with my friend, Becky, and her 2-yr.-old and 5-week-old baby. Although that had potential to be a disaster, 90% of the 2-day trip went surprisingly well.

Here I am with my twin sister, Kim, during one of our many outings.

Not sure what exactly is going on in this picture, but it may have something to do with Kim holding that plate of greasy bacon. (Did you know that she is vegetarian?)

We had our church Young Women in Excellence program- the first one ever for the branch. It went well and we had a very enjoyable evening. The theme was based around plants and flowers, so we all wore a different colored flower in our hair.

We have had lots of meetings and training lately with our mission presidency and other area leaders. This is the newly completed branch presidency, with 2 counselors AND a separate executive secretary and branch clerk.

Here I am with my Young Women counselor's. These are beautiful, talented, and righteous women that I am privileged to work with.

We had our Sacrament Meeting Primary Program a few weeks ago. The children did a great job, even as they were asked to sing "solo" parts throughout. I know we don't normally have pictures of this program (I got them from someone else) but they do things a little differently here, like talking on the cell phone, taking pictures, eating sub. sandwiches, etc. during Sac. meeting. Keeps things interesting.

Next is Thanksgiving. We had an awesome night with great company, and we were able to take advantage of the great weather (70's), breeze, and bug-free evening and eat outside on the balcony. Everyone has school and work that day, so we have dinner in the evening, hence why it is dark outside and we couldn't see the ocean, but we could hear the waves crashing which made a perfect backdrop.

In this picture, my "friend" who arrived first snapped a photo of me frantically finishing up dinner while still in my shower cap.

Here are most of the women, slaving away in my little kitchen to finish up odds and ends.

Brennan was happy- the Prince's brought the Wii as a special treat for the kids.

Payton had a baby to carry around and take care of.

Damon was entertained- he had Mia here and the couch to jump on.

And his girlfriend's.

Here's Adrian preparing the turkey and our friend, Dave, slicing his "honey-baked ham." You may also know Dave as "Davey Baby" or "Fun-date Dave." (Not that I would know!)

The atmosphere over the ocean was awesome, except for a little wind. Good times!

Lastly, I celebrated a birthday last week. The night before we went to the kid's Christmas program at school and then to one of the new restaurants on the island. The day of, I got to spend a relaxing morning with my little "companion" (Damon), and I even drank a glass of whole milk with him for breakfast! It was yummy. Did you know that I love drinking whole milk, and especially Half & Half, but that may be more of an every 5-yr. birthday treat.

For lunch, I had a relaxing few hours with friends (while the children stayed home with a babysitter) overlooking the golf course. Nabila- we missed you while you were at your first day at your new job, and Shav- we missed you all the way across the world in England! Thanks for the great time, Girl's! And the tres-leches cake that was to die for. An A+ on that for sure! :)

That night, we had homemade "Cafe Rio" for dinner at the Filhart's home. We got another sitter and went to a movie, and afterward Becky made sopapilla's for dessert. We had such a great time, and are really going to miss the Filhart's when they head back to the States for the last time in 17 days. St. Kitts (and the gym) just won't be the same without them!

Big boy adventures

Adrian and five of his buddies left early this morning for their first "deep sea fishing excursion." They caught 3 fish that they dragged over to our house afterward to cut up and freeze, so you know me- been busy since then disinfecting the kitchen. They caught 1 wahoo and 2 mahi mahi and estimate that they brought home about 60 lbs. of beheaded and deboned fish that we are going to split 6 ways. So now the search begins for the perfect fish recipe!

Here is Brennan and Payton's school as viewed from a "deep sea fishing vessel."

October 31st

You wouldn't know it because they don't celebrate the holiday here, but we actually had quite a few little Halloween events to attend. And, we scored on candy- we got more here than any other Halloween I can remember in recent years. Thanks in part to those Ross Veterinary students who have a love for animals and also an affinity for children. I think they must plan for and bring candy with them from the States, because the "norm" here is not what we are accustomed to seeing in the States at every grocery store and corner gas station. Here in St. Kitts, there is not a lot of candy available for purchase, and what they have is expensive (about $1.75 US for a candy bar), and the worst part is, what chocolate they have is oftentimes opened up to reveal a white powder- from being too old, previously melted, etc. So a good piece of candy is a rare commodity!

Hope your Halloween was fun and delicious and powdery-chocolate-free!