In Addition...

In addition to the lovely recap provided by my mother, I would like to add the following:

Among the many memories made on the Freedom of the seas, I made several standouts.  The first, second, and third, occurred on the 21st, the same night that Macy, Curtis, Ashley, and Katy took the Arcade for all its money.  Instead of visiting the arcade, me, Mike, Sheri, Frank, and Betsy, went to the Olive or Twist, a swanky bar on Deck 13 (or was it 12?) that overlooked the whole ship.  We sat up there for about an hour and enjoyed a cocktail before dinner.  The sun was setting, the ship was rocking, and the newlyweds in the both next to us were celebrating.  My dad and I traded stories about our college days, and we all laughed at various anecdotes.  There was nothing too exciting or exceptional about this happy hour, but it was during this brief time that I finally felt like it was the holidays and was even more excited about the days to come.  And, it marked the beginning of the biggest party night of the joyride, which brings me to the second memory.  We met the girls, Curtis, and Ashley at dinner.  My brother ate 4 entrees, as usual.  And, after dinner, Macy, Katy, and I began to discuss their boon of stuffed animals they had acquired from the Arcade.  I insinuated that I would like one of them to win me one.  Katy, explained that the most likely animal would be Garfield.  Macy, then got a smirk on her face when she asked, "would you like a blue or a red, Garfield?"  "Either one," I replied.  Macy then grabbed her little purse, that was about the size of an Altoids tin, and asked, "do you like Tweety Bird?"  "I LOVE Tweety Bird," I answered.  "Well, it looks like this!" Macy exclaimed as she yanked a stuffed Tweety Bird out of her tiny purse with the biggest smile on her face I had ever seen.  Katy and I immediately burst into laughter, and tears.  "Macy!" I yelled, "is that the only thing you had in your purse?!?"  She smiled and smiled, and giggled "yes!"  This brings me to the third memory.  That night started off with a bang and a Tweety Bird, and ended with dancing in the "streets" and blackjack.  Everyone slowly made their way to bed, but Uncle Mike and I stayed out for one more hand, and then another, and another.  Finally, we decided we had lost enough money, and we needed to dance.  We tried to go to the Crypt (the disco) for a bit, but left as soon as we arrived and realized we were surrounded by teenagers.  So, instead, we opted for some more sophisticated fun.  We climbed the stairs to pick up a slice a pizza, and then made our way to the library.  While there, I checked out the Seven Advantages to Having a Dog.  We decided we needed to see what else we could find, so I dove into the book return to look for a bestseller.  I was disappointed, but the bystanders were not.  After that, we made our way (somehow) back to Deck 8.  As we were walking down our hall we spotted the Santa that was hanging outside one of our neighbor's rooms.  With the last amount of mischief that we had left, I braided Santa's beard as Uncle Mike stood on lookout for snitches.  Finally, around 1:30 am we made it home and were off to bed to dream about the next day in St. Maarten.

The next item of note, occurred on our day in St. Thomas.  Katy, Ashley, Betsy, and I had spent the entire morning shopping for our secret Santas.  Katy had drawn her sister Macy, and knew that above all else, she had to find her the perfect stuffed animal.  As luck would have it, she came upon it at the open air market - a burnt orange stuffed monkey with Velcro hands perfect for hanging, and "St. Thomas" embroidered on its chest.  She negotiated a deal with the vendor and went on her merry way.  At the end of the day, tired from battling the waves and the sun, we all made our way back to the port to get back on the ship.  Katy, Sheri, Macy, and I decided to hang around and shop for a bit.  We entered the first gift shop we saw.  And, Macy locked eyes on the first stuffed monkey she saw, and immediately asked Sheri if she could have it.  I turned to Sheri wide-eyed and mouthed the words "NO, KATY BOUGHT HER ONE."  So Sheri, had to explain to Macy that she couldn't have the monkey.  Macy really really wanted that monkey.  So much so that she was still thinking about it an hour later when we got back on the ship.  She turned to me and said, "I know I can't have the monkey, but I want the monkey," and, "I know it isn't about the gifts, it is about the Jesus."  But, this didn't stop her from pouting and getting in a little bit of trouble over it.  Little did Macy know, that that monkey was wrapped up and waiting for her to open on Christmas Eve.  When she did, she screamed with delight and slapped those Velcro hands right around her neck, where they stayed, for the rest of the trip :)

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't mention my favorite pastime on the ship.  Well, other than singing in the piano bar...I frequented the blackjack tables every night to chat with my favorite blackjack dealer.  On our first night, he actually proposed marriage and offered my dad 11 cows and two cheetah pelts if he could take me as his fourth wife.  My mom believed him.  Of course, we had to embellish the story every evening.  I was to wear red white and blue beads once we were married, and he would get a green and yellow one .  He had six kids.  I could still practice law in South Africa, and in fact, that would give him greater status in the tribe.  This went on and on until Christmas day, the last day on the ship, when he finally said to me, "Sarah, I don't really have three wives," to which I replied, "DUH."  I handily lost all of my money after 7 nights of blackjack, but it sure made it fun to have such a charming, and witty, dealer take it.

All in all, the absolute best part of the cruise was simply spending time with my family and getting to know each of them a little bit better.  I wouldn't trade a second of last week for anything.  You all are absolutely amazing, and I am so lucky to have you in my life.  The Joyride for Jesus was beyond joyous.  I can't wait for next year :)

Final thoughts

Well, as I end this day updating the blog, I have more tears in my eyes. My heart is bursting with feelings of joy and wonderful memories. I don't have to look anywhere but to my family to find the spirit of Christmas. I feel so fortunate that we are able to live to the fullest each and every moment we are given to be together. God has given us a lot to be thankful for and we all demonstrate our thankfulness through our love towards each other and finding happiness in our lives. I have no doubts, that regardless of what happens in each of our lives, we will continue to cherish each other. Thank you joyriders for a wonderful Christmas! I love you all!

Christmas Day - 2010

Chocolate Brulee Frank requested and made specially for us. Aren't they adorable! Beautiful sister-in-laws!

Group pic with Kory!

Tap tap tap - I hear knocking on the balcony door! It's Mike..."did Santa come?" I look over at the couch where our stockings were hanging and my goodness there were presents everywhere. I guess Santa snuck in through the balcony door and brought presents for everyone. Next thing I know, there's knocking at our cabin door and in comes all the kids through the traditional banner at the door! IT'S CHRISTMAS!!!

Everyone was pleasantly surprised with their gifts. The spirit of Christmas was definitely in that small room with 9 people and hearts full of joy. Off to breakfast at the Windjammer, no cooking needed by the girls!

A day at the pool, which the weather was the best we had the entire trip. A lady with a bad attitude tried to spoil our spirit by arguing for pool chairs with Sheri! A day of fun filled activities and then our last dinner in the dining room :( The waiters were so excited to serve us the chocolate brulee prepared especially for us after Frank's pleading the first night at dinner.

By evening, the little girls were ready for a quiet night in their cabin playing with new games and American girl attire. The big people were ready for one last evening at our favorite lounge and casino action. Sarah was looking forward to a particular dealer to being on duty. It wasn't quite "so nice" that our trip was almost over.

Christmas Eve - Part Three Finale

Christmas caroling. Precious! We had the best looking men around!

Keep in mind, 4500 people were watching!

Again, quite the entertainment!

From the lounge with Kory we traveled on to the Royal Promenade for some more Christmas sing-a-longs. Macy remained asleep the entire time! After the festivities, we all went to midnight Mass (and yes, Betsy dozed off during the service!). Pictures and words do not describe what a fun evening it was and to be celebrating Christmas with so much laughter and happiness in our hearts. We are all so blessed to have such a wonderful family to share these times with.

Christmas Eve - Part Two

PJ's! One tired little girl! With monkey around her neck! Kory

Smiling singers!

Merry Christmas!

After dinner, we decided to change into our matching Christmas Pj's and open our secret Santa gifts.They were a hit! Macy was so excited, she did get the stuffed monkey she wanted (there had been a little incident in St. Thomas when she was told she couldn't buy a monkey, only because those with her knew her secret Santa already had one for her!) Off to our favorite lounge with Kory the piano guy for a Christmas sing-a-long. Macy just couldn't make it any longer and was carried while sound asleep for the rest of the evening. I cried during practically every song we sang. But, they were happy tears!

Christmas Eve - Part One

Group with Asep and assistant waiter. Mike and Sheri ready for the evening.

30 Years!

Almost 5 months!

Mike reading his Christmas poem!

The night started with formal night at dinner. Everyone looked "so nice" and was ready for "sippin time!" After a family dinner blessing, Mike read his Christmas poem. We were all so thoroughly impressed with his writing skills, until he admitted he found it on the internet! Secretly, the guys placed three small boxes on the table. One each for Sheri, Ashley and me...all diamond earrings and I got a necklace too! We definitely had the bling going on at our table!

Christmas Eve Day 2010

Gingerbread house decorating. Sarah is quite serious about it!

All stockings together!

We all spent most of the day relaxing and hanging out about the ship. The girls took a gingerbread house decorating class. Several of us got massages. Naps, work outs, etc. But, most important we gathered all the stockings so Santa would be able to find each one.

More pics from St. Thomas

Breath taking view! Our huge ship!

Seems there is one child missing? Katy where are you?

Happy couple!

Guess we found Katy somewhere. Maybe she had been petting that nasty goat!

St. Thomas - December 23rd.

View from bus on top of mountain. Open air bus.

Strong waves!

Sand castle.

Lined up at bus stop! (On time actually.)

Arrived at St. Thomas early in the morning, while drinking coffee on the balcony. After deb oarding the ship, we found a nice local driver to stay with us all day and chauffer us around the island. We decided to venture into the downtown area and purchase our secret Santa gifts first. Needless to say, we had to divide up in groups to accomplish finding the "perfect" gifts, since we wanted to have the afternoon to go to a beach. After two hours of shopping we met a cute place "The Green House" to eat lunch before going back to meet our driver. Curtis was grinning from ear to ear because he had purchased something really special for Ashley.

The drive to Magan's Bay in our open air bus was spectacular. Our driver let us off at the beach and we swam for several hours. The tide was very high and waves very strong, but didn't phase our group. Where there's a will, there's a way! We all swam and had sand in every place imaginable once we left!

Golden Eagle - December 22nd

View of St. Maarten from the catamaran. Leaving the port area.

Happy group to see land!

Still a little chilly.

The three stooges!

Finally, a port! After two days of cruising and lots of rocking and swaying we finally reached St. Maarten. We docked at St. Maarten and met our group for our excursion on the Golden Eagle. St. Maarten was beautiful! The catamaran took us to a spot on the Dutch side of the island and several of us went snorkeling quite a ways from the boat. They then sailed us around to the French side of the island and anchored and we swam to shore to a beautiful beach. We swam for several hours and laughed hysterically as some of us momentarily lost items of clothing due to the waves. The crew kept us hydrated with plenty of adult beverages! Once back on the catamaran, they fed us sandwiches and the JR4J got to particpate in another conga line...on the catamaran.

In port, we visited the shops in the mall area. Mike found Sheri some gorgeous earrings, purchased them impulsively and worried about them for days!

It was a fun and relaxing day.

Joyriders Know How to Have Fun!

Kids on stage dancing and singing. Happy people! Notice Elmo in Mike's pocket! He spent the evening with us! Katy loved the dancing. Joyriders initate a conga line through promenade.

Fun!Fun!Fun! That's what this group is all about! After dinner, we visited any corner of the ship that wanted to sing, dance and have fun. With Macy off to the Kids Club, we participated in a trivia contest with our group divided into two different groups - Frank, Sarah, Betsy and Katy in one group and Curtis, Ashley, Sheri and Mike in the other group, quickly being named "Team 12". You could say, their answers were not appropriate for the emcee to read, much less for posting! Off to bed very late, but Mike and Sarah stayed out, as they did the remainder of the trip and got into much mischevious trouble after hours! Such as, braiding Santa's Beard in the hallway, going to the library and stuffing Sarah down the return book chute!

Another day at Sea and Ship Still Swaying! December 21st

Macy on deck! View from our balcony while at sea. Ready for another dinner!

Everton, our cabin steward, displayed all the stuffed figures!

Today was a little warmer, but the ship continued to sway! Sarah, Ashley, Sheri and I actually went to a Yoga class in the morning, that was a true to test to balance as we rocked from side to side! We stayed out by the pool for the day and the kids (including grown up kids!) entertained themselves in the arcade. Curtis and Ashley were convinced they we going to win the stacking game machine and Katy and Macy were collecting stuffed figures by the dozen. By now, we were becoming friends with all the dealers in the casino!

So Much for CoCoCay - December 20th

Stocking decorating

Mike and girls on our adjoining balconies, waiting for us to go to dinner.

Good looking family!

We all slept like babies the first night. Ordered coffee to be in our room by 7:00 a.m. as we were to get into CocoCay by 8:00. Mike and I met on our balconies and watch us travel in towards CocoCay. Well, after a long wait and noticing huge waves hit the beach, the captain informed us we couldn't go to the island. Too dangerous to get us to the island on the ship tenders. :( After being momentarily disappointed, we had our family stocking decorating time! Everyone was quite competitive to have the best stocking for Santa to fill. Move over Pottery Barn...we definitely had the prettiest stockings I have ever seen! The weather was a little chilly and windy. After spending the day up on the outside deck by the pool, we all dressed up for our first formal night. The evening continued with gambling at the casino and Frank entertaining the blackjack dealers!

Bon Voyage

Exploring the promenade

Our favorite lounge!

The weather at Port Canaveral was cold and rainy so we didn't get to go up top to see the sail off. But, didn't bother any of us! Off to find our soon to be favorite lounge area and the fun begins!! Thank goodness for patches and dramimine! It was pretty rough our first evening. We found our dining table and had a nice dinner. Then to the theater to see a comedian.