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 :)