So how about now that we've been home for almost a month, I finally show you some cruise pictures??
In case you don't know the story behind our cruise (and really, in case you're wondering why on earth we took our kids to Disney World and then 2 weeks later flew back to Florida to go on a cruise), let me explain.
In September of 2010 our 7 year old (at the time) was diagnosed with Leukemia after her music teacher called home to express his concern with how tired and not herself she was seeming. A routine doctor's appointment ended with the reality of cancer. It was a hard 2 years of chemo, losing her hair twice and more pins and needles and blood transfusions and feeling yucky that any 2nd and 3rd grader should ever have to experience. Her parents said when it was all over we would all take a celebration trip together. (It just so happened that Premier announced their trip for 2 weeks before our July 4th week cruise). We prayed and prayed about whether we could do both trips. Whether we SHOULD do both trips. But in the end, the Lord provided and made it clear to us that these "once in a lifetime" trips with our kiddos were a GO! It is just so amazing to know that not only does God take care of all the necessities in our lives, but so many times he takes care of even the little pleasures in life that he knows we desire.
We left Gavin behind again. And I was way more nervous this time, knowing that we were out of the country and not so easily accessed by phone. But he did awesome again at home with his Mema. He was spoiled and loved on and didn't even notice we were gone for 8 days.
We traveled with Dave's aunt & uncle, whom the kids adore. It was nice for the kids to have someone besides mommy and daddy to sit by on the plane! And we loved their company.
We flew into Ft. Lauderdale a day early and headed to the beach.
This little guy has come a long ways since the beach in Destin. He loved the waves, loved the ocean, and the yucky salt water didn't slow him down one bit.
Our entire group of 29 boarded the ship wearing orange, the color of Leukemia awareness. 22 of us were family of Syd, and 7 were friends. This picture of all almost all the cousins together is precious. Being with cousins is always the best of times. But coming together like this, to celebrate the life of one of them, makes it all that much more special. It's a strong reminder of God's great goodness, mercy and healing.
We shuttled to the port in Miami, and the kids were throwing out guesses as to how big the boat was going to be. Most of them really had NO clue and were in for a way bigger surprise than they were thinking.
Sitting through a safety meeting was pretty torturous on little kiddos who just boarded the ship an hour before and wanted to explore! And who were already exhausted.
We found a very WINDY spot in the front of the boat to watch our departure.
We bought our unlimited pop cups, checked out our cozy little room and headed to the party!
Sydney's parents rented a lounge on the boat for a private party. Dancing, drinks, ice cream sundae bar, chocolate covered strawberries and gifts! Definitely an awesome way to kick off the cruise.
We have one child who could dance all night long and another who wouldn't be caught dead on the dance floor, even to dance with his mommy. And yes, that is MY husband with the lawnmower moves.
But the party didn't come without tears.
Sydney read a letter and gave us all a copy of a book that she wrote and had printed as she journaled her way through cancer. And then Stacy and Jason had a time of thanking everyone who walked beside them the last 2 year, and ended with a video looking back at pictures of Sydney's journey.
It was such a precious time celebrating our sweet niece and coming together as a family to look back with gratitude, at the storm that the Lord brought Sydney and her family through.
We are so so thankful for a healthy, strong, and beautiful 9 year old niece!
1 comment:
very cool.
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