THE COVE

This is part of the road down to the cove. The silver car is ours. It's the greatest!

We saw this iguana on the side of the road as we were driving down to the cove. We had to stop and take it's picture. There were actually 2 iguanas on the side of the road but Dalyn was only able to get this one's full body.

Lyla is enjoying the water. She kept picking up the sand and rocks and then throwing them. The cove is perfect for kids. Lyla can walk out a little bit and be fine. I think Dalyn and Adriana can touch the bottom everywhere in the cove.

The kids had this week off of school for a term break so we picked up the other Primary kids and went to the cove. We are so lucky to have the Petit-Hommes in our Primary and have loved getting to know them.

YES, I'M ACTUALLY POSTING!!

Can you believe that I am actually putting something on my blog. I'm sorry that I haven't been very good at keeping this blog up to date. As I'm typing this I have had to stop twice cause a bird keeps trying to come into our house. Anyways, we have been trying to do lots of things around the island since the kids and I will be coming home earlier than first planned.

The kids love going to the park. We have only been to the park in Windwardside. I don't know where the one in The Bottom is.The way we go to the park is fun. We park the car and walk up a hill for a little bit then down a little walkway and then up a couple of stone steps and then we get to walk through this. The kids love it.

Saba is definitely beautiful and makes us appreciate nature more. We have enjoyed the time that we have been able to live here. I know we are more greatful for the things that we will be coming back to.

Two Days In St. Maarten

We had the opportunity to stay in St. Maarten for two days while we waited for our ferry ride to Saba. We weren't to unhappy about waiting. We wished we would have explored more and included a visit to the French side of the island. Maybe next time. When we arrived at the airport we had a guy carry our luggage out to the car rental shuttle. He fit all of our 12 checked bags on one dolly. I couldn't believe it. We had to pay him for his trouble though. Next time I think Paul will show off his abilities and we will save some money. We picked up our rental van which wasn't as nice as we thought it was going to be. Let's just say we won't be renting a vehicle from that company again. Oh well learning experiences right. We drove to our hotel which was really nice. We had a two bedroom suite with a kitchenette. Our walk out balcony was right near the beach. The kids loved this part. Nora and Adriana loved finding shells. Dalyn enjoyed finding lizards. Lyla LOVED the swimming. It was nice to relax before our boat trip to Saba.


Never really realized how big the cruise ships are but WOW are they HUGE!! Wouldn't mind going on one someday.

Our Across Country Move

Here is us before we left Raymond for the Calgary Airport on August 14th. This was taken by our AMAZING friends, The Smiths. They came to say goodbye and took a picture of us so that they could have a picture to remember us by. Kristin I hope you don't mind I stole this picture off your blog. It is a decent picture of all of us. It was a crazy morning that day. I am glad it is over. Saying goodbye at the airport was really hard for me. We finally got on the plane and the flight to Toronto went great. The kids were happy and enjoyed the plane. When we got to Toronto is was kind of crazy cause we didn't book a hotel before we left because we thought we wouldn't have all our luggage so we could just sleep in the airport but that wasn't the case. We decided it would be easy to just stay at the Sheraton that is connected to the airport. So we finally got a room and then had to carry all the luggage up to the room. I think it took us around 7 trips. We were all tired and just crashed.

All our luggage packed into the room and sleeping arrangements. Poor Dalyn had to sleep on two chairs pushed together.

We woke up early and were lucky and had to carry all our luggage back down to the lobby again. I think my arm muscles weren't too happy about being worked so much. Thank goodness I have my strong and handsome husband. We got into the airport and we're happy that our check-in counter was right by the elevators. We picked up some breakfast and then got onto the plane for St. Maarten. This plane trip the kids needed some toys to play with. They enjoyed it when the snack and juice cart came down the isle. Lyla still talks about going high in the air and flying in a plane.

We had everyone chew gum on take off and landings. I especially needed it since I had an earache the night before we left Raymond and one of my ears was plugged. I really couldn't hear out of it. Lyla just wanted to have gum cause she's 2 and gum isn't something she usually gets. The first plane ride she swallowed it both times. The plane ride from Toronto she actually kept it in her mouth for awhile so we thought we would take a picture to document her chewing gum.

Overall the trip here to Saba wasn't that bad it could have been worse. I think next time I fly I would like to not have to worry about 12 checked bags and 8 carry-ons. Hey wait, I will have lots of luggage next time because it will probably be when we leave Saba. Oh well, someday right?

MOVING!!!

Yes, we have moved. We moved to a small island in the Caribbean called Saba. It has a population of around 1500 people. The island is 5 square miles. We finally got a house to rent last minute. It's a 3 bedroom right across from the Elementary School.

The trip here was definitely stressful. Twelve suitcases, each weighing 50 pounds, 8 carry-ons, each weighing 20 pounds, and a almost 30 pound little girl named Lyla made moving around the airports and hotels loads of fun!

The kids are enjoying the island. Dalyn has found plenty of lizards to keep him busy and had local friends the second day here. Adriana and Nora are ready to get into school. We have a couple more things to get done before we can register them. They'll probably be in school in the next couple of days hopefully. I think Lyla is ready for everyone to go to school so that she can have Mommy to herself.

Paul doesn't start school till the 30th so we are trying to get everything done before he has limited time cause of school. He is getting excited about school and wants to just get it started so that he can see what it's going to be like. He had the chance to do some snorkeling the other day at The Cove and wants to go again. I'm sure he'll find the time to sneak some more in next break he gets.

I am trying to adjust to the place. I definitely appreciate everything that I used to have back home. Life is simple here and I have to adjust my thinking to that. It is very laid back here. I got to see my very first cockroach the other day. Thank goodness it was already dead. Later that day when we were in one of the villages we saw a live one and I really don't want to see one of those in my house. We have some roosters and chickens living below us. We get to listen to the roosters as early as 4am. Paul and I haven't had that good of a sleep since we got here. Oh well, we will adjust I'm sure.

We will add some pictures later. Just wanted to update everyone and let them know we are still alive. Miss you all!

She's Growing Up!

I can't believe Nora is going to be turning 5 in June. I am sad that she will be starting Kindergarten in September. The last 3 years have flown by too fast. Nora is such a sweetie. She is starting to be a non stop talker. I think she feels like she has to keep up with her older siblings. She is a girly girl. Loves to dress up and wear her dresses. She has always been an artist. She loves to draw, paint and color in the lines. I am amazed but her talent in that area. I am definitely not an artist, she gets it from Paul's side of the family. I know she will love going to school but I am going to miss her.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION!!

Wow, I didn't realize how much work it takes to start up a blog. I finally decided to start a blog. I think it would be good to journal our life since I really don't do well with keeping a regular journal. I also think it will be great to have the blog so that we can let our families know what we are up to. I wanted to try and add a photo so I decided on this photo since it's the most recent family photo. I am glad that we had it taken but not happy with Dalyn's hair, Lyla's soother taking over her face and Nora not really being happy about her picture being taken. I don't think we have had a perfect family picture that I would want to frame. Someday...hopefully. Please be patient and I will have everything figured out soon and finally get this blog up and running.