Beware: Echols in the Caribbean

We have been back from our cruise about 1 1/2 week, and we are now settled back in and rested from our vacation! We had such a great time!!!

These are some of the highlights from our trip:

• San Juan, Puerto Rico: We saw the forts of Old San Juan. It's a really neat place that was all built very strategically to defend the little city.
• Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas: Such a beautiful place! We went on an underwater tour where we got to see different fish and reefs. We were each on a little scooter thing that had a big helmet attached to it with oxygen pumped into it so you could breath underwater. It was pretty cool, but took some adjusting to get used to the pressure difference in the water. We also could go snorkeling after we were finished with the tour.
• Casa De Campo, Dominican Rep: We took a little bus into town and walked around all the markets.
• Labadee, Haiti: Probably our favorite day, and we basically sat around on the beach and relaxed! The boys played for hours with 2 little wooden paddles and a ball! There was a little market there too that made me kinda sad to go through. There tons of little booths that were basically selling the same thing as the guy next to him, It was all stuff that they would make by hand, and they were all so desperate to sell their stuff.
• On ship they had great entertainment and performances at night.
• Food all hours of the day! Every dinner was a 5 course meal that took 2 1/2 hours. And one night they made these masterpieces with food. (see pics below)
• There were 2 nights that we got to get all dressed up in our formal wear.
• Swimming pools, jacuzzis, suntanning in perfect weather!
• Playing lots of games during our free time on ship
• Laughing soooo much, it made my cheeks hurt! Justin's family loves to laugh and have a good time, and everyone around always knows it! :) I'm lucky to have married into such a great family. We seriously had so much fun together. Two of Justin's brothers were there and when they're together they act like they're kids again! It's fun to see that side of Justin (which is always there, but more so when around his brothers); it's part of what made me so attracted to him.

Thank you Vince and Marsha for taking us!! We had a wonderful time!!

Getting ready to set sail out of Fort Lauderdale.

The Echols clan in San Juan. Justin thinks he needs to have an action photo, well, as you can see in the one below, I'm not very good at taking them...Lamar, we need your copies. :)

Ice and cheese sculpture. Tons of other things made out of melons, breads, chocolates, etc.

Near the shopping center in St. Thomas.

We came home to a very clean house and 2 well-taken care of kiddos. It was great to get away, but we couldn't wait to be parents again and take care of our kids! Thanks mom and Joni!

It's Cruise Time!

So, another post without any pictures, I know....boring. I think my camera cord is probably in storage still, so who knows when it will be found. Hopefully I find it soon though because we're leaving on a cruise this weekend!! I can't believe I've failed to mention this earlier, since it's been planned for some time now. We will be gone for a little over a week, and we're going with Justin's parents and 2 of his brothers. Justin's parents do AFLAC and win a lot of trips for working so hard. How sweet is it that they take their kids as their guests? Super nice, huh?
It's a Caribbean cruise that leaves from Florida then it goes to Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, Dominican Rep., Haiti, and then back to Florida. We are way excited to go!! Justin is in Phoenix this week for training and then we leave when he gets back. My mom is going to stay with the kids, and although we are all nervous about it (mostly because of how Kaybri's last month was), there's no one I would trust more. She's amazing!