We have the best tagline EVER!
As we have done for many years, we attended our church’s Memorial Day picnic. The weather was cool with temps in the 60’s F. Thus the “wind-tunnel” picnic table area was extra cool with some wearing “winter” jackets.
Here is Lizzie staying warm in the picnic shelter.
Tim played a little two-on-two basketball.
We used Jason’s truck to bring Josiah’s bicycle.
Nicole and Edward sitting in the warm sun.
Joanna, Jeri, and Tim in the picnic shelter area.
Here is a short video compilation.
So on Saturday, we make our one and only stop which is to Ensenada, Mexico. Jeri still isn’t feeling the greatest. The temperature was in the 60’s with off and on light rain.
Although Jason went to the gym early, the rest of us met in the Pride Dining Room for a sit-down breakfast (instead of doing the buffet).
Here are Nicole, Lizzie, and Justin.
After breakfast, we get off of the ship.
We wandered up and down the main tourist street pretty close to the port. We found a mom-and-pop shop and did a little shopping.
Here we are returning to the ship. In town, they were setting up for Mardi Gras celebration that evening.
We head up to the Lido deck for a late lunch. Here is Jeffrey, Joanna, Sarah, Lizzie, and Jason.
Here are Victoria, Nicole, Jeri, and Tim eating lunch near the Blue Iguana grill.
Josiah absolutely loved the pizza! Like all of the food, the pizza was free and unlimited.
Sarah and Josiah played a game of bean bag toss.
Then some got in the hot tub.
In the evening was our last supper of the cruise. So sad.
We did catch another comedy show by Paul Lyons. He was really funny. Tim got a side ache from laughing so hard. Victoria and Tim enjoyed visiting with him after the show.
Here’s a video montage of the day.
For Friday night’s supper, we dressed up. Then after the comedy show, we had our picture taken in a number of locations.
Here are Victoria, Sarah, Lizzie, Nicole, and Joanna looking beautiful.
Jeffrey plays the piano (kind of) for his sisters.
Here are some individual shots. First Nicole.
Here is Jeffrey.
Sarah’s picture on the piano turned out really well.
Lizzie reclining on a bench.
Here is Victoria.
Jeffrey and the girls took a few extra pictures.
A day at sea is always relaxing.
Here are Jeffrey, Joanna, and Jason in the Atrium listening to live entertainment.
They had a Tea Time in one of the restaurants. They served drinks and nice little snacks. This picture is a bit blurry.
In the evening, we got dressed for formal night. We posed for some selfies outside of the restaurant. Here are all of the guys.
Jason, Jeffrey, and Josiah trying to look serious.
Jason, Sarah, Nicole, and Jeri at dinner.
Jeffrey, Lizzie, and Justin at dinner.
The food is always yummy…including the desserts.
Immediately after dinner, most of us went to the 7:30 PM comedy show.
After the show, we went and had our pictures taken by different photographers and different locations. Here are the girls getting their picture taken.
Here is a video montage of the day.
As a Christmas present for the family, Jeri and Tim purchased a three-day cruise to Mexico for everyone. This gift included Christmas money from Grandma Pau.
We embarked the Carnival Imagination on Thursday, February 28, 2019, around 2 PM. First stop once on-board was the lunch buffet.
We chose to dine at 6:00 PM each night in the Spirit dining room. They assigned a large table for all eleven of us. Of course, the food was excellent!
Lizzie, Justin (with lasagna), and Jeri (with the Indian entree) at supper.
Crispy Portobello Mushroom. Yum!
Here is a short video montage.
On Thursday evening around sunset, the tide was scheduled to be fairly low (which makes for good pictures). So Justin, Josiah, and Tim drove down to the beach to take some pictures. The temperature was around 50 F and the breeze was quite chilly.
Here’s Justin taking some pictures. You can see that the tide is out.
The combination of rain clouds and the sun setting created an orange glow. Ruby’s Diner is a restaurant at the end of the Huntington Beach Pier.
In this picture, Catalina Island is visible in the distance on the left.
Saturday evening, a group of young people (mostly home schoolers or home school graduates) met at the Duck Club in Irvine for an evening of old country line dancing. Since this was Josiah’s first time, he was skeptical as to whether he’d enjoy himself. Of course, he had a GREAT time and said that he’d definitely come back.
Since there were (as always) more females than males, Jeri didn’t dance. Some of the girls/ladies danced as males to even things out.
No prior dance knowledge or experience was required to participate. The Hendricks led the dances and always gave us thorough instruction before each one. They would walk us through it and then call out the moves during the dances (similar to a square dance).
Run the River was a fun dance. Each group of four would eventually run down the river (the line of other dancers).
The Hand Jive required way too much coordination. It was a series of (seemingly simple) hand movements that were nearly impossible to repeat correctly.
We started with a Christmas Day service at 11:00 AM. We sang some Christmas carols, shared some stories of God’s blessings, and Pastor shared a Christmas message.
Back home, the women worked hard in the kitchen.
Jeffrey got Jeri’s saxophone out of the attic and worked at playing it.
Just before dinner, we took our family photo.
Joanna was helping Nicole get ready.
Family photo 2018. Front: Nicole, Sarah, Joanna, Lizzie, Victoria, and Jeri. Back: Tim, Justin, Josiah, Grandma Stogdill, Jason, and Jeffrey.
A crazy version.
Finally around mid-afternoon, the food is ready!
Around the table starting in the lower left with Lizzie, Nicole, Jeffrey, Victoria, Justin, Grandma Stogdill, Jeri, Joanna, Jason, Josiah, Sarah, and Tim.
Jeri, Nicole, Sarah, Victoria, and Lizzie went to Eileen Bouma’s to wish her a Merry Christmas. Sarah and Victoria finally returned around 5:30 PM after which we could open presents.
Justin got a Cole Porter songbook for Christmas. Here he’s playing from it. Jeffrey sings along.
Here’s a video montage that runs about 1 minute 18 seconds.
Tim, Jeri, Grandma Stogdill, Sarah, Jeffrey, and Lizzie went to Westminster Mall in the morning. We got hungry so Grandma treated us to pretzels.
Josiah was a master chef and created a swan from an apple.
Holland is back from Texas and is visiting her family. So she and Josiah played together.
We celebrated Lizzie’s birthday one day late. We had apple crisp instead of cake.
Jason entertained us with his phone by applying Facebook filters which added hilarious features to people’s faces.
Here are some of the videos that he made.
Here’s a video montage of the day.
Normally our church’s Christmas recital is in early December. But our vacation caused it to be pushed back (to Lizzie’s birthday).
Victoria, Sarah, and Joanna sang a beautiful arrangement of The First Noel.
Jeffrey played bass guitar with the guys on What Child Is This and Angels We Have Heard on High.
The youth ensemble created their own Christmas medley.
Because it was Lizzie’s birthday, Jeffrey asked everyone to join in singing Happy Birthday to her.
After the recital, we gathered in the fellowship hall for food and refreshments.
