Bahamas 2016

I took the boys on a cruise to the Bahamas for Spring Break this year.  Brandon was truly missed and next time he will be with us.  We went with Brandon's mom and his Aunt Alice.  We had a blast! We were supposed to go to Half Moon Cay, but the water was too choppy for the tenders to get us to the island, so we headed for our second destination a day early.  In Nassau, the boys and I went snorkeling and Snuba diving.  We had a great day.  Then we wnt back to the ship to eat lunch and change.  We spent the afternoon exploring Nassau and shopping.  The boys were so excited to have different activities for the kids to do. Isaiah turned into a little fish and swam every day for at least a few hours if not more, in between swimming he headed for the ice cream machine.   Braxton stayed out until 1am most nights and Isaiah stayed up until after 10pm.  Both were satisfied with the staying up time given.  Being a single mom on this trip was different for me and an adjustment, but the cruise made it easy to get some down time too.   We stayed in Charelston, SC and went to visit Middleton Plantation, it was beautiful, and educational.  After dropping Brenda and Alice at the airport, the boys and I went to visit the Charleston, SC Aquarium.  We were invited to go behind the scenes and see how they prepare the food for the animals and watch the scuba divers cleaning out the tanks.  One of the scuba divers brought the boys a sharks tooth from the bottom of the tank.  They loved it! 

Half Moon Cay.  We only got to see it from a a distance.  The water was too choppy for the tenders.

Brenda and Alice enjoying breakfast

Gangnam Style after dinner.

Aren't they handsome?

Ice Cream Man! This was Isaiah's favorite thing to do.  He ate them after breakfast and in between every meal.

When it's all you can drink hot chocolate, why not?

Nassau Bahamas after shopping

The only of the three Middleton house still standing after the Civil War. They burned all plantations houses during the war.

Just beautiful!

The large trees were just gorgeous!

The plantation's chapel for both whites and slaves.  SC had a law that slaves could not work on Sundays.  

Highlight of the day.  This is a pretty small guy, only about 5 feet long or so.  

Slave quarters for two married families.  Each had one room and the beds were about the size of a twin size mattress, but much shorter.  They shared a kitchen with the two families living there. 

Here's What we've been up to!

Braxton tried out for the Western Harnett Middle School's football team this year and made it.  His team came in second in the district and he had a blast. He practiced about two hours every night after school.  The kid worked very hard.  We are so proud of him.  He was #57 and played a new position than he has tried before.  He was the tight end.  We had so much fun watching Braxton and his team play.

Isaiah just had a piano recital.  He just keeps getting better and better.  We are so proud of him and his hard work.  He is going to be trying out for an all boys basketball team tomorrow morning.  Way to go boys.

Garden update

This is how the garden looks right now!  The cherry tomato plant on the right is taller than me.  I have cherry tomato plants in the back by the corn and they were getting so heavy that the branches have broken off. 

Our one baby pumpkin.  It is outside of our garden fence area was a cast off of last years pumpkins.

These will eventually be orange bell peppers

 

 

My grape vine.  We won't see grapes for a few years.

 

Isaiah's favorite past time.  Finding the tomatoes ready to eat. 

Cucumbers and more cucumbers.

 

Attempting watermelon

Sunflower

The start of the zucchini.

Corn is about 2 feet tall now!
 

Piano Guy

 Isaiah had his first piano concert this past week.   I have been having trouble downloading this video of him playing.  Way to to Mozart, you did a fantastic job!  We are so proud of you.

Scouting

This was Braxton's new troops first Court of Honor.  Braxton was awarded his first merit badges.  Fishing, Robotics and Eletronics.  He is currently about 95% completed with his 4th on Reptiles and Amphibians.  He also receives both his Boy Scout and Tenderfoot badges and is now more than 50% finished with his Second Class Badge.

 

He was also voted in as the new Patrol Leader of the newest recruits  of his troop.  He is loving the opportunity to be a leader. 

 

 

 

Scout Master Gabe.  He is one amazing guy. He runs the wolves in cub scouts and does boys scouts and I think he mentioned that he does high adventure as well.

 

 



 

Braxton's new patrol are the boys who don't have sashes yet.  They have only been boy scouts for a few weeks.  And since February since Braxton joined the troop has doubled in size.  This is the entire troop.  They still haven't decided what neckerchiefs they want to wear and are considering on getting hats like Braxton's.  He loves his hat!  That is what they gave the new Boy scouts in Korea, along with the Far East Counsel neckerchief that he loves.



Isaiah with Cub Master Joe.  He was receiving his basketball, wildlife conservation, geology, and hiking belt loops.  He earned his Bear badge, a gold arrow and a few silver arrows a few months ago during basketball season that we weren't able to attend.

Garden

Here is the latest on my garden.  I took these pictures a week ago and my tomatoes are now quite a bit bigger they also have a few blossoms, along with many of my plants. 

Salsa garden plus one giant cabbage plant. 

This is now a quarter of a size bigger and flowers are starting to form.

Cherry tomatoes to the rear.  My friend gave me one of her zucchini plants and it is doing well, but it is now looking like my cucumber plant.  So I think it is a cucumber.  Off to the right is one of my watermelon plants.  I hope it works.  I never could get watermelons to grow in Utah.

I can't forget my sunflowers up in a corner.

The boys are anxiously awaiting this strawberry to form.

Peas in the making

Baby grapes

My peas are bigger then I have ever gotten peas to grow.  These are my second plantings of radishes.




 

So fine... We are now nine!!!!

Isaiah had his ninth birthday. I can't believe that he is nine.  It seems like it was not so long ago that he was just a baby.  He has brought us so much fun and love we don't know what we would ever do without him.  He is such a sweet little guy and is so giving.  He is talented with his music and loves to sing and dance. He definitely has matured over the years and is getting to become more responsible.  We love you more than you know big guy!    Last weekend we celebrated his birthday.  It was so fun.  He had his friends over for lunch and the party.  They played and played and weren't ready to go home when the party was over.  They played Pokémon games and had a piñata. 

He wanted a Pokemon party and this is his Pokeball cake. 

This was the best picture that we were able to get of him blowing out the candles.  He had them blown out before we even finished singing to him. 

Most of his gifts were Pokémon cards.  They were the best gift ever. 

Excitement on his face with one of his gifts from a friend.