Home Again

So this last month has been a whirlwind of fun. I put together a secret scavenger hunt for Brooke's 18th birthday that took her to 7 different places where she met up with 17 different friends and they each gave her a flower and then she ended up at a surprise birthday party where her dad gave her the final rosé to make up a beautiful bouquet of 18 flowers. The thing that amazes me is that she was totally surprised. I have been planning it through the help of her good friends Kendra and Dina from school and Aly from church and she never got wind of it. That is the good thing about Brooke. She loves to be surprised so she was not looking for anything...but she told me she never even came across anything beforehand. I am so glad that we pulled it off. She said she felt overwhelmed by how many people loved her and would do that for her. It is an 18 year old birthday she will never forget.

Then right after all the planning for that we had to prepare to go to the Caribbean on our cruise. Our port was in Puerto Rico so we flew in on the 23rd of Feb. and left the next evening for 7 nights to St. Thomas, St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Kitts and St. Maarten. The beaches were amazing, we took a couple excursions in St. Lucia (a speed boat to the Pitans for snorkeling, a hike to the volcano where we got to take a mud bath, a hike to the waterfall where we washed the rest of the mud off and time spent on a beautiful beach where we at fresh coconut), and St. Maarten (a catamaran to the great bay for more snorkeling, paddle boarding, swimming, wave running). At the other beaches we took taxis there and snorkels...Barbados and St. Kitts seeing turtles and ship wrecks, and St. Thomas had an amazing beach. Shopping on the islands was so much fun. The kids got hats, bags, jewelry, shells and Kevin bought me a Caribbean topaz ring, necklace and ear rings in St. Maarten. The stone changes color in the sun light. It is absolutely beautiful. The ship was amazing, one of our favorite parts was when we all were able to sit together at the end of the day at dinner and just chat. My parents and Kevin's parents were also able to join us on the cruise. We all were able to have a great time together. It was an amazing thing to be able to hang out with the grandparents every day. The kids really have not had a lot of grandparent time so this was priceless time. We watched movies by the pool on a huge flat screen, I was able to continue my marathon training by running the track and running on treadmills in the fitness center (it is hard to run while the boat is shifting, I used different muscles), we went to comedy performances before dinner and shows after dinner, we went to the piano bar and enjoyed the music there, the kids slid down the waterside along with grandma Stokes and spent numerous hours in the pools and hot tubs. Kevin and I saw multiple sunsets while sitting in the Serenity hot tub as the boat was pulling away from the ports. It was an amazing time, one that will be remembered forever.

We planned this vacation as one of our final family trips before Brooke leaves us to college. She just found out that she has been accepted to BYU and will begin there on September 3 this year. She is very excited and after all the praying and personal reflection has been comforted to know that the decision to go to BYU was not in vain. She turned down a volleyball scholarship to play for SNHU and was questioning her decision a little. It is nice to know that she has been led to this decision to go to BYU and it has been confirmed that her decision was correct. She has so much to offer to the world, she wants to study international business and law, she wants to study Spanish as well. She is so smart and I am excited to see what the world has to offer her.

Now back to the real world and ready to get planning camp for this year. I have to figure out what we will be doing this August when I need to. Be 3 places at once. Girl's camp from August 12-17, coaching VB with our season starting on August 12 and then Kevin's 25th HS reunion is on August 17th with Brooke having to be to BYU by August 29th. How can I be in all places at once. Not sure what I am going to do yet.

Natalie's musical is in 3 weeks, co-Ed VB is running right now with me coaching, Brooke and Natalie as student coaches and Zack on the team. Spring track begins in 4 weeks and my marathon is on April 15th. Lots going on in the next few months. We are always busy at the Olsen home. It is good to be home and reunited with our little dog, Taz. We missed him so much and he was so excited to see us again.