APRIL - A MONTH OF FICKLE WEATHER BUT ALSO AN INCREDIBLE EXPERIENCE 'CRUISING WITH THE COUGS'

SPRING HAS SPRUNG......APRIL FOOLS!!!!The last week of March was warm, sunny and beautiful. We thought for sure Spring was here until April 1. That was when Mother Nature pulled an April Fool's joke on us. On that first day of April, we woke up to 4 inches of snow!!!

But.....we didn't focus on weather for very long as we were excitedly preparing for a cruise on a BYU chartered ship to 'Cruise with the Cougs.' For Father's Day last year, the children presented Paul with tickets for both of us to go on this cruise. Todd arranged for an adjoining room for him and invited Jon to come with us for this once in a life time, never to be forgotten cruise experience. Paul and I left on Wednesday, April 9, and drove to Las Vegas. The next day, we battled the California traffic to Long Beach where we stayed the night. Jon and Todd flew in late Thursday night so we could all board the ship Friday morning. 

The ship was all decked out in BYU paraphernalia. BYU banners hung all around the ship as well as  BYU jerseys on statues and Cosmo roaming the Promenade. All the bars had Gatorade and soda on their shelves where wine and liquors are usually displayed.

On this first day Todd ran into Jimmer,
one of many BYU legends on the ship.

Once on  the ship, we had lunch and then explored the ship. It was a beautiful ship with lots fun things for everyone to do. Most importantly we found the gym for Todd. He was obsessed about working out every day. Jon would join him occasionally but we opted to walk the ship for our exercise, getting at least 5000 steps every day.

Our first port was Ensenada, Mexico. We had never been there so we booked of tour that took us up the coast to the small town of Rosarita. There we split up. Todd and Jon went to explore the town and the shopping while Paul and I went with the tour guide to see an old hotel built to entice a young American actress to marry the builder. It is called the Rosarita Beach Hotel and is still a major attraction where people come to stay.

When the tour guide left us to explore on our own, we walked out onto the hotel's pier where I promptly caught my sandal on an uneven board and fell down.  Luckily I didn't hurt anything more than my ego. We met up with Todd and Jon soon thereafter and found out that Todd had been scammed trying to get money from the ATM. A man came up to help him and somehow switched Todd's card with someone else's. When no money could be secured, the man suggested he go to the bank across the street. Another man was there who tried to help him. Actually the men were trying to get Todd's pen number as now they had his card. Luckily, Todd was very secretive when putting in his pen. When he called the card company to see why his card wouldn't work he realized he had a card that wasn't his. Of course, he had the bank cancel the card before these crooks could use it. Consequently, Jon and Todd didn't get to taste the ice cream nor the famous tacos they were told about. 

The switched card

The tour then took us back up the coast to a restaurant serving deep fried lobster. The restaurant was off the main road but quite nice inside. The food was incredible. The lobster was served on the half shell. We had to scoop out the meat to put into a homemade flour tortilla along with rice, beans and Pico. Except for my tortilla falling apart, it was delicious. Jon and Todd loved it and thought it was the best meal of the trip. We, then, returned to the ship but not before the bus blew a shock absorber so we traveled the last several miles very slowly, making it back to the ship only minutes before the deadline.

The lobster on each individual plate

Our tour guide arranged for us to be serenaded
while we ate.

Seen along the road as we traveled

Part of a house seen along the way

That night, we dressed in our Cougar blue and enjoyed a delicious dinner in the dining room. The show that night was wonderful. It featured David Osmond, son of one of the Osmond brother. He sang with a Suzanna Stepheson. Together they sounded wonderful. They kept us very entertained with songs, dances, and stories. We were especially touched when David told us his story. He has suffered from MS for many years and was in a wheelchair for a long time. Through he attitude of 'I have MS but MS doesn't have me' and many prayers, he is now able to perform, not only singing but dancing. He told us, though, that he is never without pain. A perfect ending to a great day.

The next day was Sunday and a day at sea. It was not a typical Sunday, though. Our morning started out with Hilary Weeks performing her beautiful and spiritual songs. This was her last performance before she retires to spend more time with her husband. We followed that up with a meeting with Derwin Gray, a former BYU football player who, because of his experience as a non member at BYU, went on to become a pastor. He and his wife gave us a beautiful message of love. We followed that up with a of testimony of our Savior by Dan Wilson, a artist who is often commissioned to do paintings for the church. He is Todd's minister in his ward so there was a special connection there. His art work is incredible but the testimony he bore throughout his presentation was powerful. Jon even commented that this was the most inspirational part of the day. That night the show was a group of gospel rock singers. A most spiritual day.

Appropriately, it was formal night so we all
dressed in our Sunday best for dinner and the show.

Monday we found ourselves in Cabo San Lucas. Paul and I had been to this port two other times so we just got off the ship and walked around the boardwalk area, then returned to the ship to spend time out in the sun by the pools. Todd and Jon took a water taxi to a popular beach so they could soak up some sun.....and that they did. Todd got burnt and was hurting by that evening.

On the tender boat to take us into Cabo.
On Paul and my return trip to the ship, we were kept on
the tender for 45 minutes before we could disembark. The tender
was rocking so badly that a little boy in front of us got sick.

That evening was Hawaiian night so we wore island type attire. Todd and Dad didn't bring anything for that night but Jon had three shirts that would work so he let Todd and Dad wear two if them. We were given blue and white leis at dinner.

The last port was Puerto Vallarta. Jon and Todd took a speedboat tour to a beach and to lunch but Paul and I opted to stay on the ship as we had also been to this port twice. It was a very relaxing day for us and Todd and Jon had a great time on their adventure. That night the entertainment was a Family Feud game with teams made up of coaches and sports celebrities on board the ship. This was a riot of a night. We were laughing so hard at some of the answers given. Side note: Todd and Jon filled out several surveys for the answers to these questions. For each survey they answered the question naming a former BYU basketball player with Dad's name.  They were so hoping that question would come up and that Dad's name would be mentioned. Much to their dismay, that never happened.

The next two days were at sea as we headed back to Los Angeles. These days were filled with other shows such as the Cougarettes performing their national award winning dances, an ice skating show, and a rock band that had played at BYU's football pregame activities. Other events included a couple of panel discussions with former and present football and basketball players and coaches. There was also a beautiful tribute to Coach Lavell Edwards. Some of the 'legions' on board included Jimmer Fredette and Jim McMahan.  A couple of more days of fun and laughter.

After the wrap up show in the theater, we gathered on the Promenade for an end of cruise celebration. This included loud music, Cosmo, and a balloon drop of 5000 balloons. It was a great way to end a fantastic cruise.

Jon and Todd left the ship as soon as it was docked to catch airplane rides home. Paul and I were off the ship and to our car by around 9:30 am.  We drove to St. George to spend the weekend with Ryan's family. We stayed at the World Mark but spent most of the time with them. We met for dinner at Pizza Factory on Friday when we arrived. On Saturday, we met them at Tiffany's for a breakfast of yummy crepes. We, then, drove downtown to go to a concert put on by the a choir group from St. George. It was performed in the historic St. George tabernacle. We took a tour of the tabernacle before the concert which was very informative. The concert was wonderful. We went to church at Ryan's ward on Easter Sunday where Grace sang 'Lilies of the Field.' She has an amazing voice and added much to the spirit of the meeting. It was then back home to reality. 

Outside Tiffany's waiting for a table

Inside the tabernacle where the choir performed.
The acoustics were amazing.

Todd's children loved all the BYU things
we were given on the ship.

We arrive home on Sunday and the Andrea came in on Tuesday - just enough time for us to make beds for her and the Westover family. She came to move Allison out of her apartment and for Charlotte's graduation. Maggie and Kacey came up with Andrea and Allison, then Jillian joined us on Thursday with Casey coming in early Friday morning. The graduation was held on two days with the big gathering for all the graduates on Thursday and the convocations on Friday in smaller settings. The tickets were very limited so Paul and I didn't go to either but we did put on a Hawaiian Haystack late lunch for Charlotte after she received her diploma. We were glad to be a part of her celebration in that way. 

Lunch ready for the celebration.

Maggie and Kacey's baby is due in June. We wanted to celebrate a bit with them before they left for Oregon with the rest of the Westovers so we bought their little boy a darling outfit. Her baby shower would be held the following Saturday.

A mile stone in our lives happened this month too. After years of having a hot tub, we had ours hauled away. It had sprung a leak and would have been very expensive to fix. When we found that out, we decided to have a company come take it away. They hauled it away and gave us $500 for it. They will repair it and sell it used. It's old enough that it could easily spring another leak as this was the second leak in 2 years. We didn't use it much so not a big adjustment for us.

Another milestone was reached this month too.....I turned 80!!!! Oh, we are getting so old. Paul asked me what I wanted to do on my birthday and I said a movie and dinner. We invited the Fullers to come with us. We say "Raising the Bar," a very uplifting movie by T.C. Christensen, who always puts together great movies. We, then, went to PF Chang's for dinner. A most enjoyable day. I had lots of calls to wish me happy birthday which I appreciated. The best thing was when people would tell me I don't look like I'm 80. I loved Todd's comment in his text when he said that I looked amazing for 80.  I'll take that any day.

Andrea gave me this beautiful picture of the Savior
which sits right behind this computer.

Not a birthday gift but loved just the same, was this picture of my Curtain Time tour group from college. This is the group that toured for 4 1/2 month to 25 countries on a good will mission for the US State department. I was a dancer. We found this picture on our doorstep when we returned home from our cruise. It was from a friend on that same tour, Kim Booke, who married another friend from college, Glen Overton. I have been meaning to have them to dinner ever since they treated us to dinner at Ruth Cris's and a play in Park City. This was my motivation to finally invite them. They came up on Thursday, the first of May. We had a great visit and they loved the food and our home.

 That wraps up a very eventful month.