July 4th! (aka 1st Road Trip)

My dad ("Grandpa Bill" to Sarah), lives on a lake in Alabama. It takes approximately 4-5 hours via car to get there, and so we decided that this would be a nice test run for future family trips. Amazingly, Sarah didn't do too badly in the car, so overall, I'd say the trip was a success. Both of my sisters and their respective husbands were there, so we had a nice time hanging out and catching up. Sarah loves the water, and I wasn't too worried about her at the lake. However, the x-factor that I didn't think about was the life vest she had to wear while she was in said lake. Needless to say, she was not a happy camper while sporting this bulky vest, so she didn't spend too much time bobbing around. We had a great time, though! Maybe soon grandpa will teach her how to water ski (not too soon, though)!

Turks and Caicos...and Geckos? Oh my!

After 30 years of teaching, my mother retired this year. As a retirement gift (and Christmas, birthday, Mother's day, etc...), my sisters and I surprised her with a trip to the Turks and Caicos. Let me first say that this place has got to be the closest thing to heaven on earth. If you are a beach person (which we all are), you will never want to leave. The water was the most beautiful I have ever seen, and the sand was like powdered sugar. It was amazing! We stayed on the island of Providenciales ("Provo") on beautiful Grace Bay. It was "off season", so we felt like we had the entire beach to ourselves! Little did we know that the island is abundant with geckos (you know, the cute little lizards on the GEICO insurance commercials). Well, let me just tell you that these little buggers have no shame, as a baby one joined me one night for a shower! I'm not really sure who was more scared from the encounter...It was definitely a week that we will never forget! I leave you with some beautiful pictures...