Our final days!

So much to miss and not to miss...

Farewell to all the girls!

Our final transfer order!

Goodbye crazy Mr. Butterfly man.

While packing, our car got broken into. Sadly, it was full to the brim with stuff we were giving to the missionaries.

Mullet Bay visit on Kevin and Rach's last day!

One last Bubble Tea Smoothie and Abu-Gazi Shwarma

Like true tourists: A visit to the famous Maho Beach

Not your average company holiday party!

The annual Del Sol Christmas party at Cheri's Cafe. Everyone came and everyone participated in the show...whether they wanted to or not!

The whole Del Sol crew!

All the girls got up to do the electric slide!

We cheered them on with our clappers

Christian & Kevin- the hand picked "volunteers"--The prize: lots of booze...just what we wanted!

Shake it...don't break it! Definitely worth any wait it takes to buffer!

A Caribbean Christmas

Christmas wasn't the same without family, but we definitely have nothing to complain about. Here's a quick recap of the day.

We started the day off with cinnamon rolls and presents.

Then headed to the Westin for a little beaching/pool time.

Kevin and Rach were down for the count

Christian insisted on trying to do the airplane-after getting enormous amounts of water up my nose, three times in a row, I gave up.

Kayaked at Le Gallion Beach

We sang Christmas carols at an elderly home with the missionaries.

We ended the night with a traditional Jamaican Christmas feast at the home of one of the girls from the store.

Merry Freakin Christmas Eve

The ships never stopped coming-6 in total.

Nothing like leaving work on Christmas Eve to find your car towed. We had to go to the police station to get a ride to the car lot. Christian talked the guy into giving us a "Christmas Special" on the fee though...saved $10..yay!

HO HO HO!

In progress. Trying to put more on the house than in our mouths.

Our little homemaker- Rach made real gingerbread men for all the girls at work

The final products.

The evening got off to a rocky start. I accidentally left the gas on the stove on for about 5 min and when I lit a match there was a huge explosion. All my arm hair and Kevins leg hair got singed off. Fortunately, dealing with the stench of burnt hair was the worst that happened.

After the little scare we got started on our houses. Kevin's shared a little family secret on how to "glue" gingerbread houses together--house making with never be the same...how else do you think he made a sky scrapper out of graham crackers?

Blue Bubbles

I couldn't resist posting this:Christian the 10 year old boy and Kevin the 80 year old man.

Looking for lobster...sweet speedo.

Christian and Kevin borrowed an under water camera from the new Del Sol managers. They must have been a little excited because we now have 112 spear fishing pictures on our computer.

'Tis the Season

It hasn't felt much like the holidays down here...few people put up lights because of the exorbitant electricity costs and even on a cool day the temperature rarely drops into the 70s. Nevertheless, we've done what we can to get in the Christmas Spirit.

We found Santa roaming the streets in Marigot.

Bought a very little tree. Total cost=$1.25 (stand not included). There's a candle behind it helping it stand up. What can you expect?

We made cookies and delivered them to families in the ward. Christian helped more with the latter part.

St. Barthelemy: Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous

We ventured off the island for probably the last time before we leave the Caribbean. We spent the day in the fabulous St. Barts with Kevin and Rach. We rented scooters. In hindsight, maybe not the best idea given the intermittent torrential rain & terrifying, steep and windy roads, but we still had a blast!

Before the rain came!

Finding refuge at the gas station...we don't look nearly as wet as we actually are!

St. Barts: Home of....

The world's shortest airstrip... not a good time for the breaks to go out

The original Cheeseburger in Paradise-where Buffet wrote his famous song

Yummy French food

The endless rows of mega yachts

Life at Sea

Some people have 10 year plans-we have 10 day plans. We finally heard back from the cruise ship job and we're HIRED! Well, almost...we were invited to training in January and assuming we make it through we'll be placed on a ship to be Port and Shopping Guides! Basically, we are "professional shoppers" and tell people where to shop while in port! Get ready to shop 'til you drop.

Hair today...gone tomorrow

Before

Kevin jumped in to help keep the hair wet

The final product!

I finally talked Christian into doing something about is straggly mess of hair. Rachel was going to cut it, but she insisted that Tyler, who was in town visiting Kev and Rach, would do a better job. Nothing like a bunch of men doing hair.

Who needs turkey?

Family was far, but the Fenton family came to our rescue. They invited us over for an amazing Thanksgiving feast along with a few other families. We were in charge of the candied yams and mashed potatoes-two things I'd never cooked before. Fortunately, we had Christian's mom to call for her yummy recipes.
Our friends Kevin and Rach were dining at a restaurant near the Fenton's house so we stopped by to say hello on our way home. We got to Cheri's Cafe just in time for the nightly drag queen dance show and Christian got an extra special treat from Myeisha.

Lesson 1: Take only pictures...leave only bubbles

My friend Jessie came to visit from LA and joined
us for a dive.

A couple quick lessons before exploring the bottom.
I broke lesson 1 on my last dive. The seas were incredibly rough and I may have left some nacho cheese Doritos for the fish. Nevertheless, I still passed and I'm now officially a certified open-water diver. Woo-hoo!

I could only understand about every eighth word Alfredo, our crazy Peruvian instructor, said. Fortunately, he wasn't really into classroom teaching and preferred to just go for it. For our last couple dives we told him we wanted to see sharks, so that's what we got. Not only did Alfredo guide us to a pack of bull sharks, but he tapped his tank with a rock to draw them in closer and then swam after them trying to hit their fins. This type of shark is more deadly than great whites...normal.