Word-full Wednesday and more on our trip

So wordfu wednesday is supposed to be like one picture, but......
OK, on with the cruising..... 
Our route.
This map showed the current location of the ship on the route.
The Ruben's Lounge is where they had nightly shows.  And activites such as:  bingo, showtime: hits of broadway, port shopping presentation, cast chat with the singers and dancers of the Veendam, showtime: Richard Griffen & Hayley Jane, captains welcome toast, Indodnesian crew show, movie, showtime:  hit the deck, game show: the marriage game, showtime:  Lee Bayless (comedian), games show:  call my bluff (word game like Balderdash) showtime:  street singing.  We attended the showtimes except the Richard & Hayley one, the games and the comedian.  (I kept the daily program sheets that were placed on the bed each evening.

Our first stop was Key West.  Because we had been out in international waters, the Coast Guard does random escorts of the ships coming into port.  We happened to be lucky and got the escort.  It was cool to see our Coast Guard in action.
Here's a close up on the forward gunner.  
They patrolled all around the ship and chased off boats that were in our path. The above shot is of the coast guard wake and one of the boats they chased away. They also got a few jet skiiers who zoomed between us and another docked ship.
Key West.  It is only 2 miles by 4 miles.  We took a guided trolley ride around town.  You could get off and shop and catch the next trolley all day if you pleased.  That is not the best way to get good photos, but it does clue you into the history of the island.  So we did do a bit of walking.
The Key West lighthouse as seen from the trolley.
Sometimes it pays to look down.
How many of you know that the chicken is a protected bird in Key West?  Now you all know that little tid-bit!
I thought the buildings were very interesting and I could have spent the day taking pictures of them, but my companions were not us excited as I was.
Check out this parrot.  He was just hanging out on this balcony.  I found that Key West is just a tourist trap.  It is all about making a buck.
Thought this was great!
We saw this guy walking in front of us and Marlene asked him if we could get his picture.  I was fine with a shot from behind, as it would have looked less posed.  
He offered to put the bird on my shoulder and before I could resist, there was a bird on me!

Well I think that is about all the pictures for one day..... more Key West tomorrow....

A little preview

Here's just an overview of our cruise trip..
Waiting at the airport in Billings.
Our plane from Billings to Minnesota. 
A cruise ship as seen from the plane window upon arriving in Tampa, FL.
The buses that took us to church and then on to the ship.
Our ship!
The sunset on Sunday evening Nov. 9, 2008.

Foto-story Friday #23 --- ready?

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

At the motel preparing for our cruise.....

We are so excited for this vacation!  Thank you to my in-laws for wanting to take us and thank you to my parents for agreeing to watch our kids!

My World -- industry II

One of the first things you see when you cross the bridge into town is this old grain silo.  They have built an even bigger one just outside of town.  
As promised, I am continuing with the industry here in Eastern MT {Glendive, MT}.

Another major industry is that of farming/ranching. As mentioned in a few previous posts, when we first moved here, we lived and worked on a farm. It was an interesting 9 months and I learned a lot in that time frame.

Here are Cody, Shantel and Savanna On a big John Deere Tractor in 2001.
Troy cleaning the seed wheat.
Crop dusting in Lindsay.
Troy running the branding chute on the Young Farm.
Harvest time.
In 2007 we helped with branding on a ranch.
Preparing for the branding. 
The kids were catching the calves for a ride.  Cody is trying to catch one here.  He did eventually catch one and went for a ride.
Cody is helping with the holding of the calves.  The calves were roped from horse back and even the kids get in on the action on this ranch.
Soon Cody moved up from holding them down to the actually branding of the calves.  He was pretty good at it.

For more My World post visit here.

52 Weeks of Blessings- week 44 -- time with my parents

My parents don't live close and so it is always a blessing when they come to visit.  As mentioned in my previous post, they have come to visit and to watch my kids while we take a vacation.

Since they got here, I've tried to make the most of this time with them.  The same day they arrived, I got my dad to join me on a the 4-wheelers....

We just went to our close riding spot for a few quick runs on the trails.  Saturday afternoon was beautiful, so I took my parents on the 4-wheelers up to Makoshika State Park.  Dad drove one and I took the other with mom on the back.  Today we took them out to the OHV park.  Since we don't have a trailer, we loaded the green one in the truck bed and I road tripped the red one out with Mom riding double.
Here's Dad preparing for a trail ride with Troy.  
Off they head....
Mom and I tended the kids.

Can you see them?
Here they are a little further down the trail.
Up the hill they went.  I was impressed with my Dad!
I backed the zoom off a bit to give a better idea of where they were.
They came down, a bit.
This is a backed-off shot of the area they are in, in the above photo.
Here they come down the side.  I was a tiny bit worried that Troy was going to convince my dad to go over the edge!  That is the way we usually descend this hill!  When we first arrived I had taken my parents on a much milder trail.  They both enjoyed the rides.  On the way back home Dad drove and I rode double behind him.  Now my job is to get my mom to drive!  :)

We have also played several games with them on the Wii ...
Here is Scott getting ready to bowl with his Grumpa!  Grammie, EmmaLece and I went for a lengthy walk!  
Saturday evening after dinner we played a few rounds of darts.  Grumpa was such a sport and let the twins take aim on his turn.
Of course we had to give the Wii Fit a try!  Here's my Dad hoola hooping!  So funny!  :D
EmmaLece and her Grammie doing a few torso twists!

I hope that my kids soak in all this time with their Grandparents.  I know I always loved going to visit my own grandparents.  Since they are Rv-ers, we get to have them visit us.  Time with parents and grandparents is such a blessing!

Life is busy

I want to thank all of you who have been coming regularly and I will do my best to get by and see you soon.  Life moves faster than I can catch sometimes.  My parents got here on Thursday and will be staying for about 2 weeks.  They get the opportunity of spending quality time with our kids as we run away .... on a cruise with my in laws!  I really wish they could be coming with us, but that was not to be and who would watch the kids?!  I'm very thankful that they agreed to this and hope they survive my kids! :)  

How about some highlights from Halloween?  We have a growing group that we travel with on Halloween... this year we had 6 adults and 10 kids.  In past years it has been 2 adults and 7 kids.

Cat in the Hat

Beware, The Cat has brought along Thing 1 and Thing 2!

We've been joined by a couple of gothic kids and the Grim Reaper.....

Our annual visit to Pirate Cove!

This was the first year we let the 2 oldest spend Halloween with friends.  Shantel attended a Halloween sleepover and Cody was dropped off at his buddy's.  It was different not having all my kids with me.
It was strange to wonder where they were and worry about how they were.  Both were fine and both had a good time.... without the rest of us.

trick or treat Nana!

A little hill rolling to break up all the walking!

The loot!

Cody's haul
Shantel's take!

All in all it was a good night and everyone had fun! 

I hope all of you had wonderful Halloween festivities!