When we were down to Camille's, opening gifts on Christmas...I open a bottle of suntan lotion...what the heck?  Then the next one was a paper towel roll with some papers rolled up inside...I pull them out and read...CRUISE!  Woohoo!  Kelley and Dan had been concocting this idea for a while and kept the secret really well!  I only had a bit of a clue...when we were going around to deliver Christmas presents to our friends, I had gone in to talk to Corrinne for a while, and Kelley was out in the car talking to Terry.  When I came  back out to the car, Terry says," Oh I'm sorry about the cruise"  Kelley gives him a look and interrupts him.  Then Terry must have realized what he had said and said something about having Alzheimer's.  I was like, what was he talking about and Kelley just said "I have no idea!"  Anyway, I had pretty much forgot about it till I opened that present...then it all made sense.  HA ! What a nice surprise!   Kelley is super thoughtful that way.  We haven't gone on a cruise for quite a while so I was super excited!
It was a southern Caribbean cruise on the Princess Caribbean.  We went to some places we have never seen before...Aruba and Curacao.  I had looked at that and thought it said Curacao ( not that I knew where that was either, but at least I had heard of it)  But it was a neat island clear down by Venezuela pronounced cure-a-sow. 

These pictures are all mixed up...I don't know why, they just came out this way...oh well, you get the idea.

This was in Aruba.  It was the prettiest island.  We shopped around at the shops, then took a bus to palm beach.  It was really so nice.  It was by this beautiful resort, so we were able to use the resorts facilities and beach chairs.  The sand was so fine and soft and the water was an amazing color of blue. 

 This was on Curacao. This island has a lot of history.  We found out it was a place where the dutch would keep slaves.  There was a big fort around the port where we came in.  Those are neat buildings behind us.  Cool bridges that raise and lower to let boats through and a neat ferry that took us over to the shops.

We got a nice surprise when we went in our room and saw we had a big window!  We've never had a window before!...just a port hole!  The cruise ship was really amazingly big!  For the most part, you couldn't even tell you were on a boat...only the first night was a bit uncomfortable.  There were really big wave swells that made you feel nauseated and sent you flying into the walls going down the hall.  We got some of those acupressure wrist bands though and it really helped.  The rest of the trip was just a nice relaxing swaying that rocked you to sleep in bed.

This was on Princess Keys.  It's such a pretty little island.  They make a nice lunch for all of us there with all you can eat, then relaxing on the beach for the afternoon.

OK this is where the pictures are mixed up...This is leaving the port at Fort Lauderdale

This was the beautiful hotel we stayed in when we flew into Florida

Seriously so nice...this is looking over the balcony outside our room.  It was just so nice to be warm!   We were in an area where we could walk to restaurants and shopping...good thing cause I forgot to pack my gym shoes, and I knew I would need them on the boat.  We walked over to the shopping center and I found some real comfy ones that I love at a sporting goods store.

This was in Curacao.  We took a little bus tour around the island.  It was neat to see all the sights on this island and learn about the history there.

The buildings were all painted bright colors and kept up nice.  This cemetery was interesting too...everything above ground.

A stop on the tour was a liquor factory...Ha! a little bit old fashioned, but everyone else enjoyed the samples.

The week flew by so quick, Can't think of a better time.  The weather was perfect...even the nights were  warm and romantic gazing at the stars and the full moon out on the deck...it was just heavenly.
Having this time with Kelley felt like a second honeymoon.  It sounds strange, but even after 34 years with this man, I feel like I am still learning new things about him. Love this guy more every day.
We made some new friends with people we met at dinner and also some people we met who were from Utah.  Traveling with Dan and Brenda is a hoot.  Pretty much non stop laughing.
We had fun just hanging out on the ship...there is always something going on.  We listened to this guy that played the piano several nights.  He was AMAZING!  There was a really good magician and a stand up comic that was pretty good.  The dancers and singers were really good too.  We played bingo one day which was really quite fun and went to the gym a few times too.  Brenda and I listened to a detox for weight loss class which was really interesting.  I learned a lot from it about how your body works and how different foods and environment effect it.  Definitely made me never want another diet coke.  We watched movies ( huge screen out by the pool)  laid in the sun and ate and ate and ate.  The food was all so good...besides the wonderful assortment at the buffet, and the fancy dinners, there was a pizza place that was open all the time, ice cream shop, and a little shop with all kinds of desserts.  Oh. My. Goodness.  I could hardly do up my skirt that Sunday after we got home.
Coming from78 degrees in Ft. Lauderdale, to 20 degrees in Utah was not awesome.  It was good to be home though. KC took care of everything here at home...he is such a great kid!  That's really the only thing that could have made the trip any funner, and that would be to have the whole family there with us.