Mother/Daughter Cruise '09

My mom took my sister Candice and I on a cruise to Catalina Island to celebrate my graduation! We left Thursday afternoon (the 11th) and returned Sunday morning. We had a lot of fun touring and shopping at the stops, and Candice ensured that we had a blast partying on the boat! It was pretty funny to see how my vision of the cruise (filled with reading and naps) clashed with Candice's idea of fun (make a lot of friends, dance, and stay out till 2 am), but it all panned out so Candice had sufficient fun and I had some time for reading! We did end up making some good friends including Lexi, a girl who has cerebral palsy (the same disease as my brother, Isaac) and two nice sophmore boys, Cody and Mitchel. As none of them are saved, I felt like God put them right in our path so that we could lift them up in prayer! Though I doubt I will ever see them again on this earth, I do hope and pray that God will draw them to himself, and that they might come to know the saving grace of Jesus Christ so that I can sing praises with them in Heaven!
Probably one of the best parts of the cruise was the mother/daughter time Candice and I got to spend with our mom. This past semester has been so crazy for all of us, and it was nice to be able to hang out and relax together. We began each morning with Girl Talk by Carolyn Mahaney over breakfast and Mom continued to encourage us to pursue Christ with all our hearts in heart-to-heart talks throughout the voyage. It was such a blessing to have that time with her after the past few months. She is such a great mom, and it is wonderful to have the clear, open line of communication she continues to pursue with us. We all hope to make our mother/daughter weekend an annual tradition and plan to do it every year for the rest of our lives! Below are some pictures of our trip...

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I came prepared to catch up on all the reading I had missed over the semester...

Candice had different ideas!

Sisters = Best Friends Forever

Fine Dining... that first night I felt way under-dressed!

Heading to Catalina Island!

It was so refreshing to walk along the coast and just breathe in the fresh air!

I kept wanting to call it Count Olaf's Ice Cream... but either way it tasted mm mm good!

Elegant Night

La Bufadora

Me: "We shouldn't go down there... see the wet side walk?"

Mom: "Nobody looks wet... we will be fine!"

2 minutes later... SPLASH! and we got very wet!

Thank You Jesus for Awesome Cruise Trips!