Nassau, Bahamas

Nassau was definitely very commercial. Right when we got off the ship the taxi drivers were hitting us up for business.  We picked one who was dressed in a shirt and tie and said his name was "Sam the Man" in a very cool Bahamanian accent.  He took us around the sights of Nassau for the next 4 hours.

First stop was the Queen's Staircase.  Nassau has a lot of history beginning with the Native Arawakans.  Once Columbus discovered it's beauty and it began to settled, the natives died out, and slaves from Africa were brought in.  It changed owner's many times through wars and take overs and England eventually won out.  The Queen freed the slaves and made them independent people.  They carved this staircase out of this thick limestone mountain in her honor.  It is 116 steps and truly is impressive! 

The next stop was the "Old Fort of Nassau".

 Then we asked Sam to take us to the beach he took his kids too.  It was gorgeous and I wanted to stay there ALL day.  However, it was off the beaten path and there was no way a taxi would have ever come by to take us back to the ship.

 This is "Sam the Man".

Our last stop with him was to his favorite local restaurant to try conch.  I have to say, deep fried, in this sweet hush puppy......it was delicious.

Just Cruising

Our first destination was Coco Cay.   Royal Caribbean's private island.  It was gorgeous.  The crystal blue waters were a little chill in my opinion but that didn't stop anyone else.

 There was a beautiful nature walk that went between the island greenery and the water.  At one point where it opened up to the beach we saw these 2 iguanas ready to go for a swim.  

 This is us waiting for the evening show.  The things around the kids' necks are their identification cards.  They also had to wear bracelets that wouldn't come off to identify them as well as their life boat station.  They took the kids' safety very serious...it was very reassuring.

Callista is 7!

Where does the time go...it flies, that's for sure.  Here are the highlights from Callista's birthday.

 She had a date to Build A Bear with her Dad where she made a cute Polar Bear and named him "Icicle".

 Chloe gave her a Magic Tree House Book about Panda Bears.

 Ryan gave her the movie "Rio".

 Dad gave her the Precious Moment collectible that goes with her set for "7".

 She also got roller skates.....watch out!

 She also wanted a doughnut cake without a shape though...just stacked.

Nana gave her PJ's for both her and her doll Saige.

Happy Birthday Callista....we wish you another fun and joy filled year!

Merry Christmas

 Santa came......and look at the WONDER on this child's face.

 Santa brought Ryan a digital sketch pad for the computer, Callista was blessed with Saige (this years American Girl) and Chloe received a daybed and trundle for her American Girls.

 A day we never thought would come.  There is a story behind this.....

After this summer of spending a lot of time on Aunt Becky's trampoline and also The Bitton's trampoline's...the kids were begging and begging to get one.  Paul absolutely refused to even ponder the idea.  In fact he said, "We will get a dog before we ever get a trampoline!!!!!"

So......we watched our neighbor's dog, in our home, for a week in November kind of as a dress rehearsal for whether we really wanted a dog.  By day 2 of dogsitting it was ALMOST unanimous.  Callista was and is the only member of our family who thinks that getting a dog would be a great thing. So imagine my own surprise when the UPS man shows up at our house with this massive delivery from Amazon which says "trampoline" on the side of the box.  I couldn't believe it.  He really kept his word (which I never thought he would in this case.....he does not like the injuries he sees from trampolines).  

So now the Shupe's are proud owners of a trampoline....and we LOVE it!

Papa surprised the kids' with a guitar and they enjoyed getting a few pointers from him.  

It was definitely a Merry - Merry Christmas.

Christmas Eve

As usual, Christmas Eve at our house is almost as exciting as Christmas Day.  We shared it this year with my parents and also with our good friends, The Walton's.

Callista had been waiting all night for Eli to show up with our bag of silly presents.  He did not disappoint.  The men got headlights that glow in either red or green.

 All the girls got silly socks...

Even the Moms.

 

The men got instant mustaches.

 The boys got mystery magic flyers.  It's like.....magic!

 While the presents and food were great and delicious...the best part was just being with loved ones and enjoying one another's company.

 OK.....does he not look like he just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar?

Hope you were good this year Zach cuz Santa is coming tonight!

The Sunday Before Christmas

I always love the Sunday before Christmas!  New Christmas dresses, beautiful music at church....it just starts Christmas week off right.  This year we got to share it with Papa and Nana too.  

Look Who's Nine!

This is one very Happy Boy.  He is currently in an airplane phase.  He eats, breathes, draws, creates with Legos, and plays with anything that resembles an airplane.  Buying him presents this year was EASY!  He got a book on flight, a Wii game all about flying,  a Lego airplane creations kit, and a few  die cast airplanes.

 Ryan's favorite treat has always been donuts.  So when he told me he didn't want me to bake him a cake, he just wanted donuts I was game.  The part he didn't tell me was that he wanted a donut "airplane" cake.  Ummmmmm!  So we gave him the tray, a butter knife, a cutting board, and this is what he came up with.  An "Airplane Donut Cake".  Great job buddy!

Here's to another year full of baseball, airplanes, baseball, and a few more airplanes!

We love you!