Nana's POV (Point of View)

OK. Here's what you've all been waiting for...Katie's story.

Last Thursday, I worked until 5. When I arrived home, there was John, kinda dressed up.
"Are you going somewhere?" I inquired.

"Yeah, I thought maybe we could go out to dinner. How's Kocomo's sound?"

Well, I'm not one to turn down a dinner at a restaurant, even on a Thursday night.

We finished our appetizer, then John suddenly says, "I've decided to cancel our cruise this fall."

Hesitantly, I replied, "Okay....why?"

"I'd rather spend the money to go visit the kids in Utah. Oh, I almost forgot. This came in the mail today." And he hands me a torn-up envelope with a card inside. "It's a thank-you note from Stacia, for our taking her and Keith on the cruise [this coming April]."

I was SO impressed! Stacia is so thoughtful when it comes to sending TY notes! But I was stunned that she would thank us two months BEFORE the cruise! "Aww! She's so SWEET!"

I pulled the card out of the envelope. Sure enough, the front of it said, "THANK YOU." But the picture had baby blocks. I thought that perhaps Stacia had run out of regular TY cards, and maybe used a friends' leftover card. [Duh!] Inside was a picture of a toothbrush handle. Not interested in that....and why is it in there anyway? I read the text in Stacia's handwriting. Oh, that's so sweet of her to thank us in advance! [Anybody want to sell me some SWAMP LAND?!!]

Then came the P.S. -- I'm pregnant, due mid-October.

I broke into TEARS! (Happy tears, of course!) People in the restaurant were probably wondering what had upset me! Good thing it was kinda dark in there....AHA!!! There's my excuse for not recognizing the EPT thing-y! IT WAS DARK IN THERE!!!! I didn't see the "+" [plus sign] until much later, at home -- where the lighting is brighter -- and so, I guess, is ME!

To John's credit, he really kept the secret well (for the hour or two that he kept it to himself). AND, we both kept the secret through Monday! THAT was HARD!

P.S.?

P.S. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stacia is such a sweetheart!



Every time we do anything like send a birthday gift or invite them for a visit, Stacia sends a Thank You Card!




On Monday, February 8th, I spent several hours working out the details of the cruise (see previous blog entry) and it involved numerous messages & phone calls to Keith, Stacia & Vicki the travel agent.


So as I'm walking back from the mailbox yesterday (Friday, Feb. 11th) I notice a small "Thank You Size" card from Stacia & Keith.


So I'm thinking, "Why would they send a thank you card"?


"It couldn't be for the cruise............ already", "Could it"?



So as I'm walking up the driveway I tear open the envelope, flip open the card, move a slip of paper out of the way and read............"to thank you for the cruise"

yup. I was right!


She is SO sweet and polite!!!!!!

Then, once I get inside the house I notice that the slip of paper had a picture on it.

Now I'm confused! Why would Stacia send us a picture of a toothbrush handle?



So I go back to the card and read the whole thing and notice a P.S. at the bottom.

you know,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

P.S.

As in

"by the way"
or

"I almost forgot to tell you"

or

"It almost slipped my mind"!



So this is what the WHOLE card read......



!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Once I got over the shock & joy, (that took a couple of minutes!!)


I was still wondering about the toothbrush.




So I take another look,


longer this time,



and realized



that it was NOT a toothbrush!




OK, so now....Katie is due home in about 30 minutes and this is quite different than the way Kendra & Jeff told us.




How do I show her the card?



That will have to be another blog entry.

ALSO

P.S.

Now has a different meaning to us!

PREGNANT STACIA!

WOW

Spread The Word!

What looked to be a busy year has become even better!

MARCH: We get to see Kendra and Alayna for a week!

They are flying in for Anita's wedding and making the most of it.

Unfortunately, Jeff cannot make the trip and once again we will miss him!

Kendra and Alayna are making such a sacrifice!

Leaving the winter wonderland of Utah

for the sunny beaches of Florida.

We also intend to visit Katie's mom..now Great Grandma Boggs!

While in Orlando, we also plan to take Alayna to DownTown Disney for her first introduction to The Wonderful World of Disney!

Then, the next day, after the wedding, we head home for the reception.

APRIL: Keith and Stacia are flying in for a short visit between semesters at college.

For at least 6 years I've wanted to go on a cruise with my children. Well, they're not children anymore but although we were able to go with Kendra in 2004 and send her and Jeff on a cruise for their honeymoon, Keith has been elusive! A Mission, College, Marriage, I'd kinda lost hope.

UNTIL NOW!

We are going on a cruise together!

Due to their time limitations, we were going to try the Bahamas Celebration 2 night cruise to the Bahamas until we found out that it now goes to Grand Bahama instead of Nassau. We've been to Grand Bahama and have NO desire to return! That left us with few choices. We managed to squeeze in a 3 night Royal Caribbean cruise from Miami to Coco Cay and Nassau:

MIAMI

COCO CAY!

NASSAU!

Aboard the MAJESTY OF THE SEAS.

They have NO idea how happy this makes me!

AND

SOMEHOW

....We've got to figure out how to get to the new Harry Potter attraction at Universal Studios.....before it gets too hot!

It's starting off as a VERY good year for us!

Seagulls, Power Lines & Parachutes

Another Daughter Getting Married!

Well, she's really not OUR daughter but we've known her all her life!

Congratulations to my favorite recipient of blonde jokes!
We love you Anita!!!

And Congratulations to Bill and Susan, Anita's "other" parents!



I can hardly wait to call Bill ..........GRANDPA!

Oh, and you can ask Anita about the title!

2010 Looking Forward

What a year we expect to have!

January has been keeping us VERY busy with getting Katie's Mom packed and re-located to California. It seems as if Katie is spending more time in Orlando than at home!

BUT! We have 2 HUGE events happening this year that we know of so far. Katie would say 3 so I'll include the third one last.

#1 Keith and Stacia's Visit!

Our "favorite" son and "favorite" daughter-in-law will be flying in for a few days between April 29th and May 4th. It's been over two years since they've been here and it will have been almost 16 months since we've seen them! We are already excited and looking forward to their visit.


This September will be our KOKOMO CRUISE

Celebrating the 5 year reunion of our Explorer of The Seas cruise with most of the original cruisers and some new friends and family. Sailing on the Liberty of The Seas which is larger, newer and has even more to offer than the Explorer did!


Here she is at Labadee, one of our Ports-of-Call

More about the cruise is at the link at the top.

Finally
The 3rd event (which is a MUST according to Katie)

The opening of the Harry Potter attraction at Universal Studios.

Time and money will keep us from Flying anywhere this year but we really hope that we will get to see Kendra, Jeff and especially Alayna this year....the more times the better.

We DO plan of spending time in Utah next year when Keith Graduates.

Twas the morning of Christmas
When all through the house...........

Not a creature was stirring......
Not even a mouse!


The stockings were bulging from their cup hooks with care............

In hopes of being emptied before they would tear!


With Katie in her jammies.............


And Grannie in her kerchief...............


Awww, the heck with it! Here are our Christmas morning pictures!



As Kendra opens a gift, you can see Alayna's stash in the middle of the floor.

Alayna got TWO purses!
The purse from Grandpa came with a compact, lipstick, keys, a credit card and a cell phone.

Alayna recognized the cell phone and knew exactly what to do with it!!!!!

Here's Alayna's stash after being opened.

And now for breakfast!

It's supposed to reach the low 80's today with some scattered thunderstorms.

Hope everyone has a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!