Thursday the boat got way too rough and we ended up leaving dinner early and went back to the room. I was so scared I was going to be seasick this whole trip. This is a much older boat with less stability technology I guess but most of the trip was great weather and we still rocked, swayed, and stumbled our way around ship. Uggggghhhh....I get queasy thinking about it. Also for those of you that know me at all....for me to skip a meal you KNOW I was SICK!! The food also was nothing to write home about and was less than average. We ended up buying milkshakes from the coffee bar on board. After spending that money to have to buy milkshakes and desserts stunk!! Friday was better and tolerable. The boat still swayed and moved a bit but nothing like trip-over-yourself Thursday!! The shows resembled something I did in middle school show choir. The cruise director was funny and a very talented man but he cannot do it all!! One man can only do so much to salvage that stuff. 
This is a view of our ship alongside another Carnival boat.
Cozumel made our trip again! We did not plan on doing an excursion because we have done most of it before. Last time we had the kids with us and were unable to do some of the snorkeling b/c they wouldn't allow kids under a certain age. Our kids swim better than most adults and we knew this but you cannot explain that to people and I don't blame them for being cautious. We ended up doing an underwater SNUBA or BOB think that made me puke and a puny little snorkel trip. Meemaw and Pawpaw on the other hand had a great snorkel experience because they went on a different reef farther out that wouldn't allow kids under 10. Well, we remembered this time and set out to find something similar since it was Clay and I. We SUCCEEDED!! We found a great guy that signed us up on shore that was cheaper than the other excursions. There were only 4 other people with us and they were a family. It was GREAT!!! We made 3 stops. We started off small and it just kept getting better and better. The fish were plentiful. Right at the end of our snorkel trip we encountered the largest school of fish I have EVER seen! I have only seen school of fish like this on TV. More fish than you could ever count. And who was smack dab in the middle, perfectly surrounded by these fish.....a BARRACUDA!!! It was FANTASTIC! He was about 4-feet long from what we could tell. The school of fish was so large that our guide dove amongst some of them and they parted like the Great Sea without even coming close to the other part of the school and Barracuda. It was AMAZING!! It is wonderful to see God's handy work even in places we forget about on a typical daily basis. That made our trip all worth it!! You should have heard us underwater screaming at each other.....all mumbled through our mouthpieces...."Mmmm, MMMMM, oook bawacuuudaaaa......" Okay, that was my best online sound out I could give to you that can't hear me in person.....LOL Ha, Ha. I think that cracks me the most while snorkeling with someone you are close with....screaming at each other underwater and pointing to all the cool stuff you see. Tap, tap, tapping on each other's shoulders all the time. 
It is absolutely beautiful!! The water has more blues in it that you ever dreamed God could create. In the background was where we went snorkeling. It is hard to imagine that all that wonderful world is just below the surface!!
After our day in Cozumel ended...all too soon....we took the easy way out and rode in these little bikes.
This is the only pic of Clay and I together....sad I know. We should have asked but just said we will wait until next time and that time never came. 
This is the sunset on the way back. Magnificent!
This is the boat we wish we would have been getting back on!! Royal Caribbean!! 
Of course we enjoyed our time together and the break from the hustle and bustle of everything.....it just was no thanks to Carnival. We cannot wait to go on another cruise but have the kids with us. We also want to drag along Meemaw and Pawpaw if they want to again and Matt & Candy if Matt can leave work at the same time as Clay.
I am so grateful God has blessed me with a wonderful, loving, caring husband that could not be a better father! We have been married 11 years and God has given us many, many blessings and 3 miracles!! I look forward to spending the rest of my life with this magnificent man that God made just for me. Thank you Clay!!! I love you so much and am so grateful for who you are and how hard you work for us!! Thank you for loving us with all of your heart and soul!!
Here are some quick shots from getting the kids at Meemaw and Pawpaw's house....we played some football while standing around outside and Clara just fell in love with the leaves her oldest brother raked up for her. The first shot is Clara seeing her bell instrument for the first time...she got the biggest kick from that thing. She was in a good mood even though we woke her from a quick nap. 
NOTE to readers****I tried to make this post as clear as possible. I am trying to blog, cook dinner, and was watching Clara all at the same time....my mind just cannot multitask well.
II NOTE** Notice Clara's teeth in her smile. She had her 4th tooth come through all the way while we were gone. She is looking so much older. She only has the 2 on bottom and 2 on top now. She is freely giving kisses more and more often. I have gotten 2 today!! This is a HUGE step for her....she is too busy to slow down for kisses for the most part! =)
Papa Dave and Taffy have a 2-story house with a balcony on the 2nd floor. The "big" kids were playing with Clara from above. She thought it was too funny.
Here are some shots of the "3 Pierce's". Jampaw is named Pierce Joseph, then we have Pierce David, and then we have our own Cullen Pierce. All of our children have names after their grandparents. Christian's middle name is Bo (not my grandfather's "official" name but what we all called him and knew him by) after my dad's dad. He passed away a month and a day after Christian was born from colon cancer. He was a great father that provided well for his family and raised a great son, if I say so myself. (I LOVE my daddy!!). Then Cullen Pierce was named after Jampaw (Clay's grandfather). He also was a great provider and loving father. Clara is named after my mom's mom. She was a wonderful Christian woman and loved everyone. She was a strong, caring person that wanted to help others. One day I will try and post pictures of them too. 
This is Katelyn with her new baby brother, Pierce. Katelyn is the daughter of Clay's brother, Clint. She is a wonderful cousin and it is topped off that she lives down the street so they kids can play together whenever they want. =)
We were able to get a shot of all the grandkids together for Taffy and Papa Dave. The process was not easy with a 2-month old, a 1-year old and 3 restless kids ready to get down and go play.
We then went to my mom and dad's for the latter part of the day. The whole day consisted of way too much good food and too much football watching....=( We did play a hand of cards and guess who won??? You guessed....me. =) I had to throw that in. Here are some pics of us playing cards around the table.
This is Matt, Jerry (my dad's brother), and GG. GG is THE card player!! I learned from the best.
Okay...not the best pic of my folks but I could not leave them out. By this time they were sick of me snapping pictures!! I couldn't help it....Candy was doing it too!!
Prior to the Thanksgiving gatherings I tried to find a good food craft for the kids and Katelyn to help me with. I picked a cute one but looking back....not too kid friendly. We picked cake pops which were YUMMY but they were decorated as turkeys. Great idea!! The faces were pretty easy and the kids did wonderful with them. Take a Skittle stick on a Nerds beak and a leaf-shaped sprinkle for the waddle and wallah...(sp) a turkey face. That was easy. It was even easy to get it stuck to the cake ball with chocolate. Then......the turkey feathers (candy corn). This was too hard for the kids to do and very time consuming. I ended up with a tone of cake balls with faces and no feathers. I was in the kitchen by myself for quite some time sticking those little candy corns on those turkey butts.....urrgh. I do think they turned out cute though. Although many cake balls got eaten before they became the beautiful feathered turkeys they were meant to be......ha ha!
These are the Fall cupcakes I made also. The acorn on top is made from caramel and the leaf is chocolate plastic. They are chocolate chip peanut butter cupcakes with chocolate ganache buttercream. The boys made (well, Christian) most of the acorns for on top. They were easy and looked so much like realy acorns it was kind of scary.
Clara loves the cat and he had hopped on the back of the bench...too much for her to stay focused on Clay and I. 
And this one is my favorite!!
The importance of this new tradition is to always have a special moment when we talk about how wonderful Clara's birthfamily is and how loved she is by so many people!! It is so important to us that Clara have an open-ended conversation about her adoption with the freedom to ask anything at any time. We always have an open-ended conversation with Christian about him being adopted by Clay at 2 years old after we were married. Just as Christian was/is a huge blessing to our family, Clara is also a huge blessing to our family. Our family would not be complete without adoption.
This is my one-year-old, baby girl in the little white rockers right out front of Cracker Barrel!! She is growing way too fast! Here are a couple of newborn pics too.....jpg)
