Day 2: At Sea and the Surprise Anniversary Party

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Our first full day on the ship. We woke up and had breakfast at the Market Cafe which was the cafeteria-style restaurant on board. It has huge windows so you can see outside.



Then everyone did their own thing until 4 pm when we had a "Family Conference", which was pretty much a sacrament meeting without the sacrament. We had prayers, songs, and different family members shared spiritual experiences related to the family. Steven shared the story of when I had the severe bleeding back in May and was told I had placenta previa and needed to be really careful. After we told Christie and Jordan what was going on and how we (mostly I) needed their help, they were very helpful and every night after that until Alex was born, they prayed that he would be healthy. He also shared how, during labor with Alex, his heart rate dropped and stayed low to the point where I came thisclose to needing a c-section, he prayed that everything would be OK and I wouldn't need surgery. His point was that he was grateful for the power of prayer.

We then headed to the Versailles Room, which is a French-style decorated restaurant for dinner and a surprise anniversary party.



The point of this cruise was to celebrate Steven's parents' (K&S) 50th wedding anniversary (actual date is in September). During the previous few months, Steven's older brother M and his wife K collected pictures of K&S's life from the day they were married to the present, including pictures sent from each family. All these pictures were made into a beautiful book that was presented to them, along with a box of letters and cards from their grandchildren, extended family members and friends. They were completely surprised by this!





Steven's older sister B announced to the room at large that we were celebrating a 50th anniversary and would everyone please join in a round of applause. Then several of the wait staff sang "Let Me Call You Sweetheart".



Then one of the waiters brought a tray of root beer floats, which is our family's celebration drink. Someone in the family (can't remember who) made a joke that most people celebrate an anniversary with champagne but we celebrate with root beer floats!





A funny side note: Most of the ship staff (waiters, photographers, cabin stewards, etc.) that we met were not American. They all wear name tags with their name, position and country of origin. Most of them were from Asian nations. The waiter that brought the root beer floats had never heard of them! S (Steven's sister who arranged for them) had to explain over and over what they were, and then how to make them. We all got a good laugh when she explained the ordeal!

Day 1: Seattle

Saturday, June 6, 2009

We woke up and got ourselves ready. Some of us went to IHOP for breakfast while the other half went to run some last minute errands. Then we waited around in the motel room for the shuttle van to arrive to drive us to the pier in downtown Seattle.

Once we were dropped off at Pier 66, the first thing to do was have our tickets and passports checked. Then we went to drop off the luggage. Just like at the airport. Then we went through security, which included a health survey (concern about swine flu). After that, we were able to actually get on the ship. The ship's name is Norwegian Star, of the Norwegian Cruise Line (hereafter referred to as NCL). The Star had just arrived that morning from a previous Alaska cruise so the cabin stewards were still working on cleaning and stocking the staterooms. So we went to one of the restaurants on board for lunch. Once we were given the go-ahead to go to our cabins, we unpacked and then walked around the ship to get our bearings before heading up to the 12th deck which is where the observation decks are.



We departed Seattle around 4 p.m. The rest of the evening we spent on the observation decks watching Washington State go by, exploring more of the ship, eating dinner and visiting with each other.

Alaska: Unofficial Day One: Last Day of School and Flying to Seattle

Friday, June 5, 2009

We started off Friday, June 5th with the last day of school. They had a normal early out day. Steven went to work for the morning to finish up some projects while I did the final packing and cleaning. He came home at 12:30 or so and then at 1:15 we went over to school to take pictures of Christie and Jordan with friends and teachers and to deliver the year-end thank you notes.

Christie and her best buds


Christie and her teacher Mrs. Francis


Jordan and the boys from his class


Jordan and his teacher Mrs. Hanzon


After picking up Christie and Jordan from school, we went to Applebee's for an "end of the school year" celebration lunch. Then we came home to pick up their stuff then took the children over to my best friend Diane's home. She and her husband had the three children stay with them from Friday afternoon through Monday morning.

We then ran back home to get our stuff and headed over to the airport. We were a little behind schedule but fortunately getting through security didn't take too long and we had about 45 minutes to spare.

We flew on Delta to Seattle.


All except two couples had arrived that day (June 5th) so Steven's father had arranged for us to stay at a motel a few miles from the airport. We were supposed to call for the motel shuttle to come pick us up. Only problem was that we were flying alone so there was no one to make the call for us. I'm not sure how Steven's father thought we were going to handle that but then again, since a very young age, Steven's been expected to figure things out for himself so in a way, it's par for the course. LOL. Fortunately, a fellow traveler made the call for us and after about a 30 minute wait, the shuttle came. The funniest thing about the whole episode is that Steven's older sister Pam and her husband got on the shuttle at the same time! They had been waiting at the opposite end of the shuttle pick up area. We got to the motel, said HI to everyone, took a short walk over to a nearby 7-11 to get some food and then crashed.

End of Day 1.