Escape

Here is a timeline of the past couple of weeks:

 Friday 12/11: We said goodbye to Mark
Saturday 12/12: We stayed home and wallowed in our sorrows
Sunday 12/13: I told Kyle we should go somewhere over Christmas break for a vacation
Monday 12/14: We booked a cruise
Friday 12/18: We flew to Miami
Saturday 12/19: Bon voyage
Saturday 12/26: Disembarked and flew back home

 "Spontaneous" is not really a word I would use to describe myself, but desperate times call for desperate measures. 

 Our cruise ship was aptly named the Norwegian Escape, and we did just that. 


Our first port was in St. Thomas. I could say it was beautiful, but that would be an understatement. We did an excursion where we snorkeled and got to do these underwater scooter things. I had never even heard of these before, but this was what I was most excited to do. 











The inside of the helmets were pressurized so once you put your head in, you breathed normally because there was no water in there. It was such a cool experience. 

We went back to the boat, showered, and then explored the town (and maybe took a small nap). 




Next we went to a city in the British Virgin Islands called Tortola. The excursion we chose took us to a beach where we went through a bunch of caves in order to get to another beach. 








Our last port was the Bahamas on Christmas day. We took a ferry to Blue Lagoon Island where we kayaked, rode a water bike, and hung out on the beach.








While we were gone we didn't get to talk to Mark, but we thought about him everywhere we went. I couldn't help but to look at every situation to see what he would have enjoyed about it. Kyle and I decided we wouldn't have eaten at any of the nice restaurants, but would have been at the buffet for each meal. There would have been no laying out, but instead we would have been glued to the water slide and arcade on the ship. He would have loved all the boats we rode on and would have pointed at each one to let us know that he saw it. 

Once we got back, reality hit us in the face. The escape was over. We came home to an empty house that has memories of Mark in every corner. One year ago today he showed up at our house and became part of our hearts.  

We were able to FaceTime him yesterday for the first time in a couple of weeks. It was such a good feeling to hear his voice and see his sweet smile. All I could do is tell him how much I miss and love him. Hopefully we will get to see him in person next week.

You know that feeling when you're trying not to cry and your jaw starts to hurts?

Last Sunday at church they sang "Lord I Need You" and "Good Good Father". I say "they" sang because I wasn't able to- my jaw hurt too much. It is so much easier to sing songs to God when life is great. When life sucks and you don't understand why, it is so hard to say words like "You are perfect in all of your ways to us". 

Please continue to pray for us and our sweet boy. We can't wait to hold him again. The final decision on where he will live forever won't be made for another couple of months, but we are still holding on to hope.

Two days before he left we took family pictures, so I will leave you with a few of the gems. 


















For this last shot, our sweet photographer let Mark take the picture.















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